As of the start of round 8, only one player stood undefeated among the initial field of 154. That player is Niles Rowland. Niles has consistently put in solid performances at events, including a Top 16 at Pro Circuit: New York and a Top 20 at Pro Circuit: Amsterdam. Also of note, Niles made the Top 8 last year in this very event. With a strong 7-0 start to this tournament, he is on track to repeat that feat and perhaps this time take the title. Standing in his way is Ryan Rocco, playing a Teen Titans deck.

I joined this match during the recruit phase of the seventh turn. Ryan had Garth ◊ Tempest, Hank Hall ◊ Hawk, and Red Star against Niles’s Nimrod and Bastion. Ryan had the initiative and created a dominating board position by playing Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal; Tim Drake ◊ Robin, Young Detective; and Pantha. Ryan used the extra resource point to shoot Niles and brought the endurance totals to Niles 24- Ryan 27.

Niles played Magneto, Master of Magnetism and then attempted to hide both Magneto and Bastion behind Nimrod. Nile smiled as he quipped, “Okay if I form like that?” In the end, Nimrod took up a position in front of Bastion.

Ryan declared an attack with everyone except Garth against Magneto for a total of 17 ATK. Before the attack resolved, Niles sacrificed not one, not two, but three Genoshas! Ryan used Tamaran on Red Star to prevent any attackers from being stunned. Two pumps from Niles prompted a Savage Beatdown from Ryan. Niles, after loading his hand with Genosha, had no problem discarding another five cards to counteract the Beatdown. Ryan used Garth to replay the Beatdown, which was enough to finish the job, bringing the endurance totals to Niles 17 - Ryan 24.

Ryan used Teen Titans Go! to ready his attackers and sent Roy and Red Star into Nimrod. The attack resolved, and Niles went down to 12.

Finally, all the remaining characters (including Garth) swung into Bastion for just enough to outmatch the remaining pumps in Niles’s hand. Niles went down to 6. The game looked all but over as Ryan used Press the Attack to ready Garth, but rather than attack for the win, Ryan opted to Finishing Move Bastion. Regardless, Niles could not come back on turn 8 since he was down to five resources and was forced to concede.

With Niles’s loss, there are no more undefeated players, and there remains the opportunity for many to claw their way to the top.