ext week (May 11-13) is the Eighth Annual Magic Invitational, Magic's equivalent of the all-star game. The following sixteen players will be meeting at the E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) Convention to play a 15 round round-robin tournament to see who will earn the honor of designing their very own Magic card:

Slot 1) Last Year's Duelist Invitational Winner
Jens Thoren (Sweden)

Slot 2) World Champion
Daniel Zink (Germany) – NOT ATTENDING

Slot 3) Top Ranked DCI Member (Composite Rating)
Jordan Berkowitz (United States)

Slot 4) Highest Ranked Player, Pro Points
Kai Budde (Germany)

Slot 5) 2nd Highest Ranked Player, Pro Points
Justin Gary (United States)

Slot 6) 3rd Highest Rated Player, Pro Points
Mattias Jorstedt (Sweden)

Slot 7) 4th Highest Ranked Player, Pro Points
Dirk Baberowski (Germany)

Slot 8) 5th Highest Ranked Player, Pro Points
Bob Maher (United States)

Slot 9) Top Ranked North American Player, Pro Points
Osyp Lebedowicz (United States)

Slot 10) Top Rated Latin American Player, Pro Points
Carlos Romao (Brazil)

Slot 11) Top Rated European Player, Pro Points
Nicolai Herzog (Norway)

Slot 12) Top Rated APAC Player, Pro Points
Masashi Ooiso (Japan)

Slot 13) Highest Ranked, Fan Ballot
Jon Finkel (United States)

Slot 14) 2nd Highest Ranked, Fan Ballot
Zvi Mowshowitz (United States)

Slot 15) 3rd Highest Ranked, Fan Ballot
Brian Kibler (United States)

Slot 16) 4th Highest Ranked, Fan Ballot
Jin Okamoto (Japan)

Slot 17) 5th Highest Ranked, Fan Ballot
Gary Wise (Canada) – ATTENDING AS REPLACEMENT FOR DANIEL ZINK

One of the formats for the Invitational is called the Auction of the People. In this format, the players will bid starting life and hand size on seventeen decks built by the magicthegathering.com readers. These decks, which are to be played on-line, had one restriction: all the cards, other than basic land, had to be illustrated by the same artist.

Here for the first time are the seventeen decks selected for this year's Auction of the People.

Changing Your Colors (GlenAngus)

Main Deck 60 cards
4  Forest 8  Island 5  Mountain 4  Shadowblood Ridge 5  Swamp 26 lands 4  Ancient Kavu 4  Metathran Transport 4  Spiritmonger 4  Tidal Visionary 4  Tsabo's Assassin 20 creatures	2  Collapsing Borders 4  Disorder 4  Distorting Lens 4  Sever Soul 14 other spells

Legacy (John Avon)

Main Deck 60 cards
2  Cephalid Coliseum 9  Forest 6  Island 3  Mossfire Valley 2  Mountain 1  Plains 1  Swamp 24 lands 2  Nemata, Grove Guardian 3  Wall of Air 4  Wall of Deceit 9 creatures	2  Annex 4  Explosive Vegetation 4  Legacy Weapon 2  Millstone 3  Pyrotechnics 4  Sprouting Vines 4  Tangle 2  Tower of Eons 2  Tranquil Path 27 other spells

Brains, It's What's For Dinner... (Thomas M. Baxa)

Main Deck 60 cards
23  Swamp 23 lands 4  Festering Goblin 3  Filth 3  Gluttonous Zombie 4  Rotlung Reanimator 4  Smokespew Invoker 4  Soulless One 4  Spined Basher 26 creatures	4  Oversold Cemetery 3  Tsabo's Decree 4  Zombie Infestation 11 other spells

Library? Who Said You Could Have A library? (Dave Dorman)

Main Deck 60 cards
10  Island 16  Mountain 26 lands 4  Cephalid Broker 4  Flamewave Invoker 2  Minotaur Explorer 3  Savage Firecat 2  Skirk Commando 1  Tahngarth, Talruum Hero 16 creatures	4  Book Burning 4  Dispersal Shield 4  Fireball 2  Prophetic Bolt 4  Recoup 18 other spells

Weird Wizards (Scott M. Fischer)

Main Deck 60 cards
14  Island 10  Plains 24 lands 4  Puppeteer 4  Samite Archer 4  Voidmage Prodigy 12 creatures	1  Coat of Arms 4  Complicate 4  Cowardice 4  Fervent Denial 4  Last Word 1  Pure Reflection 3  Righteous Cause 3  Zur's Weirding 24 other spells

Nightscape (Andrew Goldhawk)

Main Deck 60 cards
4  Island 8  Mountain 12  Swamp 4  Underground River 28 lands 4  Nightscape Apprentice 4  Nightscape Battlemage 4  Nightscape Master 4  Revenant 16 creatures	4  Bog Down 4  Cremate 4  Engineered Plague 4  Soul Burn 16 other spells

Aetheral Emergence (Heather Hudson)

Main Deck 60 cards
3  Barren Moor 5  Forest 7  Mountain 4  Swamp 3  Tranquil Thicket 22 lands 4  Basking Rootwalla 4  Earsplitting Rats 2  Gorilla Titan 1  Molder Slug 4  Prowling Pangolin 2  Rooting Kavu 4  Screeching Buzzard 2  Serpentine Kavu 23 creatures	3  AEther Rift 2  Bearscape 2  Dirge of Dread 4  Fertile Ground 2  Geth's Grimoire 2  Natural Emergence 15 other spells

Meddling Emperor (Christopher Moeller)

Main Deck 60 cards
13  Island 10  Plains 23 lands 2  Aboshan, Cephalid Emperor 4  Aven Fisher 3  Meddling Mage 4  Razor Golem 4  Thieving Magpie 1  Tidal Kraken 2  Triskelion 4  Wall of Spears 24 creatures	3  Blessed Reversal 3  Compulsion 4  Confiscate 3  Fodder Cannon 13 other spells

Swing While You're Winning (Alan Pollack)

Main Deck 60 cards
9  Island 10  Swamp 4  Tainted Isle 23 lands 4  Cephalid Constable 4  Cephalid Scout 3  Deepwood Ghoul 3  Urborg Skeleton 4  Whirlpool Drake 18 creatures	4  Mask of Memory 4  Recoil 4  Sleeper's Robe 4  Tooth of Chiss-Goria 3  Waste Away 19 other spells

Online Open-legal Flying Deck (rk post)

Main Deck 60 cards
11  Island 5  Mountain 11  Plains 27 lands 4  Emissary of Hope 4  Faerie Squadron 3  Fatespinner 4  Lightning Angel 4  Lumengrid Augur 4  Morphling 4  Voice of All 27 creatures	3  Teferi's Moat 3  Worship 6 other spells

Confusion In The Ron-ks (Ron Spencer)

Main Deck 60 cards
6  Forest 7  Island 11  Mountain 24 lands 2  Ascending Aven 3  Bloodfire Dwarf 3  Ivy Elemental 3  Mad Dog 3  Norwood Ranger 2  Skizzik 2  Thicket Elemental 18 creatures	3  AEther Mutation 2  Burning Sands 3  Confusion in the Ranks 3  Hammer of Bogardan 3  Metamorphose 4  Unsummon 18 other spells

Fun With Tokens (Greg Staples)

Main Deck 60 cards
6  Forest 4  Mirrodin's Core 14  Mountain 24 lands 4  Avarax 2  Bloodfire Kavu 3  Fyndhorn Elder 4  Goblin Sharpshooter 4  Oxidda Golem 4  Pentavus 3  Solemn Simulacrum 2  Tribal Forcemage 26 creatures	4  Artifact Mutation 4  Echoing Courage 2  Might of Oaks 10 other spells

Clock Of Beasts (Arnie Swekel)

Main Deck 60 cards
17  Forest 8  Plains 25 lands 4  Anurid Brushhopper 3  Clockwork Dragon 2  Clockwork Vorrac 4  Juggernaut 2  Krosan Drover 4  Phantom Nishoba 4  Ravenous Baloth 23 creatures	4  Fog 2  Soul Foundry 4  Sylvan Might 2  Wipe Clean 12 other spells

Steelhorn And Blackblood (Anthony Szczudlo)

Main Deck 60 cards
8  Island 16  Swamp 24 lands 3  Cabal Interrogator 4  Cephalid Inkshrouder 4  Gravedigger 3  Primoc Escapee 4  Quicksilver Elemental 4  Wall of Blood 22 creatures	4  Death Pulse 4  Essence Drain 3  Grave Pact 3  Spawning Pit 14 other spells

Adventures With Pete (Pete Venters)

Main Deck 60 cards
4  Forest 8  Mountain 12  Swamp 24 lands 4  Cabal Archon 4  Flametongue Kavu 8 creatures	4  Death Pit Offering 4  Duress 4  Natural Affinity 4  Phyrexian Arena 4  Searing Flesh 4  Spark Spray 4  Wrench Mind 28 other spells

Kill U With Myr (Kev Walker)

Main Deck 60 cards
14  Island 10  Plains 24 lands 4  Copper Myr 4  Gold Myr 4  Iron Myr 4  Leaden Myr 4  Silver Myr 4  Vedalken Archmage 24 creatures	4  Glorious Anthem 4  Soulscour 4  Upheaval 12 other spells

Egg Assassin (Mark Zug)

Main Deck 60 cards
10  Forest 4  Mountain 10  Swamp 24 lands 3  Cabal Patriarch 3  Chainer, Dementia Master 2  Darigaaz, the Igniter 4  Druid Lyrist 4  Genesis 4  Royal Assassin 4  Rukh Egg 24 creatures	4  Icy Manipulator 4  Lay of the Land 2  Sword of Fire and Ice 2  Sword of Light and Shadow 12 other spells

Join us for the Invitational May 11-13 to see how these decks fare.