Magic The Gathering - Malaysia

Smalltalk: The coverage for the final local PTQ: Kyoto @ Manawerx on the 14th of December are being written and will be posted as soon as possible. Check back soon!



Finland’s Antti Malin and the U.S. team of Michael Jacob, Sam Black, and Paul Cheon are your 2008 World Champions!



Meanwhile, it was heartbreak for Team Malaysia as Au Yong Wai Kin, Chong Kin Leong and Terry Soh finished 5th on the Team Championship, missing out the top 4 single elimination rounds on tiebreakers.

Each of them will receive US$1,500 for their 5th place finish.

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!

- Official MagicTheGathering.com Coverage Team

Player profiles, decklists, news, photos, stories and many more on the World Championships are available on the official coverage here.