Self-described “sort of teammates” Edbury and Sohnle went head to head in a mirror match of epic proportions. With both players running identical versions of “Mean” Dean’s Fantastic Fun deck, this was undoubtedly going to be the most complicated $10K final in the history of the Vs. System.

As such, Tim Willoughby and I joined forces yet again to make sure we got you, the readers, all the information available. No time for hair jokes this time, as Sohnle and Edbury were guaranteed to churn out some ridiculous chains. I sat in the Canadian’s corner, while Willoughby backed his fellow Brit. Sohnle won the coin flip and opted to take control of the initiative on even turns.

As the competitors awaited a table judge, Willoughby looked at me, and I had the distinct feeling that I was about to be eviscerated in print. If I write that Tim Willoughby is committing libel against me, does that count as libel too?

Sohnle began the turn and kept an opening hand of Ant Man, She-Thing, Advanced Hardware, and Flamethrower. He drew into Thinking Outside the Box and Invisible Woman, Sue Storm. Two copies of Ant Man hit the board on turn 1, and Edbury’s crashed into Sohnle’s.

Sohnle retaliated, recruiting She-Thing and leaving both characters in the front row. Edbury recruited Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards and gave him Unstable Molecules. There wasn’t an Antarctic Research Base yet, and it seemed like the first player to find one would have a distinct advantage. The Canadian Ant Man launched itself into Edbury’s, She-Thing attacked Reed Richards, and Edbury KO’d the Unstable Molecules. Edbury activated Richards and took a piece of equipment, and all characters recovered. As a side note, Sohnle’s draw for the turn was Thing, Ben Grimm and Signal Flare.

Edbury opened up turn 3 with an activation of Reed Richards, and then he recruited a She-Thing of his own. He gave Reed The Pogo Plane and hid him behind She-Thing, while Ant Man sat out front. Mean Dean recruited Invisible Woman, The Invisible Girl, gave her a token, and then Signal Flared for Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards. Dean recruited Richards and activated his effect, netting a Fantasticar. A potentially valuable card in this matchup, Sohnle held onto Fantasticar for later use. He formed up, with She-Thing protecting Reed, and Invisible Girl protecting Ant Man.

She-Thing attacked Sohnle’s Invisible Woman, and her token cancelled the attack. Ant Man then attacked her as well, and Sohnle’s Ant Man reinforced. That was it for the turn.

Sohnle flipped Thinking Outside the Box to chain to his draw. He took Cosmic Radiation and Antarctic Research Base (ARB) off the bottom of his deck. Mr. Fantastic activated to get him a Personal Force Field, and then he recruited Thing, Ben Grimm. Dean gave Thing the Fantasticar, drew a card for his newly flipped ARB, and formed up with everyone but Reed in the front row. Edbury flipped an ARB of his own, equipped an Unstable Molecules to She-Thing, and drew a card. Mr. Fantastic did some digging for Edbury, and he hit two copies of Advanced Hardware, a Personal Force Field, and a Flamethrower.

“Hmm, that’s actually quite tricky,” Edbury mused. He settled on an Advanced Hardware, equipping it to Ant Man. But on the chain, Sohnle used Thing’s effect. Thing hucked the Fantasticar at Ant Man’s head. Ant Man used his effect on one of Sohnle’s front rowers and was then stunned. Edbury got his draw for the Research Base after the chain finished resolving. He then recruited Invisible Girl, gave her a Fantasticar, and drew a card. He was still a bit behind Sohnle in character presence, but he looked like he had better location and equipment access. He improved his position as he blew the Pogo Plane off of Reed Richards and then searched for Pier 4. That search was costly though, losing him a Flamethrower from his hand. Personal Force Field was equipped to Mr. Fantastic, Edbury drew one more card, and that was it for his recruits that turn. Edbury formed into an L with She-Thing protecting Invisible Girl.

Sohnle sent Thing and Ant Man after She-Thing, forcing Edbury to KO She-Thing’s Unstable Molecules. She-Thing and Ant Man both stunned. Sohnle’s She-Thing then jumped the British Invisible Girl and robbed her of her Fantasticar even though she was shunted out of combat by her token. Sohnle went after Edbury’s Invisible Girl again, this time with his own, but Edbury had a power-up. Sohnle’s Invisible Girl stunned. Before combat was over, Edbury flipped Salvage to return Fantasticar to his hand. By the end of the turn, it was Reed Richards, Invisible Girl, and She-Thing on Edbury’s side against the same characters on Sohnle’s, plus the Canuck’s Thing, Ben Grimm.

Sohnle drew into Mr. Fantastic, Stretch and A Child Named Valeria. Edbury paid the necessary endurance to turn Salvage face down, and he contemplated his hand for a while. He soon decided to Salvage Unstable Molecules and give the equipment back to She-Thing. As usual, he netted himself a draw by doing so. Mr. Fantastic got a Fantasticar, Edbury got another card, and Thing, Ben Grimm was recruited and given Advanced Hardware (and of course, Edbury again drew for his equip). Thing hid behind Invisible Woman, The Invisible Girl, while Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards ducked behind She-Thing. Then, Edbury passed play to Sohnle.

Sohnle seemed ready to go off, packing a mitt full of equipment. She-Thing and Invisible Girl each got some Advanced Hardware, Reed Richards got a Personal Force Field, and Thing got a Flamethrower. His equips netted him four more cards, and Sohnle had one more resource point left. He chuckled to himself and recruited Franklin Richards with his last point. Odd move, right?

Edbury’s Thing attacked Franklin Richards, but Sohnle’s Thing pegged the kid in the head with his Flamethrower, stunning him and preventing Franklin from running back into the deck. Masterful! She-Thing attacked into Invisible Woman, The Invisible Girl, and Sohnle chained activations of Advanced Hardware and A Child Named Valeria. The Invisible Woman lost her Hardware to She-Thing’s effect moments later.

Before the draw of the next turn, Mr. Fantastic grabbed Sohnle a War Wagon. He then drew into Foiled and Advanced Hardware. Sohnle activated Franklin Richards, used his effect to reduce the cost of Mr. Fantastic, Stretch, and recruited him. Edbury contemplated chaining Thing’s effect but decided not to. Sohnle equipped War Wagon to Invisible Girl and Advanced Hardware to Stretch, and then he formed up with Stretch protecting She-Thing and Thing protecting Franklin Richards. Invisible Girl was in the front row off to the side.

Edbury activated Mr. Fantastic and took a Pogo Plane. “I’m really great at drawing these,” he said jokingly. He spent a resource point to equip Flamethrower to Invisible Girl, but Sohnle had responses. Stretch shifted his Advanced Hardware to Thing, and Thing tossed it at Invisible Girl’s face, so the Flamethrower never attached. Foiled for the moment, Edbury recruited Frankie Raye and then gave She-Thing some Advanced Hardware (he’d flipped Pier 4 earlier). He drew, gave Thing a Pogo Plane, and drew again. He recruited another Invisible Girl, KO’ing the stunned original, and finally recruited Wyatt Wingfoot. The endurance totals were 30 to 38 in Sohnle’s favor, but with improved board presence, his lot was definitely looking a great deal better. He chose to protect Wyatt with She-Thing, Thing with Frankie Raye, and Mr. Fantastic with Invisible Girl.

Sohnle’s Thing charged at Frankie Raye and took her down hard. Mr. Fantastic then beat up on Edbury’s Thing, who activated in response to burn for 3 with Advanced Hardware. Thing then hurled his Advanced Hardware at Sohnle’s Invisible Girl, who chained War Wagon to KO Frankie Raye. Stretch moved the War Wagon onto Franklin Richards. “Good storage spot,” he said, patting Franklin. Edbury’s Thing stunned. Sohnle paid another 2 endurance to shift She-Thing’s Advanced Hardware to Thing. He seemed to be forgetting to activate She-Thing for 3 points of burn. Thing threw the Advanced Hardware at Edbury’s Invisible Girl.

“I’ll have She-Thing attack Reed Richards.”

“She-Thing doesn’t have range,” replied Edbury.

“Ohhh, I screwed up!” He instead moved the War Wagon to She-Thing and used it to KO Edbury’s Thing. Cosmic Radiation readied all of Sohnle’s characters, and War Wagon KO’d Invisible Girl. Salvage was blown up by Foiled. Edbury was left with Wyatt Wingfoot, Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards, and She-Thing. The latter attacked Franklin Richards, bouncing him back to the deck.

“Do you have A Child Named Valeria?” Edbury asked openly. “It seems very likely you do.” Sohnle just smiled.

“I think I’m going to give it a go.” Edbury sent She-Thing into Thing and KO’d her Unstable Molecules to prevent a stun back. Thing went down, and the endurance totals were 17 to 23 in Sohnle’s favor.

Both competitors drew. “It’s my initiative this turn, isn’t it?” inquired Edbury. It was. He equipped a Flamethrower to Wyatt Wingfoot and activated Mr. Fantastic, choosing Unstable Molecules over a War Wagon. After some thought, Edbury attached Unstable Molecules to She-Thing. The draw power these decks generated really was insane! Edbury recruited Franklin Richards—either he had several copies of Cosmic Radiation, or it was a desperation play. He activated She-Thing for Advanced Hardware and Wyatt for Flamethrower, and then he activated Cosmic Radiation.

On the chain, Sohnle’s Thing hucked War Wagon at Wyatt Wingfoot’s pretty face, KO’ing him. Cosmic Radiation resolved, and Edbury activated Franklin Richards. He recruited Invisible Woman, The Invisible Girl for free and activated Mr. Fantastic. He took his one hit, a Personal Force Field. He then activated Signal Flare, searched out Mr. Fantastic, Stretch, and recruited him after discarding another copy of Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards from his hand. The one on the field was KO’d. Edbury equipped Unstable Molecules to the new Mr. Fantastic, drew a card, gave Invisible Girl a Personal Force Field, drew a card, and then set down his hand a moment to think things through. His Pier 4 was really letting him gain momentum each turn. If he didn’t have that, the match would have been far less back and forth than it was. He passed.

In a flurry of cards, Sohnle recruited Human Torch, Hotshot, Invisible Woman, The Invisible Girl, and Frankie Raye. But he had no equips! He formed up with She-Thing protecting Stretch, Thing protecting Human Torch, and Invisible Girl protecting Frankie Raye.

Moving into combat, Edbury KO’d the Unstable Molecules on Stretch to give him +3 DEF. Edbury’s Mr. Fantastic shot at Thing, but Sohnle chained A Child Named Valeria. In response, Edbury activated She-Thing. Edbury dished out a bit of damage but didn’t have any more attacks.

Sohnle sent Mr. Fantastic after She-Thing, who had no reinforcement due to protecting Franklin Richards! Edbury KO’d her Unstable Molecules but then opted to pay 4 endurance to move her Advanced Hardware to Stretch and give her a Personal Force Field. The endurance totals were 12 to 8 in Edbury’s favor. Frankie Raye attacked Franklin Richards.

“I may have some effects,” announced Edbury. “Nope, nothing.”

The attack was legal, Franklin scurried off into the deck, and Frankie readied. Invisible Girl attacked her British clone, and Edbury responded by moving the Advanced Hardware to her, burning Sohnle down to 5 endurance. Sohnle responded by activating Human Torch, Hotshot to burn for 5. Edbury activated Cosmic Radiation, placing it on the chain. It resolved, and Invisible Girl burned for 3 yet again. Edbury spent 2 to move the Hardware to Stretch, burned again, and the endurance totals were 8 to -1. He played Cosmic Radiation again, activated Stretch to Hardware burn for 3, spent 2 endurance to shift the Hardware to Invisible Girl, and burned for another 3.

“How many Cosmic Radiations do you have, that’s the basic question,” said Edbury. “Ok, that’s fine. I take 5, and I let Invisible Woman stun. Oh, wait, I have another Cosmic.” He activated it, burned one more time, and passed. Sohnle revealed his hand—two locations and Franklin Richards.

Rich Edbury takes Game 1 with a final score of 0 to -10!

Edbury took control of the initiative on turn 1. Sohnle kept his opening hand of two copies of Unstable Molecules, an Antarctic Research Base, and Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards. The hand was soon added to with Foiled and a second copy of ARB. Wyatt Wingfoot popped up on Edbury’s side and poked Sohnle for 1.

Sohnle began his turn by flipping ARB, recruiting Reed Richards, and drawing a card with Unstable Molecules. Edbury also had Mr. Fantastic, but no ARB. He activated Mr. Fantastic, and Sohnle chained his own, nabbing an Advanced Hardware. Edbury got a Flamethrower, his only choice. No attacks took place, and all characters readied.

Edbury recruited She-Thing on turn 3—still no ARB. He looked to fix that, equipping Pogo Plane to Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards. Sohnle also recruited She-Thing and gave her the second Unstable Molecules for another draw. He KO’d the Molecules attached to Mr. Fantastic and gave him a War Wagon instead, drew, and then formed up with She-Thing protecting Mr. Fantastic.

“I have no attacks,” confessed Edbury. Sohnle did, and he attacked with She-Thing into Edbury’s She-Thing. Wyatt Wingfoot bounced back to Edbury’s hand and reinforced She-Thing.

Before the end of the turn, both players again activated Mr. Fantastic. Edbury got Molecules, while Sohnle caught only plot twists and characters. He stacked Cosmic Radiation on the bottom of his deck, a Thinking Outside the Box in his hand.

Edbury KO’d the Pogo Plane to fetch Antarctic Research Base, which he promptly set and played. He equipped Advanced Hardware to She-Thing, drew a card, recruited Thing, and gave Thing Unstable Molecules for another draw. In his build, Sohnle set and flipped Thinking Outside the Box. He recruited Invisible Woman, The Invisible Girl and gave her Advanced Hardware. Then, he claimed that Cosmic Radiation. He gave She-Thing a Flamethrower and drew a card.

“I’ve used two . . . three . . . I’ve got one left,” said Sohnle. He used his last point to recruit Wyatt Wingfoot. She-Thing and Invisible Girl protected Mr. Fantastic and Wyatt respectively.

She-Thing attacked Invisible Girl, who chained her Advanced Hardware burn and then bounced She-Thing out of the attack. Wyatt Wingfoot reinforced from the board, and Invisible Girl eventually went down. Sohnle’s She-Thing attacked Edbury’s, Edbury lost his Advanced Hardware and 7 endurance, and War Wagon KO’d She-Thing. The Molecules bonus saved the other She-Thing.

Next turn, Sohnle chained Mr. Fantastic to his draw. “Just what I wanted!” He held up a Personal Force Field to show everyone. Both players drew two cards, and Sohnle recruited Ant Man and Frankie Raye, giving each an Advanced Hardware (and drawing two more cards). He drew a third card this phase after he gave Invisible Girl a Personal Force Field.

Edbury activated his Mr. Fantastic and chose Advanced Hardware over a Flamethrower. He played a resource, Pier 4, and flipped it up before Signal Flare’ing for Mr. Fantastic, Stretch.

“I don’t think this is your usual way of doing it, but I’m going to do it.”

Edbury grinned and recruited Stretch, KO’ing Reed Richards. He gave Mr. Fantastic some Advanced Hardware, drew, KO’d Thing’s Unstable Molecules, gave him a Flamethrower, drew, gave him a War Wagon, and drew again. The mental fatigue of just following this game was remarkable, let alone what it must have taken to participate in it. These guys were really earning their prize money. Edbury protected Stretch with Thing and passed.

Sohnle’s She-Thing attacked Thing with her Flamethrower. Thing burned Sohnle in response, and then he junked his Flamethrower by throwing it at Ant Man. Ant Man burned in response with Advanced Hardware, Frankie Raye did the same, and then Sohnle activated Cosmic Radiation.

At this point, there was some confusion about the sequence of events. It turned out that Edbury had been responding to Sohnle’s declaration of attack. The chain was backed up a bit. Once Cosmic Radiation resolved, another Advanced Hardware burn and a Flamethrower burn hit Edbury. Edbury then had to Signal Flare to get a power-up, attempting to keep Thing safe. It worked, and She-Thing stunned and KO’d due to her Flamethrower.

Edbury’s big, beefy Stretch attacked Sohnle’s Reed Richards, who dug for some equipment in response but hit nothing but green, red, and blue. Wyatt reinforced him, but he still went down. Edbury’s Thing then stomped on Invisible Girl by throwing Hardware at her. At the end of the turn, it was Edbury’s Stretch and Thing, Ben Grimm against Frankie Raye and Wyatt Wingfoot. The endurance totals were 22 to 36 in favor of Sohnle.

After some confusion about the initiative, Edbury began the next turn. He played a resource, gave Thing two pieces of equipment (a Hardware and a Force Field), and drew two cards. Stretch got a Pogo Plane, Edbury got a card, and then he recruited Invisible Woman, The Invisible Girl. He then activated Signal Flare, taking a She-Thing and discarding Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards. He had three more points to spend, so he recruited Frankie Raye and formed up. She-Thing sat in front of Stretch, Invisible Girl protected Frankie Raye with her token, and Thing sat in the front row ready to hurl stuff at people.

Sohnle’s turn to recruit and equip came next. He gave Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards a Personal Force Field, drew a card, and activated his effect to get a Flame Thrower, but not before Thing stunned Frankie Raye with a Personal Force Field (she activated before stunning to dish out 3 endurance loss). Invisible Girl was then recruited, and the Flamethrower got attached to Wyatt Wingfoot. A second one was placed in the hands of Invisible girl, and after a lengthy wait for a response from Edbury, Sohnle drew a card for ARB.

Edbury eagerly headed into combat. She-Thing attacked Wyatt Wingfoot, who burned Edbury for 5. She-Thing’s effect stripped away the Flamethrower that would otherwise have KO’d him. Wyatt stunned, and Edbury’s Stretch again looked to slam Sohnle’s Reed Richards. A flurry of power-ups threw a monkey wrench into Edbury’s plans though, forcing him to pay 4 endurance to shift The Pogo Plane off of Stretch and Advanced Hardware onto him. A Child Named Valeria was chained, ruining the attack. In response, Edbury paid 2 endurance to move The Pogo Plane to Thing, trying to stun Invisible Woman. Another Child saved her, however. Edbury paid another 2 endurance, moved the Advanced Hardware to Thing, and finally took out Invisible Girl, but not before she burned for 5.

The attack resolved, and neither character was stunned.

On the next turn, Sohnle had the initiative again. Before drawing, he used Reed’s effect, nabbing an Advanced Hardware and using the combo with Thinking Outside the Box to ensure that he’d get Cosmic Radiation. He attached Advanced Hardware to Frankie Raye, drew a card, burned for 3, activated Cosmic Radiation, and activated Reed Richards again, but he got nothing but characters and a plot twist: Mr. Fantastic, Stretch, Invisible Girl, Thing, Ben Grimm, and Signal Flare. He debated how best to stack the bottom of his deck for use with Thinking.

He gave Ant Man a Pogo Plane, drew a card (Thing, Ben Grimm), gave him some Advanced Hardware, drew again, and formed up with Thing, Ben Grimm protecting Stretch, and Frankie Raye protecting Ant Man.

Edbury put Baxter Building in his resource row, flipped it, and activated it to get Unstable Molecules. He attached the Molecules to Thing, drew for it, attached Flamethrower to Invisible Girl, and drew for that too. He gave She-Thing some Unstable Molecules and drew another card, and then he Salvaged from his hand.

“I think Flamethrower has to be brought back.”

Indeed, that’s what he went for at first, but he then opted to take Advanced Hardware. He kept the same formation he had the last turn. Edbury was at -2 to Sohnle’s 31 endurance. He needed a series of massive plays to close the gap, let alone win.

Edbury attempted to peg Sohnle’s Invisible Girl with Thing’s Advanced Hardware, but Sohnle had a Child to prevent the stun. Frankie Raye attacked Frankie Raye, and the defending Sohnle’s burned in response for 3 endurance. Mr. Fantastic, Stretch attacked Sohnle’s Thing, putting Sohnle at 19. She-Thing and Invisible Girl attacked into Stretch, but a double power-up thanks to Signal Flare kept Fantastic ticking.

“I’ve got another two Cosmics, but it’s not enough.” Edbury flipped up Human Torch, Hotshot. “This is what really screwed me, setting this. Sorry guys!” Edbury smiled at the judges and reporters.

It was 1 to 1, so the match went to Game 3!

Sohnle took the preferred odd-turn initiative and prodded Edbury for 2 endurance with an attack from Ant Man. Edbury had no drop on turn 2 either, and he found himself under heavy fire from both Ant Man and She-Thing. The endurance totals were 43 to 50.

Sohnle opened the turn incredibly strongly, flipping Antarctic Research Base and Thinking Outside the Box. He then recruited Wyatt Wingfoot and gave She-Thing an Unstable Molecules drawing. He popped Molecules, Salvaged it, gave it to Ant Man, drew, gave Wyatt a Flamethrower, drew, and gave a second Molecules to She-Thing (again). He drew, popped Ant Man’s Molecules, and lastly gave him a Flamethrower. Wow. Sohnle was at a plus five in his hand advantage over Edbury.

“I’m going to make this a bit more of a contest now,” declared Edbury as he Signal Flared for Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards. He discarded Franklin Richards for it and recruited Reed. He then recruited Invisible Woman, The Invisible Girl and put her in front of Reed before passing.

She-Thing attacked Invisible Girl, and in response, Edbury played A Child Named Valeria. He took 2 for breakthrough. Ant Man attacked Invisible Girl next, having 7 ATK due to his Flamethrower and 4 DEF thanks to his Molecules, leaving Edbury no choice but to remove the counter from Invisible Girl.

“Wouldn’t it be great if I had three Invisible Girls,” joked Edbury. Wyatt Wingfoot then swung into Invisible Girl too.

“You’re a mean man,” said Edbury. That’s why they call him “Mean” Dean. Or they should.

The turn would get meaner! Cosmic Radiation readied Wyatt, She-Thing, and Ant Man, and Wyatt then fired off a blast of burn with Flamethrower during the attack. The attack resolved and Wyatt crashed, but the damage was done. Ant Man added a blast of searing flame to the fray as well. The endurance totals were 26 to 50.

Edbury Signal Flared for another Reed Richards. He powered-up the one in play, and his characters team attacked to take down Ant Man. Ant Man went to the KO’d pile as his Flamethrower proceeded to explode. Edbury had Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman, while Sohnle was reduced to just She-Thing.

As the turn began, Edbury activated Mr. Fantastic’s effect. He had to choose between a Personal Force Field and a Flamethrower, the other two cards being Thinking Outside the Box and Frankie Raye. He took the Force Field. “Let’s do this now before we forget,” said Edbury as he flipped ARB and Pier 4. He attached Advanced Hardware to Invisible Girl and drew for doing so. He then gave her a Personal Force Field, drew again, and recruited Wyatt Wingfoot. Wyatt got an Unstable Molecules, ARB gave Edbury another card, and he scored yet another card from giving Wyatt a War Wagon. And that was his last resource point.

Sohnle didn’t have much in the way of characters, but he did have a good hand: two copies of Cosmic Radiation, a Pier 4, A Child Named Valeria, an Invisible Woman, Sue Storm, and a Flamethrower. He turned Salvage face down for 4 endurance, Salvaged Unstable Molecules, recruited Invisible Woman, Sue Storm, and gave She-Thing the Molecules (taking a card for doing so).

Edbury had no attacks, so he passed combat to Sohnle. She-Thing attacked Invisible Girl, stripping her of her equips (but taking 3 points of burn in the process). Invisible Girl bounced back with A Child Named Valeria. Invisible Woman then attacked Edbury’s Invisible Girl and dealt some breakthrough. That was the turn.

The endurance totals were 41 to 19.

Sohnle turned Salvage face down, blew Unstable Molecules, Salvaged Flamethrower, and gave it to She-Thing. Then he drew. Sohnle was looking to end the match this turn. Sue Storm got a Flamethrower as well, and the message was very clear. An Advanced Hardware was attached to Sue Storm, Franklin Richards hit the table, and another Advanced Hardware was given to the kid.

“I’ll concede if you show me two Cosmic Radiations,” said Edbury, knowing it was over. Sohnle revealed his hand, and sure enough, there they were! Both competitors laughed and shook hands.

“Two in a row!” said Edbury, congratulating Sohnle.

Two in a row indeed! Dean Sohnle wins two $10K tournaments in a row with his ridiculously powerful Fantastic Fun deck, cementing it as possibly the best deck in the Golden Age format.

Click here for Tim Willoughby's coverage of this match from Richard Edbury's side!