When we last left our intrepid hero, he’d posted a 6-1 record in the Constructed portion of the Pro Circuit and gone back to his hotel to rest up for the second day of competition. The next morning’s wake-up call seemed to come mere moments after I closed my eyes, and as I crawled out of bed, I found myself hoping the draft would go faster than the Constructed rounds the day before. Every round on Day 1 went to the time limit, which resulted in an incredibly grueling day. The new single-game match system will certainly help remedy this for future events, but as of yet I’m not convinced the cure isn’t worse than the disease. I’m willing to give the tournament team the benefit of the doubt for the time being, but I’m going to reserve judgment until I’ve seen the system in action a few times.

Thankfully, my grand dream of a shorter day came true, and it wasn’t only because there was one fewer round. Two drafts took the place of that extra round, but the pace of play seemed to pick up, with far fewer plot twists in each deck meaning fewer options to consider every turn. While my hopes just as I rolled out of bed had been focused on getting back to sleep, once I sat down to draft I was all business, despite the cobwebs in my head.

Draft 1

I was fortunate coming in to know a few of the players at my table and their preferred strategies, but as luck would have it they were both directly to my left, so that information wouldn’t prove particularly useful. I can hardly bemoan my fortune in this draft, however, as it seemed that the two players I knew—Nick Little and Anthony Justice—were the only two players besides myself with a firm grasp of the draft format. VSUniverse interviewed me about my draft here.

Quite simply, my deck was insane. My first few picks were solid, but unamazing, and I situated myself into Gotham Knights quickly by snatching up an early Cassandra Cain ◊ Batgirl, intended as much to keep Anthony and Nick on my left out of the team as anything else. My middle picks didn’t excite me, but when I got a pack sixth with Cassandra Cain, Break You, and another solid plot twist remaining, I knew my deck would end up being a monster. It seemed no one else drafted heavy Gotham Knights (besides, ironically, the poor fellow to my left), as I had the chance to take five Cassandra Cains. I passed two for plot twists, which also just kept coming. I was literally giggling during deckbuilding, and felt that barring running into a ridiculous Teen Titans deck, I was almost assured 3-0.

Brian Kibler Draft 1, Pod 2

Characters

3 Tim Drake ◊ Robin, The Boy Wonder

1 Batman, World's Greatest Detective

1 Huntress

1 Dinah Laurel Lance ◊ Black Canary

3 Cassandra Cain ◊ Batgirl

1 Dick Grayson ◊ Nightwing, High-Flying Acrobat

1 Batman, Caped Crusader

1 Killer Croc

1 Lady Shiva, Sandra Woosan

1 Cassie Sandsmark ◊ Wonder Girl

2 Azrael

1 Korian