Twenty-three-year-old professional Magic® player Brian Hacker of San Diego, California, thought he had a good chance of winning the finals with his white weenie deck. Hacker said his deck was well set up to defeat his opponents with its twenty-something aggressive creatures—including a number of shadow and en-Kor creatures. Unlike traditional white weenie decks, which rely on Armageddon as a major threat card, Hacker's deck used Cataclysm, which he feels better complements the use of Empyrial Armor.