Game 1
The two European stars found themselves in a black-white feature match. Ruel went first, summoning a Carnophage. Budde played Sewer Rats and passed the turn. Ruel summoned several more 1/1 creatures. Kai chose to invest in his Rat instead, enchanting it with Capashen Templar and Unholy Strength. Undaunted, Ruel blocked with several creatures and cast Smite, removing the monster and clearing the way for his little creatures.
Budde was now on the defensive. He tapped down the opposing Carnophage with Paralyze and summoned a Tireless Tribe. He could now block the other 1/1's and pitch excess lands to make it survive combat. Budde got a bit of a payback when he caught Ruel tapped out and attacking with a Sentry. He used Erase to take out Holy Strength, then blocked and killed the creature that Ruel could not regenerate at the moment.
With Ruel down to nine life points, Budde summoned his Circling Vultures. He had exactly three creatures in the graveyard, enough to keep it around for a while. Ruel failed to draw the Vulture of his own, and Budde won via dominating the skies.
Game 2
True to the mirror feel of this match, it was Budde's turn to open with a Carnophage. A stream of inexpensive creatures entered play over the next several turns. Each player only drew one color of mana, however Budde drew his Mana Cylix as well, able to cast white spells. A turn later, Ruel drew a Swamp insuring that this game would not be decided by a poor mana draw.
Paralyze shut down Ruel's Netter en-Dal and Capashen Templar made Budde{s Mtenda Herder better, but Budde proceeded to draw several lands in a row and Ruel recovered. Ruel now possessed a Tragic Poet enchanted by Sadistic Glee and an Aura of Need, and a Vebulid. He also had enough mana to untap his Netter en-Dal.
Eventually, Budde was low enough on the life total to start throwing away creatures to the mighty Tragic Poet (which now had two plus one plus one counters on it). He was finally without defenses, when he drew . . . Smite. Only a turn earlier, the card would have been excellent and could put the Player of the Year back in the game, but now it only mocked him, sending the match into game 3.
Game 3
Each player started their games by playing a Sarcomancy. The two tokens traded in combat, each player apparently feeling he could gain the advantage from the drain of one life per turn. In fact, advantage went to Budde as Ruel failed to draw a Plains, with most of the cards in his hand being white.
Budde summoned several more little creatures, and enchanted his Icatian Javelineer with Unholy Strength. Several attack steps later, the game ended, Ruel never finding a source of white mana.
Final Result: Budde 2 - Ruel 1