Playing for a possible Top 8 berth, both of these players needed to win this draft pod to even have a chance of making it. It had started well for the both of them with a win, but one of these players had to lose and one of them had to win. Life is harsh like that.
Shaun won the coin flip, choosing odds, and both players mulliganed to start the game.
Turn 1 had nothing for Shaun and a Kang, Rama Tut for James, 49–50.
James had Macrobots on turn 2, but Shaun matched it with Shape. Macrobots attacked into Shape. With help from Rama Tut, Macrobot’s ability made him 3 ATK to stun Shape. 47–50 in favor of James.
On turn 3, Shaun had to think about his play, and in the end played Lamprey. James had Moonglow in front of Macrobots. Lamprey flew over and attacked Macrobots. Shaun forgot that James could exhaust both of his characters to make it 4ATK/5 DEF, forcing a mutual stun. No other attacks were declared, and endurance was now 44–48 in James’ favor.
James thought long and hard before he even played a resource on the fourth turn. He placed and flipped Psyche-Globe, exhausting Rama-Tut to fetch Kang, Master of Time. The Master of Time was placed him behind Rama Tut. Shaun used Hibernaculum, discarding Amenhotep. He saw a Power Princess, Zarda, and took it. He recruited her, then formed her and Lamprey in the support row. Shape was set protecting Zarda. Master of Time attacked Shape—a safe bet, as James did not want Kang to stun. Shaun discarded Heroes in Reserve for +3 ATK, though, which forced a power-up from James. United we stand from Shaun’s hand meant that both characters stunned. The score was brought to 38–44 in favor of James, but it looked like the tide was turning.
Turn 5 had a big “Go Squadron!” from Shaun as he played Albert Gaines ◊ Nuke, Atomic Powerhouse. Shaun formed with everyone in the front except Albert, who was set behind Lamprey. Hibernaculum (discarding Skymax) from James yielded him Redstone, who was placed in front of Macrobots. Moonglow was set beside the Macrobots. Lamprey swooped in on Macrobots, and James exhausted his whole team to make Macrobots 5 ATK/6 DEF, but Shaun used Call Down the Lightning to give Lamprey another +3 ATK. They traded stuns, and Shaun had the option to attack anyone without fear of reinforcement bar some plot twists. Power Princess attacked Moonglow, and Zarda’s ability kicked in to give Albert +3 ATK and +3 DEF. Albert attacked into Redstone, but not before another Call down the Lightning emptied Shaun’s hand and made Albert 19 ATK/17 DEF! Shape attacked directly for another 6 before the turn ended on 35–20, with the endurance now in Shaun’s favor.
At the start of the sixth recruit step, James used Skymax’s ability to return him to hand. He placed him behind Redstone. Shaun muttered that he had some cheeky things to do, and played Falcon to get Iron Man, Tony Stark. Supreme Sanction was flipped up, and Shaun brought out Dane Whitman ◊ Black Knight from the resource row. He put Iron Man into the row. His final resource point was used to make Dane bigger by replacing Hank Pym ◊ Yellowjacket, thanks to Supreme Sanction. Lamprey, Power Princess and Dane were in the front with Shape, Falcon and Albert behind them.
Master of Time attacked into Lamprey with a double power-up, which forced reinforcement from Shape. Skymax, being the flying Skrull he is, daringly attacked into Albert. James had Airskimmer to pitch, which also emptied his hand to make Skymax unstunnable. Falcon reinforced. Redstone made a final attack on Power Princess, and Shaun KO’d Power Princess and Lamprey at the end of the turn. The score was 17–20—James had closed the endurance gap to 3.
Shaun had Arcanna from the resource row on turn 7, and he looked to be in a good position. Arcanna and Albert held the rear, with Falcon and Dane in front of them; Shape was to the right by his lonesome. Kang, Lord of Limbo was another great character, but would it be enough? James did not have the initiative. James formed with Redstone in front of Skymax and the Lord of Limbo beside Skymax. Combat started, and Arcanna was moved to the hidden area via Lord of Limbo. Albert wanted a piece of Redstone, and that is what he got. Shaun declared a team attack with Falcon, Dane, and Shape on Skymax, but Spheres of Solitude from James stopped that plan cold.
Plan B was in action, and Pym Laboratories made sure Shape could attack Master of Time. Arcanna attacked Skymax, which meant Lord of Limbo had to reinforce or face being stunned via Arcanna’s devastating effect. The score was 17–3 for Shaun, as James barely came through that combat phase.
Turn 8 was the final turn, as time had been called the previous turn. It did not look good for James here, as all he had was Haywire and Thermite. They were placed in front of the two bigger guys, Skymax and Lord of Limbo. Rick Jones, Lady Lark and Golden Archer were Shaun’s plays. This looked like it would be enough to take this game far beyond James’ reach.
Formation was Shape, Dane, and Golden Archer in the front row and Lady Lark, Falcon, and Albert behind them. At the start of combat, Lord of Limbo banished Shape to the hidden area. Skymax made his move on Albert Gaines for the second time this game. James played a power-up, and again Skymax came out of this battle unscathed. Haywire attacked Dane, which was a mutual stun, before Thermite braved it out with Lady Lark with some help from Eldritch Power. Lord of Limbo attacked Golden Archer, but with his activated ability and Rick Jones, James had no choice but to concede.
Shaun won a very close, epic battle.