Occupation: Yeti Socialite

Anthony Justice is one of the more colorful characters on the Pro Circuit. Part of the awesome squad of deckbuilders hailing from West Virginia, Justice has put up some solid $10K performances but has yet to break through big on the Pro Circuit like teammate Jason Hager did. But when it comes to entertaining stories and fun guys to hang around with, Justice is second to none.

Last week I asked Justice was his occupation was, and he replied, “I’m a socialite.” Gabe Walls has been friends with Justice for years, and he said that if he or Nick Little weren’t around, Anthony was probably the best guy to fill in at the sound byte department. But what really intrigued me were tales that Justice had once had an enormous afro to go along with a scruffy mountain man beard. When I expressed disbelief, Justice pulled out his Marshall University ID Card to provide proof of his former coif, though in this case, he said it’s actually much smaller than it once was. I’m not sure if the fuzzy picture at the top here is a yeti or Justice himself, but the after-picture is Anthony’s current look as he takes his rightful place as the Paris Hilton of the Vs. Circuit.

Enduring Renewal

Throughout the first few rounds, I heard rumors of a deck piloted by Kyle Montgomery that had been winning matches by 50 and 70 point endurance disparities. Intrigued by the possibility of this, I decided to look at Montgomery’s decklist to see how he did it. Apparently, he’s been abusing his opponents by recruiting an early Black Hand, following that with largely defensive, high willpower drops like Katma Tui and Malvolio, and then finishing the ridiculousness with Ganthet in the 7-drop slot. Combine that with a Book of Oa and Malvolio for draw filtering, and it seems like a recipe for 15 to 20 point endurance gains starting as early as turn 5. I asked Kyle how big the endurance difference between his opponent and himself was in round 3, and his answer was, “I’m getting better with the deck—this time is was 82. I just wish I hadn’t left that extra Katma Tui in the unplayed pile.”

Nick Little won two of his three matches with the first sealed deck of the day without playing a single plot twist. It could have been three for three, but during his third win in the fourth round, he flipped up a Millennium.

$10K Charlotte winner and Pro Circuit New York runner-up Jason Hager’s first sealed deck could be described as “mediocre at best,” but he was 2-1 going into round 4 and hoping desperately to make it out with a 3-1 record so that he could at least get a second chance at a better set of cards.

Craig Edwards turned in his match slip for round 4, and I asked him what his record was thus far on the day. His answer? “4-0. Who loses?” Expect to see a deck tech with him coming soon.

For some reason, every time Mike Guptil calls Alex Charsky “The Chark,” it makes me laugh. Charsky’s nickname comes from HomeStarRunner’s The Cheat, and every time Mike says something to Alex, he includes the “The” in Chark’s nickname. Like: “What’s in the bag, The Chark.” For some reason, the image of Mike Guptil as a larger-than-life Strong Bad makes me laugh.