1998 World Championships Coverage

Brian Selden is the new World Champion!

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(#) indicates number of games won in the best-of-five match.

  Quarters      Semis        Finals       Champion

1--Finkel-(3)-|
              |-Finkel-(1)-|
8--Comer--(0)-|            |
                           |-Rubin--(1)-|
5--Rubin--(3)-|            |            |
              |-Rubin--(3)-|            |
4--Johns--(2)-|                         |
                                        |-Selden--
3--Selden-(3)-|                         |
              |-Selden-(3)-|            |
6--Pikula-(1)-|            |            |
                           |-Selden-(3)-|
7--Hacker-(2)-|            |
              |-Levy---(1)-|
2--Levy---(3)-|

Final Match Recap

In the finals of the 1998 World Championships, Ben Rubin faced Brian Selden in a match that showcased two starkly differest decks: Ben Rubin's Sligh deck against Brian Selden's Recurring Nightmare/Living Death.

Game One
In game one, Ben Rubin got off to a slow start, as Selden's Wall of Roots required two cards (a Mogg Fanatic that dealt a total of two damage to the Wall and a Shock to finish it off) to kill. By turn nine, Rubin was down to one land after using his Wasteland to destroy one of Selden's lands. However, Selden's deck never fully clicked, and Rubin was eventually able to clear a path with his direct damage, attack with a Ball Lightning, and finish Selden off with a regrown Hammer of Bogardan.

Selden 0 Rubin 1

Game Two
Brian Selden started the game by summoning a Wall of Blossoms on turn two and three, but a Dwarven Miner and Wasteland looked as though it would start wreaking havoc on Seldon's mana supply. Kept to only Green mana throughout much of the game, Selden was still able to use Survival of the Fittest to go through his library for Birds of Paradise, Uktabi Orangutans for Rubin's Cursed Scroll, and Spike Feeders to offset Rubin's consecutive-turn Ball Lightnings (who were kept largely ineffective anyway by Selden's Walls of Blossoms). Eventually, Selden was able to use Recurring Nightmare to bring a Verdant Force (that had earlier been discarded for Survival of the Fittest) into play, and Rubin conceded shortly thereafter.
Selden 1 Rubin 1

Game Three
Rubin started the game with a Mountain and a Wasteland, and after using the Wasteland to destroy Selden's Karplusan Forest, never drew a second land. On the other side of the table, things were going much better for Rubin, as the Recurring Nightmare provided him with a Verdant Force. Shortly, Rubin conceded for the second straight game.
Selden 2 Rubin 1

Game Four
With his back against the wall, Ben Rubin had to win this match to stay alive. He started well, with a Mogg Fanatic and Cursed Scroll in play by Turn 3, followed by a Ball Lightning on Turn 4. He followed this with a series of small creatures (Dwarven Thaumaturgist, Mogg Fanatic, Ironclaw Orcs) on the ensuing turns. Unfortunately for him, the Recurring Nightmare lived up to its name, providing Selden with a Verdant Force, a Staunch Defenders, and a Spirit of the Night.

Rubin had no incentive to concede, since the match would be over as soon as he did. Selden was able to take his time, using Recurring Nightmare to bring a Nekrataal out, to kill Rubin's Mogg Fanatic. With Rubin's only remaining creature (a Mogg Flunkies) unable to block, Selden attacked with everything to become the 1998 Magic: The Gathering World Champion.

Selden 3 Rubin 1

Full Standings

  Individuals                   Teams
  1 Brian Seldon    $34,000     United States   $22,000
  2 Ben Rubin       $22,000     France          $12,000
  3 Jon Finkel      $16,000     Germany          $9,000
  4 Rafael Levy     $13,000     Canada           $7,000
  5 Scott Johns     $11,000     Denmark
  6 Chris Pikula     $9,500     Finland
  7 Brian Hacker     $8,250     Spain
  8 Alan Comer       $7,250     The Netherlands
  9 Brickwell, Daniel-GER       Japan
 10 Snygg, Mikko-FIN            South Africa
 11 Walamies, Tomi-FIN          Australia
 12 Buehler, Randy              Austria
 13 Krakower, Gary              United Kingdom
 14 Slemr, Jakub                Belgium
 15 Konstanczer, Andre          Sweden
 16 Fleischman, Sean            Norway
 17 Kastle, Darwin              Czech Republic
 18 Kuhn, Janosch-GER           Portugal
 19 Yoo, John                   Argentina
 20 Wise, Gary                  New Zealand
 21 Leiher, Peter               Singapore
 22 O'Mahoney Schwartz, Steven  Brazil
 23 McCarrel, Casey             Philippines
 24 Edwards, Rudy               Italy
 25 Price, Dave                 Ireland
 26 Serio, Ronny                Mexico
 27 Radonjic, Peter-CAN         Taiwan
 28 Schneider, Justin           Switzerland
 29 Wolfensberger, Michael
 30 Long, Michael-USA
 31 Tsang, Terry-CAN
 32 Le Pine, Mark
 33 Bingen, Sturla
 34 Rank, Derek
 35 Lauer, Erik
 36 Rodrigues Leone, M.-BRA
 37 Eskeland, Sigurd
 38 Phillipps, Eric
 39 Burgner, Kurt
 40 Hernandez, Marc-FRA
 41 Barrado Lopez, C.-ESP
 42 Farkas, Ben
 43 Geertsen, Svend Sparre
 44 Bachmann, David
 45 Chan, Feming
 46 Salem, Gisle-NOR
 47 Vall Brillas, David-ESP
 48 Van den Broek, V.-NED
 49 Laznovsky, Martin-CZE
 50 Rose, Kyle
 51 Ho, Rod-AUS
 52 Debard, Michael
 53 Herzog, Nicolai-NOR
 54 Tsai, Tony
 55 Malherbaud, Pierre-FRA
 56 Place, Matt
 57 Aumonier Ward, J.-NZL
 58 Weissman, Brian
 59 Dworak, Florian-GER
 60 Duynisveld, Marco-NED
 61 Dickinson, Matt-AUS
 62 Stanoev, Ivan-CZE
 63 Gregorich, C.-AUT
 64 Nyegaard, Timme-DEN
 65 Currence, Bryce-USA
 66 Turian, Michael
 67 Fortenberry, Gary
 68 Punakallio, Mikko-FIN
 69 Demazeau, Fabien-FRA
 70 Gilpin, Steven
 71 Moungey, Jason
 72 Eikefet, Kim-NOR
 73 Guevin, Thomas
 74 Hein, Dirk-GER
 75 Sochon, Michael
 76 Nishioka, Andrew
 77 Katz, Adam
 78 Maioli, Douglas-ARG
 79 Crapuchettes, Dominic
 80 Lee, Beng Hai-SIN
 81 Estrada, Gerardo G.-MEX
 82 Britto, Romario T.-BRA
 83 Kroger, Peer
 84 Paselli, Andrea-ITA
 85 Nakamura, Satoshi
 86 Gabor, Papp-LTH
 87 Chinnock, John
 88 Bevand, Manuel-FRA
 89 Gallitz, Donald
 90 Maher, Jr., Bob
 91 Hiltunen, Arto-FIN
 92 Fuller, Ryan
 93 Fiil, Tore-DEN
 94 Ming, Au Yeung Hon-HKG
 95 Rade, Olle-SWE
 96 Linde, Matt-USA
 97 Walsh, Justin-IRL
 98 Coltman, Dane-AUS
 99 Fujita, Tsuyoshi-JPN
100 Clegg, Daniel
101 Bishop, Chris
102 Jensen, Thomas D.-DEN
103 Kloeckner, Kyle
104 Haberli, Jurg-SUI
105 Tsukamoto, Toshiki-JPN
106 Laier, Peter-DEN
107 Gysemans, Peter-BEL
108 Manners, Chris-GBR
109 Teoh, Leong Wee A.-SIN
110 Natale, Tommaso-ITA
111 McCandless, Robin-GBR
112 Moss Allison, N.-GBR
113 Jorstedt, Mattias-SWE
114 D'Hondt, Jean Louis-BEL
115 Buccolo, Ricardo-ARG
116 Blatny, Petr-CZE
117 Chapela, Gustavo-MEX
118 Windauer, Ron-AUT
119 Herms, Roc-ESP
120 Marais, Ruaan-RSA
121 Simpson, Mark-NZL
122 Leivo, Matti-SWE
123 Chen, Nick-CAN
124 Lirag, Raffy-PHI
125 Foket, Kurt-BEL
126 Ladra, Lukas
127 Derdak, Christian-AUT
128 Glodt, Romain-LTH
129 Do Rego, Ezequiel-ARG
130 Klauser, Benedikt
131 Bosch, Kelvin-RSA
132 Wilson, Chris-NZL
133 Maier, Gero-ARG
134 Llopis Martinez, P.-ESP
135 Kirk, S. Ryan-CAN
136 Nurse, Michael-RSA
137 Ishida, Itaru-JPN
138 Clarke, Nate
139 Martins, Eduardo-POR
140 Starak, Yaro-AUS
141 Tang, Autrijus-TPE
142 Vyhmeister, Eduardo-CHI
143 Dogan, Timur-SUI
144 Matsuo, Goro
145 Van de Logt, Tom-NED
146 Proschofsky, A.-AUT
147 Wong, Docter-TPE
148 Bocock, David-NZL
149 Sy, Teddy-PHI
150 Kazbieruk, Wojciech-POL
151 Helvik, Snorre-NOR
152 Tesselaar, Han-NED
153 Sequeira, Rui-POR
154 Hsieh, Frank-TPE
155 Ogilbee, Brian
156 Smith, Paul
157 Martin del Campo, A-MEX
158 Coene, Dominique-BEL
159 Machado, Marco A.-BRA
160 Peleg, Uri-ISR
161 Vefa, Yusuf-LTH
162 Chai, Ming Huang R.-SIN
163 Parke, Jamie
164 Stockdale, Leif-SWE
165 Pong, Hee Tee Robin-SIN
166 Gallion, Daniel-LTH
167 Kucera, Rudolf-CZE
168 Ishibashi, Masashi-JPN
169 Yaneza, Richard-PHI
170 Rebagliati, Nicola-ITA
171 Figueiredo, F.-POR
172 Hardie, Boyd
173 Becker, Jonathan
174 Rafael, Joaquin-POR
175 Wollpert, Worth
176 Wolf, Andrew
177 Hovi, Tommi
178 Karaszewski, Pawel-POL
179 Olpiner, Eviatar-ISR
180 Morbidelli, Simone-ITA
181 Pratama, Arvan-INA
182 Alfar, Georgina-PHI
183 Burgues, Enric R.-MEX
184 Hyde, Oliver-IRL
185 Andrade, Fabian-CHI
186 Wills, Scott-GBR
187 Sanchez, Rodrigo-CHI
188 Neff, Sepp-SUI
189 Suver, Max
190 Higgins, Michael-IRL
191 Zivelin, Nadav-ISR
192 Bromberger, John-RSA
193 Justice, Mark
194 Deffely, Fergus-IRL
195 Bui, Truc
196 Hsu, Aric-TPE
197 Kunzler, Matthias-SUI
198 Swietlik, Grzegorz-POL
199 McCabe, Paul
200 Leszczynski, Emil-POL
201 Pisicchio, Gabriele
202 Omri, Doron-ISR
203 Longo Junior, Sergio-BRA