Brian Kibler Bio

Carlos Romão played the same style of deck that many people at this year's World Championships chose to play: blue-black Psychatog. He simply played his version better than everyone else playing theirs. Romão, known as "Jaba" to his friends, was a perfect 6-0 during the Swiss portion of the tournament, posting a stunning 12-0 game record. This twenty-year-old native of São Paulo, Brazil, has been widely regarded as one of the best players in South America. His deck tried to stay alive long enough to play Upheaval, while floating mana to replay Psychatog on the same turn.

A native of Toulouse, France, Raphael Levy posted an impressive 5-1 record during the Standard portion of this year's Worlds playing a blue-green deck he named "Le Wonder Goose." This deck used lots of small creatures—like Numble Mongoose and Werebear—that get bigger at threshold. The deck used blue not for countermagic, but for cards like Careful Study and Mental Note, which help the deck reach threshold more quickly, and for Wonder in the graveyard, which allows the deck's pumped-up threshold creatures to fly.

Malaysian National Champion Sim Han How raised some eyebrows by posting a 6-0 record with his blue-green-red "Squirrel Opposition" deck. This deck tried to get out lots of Squirrel tokens with Squirrel Nest before using Opposition to tie up the opponent's creatures and mana. Han How won quite a few games using some tricky sideboarding, such as pulling out his enchantments and bringing in more beatdown cards like Flametongue Kavu and Roar of the Wurm. Besides being a top Magic® player, Han How is also a student at Bandar Utama College in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.