“Do you know how short I am?” asked Edwards, adjusting his seat so that his feet could touch the ground.

“No.”

“I’m like, 5’7.””

“That’s not that short.”

“It’s pretty short.”

“Nah . . .”

And then they started the match.

Shvartsman won the roll and opted to take the odd initiative. He played Willworld, took Dr. Light, Master of Holograms, and discarded another copy of Willworld. He recruited G’Nort and then passed. He was quickly matched by a G’Nort from his opponent. A double stun resulted in 1 endurance loss to each player, and play moved to turn 2.

Edwards played and used Willworld as well, and then he recruited Tomar Tu to protect G’Nort. Shvartsman Willworlded right back before he also recruited Tomar Tu. Craig’s G’Nort swung at Shvartsman’s Tomar Tu with No Man Escapes the Manhunters. G’Nort reinforced, and Tomar went down. Edwards’s Tomar then stomped on Shvartsman’s G’Nort, and at the end of the turn, Shvartsman was forced to lose Tomar. The endurance totals were at 44 to 48.

The next turn, Willworld helped Shvartsman get Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern into his KO’d pile. Alex recruited Dr. Light, brought out Kyle, and searched for ¡Olé!. He formed up in an “L” to protect Dr. Light with Rayner before he passed. Edwards mirrored him by recruiting Dr. Light, Master of Holograms, but he needed to use The Ring Has Chosen to do so.

“Dr. L. He’s the man. If he can’t do it . . . ” Shvartsman left the rhyme hanging.

“ . . . No one can? Yeah, that’s pretty much the case,” replied Edwards, who used Dr. Light to bring out Major Disaster.

Shvartsman sent Rayner after Tomar Tu, but Shock Troops allowed for the stun back while saving Tomar’s skin. Disaster, backed by Prison Planet, then took down G’Nort. Tomar Tu bashed Dr. Light, and G’Nort swung directly. Edwards took a commanding lead of four characters and 46 endurance to Shvartsman’s lone Dr. Light and 29 endurance. Ouch.

On turn 4, Edwards had control of the initiative. He recruited Dr. Polaris and added The Shark and Arisia to the board. Shvartsman looked at his hand and shook his head. He had Dr. Polaris, Hector Hammond, Olapet, and Rot Lop Fan, but he opted to Willworld to maximize his options. He didn’t find anything of use.

“I can kill you this turn,” mentioned Edwards casually.

“I know,” replied Shvartsman in a tone that bespoke a veteran’s knowledge of just this kind of situation. He opted to recruit Olapet with boost, and then he flipped Hard-Traveling Heroes, brought up Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern with Dr. Light, grabbed Ole!, and recruited Tomar Tu to protect Olapet. Flanking Olapet for the purpose of reinforcement were Dr. Light and Kyle Rayner.

“This is the worst draw I’ve had all day,” Alex said.

“Major D. into Tomar,” Edwards announced. Shvartsman activated Ole! from his hand and reinforced with Olapet. The endurance totals were 27 to 44. The Shark mauled Kyle Rayner, and Alex took 7 endurance loss to Edwards’s 1 due to stun back.

“I need to somehow not die this turn,” stated Shvartsman.

Edwards’s Tomar Tu, with 8 ATK, smacked into Dr. Light. Arisia polished off Olapet (Shock Troops minimized breakthrough), and G’Nort and Dr. Polaris attacked directly for a grand total of 11 endurance loss—exactly what Edwards needed to finish the game and bring Shvartsman down to 0 endurance!

“It’s all right, I’ll see you at the drafting tables tomorrow,” Shvartsman said playfully.

Moments later: “So, you beat me 40 to 0.”

“On turn 4, yeah,” Edwards grinned.

Craig Edwards moves on, with a record of 9-3!