Hey everyone, today I visited Hakeem’s family at his home. Emily (my daughter) and i paid a visit to Melissa (Hakeem’s strong, loving widow) and their two kids. Brought flowers and we talked about Hakeem a bunch.

She didn’t really know how big this side of him
Was and was amazed at how many of you that reached out to her after he passed so suddenly. She wanted to thank you guys for that cuz it made her realize how loved he was in this other world he had on the side. It’s a side that he hid from her for a bit cuz he was scared she’d think he was a dork and stop liking him, lol. I think many of us can relate to that

Anyway it’s still all very sad and I was a hot mess on my way back to the hotel but it was an hour well spent and I’m really glad I chose to stop by. She said it helped cuz she gets new pieces of him when she speaks to his friends. And if you know Hakeem, you know that’s a long list. I told her about this site and these memorial threads and to speak to how broad his warmth, friendship and influence spread, I told her that I heard about his passing from a fan of his from Portugal (thanks Cucho

Anyway I really miss him
And I’m again wrecked by the sudden loss of our friendship and all these visits we had planned together. I felt pain looking at his cute daughter with her big eyes as she drew pictures and not realizing, yet, the absence it will continuously have in her life and especially around her big life moments . Life is very unfair and I’ll be sure to hold my girl close tonight and be thankful for what I have, just as I am thankful for the years of friendship I had with Hakeem.

Ill be sure to not put off visits with close friends in the future.

Thanks for doing that Barney - even after all these months it stings a hell of a lot, still wish i'd managed to have more conversations with him in the last year or so because i miss him.

Can't imagine what it's been like for his family, can only wish them well from the other side of the world

You beautiful bastard... I got all emotional reading this

PS: I´m from Chile ... Haven is from Portugal!

Lol, I’m the worst.

Yeah when I wrote that I was lying down on a couch in my hotel and the tears wouldn’t stop. His whole house was set up like a shrine to him, pictures everywhere and the urn in the hallway between the bedrooms of his kids (they wanted it there.). You could really feel him in the walls. I’m glad she chose to stay in the house. They had been fixing it up for years together. It felt really like a family home.

Anyway we shared many laughs so I hope I helped a little. It was great talking about him and sharing stories. She was telling me how he didn’t consider himself to have an accent. I laughed a bunch

Love that guy. She watches his old videos on YouTube a lot. She doesn’t understand anything he’s saying (cuz she doesn’t play), but it comforts her. I tried it myself a few months ago and it wrecked me, had to turn it off

Thanks, Barney. Without you, his wife and their children would have missed out on this part of his life.

If they ever read this, they should know that I never would have found this community without him, and am much richer for having known him and having the experiences that followed from that.

Oh my God... I don't come here often anymore since Duels stopped for me. I recently started to play Arena and was curious how you guys were doing, so I dropped by.

This is the first thing I see, and although it happend months ago, for me this is devastating news that I just found out about….

I really loved that guy and he played Destiny 2 a lot, like me. We always tried to play that game together but with such different time zones and life... it never happened. I should have tried harder. I noticed he wasn't coming online on Xbox anymore, but I didn't made much of it because sometimes that happens… my God...

The last time I heard him was when I was doing a raid with my buddies in D2 and we couldn't figure something out. He dropped by in the chat and guided us with tips and tricks. Always helpful and nice.

My heart goes to his wife and kids… I can't imagine… I wish his family all the strength in the world.

And to Matt... Thanks for the great moments. They were few, but they will last. You were my inspiration to start my own channel (not that it was a succes, but I loved doing it!). I remember when I challenged you on Duels to record for my channel short after I started it. It was a blast and I like to think that it sprouted the idea for you to start the tournaments and the Hakumite.
You did a lot for this community.... it wasn't the same without you and it never will be.

Thanks for everything, rest in peace...

Hey. Not sure if any of you would remember me. I haven't played for years due to getting a PS4 and then the PS4 version of origins getting cancelled. But I've always lurked, called back into this forum every 6 months or so to see what was happening and saw this dreadful news recently. Even though I wasn't close to Hakeem, it's affected me. And I've thought about a lot over the last few weeks.

I was an old skool player from the first edition on xbox 360, i think we were on the official forums back then. I think I remember Hakeem joining and definitely becoming a massive part of this little community. At the time there were a few toxic characters about, so when Hakeem joined it was a breath of fresh air.

Hakeem was on my 360 friends list and we usually had a few head to heads, either randomly match-made on the game's ladder or requested from the friends list. He seemed like a top chap. Very respectful, a lovely guy and someone you'd want to be friends with irl. I'm certain he'll be missed greatly.

Barney - You lovely man. Thank you so much for passing on the well wishes of this forum, which in some small way, I still consider myself part of.

All the best,

G

You and I had the same experience of getting to know him. Tons of toxic characters on those forums and in walks Hakeen where everyone of his posts is hilariously bitter and on-point. Calling out hypocrisy where he sees it, and offering amazing deck building advice at the same time (with an acid tongue).

You're lucky to have one-on-one skirmishes with him on 360. I only started doing that with him on Xbox One and there was nothing better. We'd laugh over the headset and it was like we were in a pub together.

I miss him and think of him often. I'm FB friends with his wife and she posts pics of their cute kids all the time. She's having a rough time with it and I can't imagine what that must be like. She really loved hearing about all you guys and the shenanigans we got into with Hakeem over here. Larger than life character for sure.

thanks for sharing, Grandmaster

Ive largely only lurked around here but i enjoy watching you all banter and hakeem was a familiar face in all of that

Very sad to hear this, he went too soon.

It's a year ago today that we lost our friend.

Miss you, buddy.

Hi all, not sure if I should be posting here as I never knew hakeem/matthew personally, and was never particularly a member of this community, but in the last few weeks I've been slowly re-watching all of hakeem's old duels 2015 videos and having a blast, and thought I would Google his name to see what he was up to, and was devastated to see this news.

To know he was so young and left behind a grieving family was heartbreaking (one of the posts which mentioned how his wife still watches his old YouTube videos really got me) - life really is short. but I wanted to say how sweet and genuine I thought it was to see threads like this paying tribute to a member of the community. even just on a forum to discuss MTG you can see what he meant to people - and it's especially nice to know that finding all these people from various online communities who cared for him may have helped with his wife's grieving process, even if its just a little. you could tell through his videos and comments what a sound guy he was, and a real loss to the community.

So I guess I just wanted to pay my respects and to say thank you for the good times, and to state the impact he had on people, even if it is just some random nerd in Britain watching MTG videos!

Doesn't seem like a year already. I miss my card making partner.

Happy birthday Hakeem. We love you and miss you.

I wrote Melissa (Hakeem's wife) a note this morning on our behalf, saying we miss him and think of him, and that we know it's a hard day for their family today. She wrote back that they're going to have a cake tonight to celebrate his birthday proper. She said she's happy his friends still think of him She sends lots of hugs and kisses.

Melissa (Hakeem’s widow) just posted a picture of her kids in front of a birthday cake that says Happy Birthday Daddy. Im balling in a cafe :.(

damn ninjas cutting onions ;(

RIP Hakeem. Your boy CGB made it to #1 in Mythic Standard. You had always pegged him to be a #1 kind of guy and he sooooo deserves it. But like me and the rest of the Magic Duels, NGA crowd will never forget you brother. I know you moved on from MTG but you aced the game when you were playing it. At least ‘brainless stainless’ are no longer involved. SD

That's great about CGB, Hakeem would have been proud. My best friend just got into Magic Arena and is begging me to pick it up on Mobile with him. But i just can't. When i play Magic digitally, all i hear is Hakeem's voice. We played so much together and chatted and laughed, I can't do it without thinking of him. It's just not the same. I'd sooner play something else and that's what I'm doing.

His family is doing great, btw. I get pictures of them often on Facebook. His boy looks just like him and will surely be another gentle giant much like Hakeem himself. His daughter is gorgeous and loves her cat. His wife seems to be doing well too. Wish them the best.

Just discovered this today while randomly watching some old dotp 2015 videos of his. I don't consider myself an emotional person but I've been balling my eyes out for the last 30 minutes. Thanks for the updates Barney