After 15 rounds of Standard, with a total of 1,448 others eliminated, only eight players remained in the running for the fame and the fortune, the title and the trophy. Find out more about these people here!
Age: 23
Occupation: Snake handler
Hometown: Lisbon, Portugal
Previous Magic accomplishments:
Team Portugal at the 2016 World Magic Cup.
What deck did you play and why?
Red-Green Marvel splashing Nahiri, the Harbinger, because I initially disliked the format and wasn't skilled enough to play White-Blue mirrors all day.
What changes would you make to your deck and why?
I think the deck is really good right now.
What's the most important card in your deck?
Aetherworks Marvel and Emrakul, the Promised End of course, but the best card is Nahiri, the Harbinger.
Age: 30
Occupation: Business analyst
Hometown: Rome, Italy
Previous Magic accomplishments:
Bomberboss and Matteo Moure's babysitter. [Editor's note: Also, four Grand Prix Top 8s and a Pro Tour Top 8.]
What deck did you play and why?
Red-Green Marvel because Emrakul, the Promised End is just a nonsense card.
What changes would you make to your deck and why?
If it were possible I would like to play five Aetherworks Marvel.
What's the most important card in your deck?
Tireless Tracker for sure!
Age: 23
Occupation: Not working at the moment, ex-technician
Hometown: Nantes, France
Previous Magic accomplishments:
None!
What deck did you play and why?
I played Black-Red Aggro because I like to play aggro and to use burn spells! Also, I figured that there would be many White-Blue players at the Grand Prix, and the matchup against them is great.
What changes would you make to your deck and why?
I'm not sure about the number of Galvanic Bombardments. Overall fine sideboard, just change some numbers in respect to the expected matchups.
What's the most important card in your deck?
Age: 28
Occupation: Student of computer science
Hometown: Mallorca, Spain
Previous Magic accomplishments:
…
What deck did you play and why?
White-Blue Flash, because it's the best option against Marvel and Black-Green Delirium.
What changes would you make to your deck and why?
I would take out one Blessed Alliance and would ad one Immolating Glare. It's very good against Smuggler's Copter.
What's the most important card in your deck?
Name: Rafael Sarriegui Hidalgo
Age: 24
Occupation: English teacher
Hometown: Donosti, Spain
Previous Magic accomplishments:
Having fun.
What deck did you play and why?
Black-Red Zombies. It has a good White-Blue Flash matchup and aggro matchup, too. The bad matchups are winnable thanks to the Haunted Dead and Prized Amalgam combo.
What changes would you make to your deck and why?
Not one.
What's the most important card in your deck?
Cryptbreaker/Voldaren, Pariah
Age: 26
Occupation: Student
Hometown: Detmold, Germany
Previous Magic accomplishments:
No one really cares. [Editor cares about Top 8s at Grand Prix Prague and Kraków 2015.]
What deck did you play and why?
Red-Green Marvel splashing for Negate and Linvala, the Preserver to improve the White-Blue and aggro matchups.
What changes would you make to your deck and why?
Try out Nahiri, the Harbinger since she's really good in the mirror.
What's the most important card in your deck?
Aetherworks Marvel for sure.
Age: 22
Occupation: Salesmen
Hometown: Napoli, Italy
Previous Magic accomplishments:
Defeated Federico Del Basso in a Limited tournament.
What deck did you play and why?
Red-Green Marvel. I like to cast a beast on turn four.
What changes would you make to your deck and why?
Not one. I'm Top 8 at a Grand Prix!
What's the most important card in your deck?
Age: 27
Occupation:
Hometown: Preston, England
Previous Magic accomplishments:
Two Pro Tour Qualifier Top 8s, lol.
What deck did you play and why?
White-Blue Cawblade. It's the best Gideon deck.
What changes would you make to your deck and why?
None at the moment.
What's the most important card in your deck?
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, duh. But Key to the City was great all weekend. Thanks for the tech, Rob Catton!
