Graham Van Leeuwen turned the Vs. System world upside down when he took 50th place in Pro Circuit: Atlanta. It might not seem like that big an accomplishment to many, but it’s definitely big for someone who’s only thirteen years old. Since then, Graham has graced us with his presence on Metagame.com as a featured writer for the website. Bob Caton might not be a familiar name, but he’s certainly got a familiar last name to those who follow the game. Bob is the father of FTN member Kim Caton, and he’s here playing in his first Pro Circuit.
Graham and Bob sat down and started shuffling their decks as Bob joked around with a few spectators about having a round 1 feature match after qualifying in the LCQ the day before. Graham won the die roll and took the evens.
Both players drew their starting hands and chose to keep them, and play moved to turn 1.
Bob played a resource, recruited Surveillance Pawn in the hidden area, and passed. Graham played a resource and had no recruit for the turn, passing back to Bob’s attack step. Bob sent Surveillance Pawn in for 2 endurance, and play moved on to turn 2.
Graham spent his second recruit step bringing out Dr. Psycho, Mental Giant. Bob flipped Straight to the Grave to search for Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster and placed the card into his KO’d pile. Bob returned Mr. Mxyzptlk to his hand at the start of his recruit step and then recruited Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Royal Genetrix in the support row. Graham announced Dr. Psycho into Bob directly for 4 and passed. Bob announced Surveillance Pawn into Dr. Psycho and followed up with Zazzala directly into Graham for 2 more endurance loss. The score was now 43 to 45, with Bob in the lead.
At the start of turn 3, Bob flipped Checkmate Safe House to team up Checkmate and Injustice Gang, flipped Hard-Light Storage Tank to get another copy of Surveillance Pawn, and recruited the Pawn into the hidden area. Graham recruited Ahmed Samsarra in the hidden area and equipped him with Cloak of Nabu. Bob carefully thought over his attacks before announcing Surveillance Pawn into Dr. Psycho. Graham responded by activating Ahmed Samsarra, searching for a copy of Checkmate Safe House to team up Checkmate and Villains United. Graham then activated the Checkmate Safe House to give Dr. Psycho +1 DEF. Graham stunned the second Surveillance Pawn with Dr. Psycho’s vengeance power, and Bob rounded out the turn by sending Zazzala in directly for 2 more endurance. The score sat with Bob still in the lead, 43 to 39.
It was on to turn 4, and Graham opened by flipping Brother I Satellite from his resource row, discarding a copy of Dr. Psycho, Mental Giant from his hand to search for a copy of Fatality, Flawless Victory. He recruited her in the support row behind Dr. Psycho and passed to Bob’s build phase. Bob recruited Mantis into his support row and, at the start of combat phase, announced that he was using Mantis’s effect to play another copy of Surveillance Pawn from his hand. Graham slowly contemplated his attacks for this turn, finally announcing a team attack with Fatality and Dr. Psycho into Mantis for a total of 11 ATK and passing to Bob with no effects. Bob chose to stun back Fatality, and both players took 4. Graham then sent Ahmed Samsarra in directly for 6 to bring the score down to 35 to 33 in Graham’s favor. Bob took down Dr. Psycho with an attack from a Surveillance Pawn, and Graham stunned Bob’s second Surveillance Pawn with Dr. Psycho’s effect. In the recovery, Bob chose to keep Mantis over the two copies of Surveillance Pawn, and Graham kept Fatality over Dr. Psycho, Mental Giant. The score now sat close at 30 to 31, with Bob still in the lead.
Turn 5 saw Bob recruit Floronic Man, Alien Hybrid in the support row. Graham had no responses, and Bob chose to return Brother I Satellite to Graham’s hand from the resource row and formed with Floronic Man protecting Mantis. Graham recruited Mr. Freeze, Brutal Blizzard in the support row next to Fatality and passed to Bob’s attack step. Bob announced Floronic Man into Fatality and passed. Graham contemplated his plays and chose to activate Checkmate Safe House to make Fatality an 8 DEF and took 5 endurance loss from the attack. Bob passed with no further attacks.
Graham asked what Mantis’s stats were, and both players agreed that he was currently 8 ATK/7 DEF. Graham then played a copy of Multiverse Power Battery from his hand to move Floronic Man, but once it resolved, Bob played one of his own to move Floronic Man back in front of Mantis. Graham then played Knightmare Scenario on Mr. Freeze in an attack against Floronic Man, which Bob followed up with a Threat Neutralized. Graham played another copy of Knightmare Scenario, and Bob played yet another copy of Threat Neutralized from his resource row, which was enough to leave both characters unstunned by the attack. Graham activated Ahmed Samsarra to search out a copy of Brother Eye and placed it in place of Knightmare Scenario in his resource row. Both players moved on to turn 6, where it was Graham’s initiative. The score at the end of turn 5 had Bob still leading with 31 to Graham’s 25.
On turn 6, Graham recruited Huntress, Reluctant Queen and passed with all of his characters sitting in the support row. Bob flipped Brother I Satellite from his resource row, discarding a copy of Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Royal Genetrix to search for Tattooed Man, Living Ink, and recruited Tattooed Man into play. He immediately removed the two +1 ATK/+1 DEF counters from Tattooed Man to search his deck for two more copies of Surveillance Pawn to place into play. Bob used the backup powers of both copies of Surveillance Pawn and passed to Graham’s attack step.
Graham announced Huntress into Floronic Man, and Bob reinforced with Tattooed Man and took 5 endurance loss. Graham then said, “While he’s stunned, I’ll flip that and that,” and flipped up Brother Eye and The Science Spire in his resource row. Graham then announced Fatality, Flawless Victory into Mantis, and before passing, he flipped Brother I Satellite to search out a copy of Deathstroke the Terminator, Ultimate Assassin. Graham then activated Brother Eye to give Fatality +4 ATK and passed to Bob. Bob had no effects, so he took 8 and Graham took 4. Graham then announced Mr. Freeze into Tattooed Man, but Bob made it illegal by playing Traitor to the Cause from his hand, stunning Surveillance Pawn to recover Floronic Man. Graham chained with Ahmed Samsarra to search out another copy of Brother Eye and flipped it face up in his resource row. Mr. Freeze then attacked Floronic Man, and Graham activated Brother Eye to give Mr. Freeze 13 ATK total. Bob thought over the endurance loss and then passed back. Graham used Mr. Freeze’s vengeance power on Floronic Man so that he couldn’t ready during the recovery phase and passed to Bob’s attacks. Bob passed with no attacks, and in the recovery phase, Graham activated The Science Spire to return Fatality to his hand, drawing four cards and then discarding four. The score was now 16 to 9 with Graham firmly in the lead.
As Bob drew his cards for turn 7, he announced to the crowd, “Yeah, I’m dead.” Bob recruited Laser Watch] onto Tattooed Man, Living Ink and exhausted Hard-Light Storage Tank to draw a card. “Now I draw you,” he said, as he started to scoop up his cards and offered his hand to Graham. “You got me,” Bob said, as Graham shook his hand.
Winner: Graham Van Leeuwen