These players have a dozen Top 8 finishes between them, in stark contrast to the relative unknowns in the other semifinal matchup. Josh is playing Titans, while Patrick is playing the Top 8’s lone GLOCK deck.

Game 1

Patrick won the die roll and chose to take the odd initiatives. Patrick mulliganed, while Josh kept his opening hand. Both players had action on the first turn; Patrick recruited Salakk while Josh had Roy Harper ◊ Speedy. The characters traded stuns when Salakk stunned in, and neither had anything else for the turn.

Josh hit his 2-drop, in the form of Hank Hall ◊ Hawk.Patrick flipped Book of Oa before recruiting Black Hand. Josh responded by using Speedy to KO Salakk. In combat, Josh had the Tamaran to allow Hawk to take down Black Hand without a stun back. Josh led 49-46.

On turn 3, Patrick recruited Dr. Light, Master of Holograms, which he immediately activated to return Salakk to play. He set up with Dr. Light protecting Black hand, and Salakk alone in the support row. Josh recruited Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal, Sharpshooter behind Hawk. Patrick passed on his attacks, and Josh sent Roy into Dr. Light. A Helping Hand from Patrick stopped the stun, and Josh used his Tamaran to keep Roy unstunned as well. Hank stunned Salakk, and that was the turn. In recovery, Patrick gained 3 endurance from Black Hand, bringing the endurance score to 49-48.

Josh had Terra for turn 4, and set her in the support row next to Roy. Hawk was set protecting Roy in the front row. Josh had no responses to a chained Book of Oa effect, and Patrick discarded Professor X, Mental Master to the location’s effect. Patrick recruited Oliver Queen ◊ Green Arrow, Emerald Archer behind Salakk, and set Dr. Light behind Black hand in the next column. He flipped and used a Birthing Chamber before passing to Josh’s attack. Josh again sent Hawk into Salakk, and Patrick again had no effects. Salakk stunned. Next, Josh sent Roy Harper after Black Hand. Patrick passed, and Black Hand went down. Finally, Terra attacked Dr. Light with assistance from Tamaran. Before the stun, Patrick used Lanterns in Love to exhaust both of his characters and recover Black Hand. Dr. Light was stunned. In recovery, Patrick lost Salakk and gained 2 endurance from Black Hand. This made the endurance totals 49-39 in Josh’s favor.

Turn 5 was Patrick’s initiative, but Josh had effects in the draw step. He used Terra to KO his Tamaran and stun Dr. Light before allowing Patrick to recruit. Patrick thought for a bit before recruiting Tomar Re and Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern. He got a Chopping Block with Kyle, which he chose not to immediately equip. Instead, he used Birthing Chamber. After drawing, he equipped Black Hand with the Block and pushed all of his characters to the front row. Josh wasted no time in recruiting Garth ◊ Tempest. Before forming his characters, Josh went into the tank. He finally decided to set Terra in front of Hawk and Roy in front of Garth. Patrick wasted no time in declaring his first attack of Tomar Re into Roy Harper. Again, Josh went into the tank. In the end, he exhausted Hawk to pump Roy. Patrick let this effect resolve. Next, Josh flipped Titans Tower. He discarded Connor Kent ◊ Superboy, Tactile Telekinetic to the Tower, giving Roy a total of 12 ATK. Finally, Josh exhausted Roy, KOing a face-down character, to attempt to stun Oliver Queen. In response, Patrick played Emerald Dawn. Josh let this resolve, and Patrick KO’d Oliver to retrieve Sinestro, Green Lantern of Korugar. Josh now decided to exhaust Garth to play Finishing Move on Dr. Light. He then played Press the Attack on Terra, and used it to stun Black Hand. The current attack resolved, and both characters stunned. The last attack of the turn brought Kyle into Hawk—a power-up stopped the stunback. Before recovery, Josh paid 3 to Garth to return Teen Titans Go! to his hand. At the end of the turn, Patrick lost Black Hand and Josh lost Hawk. The endurance score was now 40-31 in Josh’s favor.

Josh had the initiative on turn 6, and immediately went into the tank. “This is probably going to take me about two minutes,” he said. And so it did. Before playing a resource, Josh paid 3 endurance to return the Tower from his KO’d pile to his hand. He played it, then recruited Beast Boy in front of Roy. Terra was left in front of Garth in the front row. Patrick recruited the aforementioned Sinestro, and set up with Sinestro behind Tomar Re and Kyle next to Sinestro in the support row. Before entering combat, Josh played Null Time Zone, naming Cover Fire. His first attack sent Beast Boy alone into Sinestro. Patrick allowed the attack, and Josh used his Titan’s Tower, discarding another copy of Garth. A Savage Beatdown gave Beast Boy a total of 14 ATK. Before passing, Josh used Terra, to stun Tomar Re, KOing Titan’s Tower. Patrick used Tomar’s ability in response, discarding two cards to retrieve Lanterns in Love. He had no further effects, and Tomar stunned. Josh passed again, and Patrick used the Lanterns in Love to recover Tomar. At this point, both players passed, and both Beast Boy and Sinestro stunned. Garth and Roy ran over Tomar and Kyle, respectively, although Patrick had the power-up to stun Roy back. At the end of the turn, Josh lost Beast Boy, while Patrick lost both Kyle and Tomar Re. Josh now had a commanding lead of 31-11.

Turn 7 was Patrick’s initiative. He used his Book, discarding Gorilla Grodd, which indicated a 7-drop. He showed it to be Guy Gardner, Egomaniac. He pushed both of his characters to the front row before passing. Josh immediately used Garth to once again return Titans Tower to his hand. He flipped and used an Optitron, which he used to search out Red Star. He immediately recruited the 4-drop and used its ability to hit Patrick for 5. Josh set up with Terra in front of Red Star and Garth in front of Roy. He thought for another moment, and then passed to Patrick. His first attack sent Sinestro after Red Star. The attack was legal, and Josh used his Titans Tower to discard Koriand’r ◊ Starfire and stun back. Patrick, now reduced to 0 endurance, conceded.

Game 2

Patrick again chose to take the odd initiatives. Patrick immediately chose to keep his opener, while Josh took a few moments before coming to the same decision.  Patrick again hit a first turn Salakk, while Josh had no play. On the second turn, Josh used Optitron to discard Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal, Sharpshooter and retrieve Garth ◊ Tempest. Again, he had no play. Patrick flipped Book of Oa, using it and discarding Apocalypse before playing The Ring Has Chosen to pick up Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern. He discarded Birthing Chamber to the Ring, then played Kyle and searched up Rain of Acorns. Patrick attacked into Josh’s empty board, and that was the turn.

Turn 3 was Patrick’s initiative, and he saw two cards from the Book before making a play. After a few moments of thought, Patrick discarded Dr. Light, Master of Holograms. His recruit for the turn was Tomar Re, and he also had a Chopping Block for Salakk. He set up with Salakk behind Tomar, and Kyle next to Salakk in the support row. Josh thought long and hard about his recruit, and finally decided on Roy. Patrick team attacked Roy with both Tomar and Kyle. Josh used Tamaran, and stunned Tomar back. Patrick used Salakk to remove Roy from the game, and that was the turn. Patrick led, 47-43.

On turn 4, Josh discarded Garth to Optitron to fetch Beast Boy, which he recruited. Patrick Booked for three cards, discarding Two-Face, Split Personality, before recruiting Olapet with boost. Olapet searched out Arisia, and Patrick recruited both her and a G’Nort before passing to Josh’s attacks. With one character to Patrick’s six, Josh looked to be in quite a bit of trouble. Before declaring any attacks, Josh flipped and used USS Argus, then flipped Null Time Zone naming Cover Fire. He made the only attack available to him—Beast Boy into the Salakk equipped with Chopping Block—and Patrick had nothing to stop it. Salakk stunned. Patrick attacked Beast Boy with Olapet, neglecting to realize it still had only a single point of Willpower. Olapet was brickwalled, Beast Boy gained a counter, and Patrick was forced to play Lanterns in Love rather than attack again. In recovery, no characters were lost and the endurance totals stood at 43 apiece.

Before recruiting on the fifth turn, Patrick used his Book to look at the top four cards of his deck. He discarded Black Hand to the Book’s effect, then played The Ring Has Chosen to pick up Katma Tui. He discarded Malvolio to the Ring, recruited Katma Tui, and pushed all of his characters to the front. Josh surveyed Patrick’s impressive board before using Argus to net a card. He recruited both Terra and Roy Harper ◊ Speedy, setting up with Beast Boy protecting Terra and Roy in the support row. Patrick went into the tank to consider his myriad options for combat. Eventually, he simply sent Kyle into Speedy. Predictably, Josh used Speedy to attempt to KO Salakk. Patrick had Emerald Dawn to KO it himself and search up Sinestro, Green Lantern of Korugar. Next, Patrick attacked Beast Boy with Katma Tui. Josh used Terra to stun G’nort, to which Patrick responded with a Rain of Acorns activation. Josh then used Tamaran to make Beast Boy 7 ATK/7 DEF. Patrick’s attack failed, and neither character stunned. Patrick decided to give combat another try, and sent both Kyle Rayner and Tomar Re into Terra. The attack was legal, and both Terra and Tomar Re stunned. Finally, Olapet attacked Beast Boy, trading stuns. Arisia got in for a single point, and that was the turn. Josh lost Terra, while Patrick lost Olapet and G’Nort. Patrick had gained an endurance lead of 37-34.

Josh’s turn 6 began with another Optitron activation, discarding Tim Drake ◊ Robin, Young Detective to pick up Red Star. He recruited Garth, and set him behind Beast Boy before passing. Patrick got to take a look at another three card via his Book, and discarded Willworld. He recruited the previously-seen Sinestro, and set up with Sinestro behind Katma Tui, Arisia behind Tomar Re, and Kyle next to Arisia in the support Row. Josh quickly declared an attack of Beast Boy into Sinestro. A Savage Beatdown brought Beast Boy’s ATK to 13, but Cover Fire raised Sinestro’s DEF to 20. This failed attack was too devastating for Josh to recover from, and he conceded.

Game 3

For the first time in the match, Josh had his choice of initiatives. Like Patrick in the previous two games, Josh chose to take odds. Josh kept his opener, while Patrick threw his away. Both players hit their 1-drops—Josh had Roy Harper ◊ Speedy, while Patrick recruited G’Nort. The characters traded stuns to end the turn. On turn 2, Patrick recruited Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern in front of G’Nort. He searched up a Chopping Block with Kyle, which he did not recruit. Josh had Tim Drake ◊ Robin, Young Detective. When Kyle attacked Tim, Josh KO’d G’nort with Speedy. Patrick’s attack failed, and Josh attacked back directly. The endurance score was 49-45.

Josh had the initiative on turn 3, and flipped and used USS Argus before recruiting. He simply recruited Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal behind Tim before passing. Patrick flipped Book of Oa to see a card, discarding Sonar, before recruiting Dr. Light, Master of Holograms. He immediately used the Doctor to bring back G’Nort, and formed with Dr. Light protecting G’Nort. Kyle was left in the support row. Josh thought for quite a while before deciding on his attack, which turned out to involve sending Roy into Dr. Light. He powered up with the Speedy that he had put on top of his deck last turn, and passed. Patrick had nothing, and Dr. Light stunned. Next, Tim Drake was exhausted to play Finishing Move on Dr. Light. Patrick did not have Lanterns in Love, and he was KO’d. A team attack from Patrick took down Tim, who was KO’d at the end of the turn. Josh was still ahead, 44-41.

On turn 4, Patrick used his book to discard Mogo before recruiting Malvolio. Josh used his Argus and recruited Terra in front of Roy. Patrick wasted no time in declaring his first attack of Malvolio into Roy. Before the attack concluded, Josh used Terra to stun Kyle Rayner. Neither player had any other attacks, but Patrick had Chopping Block from his hand to remove Roy Harper from the game. At the end of the turn, Josh was ahead by a point, as the scores were 39-38.

Josh had the initiative on the fifth turn, and recruited both Red Star and another Speedy. Patrick got to dig quite far into his deck with a combination of Malvolio, Book of Oa, and Willworld activations. He recruited Katma Tui, then flipped and used Birthing Chamber to pick up yet another card. Patrick set up with Malvolio in front of Katma Tui and Kyle in front of G’Nort before passing back to Josh. Before any attacks were declared, Josh used Speedy to KO G’Nort. His first attack sent both of his remaining characters into Malvolio. A Tamaran activation on Red Star resolved, as did Teen Titans Go!. The newly-readied Terra was exhausted to stun Kyle, and Patrick exhausted both Katma Tui and Kyle to gain 5 endurance in response. Patrick allowed both the stun and the attack to resolve, and Malvolio was stunned. Josh sent Red Star into Patrick’s only nonstunned character, Katma Tui, and used Savage Beatdown to force the stun. Patrick had Guardians Reborn to recover Kyle Rayner, then played Cover Fire to increase Katma’s DEF. Josh had another Tamaran, though, and Katma Tui stunned. Patrick lost Malvolio in recovery, and Josh maintained a lead of 39-33.

After digging through several cards with Book and Willworld, Patrick recruited Gorilla Grodd. He set up with Kyle and Katma Tui flanking Grodd in the front row. Josh used his Argus before using Terra to KO it and stun Kyle Rayner. He then recruited Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal, and discarded Garth ◊ Tempest to Optitron to pick up another copy of Tim Drake. He recruited Tim, and before combat, Josh pumped Roy with Tim and Red Star. He used Roy to attempt to stun Katma Tui, and Patrick had no responses. Katma went down. He set up with Red Star in front of Roy and Terra in front of Tim. Patrick attacked and stunned Terra with Gorilla Grodd, and the rest of the turn passed without incident. The score was now 30-26 in Josh’s favor.

Turn 7 was Josh’s initiative, and perhaps his last chance to win. He used Optitron to discard another copy of Arsenal, fetching another copy of Garth. Josh recruited him, and set up with Red Star in front of Roy, Garth in front of Terra, and Tim next to Garth in the front row. Patrick hit a few small characters with his Willworld, and promptly discarded them. He used his Book for two cards, and discarded Guy Gardner, Egomaniac. “I think I just lost the game,” said Patrick. “I thought I had something I didn’t.” Patrick recruited a lone Salakk, and made the motion that he was passing. “Are you serious?” said Josh. “I can’t believe I did that,” said Patrick. Josh, given a new lease on the game, went into the tank to figure out his attacks. He ended up sending everyone except Roy into Gorilla Grodd. He used Tamaran on Red Star, and then passed. Patrick played two copies of Cover Fire from his hand. Josh had no responses to the first one, but before the second one resolved, he played Teen Titans Go!. Patrick responded to the Go by KO’ing Katma Tui to Gorilla Grodd in an attempt to steal Terra. In response to that, Josh paid 3 endurance to Garth to return another copy of Teen Titans Go! from his KO’d pile to his hand. He added this new Teen Titans Go! to the chain, then played Press the Attack on Garth. He exhausted Garth to pump, Roy, then both players let the first Teen Titans Go! resolve. Josh activated Terra to stun Salakk, then exhausted Tim Drake to give Roy another +2 ATK. He then allowed Grodd’s ability to resolve, giving Patrick a ready Terra. Josh added another pump to the chain, this time exhausting Garth. Patrick responded with an activation of Terra, targeting Roy. Josh used Red Star to pump Roy in response, and stunned Terra with Roy. Terra’s ability resolved, stunning Roy, and then the Teen Titans Go! resolved. Patrick’s Cover Fire did nothing, and Gorilla Grodd stunned. In recovery, Patrick lost both Salakk and Terra. The score at the close of the turn was 24-15.

Patrick had the initiative and a chance to rectify his mistakes on the eighth turn of the game. After digging with Willworld and Book of Oa., Patrick recruited another copy of Salakk. In response, Josh played Null Time Zone, naming The Ring Has Chosen. “Was it the right one?” asked Josh. It wasn’t; Patrick showed the Emerald Dawn. In response to the Dawn, Josh used Roy to stun Salakk. Patrick allowed this to resolve, and Emerald Dawn went off the Chain without effect. Patrick had no other recruit. Josh declined to play a resource, and instead recruited Dawn Granger ◊ Dove, boosting here to fetch Hank Hall ◊ Hawk. He used his final resource point to burn Patrick for a point with Red Star. Josh set up with Red Star behind Roy, and all of his other characters to the front. Patrick sent his lone Gorilla Grodd into Garth, and Josh had both Titans Tower and Koriand’r ◊ Starfire. With no characters left, and facing an onslaught on Josh’s attack step, Patrick conceded.

“I just want you to write that I threw this away, and that GLOCK really does have a fine matchup against Teen Titans. I won my other Titans matchups, and I should have won this.”—Patrick Yapjoco

Josh wins and moves on to the finals!