Ryan Jones is one of the top members of Team Realmworx and is the only PC Champion in attendance today. Al-Bacha Tarik is from the native side of the pond, and it looked as if he was a great deal fresher than Jones.
Both players opted to keep their opening hands. Jones opened turn one with Dagger, and since neither player had a drop until turn 2, she got to poke for 2 endurance loss, total.
Jones regained the initiative on turn 3, and he recruited Spider-Man, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Al-Bacha recruited Daredevil, Protector of Hell’s Kitchen, who was promptly team attacked by Spidey and Dagger to prevent stun-back.
Al-Bacha recruited Luke Cage, Street Enforcer to start turn 4, and Jones recruited Moon Knight as the corner of an L with Spidey in the back. Luke Cage swung at Spidey, and Moon Knight reinforced. Daredevil went after Dagger, who Jones let stun.
On turn 5, Jones recruited Daredevil, Matt Murdock and pressed Spidey, Moon Knight, and Ol’ Captain Blindguy to the front row. Al-Bacha took a long look at his hand, considering his recruit, before settling on Iron Fist, Living Weapon. Hiding Iron Fist behind Daredevil, he braced for Jones’s onslaught. It was 41 to 43.
Spider-Man swung into Al-Bacha’s Daredevil, taking him out. Jones’s Daredevil then dropped Iron Fist, and Moon Knight swung directly. Luke Cage stunned Spider-Man in revenge, but Al-Bacha certainly got the short end of the stick as he was forced to lose his Daredevil. The score was now 35 to 24, in favor of Ryan Jones.
Al-Bacha recruited Spider-Man, Spectacular Spider-Man, but Jones plunked down Mattie Franklin ◊ Spider-Woman—Al-Bacha was definitely not happy. Jones formed up defensively, with Franklin behind Spider-Man and Daredevil behind Moon Knight. Iron Fist took out Moon Knight, and Luke Cage stunned Spider-Man—both characters were reinforced. Jones was playing very methodically. He seemed to know that with control of the initiative on turn 7 and a packed board, he’d easily wipe out Al-Bacha. Al-Bacha didn’t appear to be considering this, and promptly attacked into Daredevil with Spider-Man. Adding a Crime and Punishment to the chain, he passed. Jones popped a Tragic Loss, KO’ing his Spider-Man, and dropped a Spider-Senses from his hand to keep DD’s defense up—18 total. A second Crime and Punishment, however, made Spidey’s total ATK high enough for the stun, and Daredevil went down, leaving Jones with Mattie and Daredevil at the end of the turn.
Jones’s expression was difficult to read—after drawing for turn 7, he was either calculating his own win or his opponent’s. He looked tired, though, as many of the American players did. After some consideration, he activated Wild Ride to search for Ezekiel. The score was 24 to 14 in Al-Bacha’s favor, and things were looking rough for Jones. He recruited Ezekiel, took his three cards, and formed into a reverse L, protecting Mattie with Ezekiel. Al-Bacha pitched Dagger for a Midnight Sons and set it. He hit his drop without taking a Ride, recruiting Daredevil, Guardian Devil. With only three face-down cards in his resource row, Jones would have a hard time abusing Mattie, but he still had a decent chance due to his substantial hand presence. Al-Bacha formed up with Iron Fist protecting Spider-Man.
Daredevil, Matt Murdock launched into the air (at the cost of 3 endurance) and attacked straight into Spider-Man with a Head Shot and a power-up—his total ATK was 17, punching through for a total of 11 endurance while eating 5 himself. Ezekiel then attacked into Iron Fist, pounding Al-Bacha down to 1 endurance. With no more un-stunned characters on the field, Daredevil entered the visible area. Mattie Franklin attacked into him with a Crime and Punishment, but Al-Bacha had a power-up. “I messed up,” admitted a tired-looking Jones. “I don’t know what I was thinking!” he said, a bit disappointed but rolling with it.
Match Win: Al-Bacha Tarik