Daniella is a $10K fixture from Southern California who has enjoyed a degree of success on the Championship circuit. Brian is a local player from San Jose, and this is his first $10K tournament. The players played rock-paper-scissors for choice of initiative. Brian won, and chose to take the even initiative. Both players mulliganed, and Brian was decidedly unhappy with his second opening hand. “That’s the end of me,” he said.
Both players missed their first turn recruit. On the second turn, Brian recruited Infernal Minions in the hidden area. Daniella recruited Kelex, and discarded two copies of Mystique to fetch Avalon Space Station. Brian played Criminal Mastermind in his attack step, Daniella attacked in for 3, and that was the turn.
Daniella had the initiative on turn 3, and recruited Quicksilver, Pietro Maximoff next to Kelex in the front row. Brian had a predictable Lex Luthor, Nefarious Philanthropist. Rather than attack, Daniella simply activated Quicksilver. Brian attacked into Kelex with Lex, and after the stun, Daniella flipped up Total Anarchy. At the end of the turn, Brian led the endurance race, 47-42.
On turn 4, Brian recruited The Joker, Headline Stealer next to Lex in the front row. Daniella recruited Sabretooth, Feral Rage next to Kelex in the front row, and set Quicksilver behind Kelex. Daniella passed, and Brian’s first attack brought his Minions into Sabretooth with help from All Too Easy. Daniella had Insignificant Threat from the resource row to stop the attack, and Brian KO’d his minions to put a +1 ATK/+1 DEF counter on Joker. Brian’s characters KO’d Daniella’s 2- and 3- drops, and that was the turn. The endurance counts were tied at 36.
Turn 5 was Daniella’s initiative, and she wasted no time in recruiting Quicksilver, Speed Demon and moving both of her characters to the front row. Brian had Scarecrow, Psycho Psychologist in front of Lex, and set Joker next to Scarecrow in the front row. In combat, Brian used Scarecrow, hitting Daniella for 9. Daniella declared an attack of Sabretooth into Scarecrow. An Acrobatic Dodge halted the attack, so Daniella readied to try again. This time, an Avalon-aided power-up forced the mutual stun. Next, Sabretooth attacked Lex, stunning and KOing him. Brian chose not to attack back, and instead used Injustice Gang Satellite to KO Quicksilver. At the end of the turn, Daniella led 22-19.
To kick off turn 6, Brian played Secret Files from his hand. He searched out Ocean Master, while Daniella fetched Magneto, Master of Magnetism. Brian recruited Ocean Master behind Scarecrow, and left Joked next to Scarecrow in the front row. Daniella wasted no time in recruiting Mystique, Shape-Changing Assassin next to Sabretooth in her front row. Before moving to combat, Daniella played Flame Trap from her resource row to get two cards out of her hand. At the beginning of combat, Scarecrow burned Daniella for 8. Brian’s first attack sent The Joker into Sabretooth, and another All Too Easy was played to increase Joker’s ATK. In response, Daniella powered up, making Sabretooth 12 ATK/8 DEF to the Joker’s 15 ATK/0 DEF. Daniella had no further responses, and both characters stunned. Before declaring another attack, Brian discarded four cards to Ocean Master to put two +1 ATK/+1 DEF counters on himself. His attack sent both of his characters into Mystique. Daniella had another copy of Insignificant Threat to stun Scarecrow, and then powered up twice to make Mystique 14 ATK/14 DEF. Brian discarded two more cards to put a counter on Scarecrow. At the end of the turn, the board was Scarecrow against Sabretooth and Mystique. The endurance totals were tied at a precarious 1 apiece.
Daniella had the initiative on turn 7, and recruited her Magneto. Brian had Prometheus, but as he couldn’t even use his Scarecrow, his meager board could not withstand Daniella’s onslaught.
Daniella Grijalva wins!