After 15 rounds of Standard, with a total of 1,689 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!
Matthew Hunt
Age: 28
Occupation: Engineer
Hometown: Bath, United Kingdom
Previous Magic accomplishments:
Won the PTQ in Cardiff which was the final PTQ ever, I think.
What deck did you play and why?
Blue-Red Ulamog. It's fun, plays Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger and a ton of counterspells. Why play anything else? Also, Chandra's pretty good.
What changes would you make to your deck and why?
No idea. Maybe a few cards in the sideboard need switching up.
What's the most important card in your deck?
Ulamog not really. Drowner of Hope is the best.
Lauri Vuorela
Age: 30
Occupation: Supply chain coordinator
Hometown: Stockholm, Sweden
Previous Magic accomplishments:
I lost the semifinals of two Game Days.
What deck did you play and why?
Bant Eldrazi, basically a Cryptolith Rite deck with main deck Reality Smashers. Magnus Lantto and Oliver Tiu played it at the MOCS and I liked the way it played.
What changes would you make to your deck and why?
I'm not sure, maybe play something else instead of the Nissa, because she didn't really perform during the weekend.
What's the most important card in your deck?
Eldrazi Displacer. As long as Reflector Mage hangs around at least.
Oscar Christensen
Age: 20
Occupation: Substitute teacher
Hometown: Copenhagen, Denmark
Previous Magic accomplishments:
Grand Prix Gothenburg 2013 winner, Super Sunday Series finalist 2015, positive record against Christoffer Larsen.
What deck did you play and why?
Green-White Tokens, the best deck of the format. I haven't really played this Standard format before so the choice was obvious to me.
What changes would you make to your deck and why?
I would put a Plains into the sideboard so I could bring it in whenever I cut some copies of Oath of Nissa.
What's the most important card in your deck?
Jonas Friberg
Age: 21
Occupation: Chef
Hometown: Stockholm, Sweden
Previous Magic accomplishments:
Top 8 at Grand Prix Barcelona 2016.
What deck did you play and why?
Grixis Control. It fits my play style and it has room for one-ofs to tune.
What changes would you make to your deck and why?
I would add a Radiant Flames to the sideboard, not sure what to take out.
What's the most important card in your deck?
Julien Henry
Age: 23
Occupation: Student
Hometown: Reims, France
Previous Magic accomplishments:
Played Pro Tour Oath of the Gatewatch, came in tenth at Grand Prix London 2015.
What deck did you play and why?
Bant Company. Very high power level and has game against everything.
What changes would you make to your deck and why?
I would not play Clip Wings.
What's the most important card in your deck?
Christoffer Larsen
Age: 27
Occupation: Navy
Hometown: Copenhagen, Denmark
Previous Magic accomplishments:
Three Grand Prix Top 8s, Top 8 at the World Magic Cup 2015, two-time Two-Headed Giant champion with Oscar Christensen.
What deck did you play and why?
Green-White. Should have played Martin Müller's Mono-Blue.
What changes would you make to your deck and why?
Nothing performed very well.
What's the most important card in your deck?
Adam Bajerowicz
Age: 31
Occupation: Purchasing manager
Hometown: Gdańsk, Poland
Previous Magic accomplishments:
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What deck did you play and why?
Bant Company because it is a good deck against Green-White Tokens and against control.
What changes would you make to your deck and why?
I would not change anything.
What's the most important card in your deck?
Declaration in Stone. It won many games for me.
Raphaël Lévy
Age: 34
Occupation: Publisher at Jits Magazine
Hometown: Toulouse, France
Previous Magic accomplishments:
Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame. Thanks a lot to my sponsors: TCGPlayer.com, Fantasy Sphere, and Cartapapa.
What deck did you play and why?
Green-White with Chandra, Flamecaller in the main deck. It's the only deck I managed to win games with prior to the tournament.
What changes would you make to your deck and why?
Maybe cut the Lambholt Pacifists, they were pretty underwhelming.
What's the most important card in your deck?