diff --git a/spacy/matcher2.pyx b/spacy/matcher2.pyx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ff90e644d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spacy/matcher2.pyx
@@ -0,0 +1,399 @@
+# cython: infer_types=True
+from libcpp.vector cimport vector
+from libc.stdint cimport int32_t, uint64_t
+from preshed.maps cimport PreshMap
+from cymem.cymem cimport Pool
+from murmurhash.mrmr cimport hash64
+from .typedefs cimport attr_t, hash_t
+from .structs cimport TokenC
+from .lexeme cimport attr_id_t
+from .vocab cimport Vocab
+from .tokens.doc cimport Doc
+from .tokens.doc cimport get_token_attr
+from .attrs cimport ID, attr_id_t, NULL_ATTR
+from .attrs import IDS
+
+
+cdef enum quantifier_t:
+    ZERO
+    ZERO_ONE
+    ZERO_PLUS
+    ONE
+    ONE_PLUS
+
+
+cdef struct AttrValueC:
+    attr_id_t attr
+    attr_t value
+
+
+cdef struct TokenPatternC:
+    AttrValueC* attrs
+    int32_t nr_attr
+    quantifier_t quantifier
+    hash_t key
+
+
+cdef struct ActionC:
+    char is_match
+    char keep_state
+    char advance_state
+
+
+cdef struct PatternStateC:
+    TokenPatternC* state
+    int32_t pattern_id
+    int32_t start
+    ActionC last_action
+
+
+cdef struct MatchC:
+    int32_t pattern_id
+    int32_t start
+    int32_t end
+
+
+cdef find_matches(TokenPatternC** patterns, int n, Doc doc):
+    cdef vector[PatternStateC] init_states
+    cdef ActionC null_action = ActionC(-1, -1, -1)
+    for i in range(n):
+        init_states.push_back(PatternStateC(patterns[i], i, -1, last_action=null_action))
+    cdef vector[PatternStateC] curr_states
+    cdef vector[PatternStateC] nexts
+    cdef vector[MatchC] matches
+    cdef PreshMap cache = PreshMap()
+    cdef Pool mem = Pool()
+    # TODO: Prefill this with the extra attribute values.
+    extra_attrs = <attr_t**>mem.alloc(len(doc), sizeof(attr_t*))
+    for i in range(doc.length):
+        nexts.clear()
+        for j in range(curr_states.size()):
+            action = get_action(curr_states[j], &doc.c[i], extra_attrs[i], cache)
+            transition(matches, nexts,
+                action, curr_states[j], i)
+        for j in range(init_states.size()):
+            action = get_action(init_states[j], &doc.c[i], extra_attrs[i], cache)
+            transition(matches, nexts,
+                action, init_states[j], i)
+        nexts, curr_states = curr_states, nexts
+    # Filter out matches that have a longer equivalent.
+    longest_matches = {}
+    for i in range(matches.size()):
+        key = matches[i].pattern_id, matches[i].start
+        length = matches[i].end - matches[i].start
+        if key not in longest_matches or length > longest_matches[key]:
+            longest_matches[key] = length
+    return [(pattern_id, start, length-start)
+              for (pattern_id, start), length in longest_matches]
+
+
+cdef void transition(vector[MatchC]& matches, vector[PatternStateC]& nexts,
+        ActionC action, PatternStateC state, int token) except *:
+    if state.start == -1:
+        state.start = token
+    if action.is_match:
+        matches.push_back(
+            MatchC(pattern_id=state.pattern_id, start=state.start, end=token+1))
+    if action.keep_state:
+        nexts.push_back(PatternStateC(pattern_id=pattern_id,
+            start=state.start, state=state.state, last_action=action))
+    if action.advance_state:
+        nexts.push_back(PatternStateC(pattern_id=pattern_id,
+            start=state.start, state=state.state+1, last_action=action))
+
+
+cdef ActionC get_action(PatternStateC state, const TokenC* token, const attr_t* extra_attrs,
+        PreshMap cache) except *:
+    '''We need to consider:
+
+    a) Does the token match the specification? [Yes, No]
+    b) What's the quantifier? [1, 0+, ?]
+    c) Is this the last specification? [final, non-final]
+
+    We therefore have 12 cases to consider. For each case, we need to know
+    whether to emit a match, whether to keep the current state in the partials,
+    and whether to add an advanced state to the partials.
+
+    We therefore have eight possible results for these three booleans, which
+    we'll code as 000, 001 etc.
+    
+    1:
+      - Match, final:
+        100
+      - Match, non-final:
+        001
+      - No match:
+        000
+    0+:
+      - Match, final:
+        100
+      - Match, non-final:
+        011
+      - Non-match, final:
+        100
+      - Non-match, non-final:
+        010
+
+    Problem: If a quantifier is matching, we're adding a lot of open partials
+    Question: Is it worth doing a lookahead, to see if we add?
+    '''
+    cached_match = <uint64_t>cache.get(state.state.key)
+    cdef char is_match
+    if cached_match == 0:
+        is_match = get_is_match(state, token, extra_attrs)
+        cached_match = is_match + 1
+        cache.set(state.state.key, <void*>cached_match)
+    elif cached_match == 1:
+        is_match = 0
+    else:
+        is_match = 1
+    quantifier = get_quantifier(state, token)
+    is_final = get_is_final(state, token)
+    if quantifier == ONE:
+        if not is_match:
+            return ActionC(is_match=0, keep_state=0, advance_state=0)
+        elif is_final:
+            return ActionC(is_match=1, keep_state=0, advance_state=0)
+        else:
+            return ActionC(is_match=0, keep_state=0, advance_state=1)
+    elif quantifier == ZERO_PLUS:
+        if is_final:
+            return ActionC(is_match=1, keep_state=0, advance_state=0)
+        elif is_match:
+            return ActionC(is_match=0, keep_state=1, advance_state=1)
+        else:
+            return ActionC(is_match=0, keep_state=1, advance_state=0)
+    elif quantifier == ZERO_ONE:
+        if is_final:
+            return ActionC(is_match=1, keep_state=0, advance_state=0)
+        elif is_match:
+            if state.last_action.keep_state:
+                return ActionC(is_match=0, keep_state=0, advance_state=1)
+            else:
+                return ActionC(is_match=0, keep_state=1, advance_state=1)
+    else:
+        print(quantifier, is_match, is_final)
+        raise ValueError
+
+
+cdef char get_is_match(PatternStateC state, const TokenC* token, const attr_t* extra_attrs) nogil:
+    spec = state.state
+    for attr in spec.attrs[:spec.nr_attr]:
+        if get_token_attr(token, attr.attr) != attr.value:
+            return 0
+    else:
+        return 1
+
+
+cdef char get_is_final(PatternStateC state, const TokenC* token) nogil:
+    if state.state[1].attrs[0].attr == ID and state.state[1].nr_attr == 0:
+        return 1
+    else:
+        return 0
+
+
+cdef char get_quantifier(PatternStateC state, const TokenC* token) nogil:
+    return state.state.quantifier
+
+
+cdef TokenPatternC* init_pattern(Pool mem, attr_t entity_id,
+                                 object token_specs) except NULL:
+    pattern = <TokenPatternC*>mem.alloc(len(token_specs) + 1, sizeof(TokenPatternC))
+    cdef int i
+    for i, (quantifier, spec) in enumerate(token_specs):
+        pattern[i].quantifier = quantifier
+        pattern[i].attrs = <AttrValueC*>mem.alloc(len(spec), sizeof(AttrValueC))
+        pattern[i].nr_attr = len(spec)
+        for j, (attr, value) in enumerate(spec):
+            pattern[i].attrs[j].attr = attr
+            pattern[i].attrs[j].value = value
+        pattern[i].key = hash64(pattern[i].attrs, pattern[i].nr_attr * sizeof(AttrValueC), 0)
+    i = len(token_specs)
+    pattern[i].attrs = <AttrValueC*>mem.alloc(2, sizeof(AttrValueC))
+    pattern[i].attrs[0].attr = ID
+    pattern[i].attrs[0].value = entity_id
+    pattern[i].nr_attr = 0
+    return pattern
+
+
+cdef attr_t get_pattern_key(const TokenPatternC* pattern) nogil:
+    while pattern.nr_attr != 0:
+        pattern += 1
+    id_attr = pattern[0].attrs[0]
+    return id_attr.value
+
+def _convert_strings(token_specs, string_store):
+    # Support 'syntactic sugar' operator '+', as combination of ONE, ZERO_PLUS
+    operators = {'*': (ZERO_PLUS,), '+': (ONE, ZERO_PLUS),
+                 '?': (ZERO_ONE,), '1': (ONE,)}
+    tokens = []
+    op = ONE
+    for spec in token_specs:
+        if not spec:
+            # Signifier for 'any token'
+            tokens.append((ONE, [(NULL_ATTR, 0)]))
+            continue
+        token = []
+        ops = (ONE,)
+        for attr, value in spec.items():
+            if isinstance(attr, basestring) and attr.upper() == 'OP':
+                if value in operators:
+                    ops = operators[value]
+                else:
+                    msg = "Unknown operator '%s'. Options: %s"
+                    raise KeyError(msg % (value, ', '.join(operators.keys())))
+            if isinstance(attr, basestring):
+                attr = IDS.get(attr.upper())
+            if isinstance(value, basestring):
+                value = string_store.add(value)
+            if isinstance(value, bool):
+                value = int(value)
+            if attr is not None:
+                token.append((attr, value))
+        for op in ops:
+            tokens.append((op, token))
+    return tokens
+
+
+cdef class Matcher:
+    """Match sequences of tokens, based on pattern rules."""
+    cdef Pool mem
+    cdef vector[TokenPatternC*] patterns
+    cdef readonly Vocab vocab
+    cdef public object _patterns
+    cdef public object _entities
+    cdef public object _callbacks
+
+    def __init__(self, vocab):
+        """Create the Matcher.
+
+        vocab (Vocab): The vocabulary object, which must be shared with the
+            documents the matcher will operate on.
+        RETURNS (Matcher): The newly constructed object.
+        """
+        self._patterns = {}
+        self._entities = {}
+        self._callbacks = {}
+        self.vocab = vocab
+        self.mem = Pool()
+
+    def __reduce__(self):
+        data = (self.vocab, self._patterns, self._callbacks)
+        return (unpickle_matcher, data, None, None)
+
+    def __len__(self):
+        """Get the number of rules added to the matcher. Note that this only
+        returns the number of rules (identical with the number of IDs), not the
+        number of individual patterns.
+
+        RETURNS (int): The number of rules.
+        """
+        return len(self._patterns)
+
+    def __contains__(self, key):
+        """Check whether the matcher contains rules for a match ID.
+
+        key (unicode): The match ID.
+        RETURNS (bool): Whether the matcher contains rules for this match ID.
+        """
+        return self._normalize_key(key) in self._patterns
+
+    def add(self, key, on_match, *patterns):
+        """Add a match-rule to the matcher. A match-rule consists of: an ID
+        key, an on_match callback, and one or more patterns.
+
+        If the key exists, the patterns are appended to the previous ones, and
+        the previous on_match callback is replaced. The `on_match` callback
+        will receive the arguments `(matcher, doc, i, matches)`. You can also
+        set `on_match` to `None` to not perform any actions.
+
+        A pattern consists of one or more `token_specs`, where a `token_spec`
+        is a dictionary mapping attribute IDs to values, and optionally a
+        quantifier operator under the key "op". The available quantifiers are:
+
+        '!': Negate the pattern, by requiring it to match exactly 0 times.
+        '?': Make the pattern optional, by allowing it to match 0 or 1 times.
+        '+': Require the pattern to match 1 or more times.
+        '*': Allow the pattern to zero or more times.
+
+        The + and * operators are usually interpretted "greedily", i.e. longer
+        matches are returned where possible. However, if you specify two '+'
+        and '*' patterns in a row and their matches overlap, the first
+        operator will behave non-greedily. This quirk in the semantics makes
+        the matcher more efficient, by avoiding the need for back-tracking.
+
+        key (unicode): The match ID.
+        on_match (callable): Callback executed on match.
+        *patterns (list): List of token descritions.
+        """
+        for pattern in patterns:
+            if len(pattern) == 0:
+                msg = ("Cannot add pattern for zero tokens to matcher.\n"
+                       "key: {key}\n")
+                raise ValueError(msg.format(key=key))
+        key = self._normalize_key(key)
+        for pattern in patterns:
+            specs = _convert_strings(pattern, self.vocab.strings)
+            self.patterns.push_back(init_pattern(self.mem, key, specs))
+        self._patterns.setdefault(key, [])
+        self._callbacks[key] = on_match
+        self._patterns[key].extend(patterns)
+
+    def remove(self, key):
+        """Remove a rule from the matcher. A KeyError is raised if the key does
+        not exist.
+
+        key (unicode): The ID of the match rule.
+        """
+        key = self._normalize_key(key)
+        self._patterns.pop(key)
+        self._callbacks.pop(key)
+        cdef int i = 0
+        while i < self.patterns.size():
+            pattern_key = get_pattern_key(self.patterns.at(i))
+            if pattern_key == key:
+                self.patterns.erase(self.patterns.begin()+i)
+            else:
+                i += 1
+
+    def has_key(self, key):
+        """Check whether the matcher has a rule with a given key.
+
+        key (string or int): The key to check.
+        RETURNS (bool): Whether the matcher has the rule.
+        """
+        key = self._normalize_key(key)
+        return key in self._patterns
+
+    def get(self, key, default=None):
+        """Retrieve the pattern stored for a key.
+
+        key (unicode or int): The key to retrieve.
+        RETURNS (tuple): The rule, as an (on_match, patterns) tuple.
+        """
+        key = self._normalize_key(key)
+        if key not in self._patterns:
+            return default
+        return (self._callbacks[key], self._patterns[key])
+
+    def __call__(self, Doc doc):
+        """Find all token sequences matching the supplied pattern.
+
+        doc (Doc): The document to match over.
+        RETURNS (list): A list of `(key, start, end)` tuples,
+            describing the matches. A match tuple describes a span
+            `doc[start:end]`. The `label_id` and `key` are both integers.
+        """
+        matches = find_matches(&self.patterns[0], self.patterns.size(), doc)
+        return matches
+
+
+def unpickle_matcher(vocab, patterns, callbacks):
+    matcher = Matcher(vocab)
+    for key, specs in patterns.items():
+        callback = callbacks.get(key, None)
+        matcher.add(key, callback, *specs)
+    return matcher
+
+
+