FE40 World Championship II
The Tournament
On 8/23/25 we hosted the second “Fallen Empires 40 World Championships”! This was again hosted by Mike Klements + Craig Snook (back by popular demand) at Shuffler’s Den in Willoughby Hills, OH! As the initial “World Champs” event was a hit, it felt only appropriate to keep the FE train going and concentrate the fun! After the FE main event, we hosted a full 93/94 EC tournament as well! (yes, that was a lot of Magic!) Attendees came across state lines with great representation from WV + PA and across OH! 21 players in total were in attendance.
Prizes and door prizes included many donated prizes, classy Top 8 mugs, THE trophy, and glory. In the spirit of FE, no entry fee was present, and for the champs event donations were happily accepted directly to the UOAA.
The Format
Fallen Empires 40 is a unique “rubber band” OS-adjacent format that uses Fallen Empires as the core set. “Traditional” FE40 gained some international popularity via webcam leagues and has established itself as a beloved niche format in Northeast Ohio and beyond. As of the writing of this report, it has celebrated 36 consecutive online leagues with global winners representing countries as far as Austrailia, Denmark, France, Canada, and many others. Some varying “splash” themes has kept the online league fresh throughout the years.
Traditional FE40: 40 card deck minimum with a 5 card sideboard. Modern rules + Mana burn Restrictions: Hymn to Tourach is banned, Hand of Justice, Dwarven Catapult + Icatian Javelineers are restricted to 2.
Local “FE Land” artist Mitty Harmon was also on site and kind enough to sign some of his promotional land proxies between rounds!
The Games
Swiss rounds were busy with several green vs green chess matchups going to time (green was quite popular this year, with not-awesome results!). Our finals came down to local NEOH OS player Herb Wilson (on “mono” white) and Akron Legionnaire and FE Aficionado Matt Shields (on mono black). Matt rode some timely orders to a clean 2-0 victory!
Matt also wrote up a great, heartfelt report that is much better than mine.
Decklists
Matt Shields – (3-0-1) 1st place – “No sideboard needed” Black
Herb Wilson – (3-1) 2nd place “mono” white
Paul Blakely – 3rd place – B/R
Craig Snook – 4th Place R/B
Fin Tindari – B/G “As many tokens as I possibly can” – MOST CREATIVE (also first OS tournament!)
Action
Matches were broadcast live on Whereby for a rolling audience – thanks to all in the greater FE community that tuned in <3
After the main FE event, we finished the donuts, emptied the shop of caffeine and buckled down for our 93/94 EC event! This event marked the first local 93/94 event in quite a while and I was quite impressed with the turnout and great group of players we had! Unfortunately we were having so much fun that there was very limited photo evidence of the event. After 4 rounds, a top 2 final between Mike Klements (3-0 “Angel Food” ) + Adam Mumford (3-0 B/W aggro) came to time at 1-1… Adam was successful in a good old fashioned orb flip-off! Chris Karakasis subsequently took 2nd place with a 3-1 record on shops!
Cube
Side event/ dinner break between main events included an encore draft of the “Sarpadia Remastered” cube draft! (Won by Paul Blakely over Taylor Kane in the mini-final!)
The “Sarpadia Remastered” cube is a casual product of many months of FE40 online league results, and an unhealthy dive into the deep lore of the plane. Truly a unique environment with some unlikely heroes – best shared on the kitchen table with beer and 7 others, if not at an event!
Next event: MORE PHOTOS!
Thanks all who continue to make FE40 + Cleveland OS great!
Enjoy Reading This Article?
Here are some more articles you might like to read next: