Josh is an accomplished Vs. System player with five $10K Top 8s to his name. This is Troy’s first major tournament. As the first round began, Josh gave a flamboyant wave to Adam Prosak, who returned the gesture. Charming. Josh won the die roll and chose the odd initiatives.

Troy mulliganed, while Josh kept his opener. Neither player had anything to play on turn 1. Troy had the initiative on turn 2 and shook his head as he missed his drop. Josh dropped Hank Hall ◊ Hawk and attacked for 2.

On turn 3, Josh led off. He had Beast Boy, while Troy under-dropped an Iron Fist, Danny Rand. Josh attacked directly for 6, and Troy attacked back into Hank. Josh flipped a Tamaran to save a point of endurance loss, and there was a mutual stun. Both characters recovered, and play moved on to the next turn. 48-40 Josh.

Troy led off turn 4 with his optimal Luke Cage, Street Enforcer. Josh dropped Terra, leaving her in the back row with Hank. Beast Boy was set up protecting Hank. Troy’s first attack sent Luke Cage into Terra. Josh first used Tamaran to assure the stun back, then used Terra to stun Iron Fist. Troy had the Crushing Blow in a bid to keep his Luke unstunned, and Josh used Heroic Sacrifice to negate the possibility of a KO effect taking down Terra. Josh attacked directly, and neither player had anything else for the turn. 46–30 Josh.

Josh wasted no time in playing Garth ◊ Tempest on turn 5. He set up Garth behind Beast Boy and Terra behind Hank. Troy played Daredevil, Matt Murdock, who was alone in the visible area. Josh immediately declared an attack on Daredevil, and Troy paid 3 endurance to send him over to the hidden area. Josh attacked Troy directly with each of his characters and used two copies of Press the Attack to bring some more pain with Garth. The endurance totals at this point were 46 to -11. Despite the 57 point endurance deficit, Troy didn’t give up. He started off with a Sucker Punch and attacked each of Josh’s characters in turn. A flurry of Flying Kicks, Savage Beatdowns, and Crime and Punishments later, Josh was at 6 endurance. Close, but not quite.

After the game, Josh reassured Troy. “You’re playing the best deck for this tournament; there are a lot of Sentinels players here, and they don’t know what they’re doing.” Troy agreed and noted his exceptionally poor draw. The three characters he had in play were the only characters he had drawn over the course of the game, and the rest of his cards were pumps. Teen Titans did what it tends to do—it severely punished him for missing his curve.

Josh Wiitanen wins!