Matt Oldaker is one of the best-known deckbuilders in the history of Vs. System. Michael Sewell, while not quite as well-known, has brought one of the most interesting decks to the tournament today. Michael won the die roll and selected the even initiatives. Matt mulliganed his opening hand, while Michael chose to keep.

Matt began the game with a first-turn Archangel, Angel, discarding Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster to fetch X-Corp: Amsterdam. Michael played Frankie Raye ◊ Nova, Optimistic Youth with his alternate cost, discarding a Mxyzptlk of his own. When Frankie came into play, Michael discarded a Hard Sound Construct to draw two cards. He also recruited Ray Palmer ◊ The Atom in his hidden area. Archangel and Frankie traded stuns, allowing Ray to attack directly.

On turn 2, Michael played Straight to the Grave to put Beetle, Armorsmith into his KO’d pile. Soul World got the 2-drop back, and Michael recruited it, discarding Mxyzptlk to fetch Mikado and Mosha. Matt recruited a Beetle of his own, also discarding Mxyzptlk for Mikado and Mosha. In combat, Frankie and Archangel traded stuns. The Beetles traded stuns as well, and Matt used his Mikado to attempt to stun Ray. Michael bounced the 1-drop, and Matt flipped a Soul World to return Mikado to his hand in recovery. At the end of the turn, Frankie faced off against Archangel. Michael led, 41-39.

Matt had the initiative on turn 3. He recruited Dr. Light, Master of Holograms, which he activated to return Beetle to play. Mxyzptlk was discarded to Beetle, fetching Matt Lieutenant Kona Lor. Matt recruited Nenora, discarding The Shark, and flipped Birthing Chamber to draw a card. Matt passed. Michael played Enemy of My Enemy, discarding Lilith to get Dr. Light. A second Enemy traded Mxyzptlk for Mortician. Dr. Light was activated to return Lilith to play. In combat, Michael flipped Hypnotic Charms and used Lilith to steal Nenora. Frankie and Nenora were stunned in combat with two copies of Mikado and Mosha. Michael chose to KO Frankie. In recovery, both players used Soul World, to return Mikado and Lilith. Matt led, 35-29.

On turn 4, Michael flipped House of Secrets. He discarded Deadshot, Dead Aim. Next, he used Soul World to return Frankie, which he recruited with the alternate cost, discarding Mxyzptlk and The Phantom Stranger, Wandering Hero. Michael played Hard Sound Construct on Beetle, discarding Ray to get Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose. Poison Ivy was recruited, and Michael exhausted Beetle and Nenora to return the Stranger to his hand. Beetle was KO’d to Ivy, fetching a Birthing Chamber. Light was activated to return Beetle to play, and Michael discarded the Stranger to fetch Deadshot, Floyd Lawton, which he recruited. Deadshot and Frankie were exhausted to return the Stranger to his hand, and Birthing Chamber was activated to draw Michael two cards. Michael finally played Fiddler with an alternate cost and passed. Matt played Dallas Riordan, Mayoral Aide, and activated her to draw a card. In response, he flipped and used his Amsterdam to get Faces of Evil. Matt played Lieutenant Kona Lor, and Michael lost his House of Secrets. Matt played Cannonball, and then activated his own Chamber to draw two and discard one. He used Dr. Light to return the Shocker he just discarded to play, and moved to formation. Matt set up with Dallas protecting Beetle, Dr. Light protecting Kona Lor in the next row, Cannonball protecting Shocker in the column adjacent to that, and Archangel by himself in the front row in the column adjacent to that. In combat, Deadshot took down Dr. Light. Fiddler attacked Lieutenant Kona Lor, and was met with Mikado. In response, Michael KO’d the 1-drop to return a Beetle to his hand. Beetle traded stuns with Shocker without issue. Next, Poison Ivy went after Cannonball. Before combat resolved, Michael used Mikado to stun Archangel. Both characters stunned. Michael passed. Beetle took down Frankie Raye, and Kona Lor traded stuns with Dr. Light. Still in combat, Matt used Soul World to return his Mikado to his hand. He used the Mikado to stun the Nenora Michael stole from him. In recovery, Michael had a lone Dr. Light to Matt’s Beetle, Dallas, and Cannonball. Matt led, 22-20.

On turn 5, Matt used Soul World to return Kona Lor to his hand. He recruited the 2-drop. In response, Michael used his own Soul World to recur Frankie Raye. Michael’s Soul World was replaced. Matt’s next recruit was Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern, which he used to get Hard Sound Construct. The plot twist was immediately played to return Shocker to play. With six characters now in play, Matt used Birthing Chamber to draw two and discard one. He used Enemy of My Enemy to get Melissa Gold ◊ Screaming Mimi, Mimi Schwartz. Melissa was immediately discarded to yet another Enemy, this one fetching Poison Ivy. Matt’s final two resource points were used to recruit Poison Ivy. Finally, a Hard Sound Construct from the resource row returned Melissa to play. Matt set up his eight characters, and passed. Michael, who had only a Dr. Light in play (but eight cards in hand) wasted no time in using the doctor to return Beetle to play. Michael discarded Mxyzptlk to fetch Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern. He recruited Ape X, searching out Reality Gem. Next, Ape and Beetle were exhausted to return The Phantom Stranger. Michael played Frankie with his alternate cost yet again, discarding the Stranger and another Beetle to draw two cards. Next, Kyle Rayner came out, getting Hard Sound Construct. Michael played Hard Sound Construct to return Ivy to play, and exhausted Ivy and Frankie to recur the Phantom Stranger once again. Roll Call was played from the resource row, gaining 6 endurance for Michael, as well as letting him dig two cards deeper into his deck. Michael played Detective Chimp, Bobo T. Chimpanzee, revealing Captain Marvel, Champion of Magic for loyalty. Lilith was recruited. Lilith and the Chimp were exhausted to recur The Stranger. Next, Birthing Chamber was used to draw Michael two more cards. A second Roll Call was good for an additional eight endurance. Michael played Reality Gem on his Dr. Light, discarding Beetle to replace Faces of Evil. All of Michael’s characters were set in the support row.

Finally, the players moved to combat. In combat, Matt used another Amsterdam to get a replacement Faces of Evil, which he flipped. Matt declared his first attack: Kyle Rayner into Kyle Rayner. Both players passed, and the characters stunned. Next, Melissa Gold went after Lilith. Once the attack was legal, Matt used Poison Ivy’s ability to KO Kyle Rayner. In response, Michael used Lilith to steal Dallas. In response, Matt drew a card. Ivy’s ability resolved, and Matt picked up a Rann. “I drew my last Faces off of Dallas — good job,” he said. Bad beat for Matt. Melissa readied, and Matt contemplated further attacks. He eventually decided to send Cannonball into Poison Ivy. Matt passed. Michael played Funeral For A Friend, KO’ing Dallas. Next, Ivy was used, KO’ing Kyle Rayner to get Infernal Gateway. He discarded three cards to the Gateway to return a Roll Call from his KO’d pile to his hand. The attack resolved, and Ivy stunned. Matt’s next attack sent Melissa into Beetle; both characters stunned. Shocker went after Dr. Light, and Michael allowed the stun. Reality Gem was returned to Michael’s hand. Beetle stunned Ape X, Poison Ivy stunned Frankie, and Kona Lor attacked directly. In recovery, Michael played Roll Call to gain 6 endurance. At the end of the turn, Michael’s Dr. Light and Detective Chimp faced down Cannonball, Poison Ivy, Kona Lor, and Beetle. Michael led, 18-12.

To start off turn 6, Michael played and used a Slaughter Swamp to return Spider-Man, The Spectacular Spider-Man from his KO’d pile to hand. He recruited the 6-drop. Next, Dr. Light was used to return Kyle Rayner to play, fetching Michael a Hard Sound Construct. Kyle and the Chimp were exhausted to return the Stranger, and Michael played the Construct to return Beetle to play. The Stranger was discarded to Beetle, fetching Haywire, Suicidal Lover. Michael recruited the 0-drop, then exhausted his most recent recruits to return the Stranger again. Birthing Chamber was activated, and Michael discarded the 7-drop once again. He recruited Mind Gem onto Haywire, then formed up with everything except Spider-Man in the back (Spider-Man protected Dr. Light) and passed. He had four cards in hand, one of which was Roll Call, so he was threatening to gain at least 12 endurance this turn, while completely negating combat with his Spider-Man. Knowing this, Matt realized he would have to burn Michael for at least that amount with his Mimi. Matt went into the tank, and came out with a new Dr. Light. He used the 3-drop to return Kyle to play. In response to Kyle’s effect, Matt used Birthing Chamber to draw two and discard one. Kyle’s effect resolved, netting Matt yet another Hard Sound Construct. Matt flipped and used another Birthing Chamber, then KO’d the new Chamber and a Beetle to his Ivy. He got yet another Chamber. Matt used Hard Sound Construct on his Beetle, discarding a location to fetch Fatality, Emerald Assassin — a card that would give him another out against Spider-Man. He used his third Birthing Chamber and then recruited both Fatality, Flawless Victory and Klaw. Before allowing play to proceed to combat, Michael went into the tank. He thought for several minutes, and then played Roll Call to gain six and dig two cards deeper. Michael exhausted Spider-Man to return Deadshot to play, in the visible area, and that was the end of the build phase. In combat, Michael sent Deadshot, his lone ready character, into Cannonball. Both characters stunned. Michael passed to Matt, who sent Beetle into Dr. Light. The attack was legal, and both characters stunned. Ivy attacked Haywire and, before the stun, Michael discarded his remaining 3 cards to return a Roll Call to his hand. He attempted to play the Roll Call, but it was negated by Fatality. Haywire was stunned. Fatality traded stuns with Kyle, Klaw took down Beetle (with help from a Rann activation) . . . and Matt didn’t have enough ATK to get through Spider-Man, so the endurance totals stood at 5-4 in Michael’s favor. Matt revealed a forgotten power-up for Beetle that would have won him the game. This was one of the most absurdly complex games of Vs. System I have ever witnessed . . . and although Michael’s deck is very interesting, believe me when I say that I won’t be featuring him today any time soon.