Well, we're only a few short rounds away from the Top 8 here at $10K Melbourne, and at the feature table for round 7 is Adrian "The Smiling Assassin" Capilitan (watch more soccer, people!) and The Four Horsemen's Kakarot Turker. Kakarot, sitting at 5-1, is playing his team's "Eat Kree . . . Or Die!" Kree build, and Adrian is steering his SA Trademark X-Mental deck along its way to 6-0 victory!

Who will win this premiere matchup? Who has the guts, the grit, and the determination to make it happen? Will the Assassin shoot to kill? Or will the Horseman trample forth? Keep watching! Stay tuned! This is one match you won't want to miss!

Caps won the coin toss (does anyone play Scissors-Paper-Rock anymore?) and took evens.

Turn 1

"Oh man, I don’t even need to see the other two cards!" exclaimed Adrian as he looked at his opening hand.

Both players laid a resource and passed (not so often that happens in SA!).

Endurance:

Caps: 50

Kakarot: 50

Turn 2

The always-optimal Sage, Tessa came out in Adrian's hidden area, while San came out for Kakarot (netting him a copy of Stargate on the top of his deck).

Endurance:

Caps: 48

Kakarot: 47

Turn 3

Commander Dylon Cir came out for Kakarot, while Adrian had to dig a little deeper to find inspiration. He discarded another Mental card to mill through his deck and exclaimed (loudly!), "God, deck! I love you!" as Tarot came into his visible area. Tarot revealed Professor X, Mental Master and play moved to Kakarot's attack phase.

The Commander and Tarot traded blows and then the concealed 2-drop snuck in for some cheeky endurance loss.

Endurance:

Caps: 41

Kakarot: 41

Turn 4

Professor X, Headmaster was recruited into Adrian's back row (behind Tarot) while Lieutenant Kona Lor started off Kakarot's recruit. This was followed by a copy of Captain Att-Lass and the TFH member then flipped over his Stargate and returned San to his hand (pitching Captain Att-Lass) to fetch himself a copy of Colonel Yon-Rogg. With his final resource point, a fresh San came into Kakarot's hidden area and searched out a copy of Hala. Tarot netted a copy of Sage who was then promptly discarded to Tessa's ability.

"Lets see if you got it," probed Caps, as he swung the 4-drop Professor into the 2-drop Kona Lor. Kakarot did indeed have the card that Caps was envisioning and Live Kree . . . or Die! forced a trade — with Att-Lass reinforcing Kona. Sage and Commander Dylon Cir then traded blows, and Tarot exhausted to use Mutant Massacre attempting to turn Kona Lor offline for the entire game.

"Oh . . . well . . . I got it . . . heh!" shrieked a pleased-as-punch Caps, who had very effectively limited Kakarot's ability to future-Press.

The concealed San swung at Tarot with a second copy of Live Kree . . . or Die! but Caps had the answer once again when he played a copy of Mental Domination — negating the effect and brickwalling the attack. Kakarot elected to recover Dylon Cir while Caps recovered his Professor, with San and Sage hitting the KO’d pile.

Endurance:

Caps: 35

Kakarot: 34

Turn 5

Kakarot started off his recruit by using his Stargate — returning Att-Lass to hand — to find a copy of Dr. Minerva. She was promptly recruited, and the 2-drop, ironically, found a copy of Kona Lor (who at least thinned out Kakarot's deck somewhat). Att-lass then got the Press chain online, and Yon-Rogg pushed it out further. With his final resource point San was re-recruited and Kakarot found another copy of Hala. He then moved all his characters to the front row and passed initiative over to Caps. Adrian played Null Time Zone and, with no response, Adrian elected to turn The Lunatic Legion offline for the turn. Adrian then played Emma Frost, Friend or Foe and play moved over to the combat phase.

Tarot failed to find a card and then Dylon Cir bashed into her. Adrian flipped a copy of Eye of the Storm (to net 4 endurance) before a stun had become complete, and then the 3-drops traded stuns. Finally, Att-Lass, Minerva and Yon-Rogg exhausted to stun Emma Frost via Yon-Rogg. Before passing, Adrian used her ability to turn down Mental Domination and play passed to Adrian. He swung the Professor into Colonel Yon-Rogg and, without a way to trade stuns, Kakarot had to accept the stun. Caps elected to keep Emma Frost (and KO Tarot) while Dylon Cir recovered for Kakarot (KO’ing Yon-Rogg).

Endurance:

Caps: 25

Kakarot: 26

Turn 6

Caps could only muster a copy of Tarot while Kakarot started off his recruit with a copy of Birthing Chamber to draw a card. He then used Stargate (discarding Enemy of My Enemy) and returned Minerva to hand and searched out a copy of Ultimus. In what is becoming standard fare across the top tables of the tournament, Minerva was re-recruited (netting no character, however) and then Shatterax came out to fulfil the six resources. Shatterax protected Dylon Cir and Att-lass protected Minerva.

Tarot then triggered, revealing Worthington Industries, and Tarot was targeted by Turnabout. Caps then discarded a copy of Emma Frost to turn down the Turnabout and Tarot was targeted once more. She bashed into Shatterax, but a desperate-times Hala forced the trade with Dylon Cir reinforcing the 5-drop. Emma Frost then swung into Captain Att-Lass, and Kakarot could merely reinforce with his back row Minerva. In a crucial play, Professor X then exhausted to a second Mutant Massacre, turning Shatterax offline for the game too!

Take note kids: Mutant Massacre loves Kree.

Caps drew a card via the Professor and play moved onto turn 7 (indicating that X-Mental was doing a good job of drawing the game out to its necessary win condition).

Endurance:

Caps: 22

Kakrot: 19

Turn 7

Kakarot started by drawing a card via the Chamber, and then Stargate returned Minerva to hand (interestingly, he discarded a copy of Hawkeye, Clinton Barton). Kakarot found himself a copy of Admiral Galen Kor, and Minerva was re-recruited (Cue Bassey: "Yes I've seen it before . . . just little bits of history repeating!"). A cheeky copy of Kona Lor was revealed but Kakarot was more interested in the second copy of Dr. Minerva. Kakarot then Terraformed a copy of Hala into his row and re-recruited his fresh Minerva (who failed to find a character). Slaughter Swamp found, and re-recruited Yon-Rogg and the press-tacular explosion was underway with Galen Kor, Bron Char, and a copy of Dr. Doom, Richards's Rival, following in tow. Doom found a teched-out copy of Funeral For a Friend and then moved all of his characters into the back row.

Meanwhile (in the land that Press forgot), Caps recruited a copy of Rogue, Anna Marie into his front row.

At the start of combat Tarot found a copy of Psylocke, Armored Empath for Caps and play moved onto Kakarot’s attack step. The Lunatic Legion ensured that this game wasn’t going to turn 8, and a team attack from Dylon Cir (8 ATK), Minerva (4 ATK) and Att-Lass (5 ATK) took down Rogue without too many hassles. Rogue traded with Dylon (netting 3 endurance in the process). Colonel Yon-Rogg (6 ATK) then swung into Tarot and Caps elected not to reinforce with his Professor (fearing that the worst was not yet over) — bringing the scores to 13 apiece.

Bron Char then swung into Cap's Professor X. Adrian used Mental Domination's *other* ability to force a trade, and then reinforced with his Emma Frost.

Galen Kor then swung into Emma and Kakarot used 2 copies of Hala to bring the 4 drop's ATK to 25. She went down, trading stuns, but when Doom tried to attack, Adrian had a copy of Phoenix Rising to recover the 5-drop. However it wasn't going to be enough. Seeing no need to "win more," Kakarot simply elected to pass, and with only a visible, exhausted Emma Frost, Adrian had no way to force through the necessary damage for the win.

Caps: -10

Kakarot: 4

Kakarot takes "Eat Kree . . . or Die!" to another win, proving that this deck is a force to be reckoned with!