Imshan Poolar is one of Toronto's most recognized players, and someone who I personally have had the pleasure of repeatedly playing against. Despite the level of competition in Toronto for qualifying events most Toronto players had managed to qualify for New York, and Imshan was the only Torontonian in attendance today not yet qualified for the Pro Circuit.

 

Adan Johnson is a local from Brooklyn who was looking to grind in to tomorrow's main event. He was one of many players running Mojoverse in Curve Sentinels.

 

Johnson won the opening flip, and opted to open with the initiative. Neither player had a drop on turn 1, but Johnson nailed Boliver on turn 2 and used him to grab a Sentinel Mark V before poking Poolar for one.

 

Johnson followed it up with a Sentinel Mark II on turn 3, and though he had the initiative, Boliver and the Mark II were up against She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters. A team attack took down She-Hulk for a bit of stun damage, but the stun was returned and the questionable move cost Johnson a power-up.

 

Next turn, Poolar dropped Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius, and chained his effect with Faces of Doom. He flipped the Faces a total of twice, grabbing a second Diabolic Genius and a copy of Dr. Doom, Victor Von Doom. Johnson recruited the Mark V he'd grabbed earlier, and formed into an L with Boliver protecting the Mark II.

 

Doom swung at the Mark V, and backed by Doomstadt, he forced Johnson to search his resource row for an answer. Johnson had one, and flipped Nasty Surprise to force a trade. Not wanting to risk his solid defensive position, Poolar passed his opportunity to attack with She-Hulk, and Johnson again team attacked with a power up, this time powering up Boliver. But Poolar had a response, playing Finishing Move on the Mark V. It was a trade that wasn't necessarily ideal, but it was definitely to his advantage. A 3-drop for a 4-drop is rarely a poor tactic.

 

Turn 5 hit and Johnson continued to make his curve, nailing a much-needed Nimrod. It forced Poolar to commit to defense for the turn, and he used Mystical Paralysis to exhaust Big Whitey before recruiting another Diabolic Genius and a Boris. Poolar was packing Betrayals, and Boris would allow him to seek that out. This game was obviously going to last until turn 7, and repeated Betrayals seemed to be Poolar's best bet for a win, given Johnson's fairly good board position.

 

Johnson took a bit of time before passing his combat, and Doom swung on Boliver. “I'm going to kill your Boliver,” he teased, fingering a down card which seemed to be a face down Finishing Move, before deciding “No, that would be stupid.” Johnson seemed to have the strategic lead, but he wasn't playing as if he did. Nothing was KO'd, and play moved to turn 6.

 

A Signal Flare nabbed Hulk for Poolar, but Johnson had no Bastion nor anything to fill out his curve with. “He missed Bastion! That means I have a chance!” Hulk and Doom quickly tied down the field, and play moved to turn 7. The endurance totals were 39 to 26 in Poolar's favor.

 

Armed with the initiative, Johnson made a move by dropping Magneto. Poolar visibly mused, and then exhausted Dr. Doom to Paralysis the Master of Magnetism. He then flipped Common Enemy and Johnson chained Betrayal in response—he wasn't aware of the status of ongoing effects in chains. Poolar was, and a quick judge call resolved the situation. Poolar recruited Victor Von Doom and then activated Boris to send him off for a plot twist, but Johnson activated Mark II in response. “Oh,” Poolar blinked. “Do I shuffle?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“Well . . . I guess he stays there then.”

 

Johnson didn't have much to do without Magneto. He popped two Genoshas and used them to fuel a big attack with Nimrod into Hulk, double-stunning. Doom then swung into the Mark II, Poolar flipped Latverian Embassy, and then used Betrayal to take out Boliver. “Wow. I guess I should've taken out the Boliver with the Finishing Move.” Poolar lost Hulk, and Johnson lost Boliver and Mark II.

 

Turn 8 saw Johnson armed with only five resources, so Poolar felt safe in recruiting Dr. Doom, Lord of Latveria. His not keeping the Hulk last turn was unfortunate, and seemed to indicate he'd topdecked the new Doom. Victor used Mystical Paralysis on Magneto before committing to Dr. Doom, Lord of Latveria, and passed. Johnson finally hit Bastion and reformed into an L, with Magneto protecting him. Doom swung into Nimrod armed with an It's Clobberin' Time! in order to force Johnson to reinforce and lose out on potential attacks. Another Genosha exploded, and Johnson was forced into the corner and had to reinforce. Play moved to turn 9.

 

Again stuck with six resources, Johnson recruited Boliver, grabbed a Mark V, and recruited it with boost. It was 31 to 12, and without the initiative, Poolar needed to do something big. He did it, using Signal Flare to grab Silver Surfer! He formed up with Doom behind Silver Surfer, stole the initiative with the Surfer's effect, and swung on the Mark V with Doom, taking back Betrayal with Doom's effect. “Cards in hand?”

 

“Fourteen,” replied Johnson. Ouch. Poolar took a couple minutes to count the potential damage on the table and then committed. “Out of 36 cards he's seen 11 characters so . . . I'll swing into Bastion. He might have seven, but, we'll see.” Surfer took a shot and Poolar passed.

 

Bastion Acrobatically Dodged Surfer's onslaught twice, and then gave himself two +1 ATK/ +1 DEF bonuses. “Hmm, I guess I bounce.” Things were potentially bad for Poolar.

 

Johnson team attacked with Bastion and Nimrod, though. He apparently didn't have the offensive pumps to cause major trouble, and though his face didn't betray him, Poolar must've been doing a little happy dance in his head. Betrayal knocked out Boliver, Bastion stunned back, Surfer went down, and it was 23 to 31. Magneto's effect KO'd Silver Surfer, and the board was again Dr. Doom against Bastion, Nimrod, and Magneto.

 

Signal Flaring yet again on the following turn, Poolar grabbed Sub-Mariner, a smart play that would force Johnson to address Poolar's big hitters and keep him tied down, exposing him and eliminating the possibility of reinforcement with a few big counterattacks. Johnson recruited another Nimrod in order to get a counter, and a Hounds of Ahab to keep Betrayal manageable.

 

Sub-Mariner slammed into the fresh Nimrod, while Doom swung into Bastion. Betrayal came back up thanks to Dr. Doom's effect, and multiple bonuses from his own effect as well as an Acrobatic Dodge didn't save Bastion, but did keep breakthrough from being too horrible. Poolar then dropped Betrayal but was immediately stymied by Mojoverse.

 

Johnson needed to do a lot, and couldn't possibly win. Still, Magneto slammed into Doom and a few power-ups brought down the Lord of Latveria before Johnson offered the handshake. Play moved to game two with Imshan Poolar leading 1-0.

 

 

Game Two

 

Both players mulliganed to open, and Johnson took the obvious initiative on turn 1. Again, neither player had a 1-drop. On turn 2, Poolar recruited She-Thing while Johnson again recruited Boliver Trask, this time grabbing a Mark II. “That looks familiar”, noted Poolar as She-Thing broke Boliver neatly in half.

 

Johnson recruited the Mark II on turn 3, and Poolar formed up with She-Hulk and She-Thing in his front row. Trask charged at She-Hulk, who conveniently exploded due to Nasty Surprise and an Overload, and the Mark II then took out She-Thing, KO'ing her.

 

Poolar opened turn 4 by using Signal Flare to grab a copy of Thing, Heavy Hitter, a rather loaded play—but one made legitimate by his recruitment of Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius to flip the Flare back down. Doom sat behind She-Hulk and Johnson recruited a Mark V, forming into an L with the Big Blue Bot protecting Boliver. The formation would cost him, as Reign of Terror bumped the Mark II back into his hand and Doom, again supported by Doomstadt, took down the Mark V. Johnson powered-up, but It's Clobberin' Time! again saved Doom.

 

That left She-Hulk free to pound through some endurance loss on Boliver. “I'll Nasty Surprise,” announced Johnson.

“Not from hand you won't,” Poolar said, as he politely pointed at his Dr. Doom. Boliver went down. It was a horrid turn for Johnson and he looked glum because of it. Meanwhile Poolar's legs wiggled a bit beneath the table, as he was feeling the momentum growing on his side.

 

That momentum would only grow, as he recruited Thing, Heavy Hitter and Johnson missed Nimrod. He instead recruited a Mark V with boost, and slammed him into Dr. Doom. The other Mark V then took out Thing thanks to Savage Beatdown, vindicating his continued competition in the match. Dr. Doom was KO'd, but not before Common Enemy had been flipped.

 

Good thing too, as Signal Flare nabbed Poolar a Victor Von Doom on the next turn. He recruited it, formed up in a reverse L with She-Hulk in front of Dr. Doom, and passed. Johnson finally caught some luck and Bastion came down as the centerpiece of an L. Thing smashed into the boosted Mark V and Bastion made him an 11 ATK/11 DEF, but a power up kept Thing out of harm's way. Dr. Doom and She-Hulk then teamed into Bastion, She-Hulk stunned back, and Johnson had no attacks.

 

Johnson recruited Magneto on turn 7 and again stuck with the mighty L of Bastion protection. Poolar recruited Boris, searched out Betrayal, and then Signal Flared for another Boris to do it again. The endurance totals were 30 to 22 in Poolar's favor, and the first Betrayal was activated. Even if Johnson had a Mojoverse, he'd be eating the second Betrayal.

 

He activated Genosha, resolved it, and then flipped a much-needed Mojoverse! “That was a mistake,” maligned Poolar, referring to his ambition with the Betrayals. He didn't seem to see that he could chain the second. Magneto was tied down with a Paralysis, but Bastion swung at Dr. Doom, and thanks to a flurry of +1 ATK/ +1 DEF bonuses, Dr. Doom went down hard. The Mark V then swung into She-Hulk and a couple more +1 ATK/+1 DEF bonuses knocked Poolar down to 18 endurance. Missing the chained Betrayal hurt, as though it would have only stunned the Mark V it would've kept She-Hulk alive and Poolar would've had some serious offensive options beyond just Ol' Blue Eyes on Big Blue.

 

In reality, that was all Poolar had, and Thing streaked towards the Mark V and tore it apart, putting Poolar back into the lead in endurance. However, he was still at a disadvantage on the field. “This is going to go to game three, and it's going to suck.”

 

Dr. Doom, Lord of Latveria joined Thing on the field next turn, and Johnson recruited a Mark V and took a while to decide whether or not he wanted to give it a boost. He opted to do so, and then formed up with Mags and Bastion each protected by a Mark V. Doom took down the boosted one. Thing then swung on the un-boosted Mark V, and Johnson again did not reinforce. He had 8 endurance to Poolar's 18, so it was still a surprisingly tight game given how strong Johnson's turns 6 and 7 had been.

 

Magneto flew into Thing and Johnson activated Mojoverse on him. It was just what Poolar needed, and he flipped Betrayal on the chain to stun Bastion! The attack resolved and though Thing went down, it was Poolar leading 7 to 2.

 

Johnson recruited yet another Mark V with boost on the next turn, and spent his last 3 resource points to recruit a Mark II. He formed up with everything up front and passed. Poolar Signal Flared for a Dr. Doom, Diabolical Genius, and then recruited Silver Surfer. He stole the initiative, and seemed to know that he had the game. He attempted to attack into the Mark II and then Reign of Terror it with a copy freshly returned to his hand by Doom's effect, but had forgotten that Doom had not come into play this turn! It was wince-worthy. Silver Surfer then attacked into Bastion, and despite some defensive pumps Johnson went down to -14.

 

Johnson asked to see his KO'd pile. “You'll notice it's down a Reign of Terror.” Poolar face-palmed. “God . . . such a punkheaded move.”

 

However, Johnson just didn't have the pumps needed to make the comeback and Poolar's two walls were more than he could handle. Johnson was at a deficit of 21 endurance, and he offered Poolar the handshake.

 

Imshan Poolar's Pro Circuit dream was alive as he moved to the Top 8! One more match win would qualify him for Day 1 of the PC.