2008 Magic World Championship

Finland’s Antti Malin and the U.S. team of Michael Jacob, Sam Black, and Paul Cheon are your 2008 World Champions!
Malin and his Faeries deck defeated a resurgent Jamie Parke and his Five-Color Control in the finals to take home the World Champion trophy and the $45,000 first prize. Malin defeated Akira Asahara and Hannes Kerem en route to his first major championship.
Team USA captured the team title on the backs of wins by Black and Cheon in the Team Finals. Black defeated Rookie of the Year Aaron Nicastri in the Extended matchup, while Cheon outlasted Justin Cheung a the Legacy duel featuring an epic Standstill that finally cracked in Cheon’s favor. That win rendered the outcome of the Standard matchup between Jacob and Brandon Lau moot in the best-of-three Finals.
That’s not all the hardware that was handed out over the weekend. Shuhei Nakamura fended off all challengers to win the 2008 Player of the Year trophy, and the Pro Tour Hall of Fame inducted its five newest members: Dirk Baberowski, Mike Turian, Jelger Wiegersma, Olivier Ruel, and Ben Rubin. Nicastri’s 17th-place finish in the individual standings and runner-up status in the team competition cemented his Rookie of the Year, culminating a mad dash around the world for Pro Points that started back when he won the Australia National Championship.
Congratulations to all the champions crowned this weekend in Memphis. As the curtain comes down on this 2008 Pro Tour season, all we have to say is thank you...thank you very much.
See you in Kyoto!
TOURNAMENT CENTER
Sunday Wrap-up
Congratulations to Antti Malin and the U.S. National Team, your 2008 Magic World Champions. Randy Buehler and Brian David-Marshall recap the full weekend from Memphis, including a quick chat with Malin just minutes after his victory.
Top 8 Video Archvies
- Finals (94.2 MB zip)
- National Team Finals (84.9 MB zip)
- Semifinals (84.9 MB zip)
- National Team Semifinals (80 MB zip)
- Quarterfinals (117 MB zip)
- Prelude to a Championship (18.4 MB zip)
- Magic Pro Tour on YouTube.com
top 8 bracket
Last Updated: Saturday, 7:35 p.m. | Last Updated: Saturday, 9:30 p.m. |
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EVENT COVERAGE
- Decklists: Top 8 Decklists
by Event Coverage Staff
- Decklists: National Team Top 4 Decklists
by Event Coverage Staff
- Decklists: Top Standard Decklists
by Event Coverage Staff
- Decklists: Top Extended Decklists
by Event Coverage Staff
- Feature: Player of the Year - Shuhei Nakamura
by Bill Stark
- Feature: Rookie of the Year - Aaron Nicastri
by Marc Calderaro
- Finals: The Finnish Line
Jamie Parke vs. Antti Malinby Bill Stark - Team Finals: Standstill
Legacy – Justin Cheung [AUS] vs. Paul Cheon [USA]by Steve Sadin - Team Finals: Such Great Heights
Standard – Brandon Lau [AUS] vs. Michael Jacob [USA]by Josh Bennett - Team Finals: Grave Digging
Extended – Aaron Nicastri [AUS] vs. Sam Black [USA]by Marc Calderaro - Team Semifinals: No Help There
Japan vs. United Statesby Bill Stark - Team Semifinals: Swept Away
Brazil vs. Australiaby Steve Sadin - Semifinals: Achieving the Improbable
Hannes Kerem vs. Antti Malinby Bill Stark - Semifinals: The Monks of War
Tsuyoshi Ikeda vs. Jamie Parkeby Nate Price - Quarterfinals: All’s Faer in Love and War
Akira Asahara vs. Antti Malinby Josh Bennett - Quarterfinals: Bitter Enemies
Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa vs. Jamie Parkeby Nate Price - Quarterfinals: “Get There!”
Tsuyoshi Ikeda vs. Frank Karstenby Marc Calderaro - Quarterfinals: Broken Ambitions
Kenji Tsumura vs. Hannes Keremby Bill Stark - Photo Essay: Towards the Grand Finale
by Craig Gibson and Josh Bennett
- Feature: Top 8 Profiles
by Event Coverage Staff
- Worlds National Teams: Top 4 Team Profiles
by Event Coverage Staff
- Feature: Rookie of the Year Up for Grabs Sunday
by Bill Stark
- Feature: Welcome to Level E
The DCI Announces Emeritusby Event Coverage Staff - Feature: Richard Garfield vs. Aaron Forsythe
by Josh Bennett
- Feature: Beat the Champs!
by Josh Bennett
- Decklists: Undefeated Extended Decklists
by Event Coverage Staff
- Feature: Extended Archetype Breakdown
by Bill Stark
- Round 18: Tempting Fate
Kenji Tsumura [JPN] vs. Hannes Kerem [EST]by Nate Price - Round 17: Faerie Fire
Jamie Parke [USA] vs. Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa [BRA]by Bill Stark - Round 16: Wiggle, Wiggle, Wiggle!
Manuel Bucher [CHE] vs. Tyler Mantey [USA]by Nate Price - Round 15: All That Bluster....
Ervin Tormos [USA] vs. Marijn Lybaert [BEL]by Marc Calderaro - Round 14: Peeling the Ognjen
Akira Asahara [JPN] vs. Ognjen Cividini [HRV]by Nate Price - Video Dech Tech: Monoblue Control in Extended
by Event Coverage Staff
- Video Dech Tech: Sunburst Gifts in Extended
by Event Coverage Staff
- Round 13: Insufficient
Hannes Kerem [EST] vs. Masashi Oiso [JPN]by Josh Bennett - Feature: Setting Up the Scoreboard
by Rich Hagon
- National Team Round 4: “See You in the Top 4!”
Japan vs. United Statesby Bill Stark - National Team Round 3: It’s All About the Math
Malaysia vs. South Koreaby Nate Price - Video Dech Tech: Legacy Dreadstill with Paul Cheon
by Event Coverage Staff
- Photo Essay: A Look at Day 2
by Event Coverage Staff
- Feature: Undefeated Drafters
by Nate Price
- Round 12: On Reflection
Yuuya Watanabe [JPN] vs. Kenji Tsumura [JPN]by Josh Bennett - Round 11: No Retreat, No Surrender
Ervin Tormos [USA] vs. Akira Asahara [JPN]by Marc Calderaro - Video Draft Tech: Frank Karsten
by Event Coverage Staff
- Feature: Forget About Drafting the Shards—Let’s Talk About Alara
by Nate Price
- Round 10: The Punisher
Shingou Kurihara [JPN) vs. Raphael Levy (FRA)by Bill Stark - Photo Essay: A Game in the Life of Shards Limited
by Marc Calderaro
- Draft Viewer: Draft 2, Table 4
by Event Coverage Staff
- Round 9: The Curse
Justin Cheung (AUS] vs. Ben Lundquist [USA]by Bill Stark - Round 8: Smashin’ in Fashion
Gaudenis Vidugiris [LTU] vs Ben Rubin [USA]by Josh Bennett - Feature: Hall of Fame Video Retrospectives
by Event Coverage Staff
- Round 7: Savage Eats
Aaron Nicastri [AUS] vs. Masashi Oiso [JPN]by Nate Price - Video Draft Tech: Luis Scott-Vargas
by Event Coverage Staff
- Info: Round 7 Pods
by Event Coverage Staff
- Draft Viewer: Draft 1, Table 1
by Event Coverage Staff
- Photo Essay: National Teams
by Craig Gibson
- Column: A View of the Worlds
by Brian David-Marshall
- Video Deck Tech: Red-white Aggro with Aaron Nicastri
by Event Coverage Staff
- Video Deck Tech: Black-white Tokens with Martin Juza
by Event Coverage Staff
- National Team Round 2: Factory Showroom - Legacy
Paul Cheon [USA] vs Adam Katz [South Africa]by Bill Stark - National Team Round 1: Drawing a Crowd
Australia vs. Japanby Nate Price - Round 6: The Dice Man
Frank Karsten [NLD] vs. Shuhei Nakamura [JPN]by Bill Stark - Decklists: 6-0 Standard Decklists
by Event Coverage Staff
- Round 5: Knight Terrors
Gerry Thompson [USA] vs. Aaron Nicastri [AUS]by Josh Bennett - Deck Tech: Wakefield Lives On!
by Marc Calderaro
- Round 4: “Is That in the Format?”
Antoine Ruel [FRA] vs. Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa [BRA]by Marc Calderaro - Round 3: No Dice
Jon Finkel [USA] vs. Katsuhiro Mori [JPN]by Bill Stark - Round 2: Bitter Justice
Jelger Wiegersma [NLD] vs. Yuuya Watanabe [JPN]by Nate Price - Photo Essay: Worlds Kickoff
by Craig Gibson and Josh Bennett
- Round 1: Up in Smoke
Junya Iyanaga [JPN] vs. Uri Peleg [ISR]by Josh Bennett - Feature: Standard Archetype Breakdown
by Bill Stark
- Feature: Feature Matches, Minus the Feature
by Bill Stark
- Hall of Fame Profile: Dirk Baberowski
by Brian David-Marshall
- Hall of Fame Profile: Mike Turian
by Brian David-Marshall
- Hall of Fame Profile: Jelger Wiegersma
by Brian David-Marshall
- Hall of Fame Profile: Olivier Ruel
by Brian David-Marshall
- Hall of Fame Profile: Ben Rubin
by Brian David-Marshall
- Hall of Fame: Complete Coverage
by Event Coverage Staff
- Round 1 Player List
by Event Coverage Staff
- National Team Player Lists
by Event Coverage Staff
- Round 1 Players By Country
by Event Coverage Staff
- Feature: Going to Memphis
by Zac Hill
- Preview: Worlds on our Doorstep
by Brian David-Marshall
- Info: Fact Sheet
by Event Coverage Staff
INFORMATION
1. Antti Malin | $45,000 | |
2. Jamie Parke | $24,000 | |
3. Tsuyoshi Ikeda | $15,000 | |
4. Hannes Kerem | $14,000 | |
5. Paulo Vitor Damo Da Rosa | $11,000 | |
6. Kenji Tsumura | $10,500 | |
7. Frank Karsten | $10,000 | |
8. Akira Asahara | $9,500 |
pairings, results, standings
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