Malin, Team USA Crowned Kings of Magic

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

2008 Worlds: National Team Final and Awards Ceremony

2008 Worlds Finals: Game 1 Highlights

2008 Worlds Finals: Game 2 Highlights

2008 Worlds Finals: Game 3 Highlights

2008 Worlds Finals: Game 4 Highlights

2008 Worlds: National Team Final and Awards Ceremony

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 bracket

Quaterfinals

(1) Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa

(8) Jamie Parke

(4) Frank Karsten

(5) Tsuyoshi Ikeda

(2) Antti Malin

(7) Akira Asahara

(3) Kenji Tsumura

(6) Hannes Kerem

Semi-finals

Jamie Parke, 3-2

Tsuyoshi Ikeda, 3-0

Antti Malin, 3-1

Hannes Kerem, 3-2

Finals

Jamie Parke, 3-0

Antti Malin, 3-2

Champion

Antti Malin, 3-1

National Team Semifinal

Brazil

Australia

Japan

United States

National Team Final

Australia, 3-0

United States, 2-1

Team Champion

United States, 2-0

Last Updated: Saturday, 7:35 p.m.	Last Updated: Saturday, 9:30 p.m.

Click on the images to navigate to the Coverage Blog and the Worlds Podcasts.

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 Malin
by 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 States
by Bill Stark
Team Semifinals: Swept Away
Brazil vs. Australia
by Steve Sadin
Semifinals: Achieving the Improbable
Hannes Kerem vs. Antti Malin
by Bill Stark
Semifinals: The Monks of War
Tsuyoshi Ikeda vs. Jamie Parke
by Nate Price
Quarterfinals: All’s Faer in Love and War
Akira Asahara vs. Antti Malin
by Josh Bennett
Quarterfinals: Bitter Enemies
Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa vs. Jamie Parke
by Nate Price
Quarterfinals: “Get There!”
Tsuyoshi Ikeda vs. Frank Karsten
by Marc Calderaro
Quarterfinals: Broken Ambitions
Kenji Tsumura vs. Hannes Kerem
by 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 Emeritus
by 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 States
by Bill Stark
National Team Round 3: It’s All About the Math
Malaysia vs. South Korea
by 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. Japan
by 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