Jason Hager and Antonino DeRosa have at least one thing in common. Neither one had a close quarterfinal match. While Antonino was busy out-dropping and squashing fellow Curve Sentinels player Alex Shvartsman, Jason was handily dispatching Ryan Jones.

 

Well, Antonino is playing one thing in his Sentinels deck that Jones isn't—Apocalypse, the best weapon that Curve Sentinels has against late-game domination.

 

Under the watchful eye of head judge Alex Charsky (who, it has been said, holds the event microphone like he's about to break out in some battle rap), Antonino won the coin flip and decided to lead off. His opening hand of Mark II, Mark V, and some extras was sent back, but his new hand was even slower, with two Bastions, a Magneto, and more.

 

Hager got his engine started with Wild Ride for Micro-Chip and got in for 1 endurance loss. On turn 2, he followed up with a Midnight Sons (naming “Gotham Knights”) and used the now Gotham-dwelling Micro-Chip to run a Bat-Signal for Alfred Pennyworth. While Antonino shuffled, Alex Charsky made an inaudible comment to Hager, and DeRosa joked, “You have the judges on your side. I only have Geordie Tait.”

 

As if to prove exactly how much my support is worth, Antonino then had no play on turn 3. He was resigned to an ugly early game. “Mulligan and hit a terrible hand,” he muttered.

 

Hager used Alfred to get Mystical Paralysis and then replayed Alfred. His defenses were shaping up exactly according to plan, and on turn 4, he played Dr. Doom, turning Wild Ride face down. Antonino had an unexciting Mark V that, considering Hager's earlier plays, had about as much chance of doing damage as I do of being named Miss America.

 

Of course, there was always the chance that Hager, in good shape, would elect not to use his Mystical Paralysis—which is exactly what happened. He flipped Midnight Sons, naming Doom, and reinforced with Micro-Chip. The endurance totals were 48-45 in favor of Antonino . . . going into turn 5. The game was clearly being played on Hager's terms.

 

Antonino used Boliver Trask to fetch a second Mark V and recruited it. Hager went into the think tank while Antonino, never camera shy, received the attentions of the photographers present. Hager came out of his think with Wild Ride for Dagger, which he discarded to fetch and lay Midnight Sons. That was when Glorious Godfrey made his first appearance, and, as is customary, his text was read by all. Midnight Sons was flipped to team up Darkseid's Elite. Godfrey exhausted a Mark V, and Antonino lost 4 endurance. Then, Hager had Doom aim some Mystical Paralysis at the second Mark V, and Antonino responded with one of his main weapons against Hager—Micro-Sentinels, putting counters on Alfred, Micro-Chip, and Dr. Doom.

 

Hager ended his turn by using Bat-Signal to fetch Spider-Man, The Spectacular Spider-Man.

 

With Micro-Sentinels on the chain on turn 6, Hager used both Micro-Chip and Alfred, turning Wild Ride down and fetching a second Paralysis.

 

“Your poor sleeves,” joked Antonino. “You shuffle every two seconds.”

 

Hager replied, “It's nice having access to every card in your deck, every turn.”

 

Antonino got snippy. “That's lucky, if you ask me. Not nice.”

 

Hager discarded another Dagger, laid his fourth Midnight Sons, and then played his 6-drop Spidey. Antonino had Bastion. Glorious Godfrey exhausted a Mark V, and Spider-Man exhausted everyone else.

 

On turn 7, Doom got his third Micro-Sentinels counter, and Antonino was on the play with Magneto. He was starting to build a board presence that might threaten to damage Hager. While Jason pondered his options, Antonino spent time singing and writing an epitaph for the Micro-Sentinel infested Dr. Doom.

 

“Two more turns and Dr. Doom is out of here!”

 

Hager exhausted a Mark V with Godfrey during his build phase, and went back to the well for some more brain activity. Mystical Paralysis exhausted Magneto after the pause.

 

Hager recruited Boris and teamed up his characters with Fearsome Five. Bat-Signal (exhausting Spider-Man) fetched Dr. Light, Arthur Light. The good Doctor was recruited, and activated to stun Antonino's second Mark V. Then, Press the Attack on Doom, followed by a use of Boris to get Mystical Paralysis, ensured that Bastion would get the exhaustion treatment as well.

 

Antonino's offensive options? Boliver Trask. No attacks were declared.

 

This point was where things started to get interesting. Hager seemed confident going into turn 8, but Antonino had Apocalypse in hand. Doom got his fourth counter, and Hager chuckled. “That card has almost done something now.”

 

Antonino chastised Hager. “Hey, you can beat me, but don't make fun of my cards. That's mean.”

 

Hager used Wild Ride to get Micro-Chip, and played Dagger, Micro-Chip, and Alfred, bring him to seven characters. Dr. Light activated to stun Bastion, and Antonino had to think about possible responses. In the end, he accepted the stun, and Hager played a second Wild Ride to fetch Boris. Antonino checked his scoresheet and realized that, going into turn 8, he had dealt all of 4 endurance loss to Hager. A sobering thought.

 

Hager's next play in his build was Power Compressor on Dr. Doom, and then he recruited Lacuna. He used Boris to fetch Press the Attack, followed by Wild Ride to get Boris back. He then put him back into play. This whole time, Antonino was still waiting to play Apocalypse, and it had been a while since the start of the turn.

 

When Hager finally passed, Antonino slammed Apocalypse onto the board immediately. Hager stopped Antonino before his formation step and did some thinking. Apocalypse was Antonino's big gun against him, and he knew it. Hager used Mystical Paralysis to exhaust Magneto, used Press the Attack to ready Dr. Light, and stunned Apocalypse. Antonino immediately scooped up his cards.

 

The game had been a grinding, controlling performance by Hager. He was dictating the pace and firmly in command of the entire game.

 

Jason Hager 1 - Antonino DeRosa 0

 

Game 2

 

Antonino mulliganed another slow hand into an even slower one. He passed on turn 1 without Boliver Trask. Hager played Dagger, Child of Light.

 

Hager then played Robot Sentry. Antonino had nothing. Again. On his third turn, for the second straight game, he passed with no play.

 

On turn 4, with the game already looking basically hopeless, Hager returned Dagger to fetch Midnight Sons and had (surprise surprise) Dr. Doom, while Antonino recruited Mark V. The Mark V bashed into Dr. Doom, and Antonino gasped at his chance to do some actual damage when Hager had . . . no action? Maybe it wasn't hopeless after all.

 

Turn 5 would be telling. Antonino had Nimrod; Hager had Glorious Godfrey to nullify the opposing Mark V, and he teamed up Doom and Darkseid's Elite. Nimrod bashed into Godfrey, who exhausted a Mark V, and Antonino, despite his terrible draw, seemed to be making some headway.

 

On turn 6, Hager seemed to be stuck, with no Marvel Knights character in play. “No Spider-Man for me this game.” He busted out Dr. Light, Arthur Light, but had not yet teamed up Fearsome Five with any of his other teams. Antonino had no Bastion, so he recruited a duo of Sentinel Mark IIs. Hager responded to the first by using Glorious Godfrey's ability to exhaust Antonino's Mark V. Before Nimrod could get creative with some beatdown, Doom exhausted to fire Mystical Paralysis at the mutant hunter. Antonino made the best of the situation by rumbling in a Mark II to pummel Robot Sentry.

 

The endurance totals were 35-35 going into turn 7, but Hager would need some help to avoid a real hammering, as he was up against two Mark II's with his team affiliations in disarray.

 

He started off his turn by using Dagger to fetch a second Midnight Sons, but hadn't flipped either copy up yet. Micro-Chip provided the character he needed to flip up each, and he teamed up Gotham and Doom with his Marvel Knights characters. Still no love for Dr. Light, but Hager could finally use his Bat-Signal and did so to fetch a second Dr. Doom.

 

Hager played it, put his ability on the chain, and used two copies of Reign of Terror to remove Antonino's Mark IIs. Then, Glorious Godfrey exhausted a Mark V, since the coast was clear. Hager flipped Marvel Team-Up back down, played Boris, and played Wild Ride for Alfred, who was also recruited. The engine was starting to run. Marvel Team-Up was brought back, finally throwing Fearsome Five into the mix. Dr. Light exhausted to stun Nimrod.

 

Antonino just leaned back in his chair to start turn 8.

 

“I'm thinking about the steak I'm going to eat. I drew four Reconstruction Programs and no Bastion. It's good. Come on, Wild Ride for Psimon, play Psimon . . . ”  

 

Hager was still being very deliberate. “I can hear myself getting fatter,” said Antonino, bringing out a classic line. He then returned to rotating gaily in his chair.

 

“You're totally in this game,” Hager said, showing signs of weariness for the first time. “Would you mind just . . . playing? And paying attention?”

 

Hager recruited Lacuna and put Power Compressor on Doom. Antonino, who did not have BastionorApocalypse, used Genosha to try and find the big nasty. No dice, though he did pick up a Bastion.

 

“If I tell you I don't have Apocalypse, would you say I still have a chance?”

 

Hager shook his head. Antonino played Sentinel Mark II, Sentinel Mark II, Hounds of Ahab, and Hager had no responses. Did Antonino miss the Power Compressor? Or did he just want more characters on the table?

 

Hager had no attacks—the ball was in Antonino's court. His first play was Hounds into Boris. Hager deliberated, and exhausted the Hounds with Robot Sentry. Next, Antonino tried to beat Boris down with a Mark V, and Godfrey did the exhausting. Nimrod went after Boris, and was stunned by Dr. Light.

 

Antonino tried to counter with Mark II, confirming that he did, in fact, miss the Power Compressor on Dr. Doom. It made sense, then, that one of the Mark II's was the next character to go after Boris. Hager deliberated for a while before activating Boris to fetch a Mystical Paralysis. The next step—the use of Paralysis to exhaust Magneto—seemed a foregone conclusion, and that is exactly what happened when Antonino tried to declare an attack.

 

Antonino unleashed a clobbering of Dr. Doom with a Sentinel Mark II, used Mojoverse, and powered-up for the stun. With Magneto still in play, any stun was a big deal, and Magneto's second Mark II went after Alfred for another stun and some breakthrough, including a Savage Beatdown. The endurance totals were 19-18 going into recovery, during which, of course, Hager couldn't recover anyone.

 

On turn 9, Antonino was on the initiative, and his decision to play two Mark IIs last turn seemed savvy indeed, considering the absence of the Power Compressor and the fact that Dr. Light was guaranteed to be Hager's last-ditch hope for survival and victory. Again, he eschewed Bastion and used Boliver Trask to fetch a Mark II, which he played, and followed that up with a Reconstruction Program to fetch another Mark II and play it. Four Mark IIs going into turn 9!

 

“That's all I got.”

 

“That's all, huh?” The expression on Hager's face indicated that it might be enough.

 

He activated Lacuna, but Antonino noted that almost all of Hager's characters were teamed up anyhow. “I don't know if you were fishing around there, trying to get me to counter it, but I'm not going to counter that.”

 

Godfrey activated to exhaust a Mark V, and then Hager recruited Boris and Doom, Lord of Latveria. Dr. Light tried to stun a Mark II with the ability on the chain, and it was negated—and DeRosa still had plenty of extra Sentinels in hand.

 

Hager flipped down a Paralysis amongst other less relevant cards, formed up, and passed. Boliver Trask went after Boris in a battle of feeble masterminds, and Boris tried to mine Hager's deck, only to be negated by another Mark II. An attack was declared, with Magneto going after Doom, and Hager deliberated. Time was running short in the round, and at least 80 percent of the match had been spent with action to Hager—a fact which was not lost on DeRosa. In fact, when table judge Matt Tabak urged “you guys” to play more quickly, DeRosa admonished him not to use the plural term.

 

Doom used Mystical Paralysis on Magneto. Then, DeRosa's two remaining Mark II's bashed Robot Sentry and Lacuna, respectively. Endurance totals were 15-9 for DeRosa going into turn 10, and it was Hager's initiative.

 

Hager started off with Bat-Signal and grabbed Dr. Light. Hager then got fancy in order to get more cards in his yard for a boosted Dr. Light, playing Wild Ride, Fizzling his own Wild Ride, and then Fizzling his own Fizzle in order to discard Psimon and Commissioner Gordon. Then, he used his existing Dr. Light (negated) and boosted a second, causing De Rosa to concede in the face of overwhelming numbers and come-into-play triggers.

 

Jason Hager defeats Antonino De Rosa 2-0 and advances to the finals!