Matthew Baldwin is a 27-year-old quality assurance analyst from Atlanta, Georgia. He has played in two Pro Circuit events so far, but has not yet been able to put together a strong enough record to get into Day 2. Antonino De Rosa, on the other hand, is a name that needs little introduction to most Vs. System players. The Italian Stallion has two Pro Circuit Top 4s to his name in only four events and was one of the single most successful players in Season 1 of the PC.

Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern was the first recruit of the game, and he dragged a Lanterns in Love from Baldwin’s deck, to boot. De Rosa recruited Sentinel Mark II, and Baldwin added Dr. Light, Master of Holograms to his army. De Rosa bashed Kyle, sending him directly to the discard pile via Total Anarchy. Turn 4 gave Baldwin Ch’P, and Antonino’s Mark II countered Dr. Light’s ability, discarding a Nimrod. “You got two of those guys? That’s not good for me.” Both players brought the beats, and at the end of the turn, the board was Baldwin’s Ch’P to De Rosa’s Sentinel Mark V.

De Rosa casually tossed down the second Nimrod in his hand, while Baldwin brought forth the second incarnation of Dr. Light, who then grabbed Kyle Rayner from the discard pile. Rayner fetched Breaking Ground, and then Baldwin played Tomar Tu—nice build step! De Rosa used Mark V to maul Tomar Tu, but Baldwin now had Breaking Ground to get rid of Total Anarchy and make sure all his weenies merely stunned instead of being KO’d. Nimrod then pummeled Dr. Light, and Baldwin had no counterattacks, making the endurance totals 45–22 for De Rosa.

Search and Destroy before the recruit step made sure that Dr. Light wouldn’t get to play on turn 6. Baldwin brought the arrogance of Sinestro, Green Lantern of Korugar to bear instead, and then he lucked out when De Rosa could only boost a Mark V as his 6-drop instead of sealing up the game with Bastion. Sinestro attacked Nimrod, and five power-ups of Pinky were enough to take down Sinestro. But Guardians Reborn made sure the turn wasn’t a complete mauling by recovering Sinestro, while the rest of De Rosa’s attacked dropped Baldwin to 9. Magneto was the drop De Rosa was looking for on turn 7, matched by Krona for Baldwin. Sinestro, Kyle Rayner, Ch’P, and Krona were in Baldwin’s back row (in that order), while De Rosa’s three men were in his front row. Nimrod attacked Ch’P, resulting in a mutual stun, and then Magneto, Master of Magnetism attacked Krona and ramped right over Baldwin’s Cover Fire courtesy of Savage Beatdown and a power-up. Baldwin did the math and shook his head, congratulating De Rosa on a game well played.

De Rosa 1 – Baldwin 0