Batow won the die roll and opted to take control of the odd initiatives. He recruited Micro-Chip on turn 1 and poked directly with it. Next turn, he recruited Robot Sentry, and teamed-up Marvel Knights and Doom with Millennium before attacking directly yet again. It was 47 to 50, and Batow’s control infrastructure was building while Dalton wasn’t doing anything yet.
Next turn, Batow recruited Boris, Personal Servant of Dr. Doom, and Dalton recruited She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters. She-Hulk slammed a fist into Boris, Robot Sentry reinforced, and play moved to turn 4.
Dalton searched his deck with Signal Flare, netting himself a copy of She-Thing and then discarding it to thin his deck before recruiting Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius. Doom sat behind She-Hulk, and play passed to Batow.
Batow attempted to recruit a Diabolic Genius of his own, but in response, Dalton used Reign of Terror to bounce Boris and Robot Sentry. Batow winced a moment, then used Mystical Paralysis, chaining to Doom’s come-into-play effect to exhaust both Dooms and then turn Paralysis face down again. There was no combat for the turn as a result.
Batow kicked off the Marvel Knights tricks on turn five, ditching a copy of Dagger, Child of Light to fetch a Midnight Sons. Shockingly though, the tricks ended there; there was no Wild Ride craziness. He recruited Boris, then used the Mystical Paralysis from last turn to tie up both Dooms before recruiting another. Boris ran off to get a Reign of Terror, She-Hulk bounced to Dalton’s hand, and Batow had a ready Doom and Micro-Chip in his support row. Dalton had only his exhausted Doom doppelganger.
Dalton used Signal Flare to bring out Human Torch, Hothead and hid the Torch behind Doom. Batow did not attack, and Dalton sent Torch into Doom. Micro-Chip reinforced, and it was 47 to 43 in Dalton’s favor.
Next turn, another Signal Flare brought Dalton a Hulk, New Fantastic Four. Hulk took to the front row with Human Torch, who protected Doom. Batow recruited Alfred Pennyworth and Robot Destroyer. He formed up with Doom and Robot Sentry protecting Micro-Chip and Alfred, respectively.
Human Torch flew at Micro-Chip, but Mystical Paralysis locked him down. The Dooms then clashed, but Dalton had a copy of Doomstadt to keep his alive. Micro-Chip reinforced, Hulk smashed into the Robot Sentry with 15 ATK, and Batow took a massive hit to his endurance. The totals were 47 to 24, and the Sentry was KO’d.
Next turn, Batow flipped Midnight Sons, teaming Marvel Knights with Gotham Knights. Alfred raced off to fetch a Bat-Signal, and Batow started considering his options. He had an in-hand Dr. Strange, but he used the Bat-Signal—exhausting Dr. Doom to do so—and fetched a copy of Spider-Man, the Spectacular Spider-Man. Spidey hit the table and brought Alfred back into the fray, hoping to stall Dalton long enough to get something going. However, Dalton had the answer—Doom let loose with a blast of Mystical Paralysis to freeze Spidey in his tracks, cutting off Batow’s chances of locking up the board. Sub-Mariner, Ally of Doom then arrived to cause some mayhem, and there was nothing Batow could do.
Sub-Mariner swung at Micro-Chip, and even though Chip was able to duck out of the game in response to flip down Bat-Signal, Dalton still had a back row Alfred to pick on. He announced the attack, and Batow offered him the handshake—there was no coming back from Sub-Mariner’s rampage.
Batow discussed the circumstances that led to his loss. “I couldn’t get Gotham online early, and that was my last chance,” he said, gesturing to Spidey. “I just had to do it and hope that you didn’t have the Mystical. I couldn’t get a tutor or anything, or even a Fizzle.”
“Yeah, that would’ve been nice,” acknowledged Dalton.
“All my tech characters, that’s what I drew. I had like, three Robot Sentry and stuff.”
Had Dalton drawn even a single Bat-Signal or Wild Ride, he’d have been able to go off with Micro-Chip, but the draws just weren’t in his favor this time around. Michael Dalton scores another win for Team FTN!