World Championship Decks 2004

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2004 World Championships Ad

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Professional Magic® player Aeo Paquette played the deck that defined the metagame at the 2004 World Championships: "Affinity." Against a field full of decks designed to beat Affinity, this nineteen-year-old Canadian piloted his fast beatdown deck to a 5—1 record during the Standard portion of the tournament. Paquette credits his friend Jeff Cunningham for helping him design an Affinity deck that could compete so well against the field.

Aeo Paquette Bio

Aeo Paquette Decklist

Twenty-year-old Gabriel Nassif is considered to be the best player never to have won a Pro Tour™ event. Designed to beat the ubiquitous "Affinity" decks, his blue-white control deck also plays well against anti-Affinity decks. Worlds marked the third time in the season that the Parisian had made it to the final day of a Pro Tour event, and his performance earned Nassif the coveted 2004 Player of the Year award—a title he will defend vigorously next year.

Gabriel Nassif Bio

Gabriel Nassif Decklist

The youngest ever Magic® World Champion, Dutch wunderkind Julien Nuijten came out of nowhere to stun the field. Just fifteen years old, Nuijten proved that he can play with the best. Playing a green—white Astral Slide deck designed to destroy "Affinity", he posted a respectable 4-2 record on the Standard day at Worlds and then calmly swept the field on the final day. He says the inspiration for his deck came from an Internet article by Pro Tour™ veteran Brian Kibler.

Julien Nuijten Bio

Julien Nuijten Decklist

Pro Tour™ veteran Manuel Bevand played an artifact-based combo deck to a perfect 6-0 record on the Standard day at Worlds. His deck uses Krark-Clan Ironworks to quickly get a Myr Incubator into play, which then creates thirty or more 1/1 Myr creatures—sometimes as early as the third turn! A twenty-seven-year-old freelance game designer from Paris, France, Bevand has been a Magic® regular since 1994, playing in over a dozen Pro Tour events. He credits Magic Online for getting him back into championship form.

Manuel Bevand Bio

Manuel Bevand Decklist

Sorcery

Destroy all artifacts, creatures, and enchantments.
Cycling {3} ({3}, Discard this card: Draw a card.)

Akroma's Vengeance

Enchantment

Whenever a player cycles a card, you may exile target creature. If you do, return that card to the battlefield under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step.

Astral Slide

Angel

Decree of Justice

Soldier

Create X 4/4 white Angel creature tokens with flying.
Cycling {2}{W} ({2}{W}, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
When you cycle this card, you may pay {X}. If you do, create X 1/1 white Soldier creature tokens.

Creature — Dragon Spirit

Flying
{3}{W}{W}: Return this card from your graveyard to your hand. Activate only during your upkeep.
Plainscycling {2} ({2}, Discard this card: Search your library for a Plains card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.)

Eternal Dragon

Instant

Destroy target artifact creature or black creature. It can't be regenerated.

Purge

{1}: The next time a red source of your choice would deal damage to you this turn, prevent that damage.

Circle of Protection: Red

Target player sacrifices an attacking creature of their choice.
Storm (When you cast this spell, copy it for each spell cast before it this turn. You may choose new targets for the copies.)

Wing Shards

Counter target spell unless its controller pays {X}. Scry 2. (Look at the top two cards of your library, then put any number of them on the bottom and the rest on top in any order.)

Condescend

Morph

Creature — Angel

Flying
Whenever this creature deals damage, you gain that much life.
Morph {2}{W}{W} (You may cast this card face down as a 2/2 creature for {3}. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.)

Exalted Angel

Counter target artifact or enchantment spell.

Annul

Enchantment — Aura

Enchant creature
Enchanted creature can't attack or block.

Pacifism

Search your library for an artifact card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.

Fabricate

Serum Visions

You gain 6 life.
Cycling {1}{W} ({1}{W}, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
When you cycle this card, you may gain 2 life.

Renewed Faith

Creature — Drone

Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs {1} less to cast for each artifact you control.)
Flying

Somber Hoverguard

Counter target activated or triggered ability. (Mana abilities can't be targeted.)

Stifle

Draw three cards. Then discard two cards unless you discard an artifact card.

Thirst for Knowledge

Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs {1} less to cast for each artifact you control.)
Draw two cards.

Thoughtcast

Destroy all creatures. They can't be regenerated.

Wrath of God

This spell costs {1} more to cast for each target beyond the first.
Fireball deals X damage divided evenly, rounded down, among any number of targets.

Fireball

Creature — Human Cleric

Whenever an artifact is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, you may have target opponent lose 1 life.

Disciple of the Vault

Creature — Dragon

Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs {1} less to cast for each artifact you control.)
Flying
When this creature enters, if you cast it from your hand, exile all artifacts.

Furnace Dragon

Destroy target artifact. It can't be regenerated.

Oxidize

Creature — Human Shaman

When this creature enters, you may return target card from your graveyard to your hand.

Eternal Witness

Counter target spell unless its controller pays {3}.

Mana Leak

Choose one —
• Untap all lands you control.
• Until end of turn, lands you control become 2/2 creatures that are still lands.
Entwine {2}{G} (Choose both if you pay the entwine cost.)

Rude Awakening

Counter target spell. Untap up to four lands.

Rewind

Artifact Creature — Beast

Sacrifice an artifact: Put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
Modular 1 (This creature enters with a +1/+1 counter on it. When it dies, you may put its +1/+1 counters on target artifact creature.)

Arcbound Ravager

Artifact Creature — Construct

Modular 1 (This creature enters with a +1/+1 counter on it. When it dies, you may put its +1/+1 counters on target artifact creature.)

Arcbound Worker

Seething Song

As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice an artifact.
Shrapnel Blast deals 5 damage to any target.

Shrapnel Blast

Artifact — Equipment

Equipped creature gets +1/+0 for each artifact you control.
{B}{B}: Attach this Equipment to target creature you control.
Equip {1}

Cranial Plating

Artifact

Krark-Clan Ironworks

Creature — Elf Shaman

When this creature enters, destroy target artifact.

Viridian Shaman

Land

{T}: Add {C}{C}. Activate only if you control five or more lands.

Temple of the False God

Sunburst (This artifact enters with a charge counter on it for each color of mana spent to cast it.)
Remove a charge counter from this artifact: Add one mana of any color.

Pentad Prism

Relic Barrier

Imprint — When this artifact enters, you may exile a nonartifact, nonland card from your hand.
{T}: Add one mana of any of the exiled card's colors.

Chrome Mox

{T}: Add {C}.
{1}: This land becomes a 1/1 Blinkmoth artifact creature with flying until end of turn. It's still a land.
{1}, {T}: Target Blinkmoth creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

Blinkmoth Nexus

Artifact Land

Darksteel Citadel

{2}, {T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Search your library for a basic land card, put that card onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.

Wayfarer's Bauble

Artifact Creature — Frog

Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs {1} less to cast for each artifact you control.)

Frogmite

{3}, {T}: Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a land card. This artifact deals damage equal to the number of nonland cards revealed this way to any target. If the revealed land card was a Mountain, this artifact deals double that damage instead. Put the revealed cards on the bottom of your library in any order.

Goblin Charbelcher

Pyroclasm deals 2 damage to each creature.

Pyroclasm

{6}, {T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Search your library for any number of artifact cards, exile them, then create that many 1/1 colorless Myr artifact creature tokens. Then shuffle.

Myr Incubator

Artifact Creature — Thopter

Ornithopter

{T}: Target player exiles a card from their graveyard.
{1}, Sacrifice this artifact: Exile target card from a graveyard. Draw a card.

Scrabbling Claws

{T}: Add {C}.
{T}: Add {U} or {B}. This artifact deals 1 damage to you.

Talisman of Dominance

{T}: Add {C}.
{T}: Add {W} or {U}. This artifact deals 1 damage to you.

Talisman of Progress

Put two target lands on top of their owners' libraries.

Plow Under

Sacrifice this artifact: Regenerate target artifact.

Welding Jar

Search your library for a basic land card, put that card onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.

Rampant Growth

Ancient Den

Land — Locus

This land enters tapped.
{T}: Add {C} for each Locus on the battlefield.

Cloudpost

At the beginning of the end step, if you control no artifacts, sacrifice this land.
{T}: Add one mana of any color.

Glimmervoid

Great Furnace

Seat of the Synod

Tree of Tales

Vault of Whispers

Preponderant Pearl

{T}, Pay 1 life, Sacrifice this land: Search your library for a Plains or Island card, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.

Flooded Strand

This land enters tapped.
{T}: Add {W}.
Cycling {W} ({W}, Discard this card: Draw a card.)

Secluded Steppe

This land enters tapped.
{T}: Add {G}.
Cycling {G} ({G}, Discard this card: Draw a card.)

Tranquil Thicket

{T}, Pay 1 life, Sacrifice this land: Search your library for a Forest or Plains card, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.