Rich Brady won the coin flip and chose to go second. Both players mulliganed, and Rich showed the hand he was throwing away. It had a 2-drop, a 3-drop, a 4-drop, and Tamaran—near-perfect, but not good enough against the loop deck.

 

Rich had no play on either of the first two turns, while Stephen played Boris and Kristoff Von Doom. “Doom beats!” he exclaimed. “Doom beats wins this game all the way.” Stephen started turn 3 with a resource and a Boris activation to fetch Devil's Due. He played another Boris, and Rich again had no play. Stephen attacked for 2.

 

Rich yet again had no play on turn 4. Stephen played Valeria Richards, flipped Marvel Team-Up, and drew a card. “Am I dead?” asked Rich. “Not yet,” replied Stephen. (50-43)

 

Stephen drew a card with Valeria Richards on turn 5. “Where is my Emerald Enemies character?” he asked. He played a Cosmic Radiation from his hand, used Boris to get another, and then used Doom to flip down the Radiation in his resource row. Each Radiation netted him another card with Valeria. He still did not have his combo piece, so he played Invisible Woman and passed. Rich played Cassie Sandsmark ◊ Wonder Girl and attacked, dealing an irrelevant amount of endurance loss (43-31)

 

Rich led off turn 6 with Koriand'r ◊ Starfire. Stephen finally drew his Dr. Light and went off. Rich had three Overloads in hand and tried to disrupt the combo, but he was not successful. Stephen drew his entire deck and attacked for nineteen billion.

 

Stephen Silverman 1, Rich Brady 0

 

 

Rich had choice of initiatives once again, and he once again chose to take the evens. Stephen happily kept his hand, while Rich mulliganed. “This is bad,” said Rich. Stephen had no turn 1 play, while Rich led with Dawn Granger ◊ Dove. The tables were turned on turn 2, however, as Rich had no play to Stephen's Lacuna.

 

Stephen started turn 3 with a Dr. Light. “I hate bad draws,” said Stephen. Rich played a Roy Harper and had the opportunity to double-stun Stephen's team with a Titans Tower (47-42 Rich).

 

On the fourth turn, Rich flipped and used USS Argus. He immediately played and used Terra, and then used Dove to Finishing Move the slain Dr. Light. Stephen sadly played down Dr. Doom onto his empty board. Both players passed combat, and play proceeded to turn 5.

 

Stephen nodded in approval at his draw. This is certainly quite the fickle deck, as it seems to go from dire straits to a fine situation in a matter of a few cards. Stephen played Valeria Richards, flipped up Metropolis for the team-up, and drew a card. He played a Cosmic Radiation from his hand to try to draw again—an odd move, considering his opponent's active Terra. Rich predictably used Terra on Valeria, stopping the draw. Stephen continued his recruit step with the ubiquitous Dr. Light, and Rich pondered his responses. He had none, and Stephen flipped another team-up. He attempted to play The Ring Has Chosen, and there was some confusion as to whether or not stunning Dr. Light would stop it. It was determined that it wouldn't, and Stephen retrieved Boris, Personal Servant of Dr. Doom. Stephen recruited Boris, and Rich KO'd a resource to take down Dr. Light in response. In response to that, Rich used Dr. Light to put Lacuna into play. Finally, he used Boris to fetch Devil's Due. Stephen then attempted to recruit Invisible Woman, but he was reminded that he had no resource points. For his recruit step, Rich played Terra (KO'ing his exhausted Terra) and passed. Stephen attacked Dr. Doom into Dove, and Rich followed that up with an attack of Terra into Lacuna. This ended the turn (40-31) Rich.

 

Rich kicked off turn 6 by recruiting Garth ◊ Tempest, and stunning Dr. Light with Roy. This was a decidedly odd move, especially considering the active Terra Rich had in play. Stephen started his turn with Signal Flare for Rama-Tut. He discarded Invisible Woman to the flare and then played Rama-Tut, trying to retrieve Cosmic Radiation from his discard pile. Rich responded by exhausting his characters and using Press the Attack and Roy to stun Doom. This didn't stop Stephen from retrieving the Radiation, and he proceeded to play the Dr. Light in his hand and go off.

 

Stephen Silverman wins and moves on to the finals!