Dean Sohnle

Dean Sohnle is a Canadian gamer who combines all the traits we love aboot Canadians so much—polite, amiable, quaint accent, favorable exchange rate—with a killer skill at gaming that has taken him all over the world and allowed him to compete at the very top level of VS. He burst onto the VS scene when he won $10K London, and then he pulled the nifty trick of doing it all over again at $10K Amsterdam. Then, only a loss in the finals of $10K Paris kept him from being 3 for 3 in his opening set of events. He finished well in the money at the last two Pro Circuits, but this is his first Top 8.

Dean's creation, Fantastic Fun, is notable for two key reasons: the massive amounts of success that he has had with it, and the fact that it is so complicated and intricate in its synergies that nobody else has been able to match his results. One of the key strengths that Dean has coming into this Top 8 is that he has been playing this deck, almost to the card, since the Web of Spider-Man set came out. He knows matchups, and he has weathered a storm of hate cards before, so he will not get tripped up in this Top 8. The tough spot comes with the amount of Common Enemy in the Top 8. Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius and Reign of Terror are not cards that make life easy for this easygoing Canadian. His quarterfinal opponent, Neil Reeves, also has a Flame Trap and Power Compressor with which to accost Dean's team. The matchup is one that can be swung by playskill, but in the case of Reeves and Sohnle, one finds that they are both such great players that this will not be an easy one to call.


4 Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards
4 Invisible Woman, The Invisible Girl
2 Mr. Fantastic, Stretch
1 Invisible Woman, Protector
1 Human Torch, Hotshot
1 Human Torch, Johnny Storm
2 Thing, Ben Grimm
1 She-Thing, Sharon Ventura
1 Ant Man, Scott Lang
1 Frankie Raye
1 Wyatt Wingfoot
1 Dr. Light, Master of Holograms

4 A Child Named Valeria
4 Cosmic Radiation
3 Signal Flare
2 Thinking Outside the Box
1 Salvage
1 Foiled

4 Antarctic Research Base
1 Baxter Building
1 Pier 4

4 Unstable Molecules
4 Flamethrower
4 Advanced Hardware
2 The Pogo Plane
2 Catcher's Mitt
1 War Wagon
1 Fantasticar
1 Personal Force Field


Dave Spears and Mike Dalton (Team FTN)

There were no bigger cheers at PC Indianapolis this year than those that came when Dave Spears made his very first Top 8. Some things have changed since then—he is now a member of team FTN rather than team Realmworx, and he is now married to the lovely Hope, who is here this weekend—but a lot has stayed the same. Dave is still the perfect combination of a serious gamer and someone that loves to find the fun in whatever he engages in. While he downplays his own skills sometimes, Spears certainly knows how to play against the very best. He was at the top draft table all day today, and he is playing what is the consensus “best deck” for the Top 8—Common Enemy.

The build of Common Enemy to come from Team FTN is unique in its inclusion of System Failure, which allowed it to savage the many Squadron Supreme decks intent on winning in short order. It looks less likely to be of use in the quarterfinals of the Top 8, which is a card-for-card mirror match against Mike Dalton. It's unfortunate that the two teammates have to play each other in the quarterfinals, but it will be a great opportunity to see how to play what may well become a common mirror match in the upcoming PCQ season. In times past, Common Enemy mirrors came down to draw quality more than anything else, including initiative much of the time. One player hitting Dr Doom, Diabolic Genius and being able to Signal Flare in response is normally about the most powerful play in the matchup. As always in mirror matches, eking it out by playing up any small advantages will be key.

Mike Dalton is fast making a name for himself as one of the names that gets bandied around in the “Who is the best player in the world?” arguments. With three Pro Circuit Top 8s, it is pretty hard to argue. Dalton has mastered the art of getting very close, but falling at the final hurdle; he lost in the finals in Amsterdam, and he also lost to teammate Alex Tennet in the climactic final showdown of the Marvel Vs. DC $10K event (where he had taken down the Marvel side with Sentinels). When you add to this the fact that Mikey D. is one of the nicest people you will ever see sitting opposite you at a VS event, he really does seem to be quite the package. With only one loss in Constructed and one loss in Draft this weekend, there aren't really any weak points in his game. . .apart from perhaps winning that last match for all the marbles.

4 Boris, Personal Servant of Dr. Doom
4 She-Thing, Sharon Ventura
2 Human Torch, Johnny Storm
4 She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters
1 Medusa, Inhuman
4 Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius
1 Thing, Heavy Hitter
1 Human Torch, Hothead
1 Robot Destroyer
2 Hulk, New Fantastic Four
1 Dr. Doom, Victor Von Doom
1 Thing, The Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing
1 Sub-Mariner, Ally of Doom
1 Silver Surfer, Norrin Radd
1 Invisible Woman, Sue Storm

4 Signal Flare
4 Savage Beatdown
4 Reign of Terror
3 It's Clobberin' Time!
3 Mystical Paralysis
1 Flame Trap
4 Common Enemy
3 System Failure
1 Faces of Doom

4 Doomstadt


Karl Horn

Karl Horn is a stay-at-home dad who has an impressive record in Vs. System. He qualified for Indianapolis this year and went straight into the top 25 on his first run. This time, at the end of the Swiss he was in fourth—not too shabby. He tests with Adam Prosak, and he has clearly got some moves, as the competition this weekend has been some of the stiffest in Vs. System.

His New School deck benefits from access to many search effects, and it controls the game more completely than even the Common Enemy control decks. Horn has characters like Shimmer and Spider-man, The Spectacular Spider-Man locking things down all the more than just Doom himself. He has an interesting match against Hans Hoh (with Squadron Supreme) in the quarterfinals, where his Robot Sentries could well be golden, giving him a better chance of establishing control before Squadron can realistically go in for the kill. The only potential problem that Karl might face in the Top 8 is that he has no real potential to win before turn 7 or 8; in control matchups against Common Enemy, where his opponent is sneaking in damage throughout the game, the war of attrition may become relevant.

New School

4 Alfred Pennyworth
4 Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius
4 Dagger, Child of Light
4 Micro-Chip
3 Robot Sentry
2 Dr. Light, Arthur Light
1 Shimmer
1 Glorious Godfrey
1 Lacuna
1 Spider-Man, The Spectacular Spider-Man
1 Cloak, Child of Darkness
1 Psimon, Dr. Simon Jones
1 Silver Surfer, Norrin Radd
1 Boris, Personal Servant of Dr. Doom

4 Reign of Terror
4 Wild Ride
4 Mystical Paralysis
4 Bat-Signal
4 Midnight Sons
4 Marvel Team-up
2 Entangle
2 Press the Attack
1 Fizzle
1 Millennium

1 Power Compressor


Hans Joachim Hoh and Andre Muller (Team $Mir)

Hans has led the German charge for Pro Circuit domination for as long as there have been Germans doing well at Vs. With two $10K wins and a bevy of other Top 8 finishes, he is unrivaled in his consistently strong finishes at $10K events. His first Pro Circuit Top 8 was in Indianapolis this year, and having lost in the quarterfinals then, he will be eager to do better this weekend.

Andre Muller has had three Top 8s in $10Ks, including a second place finish two weeks ago at $10K Gen Con UK. He does well enough at card games in general to describe himself as a professional gamer, and he has a mean line in coin/pen/card tricks also. Both talented and hungry for the win, Andre is a definite threat in the Top 8.

The Squadron Supreme deck that the German team is running is a development of the deck which both Hoh and Muller played to Top 8 finishes two weeks ago at $10K Gen Con UK. It includes the generally popular choice of Surprise Attack and the more surprising Melissa Gold ◊ Songbird, Sonic Carapace. Incredibly aggressive, the deck is not as tricksy as many of the other decks in the Top 8, and against most opponents, the deck’s pilot is looking to race for damage from the outset before opponents can establish control. Hans is up against New School, and Andre will face Common Enemy, but the strategy is essentially the same—score as much endurance loss as possible before Reign of Terror, then finish opponents off with burn if they establish control of the combat step. The Squadron deck is aggressive enough to do this, and it should make for some exciting games.


Squadron

4 Joystick
4 Ape X
4 Shape
4 Melissa Gold ◊ Songbird
1 Foxfire
4 Lady Lark
4 Golden Archer
4 Albert Gaines ◊ Nuke

4 Surprise Attack
4 Flying Kick
4 Mega-Blast
4 Answer the Call
4 Panacea Potion
2 Other-Earth

1 Rocket Central

1 Dual Sidearms
2 Jetpack
4 Thunder Jet
1 Airskimmer


Matthew Tatar

Former foot model Matthew Tatar was at PC LA last year with Common Enemy, and for this year's event, he only changed around 5 or so cards. One of his copies of Mystical Paralysis still has Entangle written on it from last year; he wanted to work out if he would have been better off with the other exhaustion effect in its place. A regular at the top tables of the Pro Circuit, Matt has had multiple Top 20 finishes but is experiencing his first Top 8.

The build of Common Enemy he is running is a little heavier on Medusa, Inhuman than other builds in the Top 8, and it is also distinguishable for having the only copy of Null Time Zone in the entire Top 8. It may well turn out to be very good in a mirror match, as it will enable Tatar to head off any Reign of Terrors coming on turn 4 from similarly Doomy opponents. He is also the only Doom player running Dr. Doom, Lord of Latveria, who is very good in the mirror should the game go long. Tatar's quarterfinal match is against Andre Muller with the German build of Squadron Supreme. Reign of Terror will be a pivotal card, as will anything that Tatar can use to slow down the hyper-aggressive beatdown deck. Medusa on turn 3 could prove to be a helpful stumbling block for Tatar to throw in the way of the offense from Muller, but he will likely have to hope that the German doesn't have too fast a start. Even with Reign of Terror, if he is down close to single digits by turn 4, he will be in dire danger of losing to Golden Archer and his flaming arrows.

1 Dr. Doom, Lord of Latveria
1 Silver Surfer, Norrin Radd
1 Thing, The Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing
1 Sub-Mariner, Ally of Doom
1 Hulk, New Fantastic Four
1 Dr. Doom, Victor Von Doom
1 Thing, Heavy Hitter
1 Robot Destroyer
1 Human Torch, Hothead
4 Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius
3 She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters
3 Medusa, Inhuman
2 Luke Cage, Hero for Hire
4 She-Thing, Sharon Ventura
4 Boris, Personal Servant of Dr. Doom

1 Faces of Doom
4 Signal Flare
4 Common Enemy
4 Reign of Terror
4 Mystical Paralysis
1 Null Time Zone
1 Betrayal
3 It's Clobberin' Time!
3 Savage Beatdown

3 Doom's Throne Room
3 Doomstadt


Neil Reeves

Neil Reeves is one of the greatest card players in the world. He consistently impresses with his performance at every game he turns his hand to. Fiendish intelligence and an ability to read opponents like a book is hidden by a guise of redneck charm. The overall effect is good times. Just like at PC 1 in Indianapolis, Neil is playing Common Enemy, and he has plenty of experience with the archetype.

His build is interesting for a number of reasons, many of which relate to the suite of equipment that he has chosen to run. The two copies of Kevlar Body Armor make life very tough for decks looking to beat down on him, while Power Compressor has potential to break open matches against more controlling decks. In his first round match against Dean Sohnle's Fantastic Fun deck, being able to fetch the Compressor with Tech Upgrade and play it consistently may well be a deciding factor in what looks to be the most complicated of the quarterfinal matchups.

4 Boris, Personal Servant of Doom
2 Luke Cage, Hero for Hire
4 She-Thing, Sharon Ventura
4 She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters
1 Wolverine, New Fantastic Four
4 Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius
1 Robot Destroyer
1 Human Torch, Hothead
1 Thing, Heavy Hitter
1 Hulk, New Fantastic Four
1 Dr. Doom, Victor Von Doom
1 Mr. Fantastic, Scientific Genius
1 Thing, The Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Thing
1 Silver Surfer, Norrin Radd

3 Flying Kick
1 Tech Upgrade
4 Finishing Move
4 Common Enemy
1 Faces of Doom
2 It's Clobberin' Time!
4 Signal Flare
1 Flame Trap
4 Reign of Terror
3 Mystical Paralysis

3 Doomstadt
1 Power Compressor
2 Kevlar Body Armor