Coverage Overview MKM Series London 2016

Event Coverage of the MKM Series London

The MKM Series London 2016 is in the books!

Over the course of three days, we saw some of the UK's finest Magicians going up against the allied forces of the rest of Europe. In 2 of our 4 main events, the United Kingdom prevailed, with Matthew Johnson finally coming out on top after he had advanced to the knock out portion 3 times back in Milan earlier this year. Aaron Burns Lees was the second British victor who took down the Modern main event!

In Standard, it was Fabian Friedrich from Germany, who was on a roll this weekend, also adding another Top 8 finish in the Modern event on Saturday. Stuart Wright, one of the UK's most decorated players, came close twice this weekend and he advanced to the finals of the Legacy main event, however, Diego Massone from Spain ultimately walked away with the trophy!

Below, you can find direct links to all the articles and features of our coverages for the 4 main events.

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Articles

Final: Diego Massone vs. Stuart Wright

Diego had finished first in the Swiss portion, and didn't feel like slowing down at all. Stuart Wright was the last player still standing between him and the trophy. Would he be able to sweep the elimination rounds as well? After some early jockeying for position,...

Semifinal: Mikael Linden vs. Stuart Wright

When I saw the Top8 bracket I was a little sad that these two players couldn’t meet in the final, but at the same time I was looking forward to potentially cover this matchup in the semifinal. Mikael Linden is one of the most successful players on the MKM Series so...

Quarterfinal: Stuart Schaum vs. Mikael Linden

Mikael Linden is a two-time champion of our past Vintage events, but surprisingly didn’t manage to make Top8 yesterday. Instead he had set his eyes on winning todays Legacy event. Mikael was Stuart Schaum’s only loss in the Swiss rounds, so Stuart was eager to...

Deck Tech: Eldrazi & Taxes

Matthew Harper came as close as you can get to winning a trophy yesterday. He made it to the final of the Vintage event, where he won the first game, before Matthew Johnson managed to come back and beat him 2-1. Matthew Harper was obviously happy with his result, but...

Legacy Trial Winner: Claude Schmit

The weather was quite nice on Friday, but when Legacy Magic is involved that doesn’t mean there couldn’t be Storm clouds on the horizon at any point. Claude Schmit navigated his Storm deck into the final of the Legacy trial, where he had to face Lauri Achte and his...

Introduction to the Format: Legacy

With Eldritch Moon already quite explored in Modern and Standard, our Legacy and Vintage Main Events could potentially be the tournaments with the most new tech! That seems like an absurd thesis, as these formats are known to be much slower at incorporating new cards...

Welcome to Legacy Interview 3

Here we are with the great final of our Legacy week. 1 Who are you? My name is Rodrigo Togores. I've been playing collectible card games since I can think. I started with Pokémon, then played Magic, then Yu-Gi-Oh!, and finally went back to Magic. I almost exclusively...

Welcome to Legacy Interview 2

As we promised here is part two of our Legacy interview. So I'm proud to present Julian Knab with Elves. 1 Who are you and what did you already achieve? I’m a 30-year old guy from Munich making a living by sending people to Africa; kind of like a reverse human...

Welcome to Legacy Interview 1

As we promised, we start today with the interview with Marius Hausmann about Death and Taxes. I hope you're looking forward to it and find some interesting insight. 1 How did you get into playing Death and Taxes? I've been playing Magic for more than ten years and got...

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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...

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Metagame Breakdown

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Photo Gallery

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Standings

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Top 8 Brackets

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Top 8 Decklists

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Top 8 Profiles

Standard Coverage MKM Series London 2016

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Articles

(Semi-) Final: Arturas Simaitis vs. Fabian Friedrich

Before the semifinals, the four remaining players agreed to split prizes. Following that, only Arturas Simaitis from Lithuania and Fabian Friedrich from Germany wanted to keep playing—for bragging rights and the shiny trophy—whereas the other two semifinalists left...

Quarterfinal: Fabian Friedrich vs. Autumn Burchett

This was the most high-profile of the quarterfinal matches. England's Autumn Burchett had finished in eleventh place at Pro Tour Battle for Zendikar and had ended the 2015–2016 season on Silver in the Pro Tour Players Club. Germany's Fabian Friedrich had never gotten...

Deck Tech: Dragons! Spirits! Extraplanar Beings!

Some decks you tend to see at every event. In today's Standard, for example, you're bound to come across a Bant Company deck or two. Other decks are a little more out there. But it's worth exploring the fringes of the metagame too. There might just be something here...

Deck Tech: Blue-Black Zombies with Fabian Friedrich

Fabian Friedrich was among the most accomplished MKM regulars in attendance this weekend. He had already finished in the Top 8 of the Standard main event at the MKM Series Milan 2016 and he again made it to the playoffs in yesterday's Modern main. Outside the MKM...

Introduction to the Format: Standard

Standard changed a lot between the previous stop of the MKM Series 2016, two months ago in Madrid, and today. Back then, Green-White Tokens had been the dominant force in the format and Santiago Ballestero used the deck to take down the whole Standard main event. But...

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...

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Metagame Breakdown

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Photo Gallery



Standings



Top 8 Brackets

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Top 8 Decklists



Top 8 Profiles

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Articles

Vintage Final: Matthew Harper vs. Matthew Johnson

With two Matthews meeting in the finals, I had to switch to referring to their last names to keep the match coverage readable. Make sure to read the Quarterfinal and Semifinal first to familiarize yourself with their decks. Johnson was allowed to go first despite...

Vintage Semifinal: Hannes Eriksson vs. Matthew Johnson

Matthew Johnson was the most successful player at our MKMS event in Milan earlier this year, but had to miss our other stops since then. Today he started the Vintage event with two losses and a bye, but miraculously still snuck into the Top8 by winning the other...

Vintage Quarterfinal: Rod Smith vs. Matthew Harper

A friendly chat before the match revealed that both these players knew exactly what their respective opponent was bringing to the table. Rod won the Swiss part of the tournament, so he was allowed to start the first game, which he did in convincing fashion, playing...

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...

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