|
The Sentry™
Card# MTU-017
While his stats aren’t much bigger than those of the average 7-drop, Sentry’s “Pay ATK” power can drastically hinder an opponent’s attacking options in the late game.
Click here for more
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Round Nine: Jose Luis Nolacea vs. Kyoshi Padilla |
| Jason Grabher-Meyer |
| May 08, 2005 |
|
|
| |
 Padilla, armed with a Doom/F5 team-up deck, squared off against Nolacea, running Curve Sentinels. Both men had a 6-2 record, so the winner would move on to Day 2 while the loser would be out of the tournament.
Padilla won the roll and opted to take the odd initiative. After taking a mulligan, he recruited Boris and swung against an open field. Next turn, Nolacea recruited Sentinel Mark III while Padilla recruited Shimmer, who was quickly smashed by the Sentinel in a double-stun.
Padilla shook his head on turn 3 and quickly passed the initiative. He had no drop, but he used Shimmer to exhaust last turn’s Mark III and a fresh Sentinel Mark II after teaming Doom with Fearsome Five. The control kept on coming as Nolacea’s Mark V was met with Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius. Padilla chained his effect to a rowed Faces of Doom to fetch Lord of Latveria, and then used Reign of Terror to return the Mark II to Nolacea’s hand. Boris ran off to fetch another Reign of Terror and the Mark III bounced as well. Padilla played cautiously, though, forming up with both characters in his back row. That Mark V went after Dr. Doom, Doomstadt was flipped, and Nolacea was forced to power up. Padilla did the same, and Nolacea had no answer—the Mark V went down. Doom then swung directly, resulting in a stellar turn for the conservative-minded Padilla!
Padilla had the initiative and momentum on his side, but turn 5 found him without a five-drop. He flipped Mystical Paralysis to exhaust Nolacea’s one Mark V, then recruited another copy of Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius to flip it back down. Doom got a Power Compressor and Nolacea got a boosted Mark V he’d drawn earlier that turn. Shimmer then exhausted the field, and play moved to turn 6.
Nolacea possessed control of the initiative but missed his turn drop. Bastion was replaced by Boliver Trask, Hounds of Ahab, and a Mark II. Boliver grabbed a Mark V, which would have been an excellent move, had Nolacea not already recruited a bunch of low drops this turn. Either he was off his game or he was packing multiple Nasty Surprises or Overload/Beatdown combos.
Padilla missed his drop as well, and instead recruited Robot Destroyer and Boris. Boliver Trask, who secretly harbors a deadly hatred for purple hats, immediately flew at him and Boris ran into the deck. Nolacea observed his board for a while. It didn’t look good—if he had some combos, he wouldn’t have hesitated like he did. Sure enough, the one major threat he had, the Hounds, slammed into Shimmer for a trade in stuns. Mystical Paralysis prevented one Mark V from attacking, and when the remaining two Sentinels team attacked Doom, the Robot Destroyer smashed the second Mark V. The Mark II crashed into Dr. Doom and shattered into tiny purple bits. By the end of the turn it was Two Mark V’s and Boliver versus Dr. Doom and Shimmer.
Padilla brought out Psimon next, and though he hit his drop, he wasn’t pleased with his draw. With his 8-drop in hand but no 9-drop in sight, he needed to hit a Dr. Light and had only four cards in which to do it. If Nolacea hit Magneto, then he might have been set to score the upset: if not he’d have nothing.
 He did have a Magneto, and Padilla’s cautious but confident play seemed to turn to concerned ambition. He sent Psimon into the Mark V with boost and Nolacea proceeded to pop two copies of Genosha. The attack worked, and Shimmer exhausted the rest of the board. Dr. Doom swung on the remaining Mark V and Padilla tried to lessen the impact of a possibly nightmarish turn 8, but a series of pumps took Doom down and kept the Mark V up. Nolacea, despite his horrid early game, looked to be on the verge of a win.
Psimon was now a big problem for Nolacea, and he took a moment to again read his effect. He passed the initiative after meticulously looking at each of his down resources and perusing his hand. He pressed Boris to the front row.
Padilla flipped The Underworld Star to search out Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius—no Dr. Light? Did he not intend to play Lord of Latveria? He recruited Doom, flipped Underworld Star face down, and then recruited Boris. Reign of Terror sent Boliver back to Nolacea’s hand, and after forming up with Boris in front of Shimmer and Doom in front of Psimon, he passed. Doom exhausted to Mystical Paralysis Magneto, and a team attack from the remaining Mark Vs brought Psimon down in a double-stun. Boris then ran off to fetch a Gamma Bomb, and in response Nolacea chained Reconstruction Program.
Padilla made an odd move, opting only to recruit Boris and passing the build phase. It seemed like he was looking to end the game with a Gamma Bomb loop, which seemed excessive since he had opened his turn by Starring for Dr. Light. Nolacea recruited Boliver Trask, grabbed a Mark II, recruited it, recruited another Boliver, took another Mark II, and recruited it—certainly a play that a horde of light-construct zombies could have handled. Play passed to the combat phase and Padilla Bombed the field. Nolacea chained Reconstruction Program to grab three Mark Vs, and Boris attempted to run off and grab a plot twist but was cut down by a Mark III.
Next turn Nolacea recruited a Mark II and Nimrod, but Padilla had the loop. He flipped Avalon Space Station, took back 8-drop Dr. Doom, recruited him, and flipped down Gamma Bomb. The lock was in, and though he sat and read Doom’s text, and checked all his downs twice, there was nothing Nolacea could do about it. Gamma Bomb hit as soon as Nolacea announced an attack, and next turn, Dr. Light with boost brought up twelve characters, 43 points worth. Nolacea scooped, and that was the game!
Game Win: Kyoshi Padilla |
| |
| Top of Page |
|
|
|
|
|