Michael won the die roll and decided to go with the odd initiative. Both players kept their opening hands. Dominic recruited Werewolf by Night, while Michael had Hammerhead on turn 2.There was a mutual stun for 2 points each in the combat phase.

 

On turn 3, Michael recruited Cobra and Chameleon while Dominic had Iron Fist, Danny Rand. Chameleon and Hammerhead team attacked Dominic, but Dominic had Wild Ride for Mikado and Mosha, which he discarded to stun Chameleon. He lost 5 endurance nonetheless from Hammerhead's ability. Given the priority, Werewolf swung into Cobra and was powered-up. Cobra was left stunned. Iron Fist attacked Hammerhead for a double stun. The board cleared at the end of the turn, leaving only Hammerhead on Michael's side of the table.

 

On turn 4, Dominic recruited Luke Cage, Street Enforcer, while Michael recruited Mysterio with boost. Iron Fist lands a Flying Kick in the belly of a protected Mysterio, opening a huge gap in Michael's defenses.

 

Luke Cage attacked down the curve into Hammerhead, but Michael played No Fear and powered-up Hammerhead. Strength of the Grave lent Luke Cage +1 DEF, but a second No Fear from Michael's hand resolved the issue. Both stun.

 

Werewolf proposed an attack on the second Mysterio, who threw a smokebomb to evade. The Werewolf took a last bite out of Michael and the turn was done. Mysterio bites the dust.

 

Michael dropped Masked Marauder, one of the most devastating characters against a concealed deck. Dominic played Wild Ride for Midnight Sons and recruited Mephisto, Soulstealer. Michael flipped Honor Among Thieves and team-attacked Dominic with everything. He flipped and activated Doc Ock's Lab and flipped Crime and Punishment.

 

Dominic lost 29 endurance from this attack and went down to 2 endurance. He then used Masked Marauder's ability to exhaust Mephisto.

 

On turn 6, Dominic recruited Spider-Man, The Spectacular Spider-Man, and flipped Sucker Punch. After a brief and frienzied dialogue between the two players where Michael looked more and more distressed, he scooped.

 

Game 2

 

Michael chose to go with the odd initiative again this turn. Neither player had a character on turn 1, though Dominic had Werewolf by Night and Michael had Hammerhead on turn 2. The two characters met in combat and ended up in a mutual stun.

 

Vulture and Stilt-Man were Michael's drops for turn 3, and these were met by Dominic's Elektra, Elektra Natchios. Vulture and Hammerhead team-attacked Dominic, but once again Dominic had Wild Ride—talk about dejà vu. Vulture was stunned by Mikado and Mosha, whereas the other two characters were stunned by Elektra and Werewolf By Night.

 

When the dust settled, Dominic retained Elektra, while Michael kept Hammerhead around.

 

Dominic recruited reliable ol' Luke Cage, Street Enforcer on turn 4, while Michael recruited Cobra, Mendel Stromm and Chameleon. Elektra swung into Cobra and stunned him, while Luke Cage swung into Hammerhead and was Blown To Pieces. Michael let Cobra get wasted.

 

Turn 5 was Michael's turn to shine. Carnage made a showing and all of his characters stood in the front row, awaiting his command to charge. He paid 1 endurance for Chameleon to gain the Crime Lords team affiliation before attacking so that he could flip Honor Among Thieves.

 

However, Dominic recruited Daredevil, Matt Murdock, which put a severe crimp in his plans. Carnage first ran into the character so that the bonus from Carnage would no longer apply when he counter-attacked. It was a mutual stun.

 

The rest of Michael's team ganged up to attack Dominic, but he had Mikado and Mosha to reduce the damage that would be dealt. He discarded Mikado and Mosha to stun Chameleon.

 

With the initiative passing to him, Dominic played Sucker Punch. He then ran Luke Cage into Mendel Stromm and Elektra into Hammerhead. He powered-up, then played Crime and Punishment and Hell's Fury to deal the final blow.

 

Dominic Ortega wins $10K Manila!