The Magic Online Community Cup has rested in the hands of the Community for the first two years of its existence. Who will hoist the the Erik "Hamtastic" Friborg Memorial Trophy this year?

Thursday featured the trial debut of a new Constructed format: Modern. Using cards from Eighth Edition on (all sets in the modern card frame), this untested format was an open proving ground for both teams. The Community Team of Luis Scott-Vargas, Bing Luke, Marshall Sutcliffe, Graham Stark, Josef Kronbichler, Chris Kuehl, Joe Dillard, Michelle Roberson, and George Efelis showed their stuff in the new format, amassing a 70-point lead heading into the final day. Friday morning's format is Standard Unified Constructed...does the Wizards Team have the chutzpah and skills to erase such a huge deficit? Tune in to find out.

If the Community Team manages to defeat the Wizards Team, all players who log on to Magic Online anytime on Wednesday, June 15; Thursday, June 16; or Friday, June 17, will be invited to a no-entry-requirement Planeswalker-format Constructed tournament on July 3! All players who play in this four-round, Swiss-pairings event will receive one Magic 2011 booster pack. All players who earn 12 match points by going undefeated will also receive any three Magic Online booster packs of their choice—yes, any three!

If the Wizards Team wins, however, players will not go empty handed; all players who logged in between June 13 and June 17 will receive a Darksteel Relic promotional card with a June 17, 2011 date stamp!

• Watch games in the Magic Online Casual Room
• Follow the Community Cup with the Twitter list @lee_sharpe/mtgocc

LSV / Luis Scott-Vargas - Elves!!

2011 Magic Online Community Cup Unified Modern

Main Deck 60 cards
13  Forest 3  Horizon Canopy 1  Pendelhaven 17 lands 4  Arbor Elf 2  Boreal Druid 4  Elvish Archdruid 4  Elvish Visionary 1  Emrakul, the Aeons Torn 1  Eternal Witness 2  Fauna Shaman 4  Heritage Druid 4  Llanowar Elves 4  Nettle Sentinel 2  Regal Force 1  Viridian Shaman 33 creatures	4  Glimpse of Nature 2  Green Sun's Zenith 4  Summoner's Pact 10 other spells Sideboard 2  Fauna Shaman 1  Pendelhaven 4  Thorn of Amethyst 4  Vengevine 3  Vexing Shusher 1  Viridian Zealot 15 sideboard cards

Enigma / Josef Kronbichler - Hypergenesis

2011 Magic Online Community Cup Unified Modern

Main Deck 60 cards
1  Calciform Pools 2  City of Brass 3  Forbidden Orchard 1  Forest 2  Fungal Reaches 1  Gemstone Caverns 4  Gemstone Mine 2  Reflecting Pool 1  Swamp 4  Tendo Ice Bridge 21 lands 4  Angel of Despair 3  Chancellor of the Annex 3  Emrakul, the Aeons Torn 3  Progenitus 4  Simian Spirit Guide 4  Terastodon 21 creatures	4  Ardent Plea 1  Compulsive Research 1  Demonic Dread 2  Dismember 3  Hypergenesis 3  Oblivion Ring 4  Violent Outburst 18 other spells Sideboard 1  Chancellor of the Annex 1  Dismember 2  Firespout 2  Ingot Chewer 1  Leyline of the Void 2  Malfegor 4  Ricochet Trap 2  Shriekmaw 15 sideboard cards

Graham / Graham Stark - Jund

2011 Magic Online Community Cup Unified Modern

Main Deck 60 cards
4  Blackcleave Cliffs 1  Fire-Lit Thicket 1  Forest 2  Graven Cairns 4  Grove of the Burnwillows 1  Lavaclaw Reaches 1  Mountain 4  Raging Ravine 2  Reflecting Pool 2  Savage Lands 1  Swamp 4  Twilight Mire 27 lands 3  Anathemancer 4  Bloodbraid Elf 1  Boggart Ram-Gang 1  Grave Titan 4  Putrid Leech 4  Sprouting Thrinax 17 creatures	2  Bituminous Blast 4  Blightning 3  Maelstrom Pulse 4  Punishing Fire 3  Terminate 16 other spells Sideboard 1  Anathemancer 1  Bituminous Blast 4  Chalice of the Void 3  Leyline of the Void 2  Nihil Spellbomb 2  Volcanic Fallout 2  Wrench Mind 15 sideboard cards

ChrisKool / Chris Kuehl - Junk

2011 Magic Online Community Cup Unified Modern

Main Deck 60 cards
1  Dryad Arbor 2  Forest 2  Godless Shrine 1  Horizon Canopy 3  Marsh Flats 2  Overgrown Tomb 1  Plains 1  Swamp 1  Tectonic Edge 1  Temple Garden 3  Treetop Village 4  Verdant Catacombs 22 lands 1  Birds of Paradise 4  Dark Confidant 1  Gaddock Teeg 3  Knight of the Reliquary 3  Noble Hierarch 1  Qasali Pridemage 4  Tarmogoyf 3  Tidehollow Sculler 20 creatures	3  Doom Blade 2  Duress 1  Elspeth, Knight-Errant 1  Go for the Throat 2  Green Sun's Zenith 2  Inquisition of Kozilek 1  Maelstrom Pulse 1  Oblivion Ring 1  Path to Exile 1  Sword of Fire and Ice 1  Sword of Light and Shadow 2  Thoughtseize 18 other spells	Sideboard 1  Bojuka Bog 1  Elspeth, Knight-Errant 3  Engineered Explosives 2  Ethersworn Canonist 2  Gaddock Teeg 2  Krosan Grip 3  Obstinate Baloth 1  Tidehollow Sculler 15 sideboard cards

Joekewwl / Joe Dillard - Mono-Red

2011 Magic Online Community Cup Unified Modern

Main Deck 60 cards
18  Mountain 4  Teetering Peaks 22 lands 4  Figure of Destiny 4  Goblin Guide 4  Hellspark Elemental 4  Keldon Marauders 16 creatures	2  Flame Javelin 4  Incinerate 1  Koth of the Hammer 4  Lava Spike 4  Lightning Bolt 3  Molten Rain 3  Searing Blaze 1  Shard Volley 22 other spells Sideboard 1  Dismember 1  Ghostfire 4  Magus of the Moon 3  Mogg Fanatic 1  Molten Rain 1  Searing Blaze 2  Shrine of Burning Rage 2  Smash to Smithereens 15 sideboard cards

Whiffy / George Efelis - Scapeshift

2011 Magic Online Community Cup Unified Modern

Main Deck 60 cards
2  Forest 2  Island 4  Misty Rainforest 2  Mountain 3  Scalding Tarn 4  Steam Vents 4  Stomping Ground 4  Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle 25 lands 1  Primeval Titan 4  Sakura-Tribe Elder 3  Wood Elves 8 creatures	3  Condescend 2  Muddle the Mixture 4  Peer Through Depths 4  Ponder 4  Prismatic Omen 4  Remand 2  Repeal 4  Scapeshift 27 other spells Sideboard 2  Firespout 2  Flame Slash 2  Nature's Claim 2  Negate 3  Relic of Progenitus 1  Spell Pierce 1  Vexing Shusher 2  Volcanic Fallout 15 sideboard cards

Prolepsis9 / Bing Luke - Blue-Black Faeries

2011 Magic Online Community Cup Unified Modern

Main Deck 60 cards
2  Creeping Tar Pit 4  Darkslick Shores 4  Island 4  Mutavault 1  Pendelhaven 4  Secluded Glen 2  Sunken Ruins 1  Swamp 1  Tectonic Edge 3  Watery Grave 26 lands 4  Mistbind Clique 4  Spellstutter Sprite 1  Vendilion Clique 9 creatures	4  Ancestral Vision 4  Bitterblossom 4  Cryptic Command 1  Doom Blade 3  Go for the Throat 2  Inquisition of Kozilek 3  Mana Leak 2  Sword of Feast and Famine 2  Thoughtseize 25 other spells Sideboard 2  Deathmark 2  Disfigure 2  Duress 1  Peppersmoke 2  Sower of Temptation 1  Spell Pierce 3  Vampire Nighthawk 2  Wurmcoil Engine 15 sideboard cards

MarshalllRCast / Marshall Sutcliffe - White-Blue Mystic

2011 Magic Online Community Cup Unified Modern

Main Deck 60 cards
4  Blinkmoth Nexus 2  Celestial Colonnade 4  Hallowed Fountain 5  Island 2  Mystic Gate 2  Plains 4  Seachrome Coast 2  Tectonic Edge 25 lands 2  Kitchen Finks 4  Stoneforge Mystic 3  Vendilion Clique 9 creatures	1  Batterskull 1  Elspeth, Knight-Errant 4  Jace, the Mind Sculptor 3  Path to Exile 4  Preordain 4  Rune Snag 2  Spell Pierce 3  Spell Snare 1  Sword of Feast and Famine 1  Sword of Fire and Ice 2  Wrath of God 26 other spells	Sideboard 1  Batterskull 1  Gideon Jura 1  Glen Elendra Archmage 4  Meddling Mage 1  Negate 1  Silence 2  Sower of Temptation 1  Spell Snare 2  War Priest of Thune 1  Wrath of God 15 sideboard cards

Dave Guskin - Elves!

2011 Magic Online Community Cup Unified Modern

Main Deck 60 cards
4  Forest 4  Forest 4  Forest 2  Forest 2  Horizon Canopy 1  Pendelhaven 17 lands 2  Arbor Elf 4  Boreal Druid 4  Elvish Archdruid 4  Elvish Visionary 1  Essence Warden 1  Eternal Witness 4  Heritage Druid 4  Llanowar Elves 4  Nettle Sentinel 1  Regal Force 29 creatures	3  Cloudstone Curio 4  Glimpse of Nature 1  Hurricane 2  Primal Command 4  Summoner's Pact 14 other spells Sideboard 2  Guttural Response 1  Loaming Shaman 1  Primal Command 4  Thorn of Amethyst 4  Vengevine 3  Viridian Shaman 15 sideboard cards

Dwayne St. Arnauld - Hypergenesis

2011 Magic Online Community Cup Unified Modern

Main Deck 60 cards
2  Calciform Pools 3  Forbidden Orchard 3  Fungal Reaches 1  Gemstone Caverns 4  Gemstone Mine 4  Reflecting Pool 4  Tendo Ice Bridge 21 lands 3  Angel of Despair 4  Blightsteel Colossus 4  Emrakul, the Aeons Torn 4  Simian Spirit Guide 4  Terastodon 3  Urabrask the Hidden 2  Vendilion Clique 24 creatures	4  Ardent Plea 1  Compulsive Research 1  Demonic Dread 3  Hypergenesis 2  Oblivion Ring 4  Violent Outburst 15 other spells Sideboard 4  Dismember 2  Firespout 4  Ingot Chewer 3  Ricochet Trap 1  Sakashima the Impostor 1  Stormtide Leviathan 15 sideboard cards

Erik Lauer - Dredge

2011 Magic Online Community Cup Unified Modern

Main Deck 60 cards
2  Breeding Pool 3  Island 4  Misty Rainforest 1  Overgrown Tomb 3  Scalding Tarn 3  Verdant Catacombs 3  Watery Grave 19 lands 3  Bloodghast 4  Drowned Rusalka 4  Golgari Thug 4  Hedron Crab 2  Iona, Shield of Emeria 4  Narcomoeba 4  Stinkweed Imp 25 creatures	4  Bridge from Below 3  Dread Return 4  Glimpse the Unthinkable 3  Ideas Unbound 2  Life from the Loam 16 other spells Sideboard 1  Ancestor's Chosen 1  Chalice of the Void 4  Darkblast 1  Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite 4  Leyline of the Void 3  Nature's Claim 1  Sphinx of Lost Truths 15 sideboard cards

Lee Sharpe - Kuldotha Red

2011 Magic Online Community Cup Unified Modern

Main Deck 60 cards
3  Blinkmoth Nexus 2  Contested War Zone 4  Darksteel Citadel 9  Mountain 18 lands 2  Clockwork Beetle 2  Goblin Bushwhacker 4  Goblin Guide 4  Memnite 4  Ornithopter 4  Signal Pest 2  Spark Elemental 22 creatures	4  Haze of Rage 4  Kuldotha Rebirth 4  Mox Opal 1  Paradise Mantle 4  Shrapnel Blast 3  Springleaf Drum 20 other spells Sideboard 4  Arc Trail 4  Hellspark Elemental 4  Smash to Smithereens 3  Sylvok Lifestaff 15 sideboard cards

Max McCall - White-Blue Stoneforge

2011 Magic Online Community Cup Unified Modern

Main Deck 60 cards
1  Arid Mesa 2  Glacial Fortress 4  Hallowed Fountain 6  Island 4  Mutavault 2  Plains 4  Seachrome Coast 3  Tectonic Edge 26 lands 4  Spellstutter Sprite 4  Stoneforge Mystic 2  Vendilion Clique 10 creatures	4  Ancestral Vision 1  Batterskull 4  Cryptic Command 2  Jace, the Mind Sculptor 4  Mana Leak 3  Mental Misstep 3  Path to Exile 2  Spell Snare 1  Sword of Fire and Ice 24 other spells Sideboard 2  Elspeth, Knight-Errant 1  Manriki-Gusari 2  Meddling Mage 1  Mental Misstep 1  Path to Exile 2  Pithing Needle 2  Surgical Extraction 1  Sword of Feast and Famine 1  Tectonic Edge 2  Wrath of God 15 sideboard cards

Troy Reppas - White Weenie

2011 Magic Online Community Cup Unified Modern

Main Deck 60 cards
2  Arid Mesa 2  Battlefield Forge 1  Mountain 14  Plains 4  Sacred Foundry 23 lands 4  Ajani's Pridemate 4  Ethersworn Canonist 4  Figure of Destiny 3  Mirran Crusader 4  Serra Avenger 4  Soul Warden 23 creatures	4  Aether Vial 1  Apostle's Blessing 3  Brave the Elements 1  Fling 1  Lapse of Certainty 3  Mask of Memory 1  Oblivion Ring 14 other spells Sideboard 3  Baneslayer Angel 1  Fling 3  Kataki, War's Wage 1  Lapse of Certainty 1  Mana Tithe 3  Manriki-Gusari 1  Oblivion Ring 2  Ranger of Eos 15 sideboard cards

Worth Wollpert - Jund

2011 Magic Online Community Cup Unified Modern

Main Deck 60 cards
1  Arid Mesa 4  Blackcleave Cliffs 2  Blood Crypt 3  Copperline Gorge 1  Forest 4  Grove of the Burnwillows 2  Marsh Flats 1  Mountain 2  Overgrown Tomb 2  Stomping Ground 1  Swamp 2  Twilight Mire 1  Verdant Catacombs 26 lands 4  Bloodbraid Elf 4  Boggart Ram-Gang 4  Dark Confidant 2  Putrid Leech 4  Tarmogoyf 18 creatures	4  Lightning Bolt 4  Maelstrom Pulse 4  Punishing Fire 4  Thoughtseize 16 other spells Sideboard 3  Ancient Grudge 3  Chalice of the Void 3  Inquisition of Kozilek 4  Kitchen Finks 2  Spellbreaker Behemoth 15 sideboard cards

Zac Hill - Dragonstorm

2011 Magic Online Community Cup Unified Modern

Main Deck 60 cards
2  Cascade Bluffs 4  Dreadship Reef 6  Island 1  Mountain 1  Scalding Tarn 4  Shivan Reef 4  Steam Vents 22 lands 4  Bogardan Hellkite 1  Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund 5 creatures	4  Dragonstorm 3  Gigadrowse 2  Jace, the Mind Sculptor 4  Lotus Bloom 4  Ponder 4  Preordain 4  Remand 4  Rite of Flame 4  Seething Song 33 other spells Sideboard 2  Calciform Pools 2  Firespout 1  Gigadrowse 4  Repeal 2  Shadow of Doubt 2  Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir 2  Word of Seizing 15 sideboard cards

Unified Modern, the new kid on the block. Going into this round, the Community was feeling kind of down. They had jumped out to a nice early lead in the Scars of Mirrodin Draft event. Unfortunately, the Multiball Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 Archenemy event did not go as well, with the Wizards team KA-RUSHING them in every match, netting themselves 30 free points. That gave them a 10-point lead going into the Modern Event.

The board did not look like this before Multiball. MULTIBAALLLLL!!!

There was a lot of trash talk before the event, with most of it coming from Dave Guskin, Max McCall, and Zac Hill, two of whom were responsible for the current hole in which the Community team found themselves. One nice little nugget of fire came in a surprising manner thanks to Lee Sharpe, who introduced himself as the man who makes Magic Online System Alerts.

Screw you, Skynet!

Luis Scott-Vargas and Bing Luke, who were the primary builders of the Modern decks, had good things to say about the format. "There are some pretty fast combo decks in the format. I think Hypergenesis is going to be a deck to watch for. It can kill on turn three...or two...or really one, I guess," LSV said with a laugh. Luke contributed that they "built all the decks they liked from the past few Extended seasons and tried to figure out what we were missing."

"Yeah, we didn't make any new decks. I'm definitely sure there are new decks out there to discover. The cards in this format haven't been together without all of the older Legacy cards around them. Someone is going to find something. We didn't want to work on decks we didn't know incredibly well and be unsure how they stacked up, so we stuck with what we knew," LSV explained.

Some of the minds behind the first Modern tournament.

One funny thing that they talked about was the presence of Umezawa's Jitte on the banned list.

"When we were building our decks, we didn't have Jitte in any of them. When I asked Bing if the Stoneforge deck wanted a Jitte in its board, he told me it was banned. I didn't know, and it wasn't the reason we didn't have any in the decks," he laughed. He went on to explain that he figured the format would be too fast for the card to be really impactful. It was mostly good in the mid-range creature deck mirrors, which don't really exist in this format.

The first round saw a slight changing of the tides, and a return to excellence for the Community team. There were some great moments. Whiffy won one of his games at one life against Dave Guskin's Elves deck by resolving Scapeshift for exact damage on the last possible turn. In Erik Lauer's match against Marshall Sutcliffe, he brought an Iona, Shield of Emeria and named blue, which mattered very little when Marshall completely wiped his board with a Wrath of God off the top of his deck! Lee Sharpe's match against LSV had one game come down to LSV passing the turn in preparation to kill Lee oh his next. Lee had one copy of Shrapnel Blast, but not the second one needed to finish him off in the window. At the end of the round, the Community had crawled back to within two points, ready to surge and take the lead.

Max was not the only Wizards player to say this in Round 1.

And surge they did! They absolutely dominated the Wizards team in the second round! The only Wizards deck to win in the second round was Dave Guskin's Elves deck, which completely overpowered Bing Luke's Faerie's deck. Other than that, the Community just ran roughshod over the Wizards crew, some matches closer than others. In Max McCall's match against ChrisKool, Chris managed to attack with his large men into Max's team, which was forced to chump block. That left him with three lands, no board, and 2 life. After untapping, Max's Ancestral Vision unsuspended, drawing him three cards. In those cards? Wrath of God and Hallowed Fountain. Since he was at 2 life, McCall couldn't get it to come into play untapped, preventing him from casting his Wrath of God. It was an unfortunate confluence of events that gave the match to Chris. With the 7-1 performance of the Community Team, they took a massive lead, 95-127.

Your powers combined, I am Captain Community!

The final round was no kinder to the Wizards team. Match by match, Wizards employees fell to the merciless onslaught of the Community. Clearly riding their momentum, the Community manage to defeat all of the Wizards employees save Dwayne St. Arnauld and his Hypergenesis deck. When the last game was settled, the Community had managed to surge from a ten point deficit to a 70-point lead! Half of the team went undefeated: JoeKewwl with his monored deck, Enigma with Hypergenesis, Whiffy with Scapeshift Valakut, and LSV with Elves (obviously).

Looking at the decks presented by both teams, there were many similarities. Both teams had Jund, UW Stoneforge, Elves, and Hypergenesis decks. From there, things differed. The teams ran two different versions of monored, with JoeKewwl's version being a bit more successful than Lee Sharpe's Kuldotha Red. Both teams opted for an alternate combo deck, with Whiffy's Scapeshift edging out Zac Hill's Dragonstorm in the win column. The aggro deck of choice was different as well, with ChrisKool running Junk as opposed to Troy Reppas's White Weenie deck. The last difference was a stylistic choice. The Community team ran a Faeries deck in place of Erik Lauer's Troll-less Dredge deck. In the end, the matchups and deck differences fell in the favor of the Community team, and they will take a commanding 171-101 lead into the final event: Unified Standard!

Wizards is going to have to break out the brooms tomorrow if they want to avoid the threepeat!