Modern Coverage MKM Series London 2016

Event Coverage of the MKM Series London

Legacy Coverage of the MKM Series London 2016
Modern Coverage
Standard Coverage of the MKM Series London 2016
Vintage Coverage MKM Series London 2016

The Modern main event of the MKM Series London 2016 is in the books!

91 players had entered the tournament with high hopes of fame and fortune and, as is often the case in Modern, they proved that the format is wide open. Fittingly, our Top 8 consisted of eight different decks, with both the expected decks like B/G/x Midrange and some of the underdogs that few Magicians had on their respective radars represented.

In the end, it was Aaron Burns Lees with his trusty Dredge build who overcame fierce competition, first defeating Grand Prix Paris 2016 quarterfinalist Fabian Friedrich in the quarterfinals and then Stuart Wright, one of the UK's most decorated players, in the semifinals. The final, against Rob Catton ended up being a pretty clear-cut affair with Burns Lees betting on the correct assumption that there wasn't enough graveyard hate in the UK metagame to reliably stop Dredge from going off. Or, to be more specific, two copies of Rest in Peace in the sideboard of Catton's White-Blue Control just didn't cut it.

While our Top 8 players had already agreed to split the prizes, Burns Lees was still happy to walk away with the trophy and the title of MKM Series London 2016 Modern Champion!

Congratulations to Aaron Burns Lees on a great metagame call and an impressive run in out Modern main event! We hope to see many of today's competitors again tomorrow when they'll be sleeving up for our Standard or Legacy main events!

Congratulations to Aaron Burns Lees, Dredge Master and Champion of the MKM Series London 2016 Modern Main Event!

Fabian Brand
0

Stuart Wright
2

Aaron Burns Lees
2

Fabian Friedrich
1

Rob Catton
2

Alex Watson
1

Richard Coates
2

Charles Eliatamby
1

Stuart Wright
0

Aaron Burns Lees
2

Rob Catton
2

Richard Coates
0

Aaron Burns Lees
2

Rob Catton
0

Aaron Burns Lees

Top 8 Decklists

Fabian Friedrich – Affinity

Fabian Friedrich – Affinity

Lands (17)
  • 4 Blinkmoth Nexus
  • 4 Darksteel Citadel
  • 3 Glimmervoid
  • 1 Sea Gate Wreckage
  • 4 Inkmoth Nexus
  • 1 Mountain
Creatures (27)
  • 4 Arcbound Ravager
  • 2 Etched Champion
  • 2 Master of Etherium
  • 3 Memnite
  • 4 Ornithopter
  • 4 Signal Pest
  • 4 Steel Overseer
  • 4 Vault Skirge
Instants (4)
  • 4 Galvanic Blast
Artifacts (12)
  • 4 Cranial Plating
  • 4 Mox Opal
  • 4 Springleaf Drum
Sideboard
  • 1 Ancient Grudge
  • 1 Dismember
  • 2 Etched Champion
  • 2 Ghirapur Aether Grid
  • 1 Grafdigger's Cage
  • 2 Spell Pierce
  • 1 Spellskite
  • 2 Thoughtseize
  • 1 Whipflare
  • 1 Charlice of the Void
  • 1 Relic of Progenitus
txt version

Fabian Friedrich – Affinity
Lands (17)
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
4 Darksteel Citadel
3 Glimmervoid
1 Sea Gate Wreckage
4 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Mountain
Creatures (27)
4 Arcbound Ravager
2 Etched Champion
2 Master of Etherium
3 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Signal Pest
4 Steel Overseer
4 Vault Skirge
Instants (4)
4 Galvanic Blast
Artifacts (12)
4 Cranial Plating
4 Mox Opal
4 Springleaf Drum
Sideboard
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Dismember
2 Etched Champion
2 Ghirapur Aether Grid
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Spell Pierce
1 Spellskite
2 Thoughtseize
1 Whipflare
1 Charlice of the Void
1 Relic of Progenitus

Stuart Wright – Gifts Ungiven

Stuart Wright – Gifts Ungiven

Main Deck
  • 4 Gifts Ungiven
  • 4 Nahiri, the Harbinger
  • 4 Birds of Paradise
  • 3 Noble Hierarch
  • 1 Snapcaster Mage
  • 3 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
  • 2 Vendilion Clique
  • 1 Eternal Witness
  • 4 Lightning Bolt
  • 3 Remand
  • 3 Path to Exile
  • 1 Electrolyze
  • 1 Unburial Rites
  • 1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
  • 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
  • 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
  • 1 Forest
  • 1 Island
  • 1 Plains
  • 4 Misty Rainforest
  • 4 Windswept Heath
  • 1 Stomping Ground
  • 1 Hallowed Fountain
  • 1 Breeding Pool
  • 1 Temple Garden
  • 1 Copperline Gorge
  • 1 Horizon Canopy
  • 1 Sacred Foundry
  • 4 Flooded Strand
  • 1 Steam Vents
Sideboard
  • 1 Path to Exile
  • 2 Dispel
  • 2 Threads of Disloyalty
  • 3 Spellskite
  • 2 Ancient Grudge
  • 1 Ray of Revelation
  • 3 Blood Moon
  • 1 Terastodon
txt version

Stuart Wright – Gifts Ungiven
Main Deck
4 Gifts Ungiven
4 Nahiri, the Harbinger
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Noble Hierarch
1 Snapcaster Mage
3 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
2 Vendilion Clique
1 Eternal Witness
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Remand
3 Path to Exile
1 Electrolyze
1 Unburial Rites
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Forest
1 Island
1 Plains
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Windswept Heath
1 Stomping Ground
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Breeding Pool
1 Temple Garden
1 Copperline Gorge
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Flooded Strand
1 Steam Vents
Sideboard
1 Path to Exile
2 Dispel
2 Threads of Disloyalty
3 Spellskite
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Ray of Revelation
3 Blood Moon
1 Terastodon

Richard Coates – Living End

Richard Coates – Living End

Main Deck
  • 1 Forest
  • 2 Swamp
  • 1 Mountain
  • 2 Wooded Foothills
  • 3 Bloodstained Mire
  • 4 Copperline Gorge
  • 1 Blackcleave Cliffs
  • 1 Blood Crypt
  • 1 Stomping Ground
  • 1 Overgrown Tomb
  • 3 Sulfurous Springs
  • 4 Fulminator Mage
  • 4 Monstrous Carabid
  • 1 Jungle Weaver
  • 1 Pale Recluse
  • 2 Simian Spirit Guide
  • 4 Street Wraith
  • 3 Faerie Macabre
  • 4 Deadshot Minotaur
  • 4 Architects of Will
  • 3 Beast Within
  • 2 Violent Outburst
  • 4 Demonic Dread
  • 3 Living End
Sideboard
  • 3 Ingot Chewer
  • 2 Choke
  • 3 Ricochet Trap
  • 2 Ravenous Trap
  • 2 Dismember
  • 3 Brindle Boar
txt version

Richard Coates – Living End
Main Deck
1 Forest
2 Swamp
1 Mountain
2 Wooded Foothills
3 Bloodstained Mire
4 Copperline Gorge
1 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Blood Crypt
1 Stomping Ground
1 Overgrown Tomb
3 Sulfurous Springs
4 Fulminator Mage
4 Monstrous Carabid
1 Jungle Weaver
1 Pale Recluse
2 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Street Wraith
3 Faerie Macabre
4 Deadshot Minotaur
4 Architects of Will
3 Beast Within
2 Violent Outburst
4 Demonic Dread
3 Living End
Sideboard
3 Ingot Chewer
2 Choke
3 Ricochet Trap
2 Ravenous Trap
2 Dismember
3 Brindle Boar

Fabian Brand – Kiki Evolution

Fabian Brand – Kiki Evolution

Main Deck
  • 2 Forest
  • 1 Plains
  • 1 Mountain
  • 2 Sacred Foundry
  • 2 Stomping Ground
  • 1 Temple Garden
  • 2 Raging Ravine
  • 1 Stirring Wildwood
  • 4 Wooded Foothills
  • 4 Windswept Heath
  • 1 Arid Mesa
  • 1 Horizon Canopy
  • 1 Fire-Lit Thicket
  • 2 Razorverge Thicket
  • 4 Lightning Bolt
  • 4 Path to Exile
  • 4 Eldritch Evolution
  • 4 Voice of Resurgence
  • 4 Wall of Omens
  • 4 Restoration Angel
  • 3 Eternal Witness
  • 1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
  • 1 Inferno Titan
  • 1 Qasali Pridemage
  • 1 Scavenging Ooze
  • 1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
  • 1 Reveillark
  • 1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
  • 1 Obstinate Baloth
Sideboard
  • 4 Engineered Explosives
  • 3 Lightning Helix
  • 2 Fulminator Mage
  • 1 Thragtusk
  • 1 Reclamation Sage
  • 1 Vulshok Sorcerer
  • 1 Spellskite
  • 1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
  • 1 Archangel of Tithes
txt version

Fabian Brand – Kiki Evolution
Main Deck
2 Forest
1 Plains
1 Mountain
2 Sacred Foundry
2 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
2 Raging Ravine
1 Stirring Wildwood
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Windswept Heath
1 Arid Mesa
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Fire-Lit Thicket
2 Razorverge Thicket
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
4 Eldritch Evolution
4 Voice of Resurgence
4 Wall of Omens
4 Restoration Angel
3 Eternal Witness
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Inferno Titan
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Reveillark
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Obstinate Baloth
Sideboard
4 Engineered Explosives
3 Lightning Helix
2 Fulminator Mage
1 Thragtusk
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Vulshok Sorcerer
1 Spellskite
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Archangel of Tithes

Rob Catton – UW Control

Rob Catton – UW Control

Main Deck
  • 4 Celestial Colonnade
  • 4 Flooded Strand
  • 2 Glacial Fortress
  • 2 Hallowed Fountain
  • 1 Mystic Gate
  • 3 Plains
  • 5 Island
  • 3 Tectonic Edge
  • 2 Ghost Quarter
  • 2 Ancestral Vision
  • 2 Spell Snare
  • 4 Path to Exile
  • 3 Mana Leak
  • 1 Blessed Alliance
  • 1 Negate
  • 1 Detention Sphere
  • 3 Cryptic Command
  • 2 Supreme Verdict
  • 1 Wrath of God
  • 1 Jace, Architect of Thought
  • 1 Gideon Jura
  • 2 Sphinx's Revelation
  • 4 Wall of Omens
  • 2 Snapcaster Mage
  • 2 Kitchen Finks
  • 2 Restoration Angel
Sideboard
  • 1 Grafdigger's Cage
  • 1 Ghostly Prison
  • 1 Sunlance
  • 1 Blessed Alliance
  • 1 Spellskite
  • 1 Crucible of Worlds
  • 1 Vendilion Clique
  • 1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
  • 1 Negate
  • 2 Rest in Peace
  • 2 Stony Silence
  • 2 Dispel
txt version

Rob Catton – UW Control
Main Deck
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Flooded Strand
2 Glacial Fortress
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Mystic Gate
3 Plains
5 Island
3 Tectonic Edge
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Ancestral Vision
2 Spell Snare
4 Path to Exile
3 Mana Leak
1 Blessed Alliance
1 Negate
1 Detention Sphere
3 Cryptic Command
2 Supreme Verdict
1 Wrath of God
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Gideon Jura
2 Sphinx's Revelation
4 Wall of Omens
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Kitchen Finks
2 Restoration Angel
Sideboard
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Ghostly Prison
1 Sunlance
1 Blessed Alliance
1 Spellskite
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1 Negate
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
2 Dispel

Aaron Burns Lees – Dredge

Aaron Burns Lees – Dredge

Main Deck
  • 4 Bloodghast
  • 4 Golgari Grave-Troll
  • 1 Haunted Dead
  • 4 Insolent Neonate
  • 4 Narcomoeba
  • 4 Prized Amalgam
  • 4 Stinkweed Imp
  • 2 Shriekhorn
  • 2 Tormenting Voice
  • 1 Lightning Axe
  • 1 Darkblast
  • 1 Rally the Peasants
  • 2 Conflagrate
  • 4 Faithless Looting
  • 2 Life from the Loam
  • 3 Mountain
  • 2 Blood Crypt
  • 3 Wooded Foothills
  • 2 Dakmor Salvage
  • 4 Bloodstained Mire
  • 1 City of Brass
  • 3 Mana Confluence
  • 2 Stomping Ground
Sideboard
  • 1 Lightning Axe
  • 1 Darkblast
  • 1 Abrupt Decay
  • 1 Engineered Explosives
  • 3 Ancient Grudge
  • 1 Duress
  • 1 Inquisition of Kozilek
  • 1 Collective Brutality
  • 3 Nature's Claim
  • 2 Leyline of the Void
txt version

Aaron Burns Lees – Dredge
Main Deck
4 Bloodghast
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
1 Haunted Dead
4 Insolent Neonate
4 Narcomoeba
4 Prized Amalgam
4 Stinkweed Imp
2 Shriekhorn
2 Tormenting Voice
1 Lightning Axe
1 Darkblast
1 Rally the Peasants
2 Conflagrate
4 Faithless Looting
2 Life from the Loam
3 Mountain
2 Blood Crypt
3 Wooded Foothills
2 Dakmor Salvage
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 City of Brass
3 Mana Confluence
2 Stomping Ground
Sideboard
1 Lightning Axe
1 Darkblast
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Engineered Explosives
3 Ancient Grudge
1 Duress
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Collective Brutality
3 Nature's Claim
2 Leyline of the Void

Alex Watson – Abzan Company

Alex Watson – Abzan Company

Main Deck
  • 4 Birds of Paradise
  • 3 Noble Hierarch
  • 3 Wall of Roots
  • 2 Viscera Seer
  • 2 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
  • 2 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
  • 4 Kitchen Finks
  • 1 Murderous Redcap
  • 1 Spike Feeder
  • 1 Archangel of Thune
  • 2 Voice of Resurgence
  • 1 Scavenging Ooze
  • 2 Eternal Witness
  • 1 Courser of Kruphix
  • 1 Fiend Hunter
  • 4 Verdant Catacombs
  • 4 Windswept Heath
  • 1 Marsh Flats
  • 2 Temple Garden
  • 2 Overgrown Tomb
  • 1 Godless Shrine
  • 2 Gavony Township
  • 2 Razorverge Thicket
  • 2 Forest
  • 1 Plains
  • 1 Swamp
Sideboard
  • 2 Path to Exile
  • 1 Abrupt Decay
  • 1 Maelstrom Pulse
  • 2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
  • 2 Fulminator Mage
  • 1 Kataki, War's Wage
  • 1 Anafenza, the Foremost
  • 1 Qasali Pridemage
  • 1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
  • 1 Spellskite
  • 1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
  • 1 Courser of Kruphix
txt version

Alex Watson – Abzan Company
Main Deck
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Noble Hierarch
3 Wall of Roots
2 Viscera Seer
2 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
2 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
4 Kitchen Finks
1 Murderous Redcap
1 Spike Feeder
1 Archangel of Thune
2 Voice of Resurgence
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Eternal Witness
1 Courser of Kruphix
1 Fiend Hunter
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
1 Marsh Flats
2 Temple Garden
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Godless Shrine
2 Gavony Township
2 Razorverge Thicket
2 Forest
1 Plains
1 Swamp
Sideboard
2 Path to Exile
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Fulminator Mage
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Anafenza, the Foremost
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Spellskite
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Courser of Kruphix

Charles Eliatamby – Jund

Charles Eliatamby – Jund

Lands (23)
  • 4 Blackcleave Cliffs
  • 1 Blood Crypt
  • 3 Bloodstained Mire
  • 1 Forest
  • 2 Overgrown Tomb
  • 3 Raging Ravine
  • 1 Stomping Ground
  • 2 Swamp
  • 1 Twilight Mire
  • 4 Verdant Catacombs
  • 1 Wooded Foothills
Creatures (15)
  • 4 Dark Confidant
  • 4 Grim Flayer
  • 1 Grim Lavamancer
  • 2 Scavenging Ooze
  • 4 Tarmogoyf
Instants and Sorceries (17)
  • 3 Abrupt Decay
  • 4 Inquisition of Kozilek
  • 4 Lightning Bolt
  • 1 Maelstrom Pulse
  • 3 Terminate
  • 2 Thoughtseize
Planeswalkers (5)
  • 3 Liliana of the Veil
  • 2 Liliana, the Last Hope
Sideboard
  • 2 Ancient Grudge
  • 1 Damnation
  • 1 Duress
  • 1 Engineered Explosives
  • 1 Grafdigger's Cage
  • 1 Grim Lavamancer
  • 1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
  • 1 Kozilek's Return
  • 1 Liliana, the Last Hope
  • 1 Maelstrom Pulse
  • 2 Nihil Spellbomb
  • 1 Slaughter Pact
  • 1 Thoughtseize
txt version

Charles Eliatamby – Jund
Lands (23)
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Blood Crypt
3 Bloodstained Mire
1 Forest
2 Overgrown Tomb
3 Raging Ravine
1 Stomping Ground
2 Swamp
1 Twilight Mire
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Wooded Foothills
Creatures (15)
4 Dark Confidant
4 Grim Flayer
1 Grim Lavamancer
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Tarmogoyf
Instants and Sorceries (17)
3 Abrupt Decay
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Terminate
2 Thoughtseize
Planeswalkers (5)
3 Liliana of the Veil
2 Liliana, the Last Hope
Sideboard
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Damnation
1 Duress
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Kozilek's Return
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Thoughtseize

Articles

Final: Rob Catton vs. Aaron Burns Lees

This was it. What had started with 91 players in the morning, now came down to just two players duking it out for the title and trophy. On one side of the table sat Aaron Burns Lees with his powerful dredge deck, on the other Rob Catton and his white-blue control...

Semifinal: Stuart Wright vs. Aaron Burns Lees

Stuart Wright had long been one of the most respected players within the British Magic community, with multiple Nationals Top 8s and Top 16 finishes at the Pro Tour as well as a three-digit number of Pro Points. Now he was sitting in the semifinal of the MKM Series...

Quarterfinal: Fabian Friedrich vs. Aaron Burns Lees

Earlier this year, Germany's Fabian Friedrich had had his first taste of major Magic success when he made the Top 8 of Grand Prix Paris. The format then was Standard, now he was back in the playoffs, this time in Modern. His opponent, seventeen-year-old Aaron Burns...

Round 7: Rob Catton vs. Francesco Nicolini

In this, the final round of the Swiss, with Top 8 on the line, Rob Catton squared off against Francesco Nicolini. The matchup here was a fight between two of the most played decks in the tournament. Catton brought a white-blue control deck to combat Nicolini's Jund....

Modern Trial Winner: Delian Katerinov

We got to report our first winner of the weekend, when Delian Katerinov ended his undefeated run with a victory in the finals of Friday's Modern Trial. The 19-year-old student, originally from Bulgaria, but living in London, did so with an interesting take on a...

Introduction to the Format: Modern

Modern is the youngest of the formats played this weekend. Introduced just five years ago in 2011, it was created as another nonrotating format for players to keep using their favorite Standard staples. Allowed are all cards printed in regular sets from Eighth Edition...

Travel Guide

In this article, we'll provide you with a number of visual cues so you'll have a much easier time finding your way from the underground station to the venue. Head for the exit that says "Gloucester Road" - easy to remember as that's also the name of the station...

Modern Metagame

The numbers are in! Black-green midrange decks with either red (six players), white (three), or blue (one Sultai Delirium concoction) took the lead, followed by Burn and variations of white-blue control decks; four of them were just two colors, the others all added red, usually for Nahiri, the Harbinger.

At the Trials yesterday, Merfolk had already been popular and it still was today. It's basically been popular ever since the format's inception. Eldritch Evolution on the other hand was news. Decks built around this card mostly followed the pattern of the old Kiki-Chord decks, supplementing Chord of Calling with the new addition from Eldritch Moon to search for the combination of Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and either Restoration Angel or Deceiver Exarch.

There was more variety among the Collected Company decks. Two players brought the traditional Abzan Company (with the combo of Viscera Seer, Melira, Sylvok Outcast, and Kitchen Finks), two others apparently ported Bant Company from Standard, and one of them was running a Zoo-type deck with bigger and more expensive creatures like Knight of the Reliquary.

Aggrocontrol decks with Delver of Secrets / Insectile Aberration came in two flavors: Grixis and straight blue-red. While Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle decks came in three: with Bring to Light and Scapeshift, with Scapeshift and Primeval Titan, or with Primeval Titan and Through the Breach.

As always, in a format as diverse as this, with just one archetype barely crossing the ten-percent threshold, the “Other” category featured a plethora of interesting decks, including, but not limited to: Dredge, Infect, White-Black Tokens (three decks each), Living End, Soul Sisters, Death's Shadow, Slippery Bogles (two decks each), as well as one-ofs like Gifts Ungiven, Elves, Green Devotion, and a fun deck with Oath of Chandra and eleven different planeswalkers …

Legend

  • 10 B/G/x Midrange
  • 8 Burn
  • 8 W/U/x Control
  • 6 Merfolk
  • 5 Eldritch Evolution
  • 5 Collected Company
  • 5 U/R/x Delver
  • 4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
  • 4 Affinity
  • 4 Urzatron
  • 4 Ad Nauseam
  • 28 Other

Event Photos

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