Robert Jacko
Age: 26
Residence: Prague
Occupation: Developer / Analyst
Number of GP Top8s: 1 (including this)
Number of Pro Tours played: 0
Biggest Magic success: Member of Alkaatch Team
Constructed result in this tournament: 12-1-2
How did you prepare for the tournament? I tested this and a few other decks with the rest of the team in our favourite pub called "Hottlek"!
Which deck did you choose and why? Faeries is just a good deck. And it is a blast to play and it's fun to ambush people with unexpected flash creatures usually played in limited only.
David Besso
Age: 23
Residence: Milano, Italy
Occupation: Student and wannabe pro
Number of GP Top8s: 1
Number of Pro Tours played: 2
Biggest Magic success: Money finish at PT Valencia, GP Florence and Top 8 in this year's Italian Nationals
Constructed result in this tournament: 12-1-2
How did you prepare for the tournament? I tested online and with my teammates... but I decided to bring the deck which qualified me to PT Valencia
Which deck did you choose and why? I chose Mono-U Pickles, hoping no one was playing Eyes of the Wisent in their sideboards
Matej Zatlkaj
Age: 22
Residence: Bratislava, Slovakia
Occupation: Student
Number of GP Top8s: First one :)
Number of Pro Tours played: 3 – Hawaii, Columbus, Worlds '03
Biggest Magic success: Slovakian national champ 2003
Constructed result in this tournament: 12-2-1
How did you prepare for the tournament? With friends in Bratislava after reviewing states decklists
Which deck did you choose and why? U/B Mannequin, because it looked very consistent and plays good cards. It has no really bad matchups, just some unfavourable ones... like this Top 8
Armin Birner
Age: 24
Residence: Austria
Occupation: Student (medicine)
Number of GP Top8s: 3
Number of Pro Tours played: Approx. 6
Biggest Magic success: 23rd at PT Valencia
Constructed result in this tournament: 12-2-1 (3 Byes)
How did you prepare for the tournament? Thomas Preyer and Simon Grünauer built and tested the deck and they said it's good, so I play it
Which deck did you choose and why? G/R Mana Ramp with Tarmogoyfs, because it seemed like it bould bring the best threads on the table pretty early. Only real bad matchups are decks with a lot of counterspells in them. The synergy between Fertile Ground, Garruk Wildspeaker and Siege-Gang Commander is just amazing
Paul Cheon
Age: 22
Residence: Highlands Ranch, Colorado
Occupation: Level 5 Magician
Number of GP Top8s: This is the 4th
Number of Pro Tours played: Approx. 7
Biggest Magic success: Moneywise 12th at Worlds 2006, but it's propably 2006 US National Champion
Constructed result in this tournament: 12-2-1
How did you prepare for the tournament? Played States and built the deck that seemed to have a chance against G/B... but actually it turned out that I can't beat the deck
Which deck did you choose and why? Liked Pickles lock as it doesn't take so much to just win. It also has some matchups that it can't lose to. We added white to the deck because I felt Oblivion Ring was quite strong and a good way to deal with Planeswalkers. Wrath of God is nice too
Guillaume Wafo-Tapa
Age: 26
Residence: Nantes, France
Occupation: Magic Pro Player
Number of GP Top8s: 4
Number of Pro Tours played: 13
Biggest Magic success: I won PT Yokohama
Constructed result in this tournament: 12-1-2
How did you prepare for the tournament? I playtested with friends from my hometown and then a bith with the other french pro players
Which deck did you choose and why? Sonic Boom, because I liked Guile in Street Fighter II
Olivier Ruel
Age: 26
Residence: Lille, Frane
Occupation: Student, Pro Player
Number of GP Top8s: 20
Number of Pro Tours played: Approx. 50
Biggest Magic success: I met Alexandre Peset and Florent Jeadon
Constructed result in this tournament: 12-2-1
How did you prepare for the tournament? I tried to build many different decks with 4 Cryptic Commands and played goldfish
Which deck did you choose and why? "Go Anan under the snow.dec", a deck netdecked and the modified by my brother Antoine who advised me to run it. Hi to my mom and dad and thanks to Guillaume!
Amiel Tenenbaum
Age: 26
Residence: France
Occupation: Assistant producer in movies
Number of GP Top8s: 2
Number of Pro Tours played: 28
Biggest Magic success: Final PT Team
Constructed result in this tournament: 12-2-1
How did you prepare for the tournament? Wafo's deck was better than Nassif's so I took it. My first game with the deck was round 4, I played bad and lost, then I played bad in round 5 and lost again... After that I played well...
Which deck did you choose and why? I looked at the decks from Wafo-Tapa and Nassif