Bulk, who defeated David Leader to earn this semifinal berth, was all business as he shuffled up his deck. Dair was similarly stolid, carefully shuffling as quickly as he could. Dair won the die roll and chose to take the odd initiatives for the first game.
Game 1
Dair mulliganed his opening hand, and Bulk followed suit. Neither player had a 1-drop, and Bulk missed his 2-drop as well. Dair, on the other hand, recruited Captain Boomerang, “Digger”. He attacked for 3, and that was the turn. On the third turn, Dair recruited Rocket Red #4 in the front row next to Captain Boomerang. Bulk had Joseph Jones ◊ General Glory. Before combat, Dair flipped Bizarro Ray. He attacked Joseph with Red, using the Ray, and both characters stunned. Boomerang attacked directly, and the turn ended with Dair ahead 46–40.
On turn 4, Bulk led off with Henry King, Jr. ◊ Brainwave, Sinister Psionic behind Joseph. Dair recruited Crimson Fox, complete with twin counter, in front of Captain Boomerang. Rocket Red was set next to Boomerang in the support row. Bulk’s first attack proposal brought Joseph into Rocket Red. Dair allowed it and exhausted Red to give him +4 DEF. Before the stun, Bulk KO’d Joseph to take 4 points off of Dair’s endurance total. Bulk declared another attack on Rocket Red with his remaining character, and this one went through successfully. Red was stunned. Dair had the opportunity to attack and did so, sending Crimson Fox into Henry King. Bulk played Secret Origins, discarding The Wizard to get a power-up. He flipped and used Slaughter Swamp to power-up again. Dair simply paid 1 to Bizarro Ray and Henry stunned. Fox lost her twin counter. “Cards in hand?” asked Dair. He had Injustice Gang Satellite and used it to KO Henry. Boomerang attacked directly, and the turn closed with Dair ahead, 34–33. “That was a good turn for you,” said Bulk.
Dair had the initiative on turn 5 and recruited Tasmanian Devil in front of Rocket Red. Bulk played Crystal Frost ◊ Killer Frost. Dair immediately moved to attack, sending both Tasmanian Devil and Red into Crystal. Dair passed, and Bulk powered-up. Crystal’s ally ability was activated, and Bulk used it to prevent Tasmanian Devil from readying. Both players passed, and Crystal traded stuns with the Devil. Dair attacked with his other two characters directly and brought the endurance score to 29–18 in his favor. He flipped up Gang-Up to team up and draw each player a card, but he still could not use the Satellite.
Turn 6 was Bulk’s initiative and perhaps a chance for him to get back into this game. He recruited Gorilla Grodd in front of Crystal and passed. Dair recruited Manhunter Conqueror and moved to formation. He set up with his exhausted Tasmanian Devil protecting Crimson Fox, Manhunter Conqueror protecting Boomerang in the next column, and Rocket Red alone in the support row of the final column of his formation. After forming, he passed. The players moved to combat, but before attacking, Bulk played With Prejudice on Crystal. He missed completely, hitting a Kelex, two locations, and a plot twist. Bulk went into the tank and eventually came out with the plan of attacking Grodd into Rocket Red. Dair allowed the attack and simply reinforced. For his final attack, Bulk sent Crystal into Tasmanian Devil. He powered-up and used her ally ability to once again stop her from readying. Both characters stunned. Dair now had an opportunity to attack back and did so, sending his Conqueror into Gorilla Grodd. Again, both characters stunned, but this time Dair had Death Trap for Gorilla Grodd. The endurance totals were 13–7 in Dair’s favor at the end of the turn.
On turn 7, Dair was looking to seal up the game, and it certainly seemed as if he would succeed in that endeavor. He recruited Prometheus behind Crimson Fox, set Boomerang behind Manhunter Conqueror, and passed. Bulk went deep into the tank. He eventually recruited Ultra-Humanite in front of Crystal. Dair declared his first attack of his Manhunter onto Crystal. Prometheus powered Crystal down and Crystal was stunned. Bulk powered up once, and then again with Slaughter Swamp. He then exhausted Crystal to play Mysterious Benefactor, searching out Dr. Sivana. Finally, Bulk used Counterstrike to force the mutual stun. Dair team attacked, and that was game.
Game 2
For the second game, Bulk chose to take the odd initiatives. Both players kept their initial four cards, and once again, neither had a first turn play. In a repetition of the previous game, Dair had Captain Boomerang, “Digger”. Bulk recruited Kelex, choosing to discard two cards to search for a Slaughter Swamp. Rather than attack, Dair used Boomerang’s ability to return both characters to their owners’ hands. Play moved to turn 3 with empty boards for both players. On turn 3, Bulk had Joseph Jones ◊ General Glory, while Bulk had Rocket Red #4. One simple attack later, the turn ended with both players at 47 endurance.
Dair had the initiative on the fourth turn and recruited Circe behind Joseph. Bulk had Henry King Jr. ◊ Brainwave, Sinister Psionic behind Rocket Red. Dair’s first attack sent his 4-drop into Henry, and Bulk played Mysterious Benefactor before the attack concluded. He powered-up twice with the help of Slaughter Swamp and passed back. Trial by Fire took Henry down. Once again, Dair had Injustice Gang Satellite, and he used it to KO Henry King. Bulk had a chance to attack and sent Rocket Red into Joseph. Before recovery, Dair teamed up with Gang-Up. He lost Joseph in recovery but gained an endurance lead of 40–37.
Bulk used Slaughter Swamp on turn 5 to retrieve his 5-drop, Crystal Frost ◊ Killer Frost. He recruited her in front of Rocket Red. Dair had Floronic Man in front of Circe. Bulk lost his Slaughter Swamp to Floronic Man’s ability and went into the tank to consider his attacks. Before he did anything, he flipped Justice League of Arkham to team up. He proposed a team-attack onto Floronic Man, which was legal. Before passing, Bulk powered-up Crystal and used her ability. Floronic Man would not ready this turn. Bulk passed, and Dair flipped another Gang-Up. Finally, both players passed, and Rocket Red traded stuns with Floronic Man. The Satellite KO’d Red, and that was the turn. Dair maintained a slight lead on endurance, 35–34.
On turn 6, Dair played Secret Files before recruiting a character. He used it to fetch Metamorpho, while Bulk failed to find a character. Dair recruited Metamorpho next to Circe in the support row and protected Circe with Floronic Man. Bulk again recruited Gorilla Grodd and set it next to Crystal in the support row. Dair wasted no time in declaring Circe and Metamorpho into Gorilla Grodd. Bulk allowed it. Before allowing the stun, Bulk played Counterstrike from hand. He also played With Prejudice from hand, targeting Crystal. He hit for +2 ATK. Dair mulled over Bulk’s plays and surveyed the board as he decided whether or not to respond. In the end, he decided to pass, and Grodd traded with Metamorpho. Grodd received a +1 ATK / +1 DEF counter from Counterstrike. Bulk now had the opportunity to attack, and he sent Crystal into Floronic Man with exactly enough ATK to stun. Dair had nothing to stop this, and Floronic Man was stunned. He was also KO’d at the end of the turn. Bulk had now taken the lead, 28–24.
Turn 7 was Bulk’s initiative; he recruited Ultra-Humanite. Bulk set up with his 7-drop in front of Crystal and Grodd next to it in the front row. Dair also hit, recruiting Prometheus in front of Circe. Metamorpho was set next to Circe in the support row. Bulk went into the tank to figure out his attacks. Before attacking, he flipped Slaughter Swamp to retrieve a power-up for Crystal. Bulk declared an attack of Crystal into Metamorpho. Dair chose to give his 6-drop additional DEF, so Bulk used both his power-up and Rallying Cry! to attempt to force the stun. Dair played UN Recognition in order to stun Crystal back. Bulk flipped and activated Sinister Citadel to move Grodd’s counter to Crystal, and Dair was forced to discard to Prometheus to force the stun. Both characters went down. Bulk went into the tank again and came out with an attack of Gorilla Grodd into Prometheus. He passed, and Dair exhausted Circe to play Death Trap on Crystal. Bulk KO’d it to Sinister Citadel in response. Again, both characters stunned. Finally, Bulk sent Ultra-Humanite into Circe. Dair had a power-up to stay alive. As the turn ended, Bulk led 17–1.
Turn 8—certainly the final turn of the game—was Dair’s initiative. All he had was Prometheus to Bulk’s Grodd and Ultra-Humanite. He thought for a bit, and before recruiting, flipped a third Gang-Up to draw another card. Dair played Rocket Red with boost, exhausting him with his boost effect on the chain to give him a total of 12 ATK. Dair also recruited Crimson Fox. He set up with Prometheus protecting Red, and Fox next to Prometheus in the front row. Bulk, before recruiting a character, played Secret Origins to find a 7-drop. He had two cards left in his deck, and neither was what he was looking for. Instead, he used Slaughter Swamp to retrieve Captain Atom from his KO’d pile. The Captain was played with boost in front of Grodd, and Bulk set the Captain in the support row next to Grodd before passing. Dair immediately declared an attack: Prometheus on Captain Atom. The attack was legal, and Bulk used Slaughter Swamp to power-up. Dair, realizing that he couldn’t stop the stunback, conceded.
Game 3
For the final game, Dair took the odd initiatives. Dair mulliganed, while Bulk kept his opener. For the third time in a row, neither player had a first turn play. Bulk recruited Kelex on the second turn, discarding two cards to retrieve a location. This time, he fetched Sinister Citadel, indicating that he already had Slaughter Swamp. Dair recruited Booster Gold and passed. Both characters stunned in combat, and play moved to turn 3. Dair led off with Rocket Red #4 in front of Booster Gold. Bulk had Dr. Sivana behind Kelex. Dair flipped Bizarro Ray and sent Booster to take down Kelex. Again, the 2-drops traded stuns. Dair passed with no further attacks. Bulk decided to attack, and Dair gave his Rocket Red +3 ATK. Bulk flipped and used Gorilla City for another point of ATK and KO’d Kelex to his newly-flipped Citadel for a counter. Both characters traded, and Booster Gold was lost in recovery. At the end of the turn, Bulk was ahead, 43–39.
Before recruiting a character on the fourth turn, Bulk exhausted his Dr. Sivana to play Mysterious Benefactor. He searched out Henry King Jr. ◊ Brainwave, Sinister Psionic and recruited him in front of Dr. Sivana. Dair had Circe behind Red. Bulk passed his attacks completely. Dair sent Circe into Dr. Sivana, and Bulk had Counterstrike. Before letting it resolve, Dair flipped three copies of Gang-Up. He had nothing further to prevent the stunback, and both characters went down. Sivana received an additional counter. Dair chose not to attack with Rocket Red. In recovery, Bulk moved a counter from Sivana to Henry. He also used Slaughter Swamp to bring Martian Manhunter, J’onn J’onzz from his KO’d pile to his hand. Bulk led 39–35 as the players recovered their characters.
Dair’s turn 5 play was the devastating Floronic Man, Alien Hybrid. With the recruit on the chain, Bulk used Slaughter Swamp to return Ultra-Humanite to his hand. He also moved the last +1 ATK / +1 DEF counter from Sivana onto Henry King with Sinister Citadel. Floronic Man came into play, and Dair bounced Sinister Citadel back to Bulk’s hand. Dair set up with Floronic Man in front of Red, and Circe next to Red in the support row. Before recruiting, Bulk flipped Secret Origins to get Crystal Frost ◊ Killer Frost. He recruited her next to Henry in his support row, protected Henry with Sivana, and passed. Dair took a few minutes to figure out his attacks. When he was done, he team-attacked Henry with Rocket Red and Circe. Bulk allowed the attack and had no effects to stop the stun. Henry’s leader ability was used to hit Dair for a few points, and then Henry traded with Circe. Dair passed, and Bulk attacked Floronic Man with Crystal. He chained Gorilla City and a power-up incorrectly, giving her only +2 ATK / +1 DEF. Crystal’s ally power locked down Rocket Red. Dair had UN Recognition, and Bulk had another power-up to lock down Floronic Man. Before the stun, Dair played Death Trap on Crystal. At the end of the turn, Bulk was still ahead, 35–22.
Turn 6 was Bulk’s initiative. He recruited Captain Atom from his resource row, and with the recruit still on the chain, he retrieved another Crystal from his KO’d pile and teamed up with Justice League of Arkham. It was explained that the Swamp wouldn’t ready because the Captain was already recruited. Bulk passed. Dair recruited Metamorpho behind an exhausted Rocket Red and set his exhausted Floronic Man in the support row. When Dair passed back, Bulk went into the tank. Before declaring any attacks, he played With Prejudice on Captain Atom. Bulk hit for +3 ATK, and he sent the Captain into Metamorpho. Dair made Metamorpho 10 ATK/14 DEF, and Bulk powered-up. Metamorpho stunned, and the Captain survived the attack. Bulk’s final attack brought Crystal into Rocket Red. He used Gorilla City, then powered-up and used Crystal’s ally power to prevent Metamorpho from readying. Rocket Red stunned, and Dair took 13. At the end of the turn, Bulk led 35–1.
Fortunately for Dair, turn 7 (the final turn of this semifinal match) was his initiative. Unfortunately for him, he was almost certainly going to lose. He recruited Prometheus, and Bulk had Ultra-Humanite. Bulk set up correctly, and Dair realized that he was in a hopeless situation. Dair extended the hand.
Bulk Lao wins!