The first feature match of the day pitted two teammates from Australia against each other. Andrew Corney and Scott Hunstad both came all the way from Sydney to Auckland, and had to play each other in Round 1. How unlucky!

Scott won the flip and chose odd initiative. Neither player chose to mulligan. Andrew played out Werewolf by Night, and because the full moon was out when Scott played his Cobra, it got massacred. Turn 3 showed a lot of thinking from Andrew when Scott threw down Daredevil with a hum in his voice. In the end, he sighed and played Steel Wind. In combat, two cards got milked into the KO pile and netted Andrew two characters. What tricks did he have for later? Strength of the Grave or Mephisto, perhaps? At this stage, the life totals were 47–46 in favor of Scott.

Andrew really seemed to be having a mediocre draw when he played Sharon Ginsberg, and Scott played Luke Cage, Street Enforcer. Sharon swung in at Daredevil, and Scott paid the 2 endurance to pump up his Daredevil for a double stun—but Andrew ripped out Tryks to save Sharon. Werewolf and Steel Wind then ganged up on Cobra. Where’s his partner Mr. Hyde when you need him?
Andrew passed. While Scott contemplated what to do next, he did what most people would have done—he paid 3 endurance to go find some hidden guys. In this case, Werewolf was the unlucky victim. In the recovery phase, Scott tried to Quick Kill the Werewolf, but Andrew used Club Dead, putting Tryks at the bottom of his deck. At the end of the turn, Scott chose to KO Cobra, and the endurance totals stood at 30 to 39 in favor of Andrew.

Iron Fist came down on Scott’s side with a big comment from Andrew. He responded with a solid drop of his own, Punisher, Executioner. Andrew formed with Sharon and Steel Wind up front, and Punisher behind Steel Wind. Scott commenced the beatings with Daredevil on Sharon, and 2 endurance later, Daredevil and Sharon double stunned. Scott paid 3 endurance again, and Luke Cage beat on Werewolf. Last, but not least, Iron Fist swung his way into Steel Wind, whose activation netted Andrew another character in his KO’d pile. Scott passed after the savaging he administered—but Andrew had the last laugh. Punisher attacked Iron Fist] and Andrew flipped up No Rest for the Wicked. The endurance totals were 16–20 in favor of Andrew yet again, and he also had the initiative going into turn 6. It looked like the game could be over very soon.

Andrew had Luke Cage, Power Man—no Galactus on Scott’s board, so it seemed safe. Scott pulled out Zeitgeist, but so many buddies around could stop him from doing his thing. Marked for Death was played on Luke Cage, and then combat began! Sharon attacked Iron Fist, but before Andrew passed he flipped up Black Magic and powered up Sharon Ginsberg. Who does that?

Andrew told Scott’s Luke Cage to come Out of the Darkness, which let Punisher wail on him. Before this attack, the endurance totals were 8 to 20, so it seemed to matter what Scott did next. At this point, Scott asked a judge whether he could play Dead Weight without the targeted character being in combat. The answer from Metagame’s own Paul Ross was “yes.”

Zeitgeist got rid of all of his buddies and removed his cosmic counter to take down Luke Cage. The endurance totals were now 8 to 14 in favor of Andrew. Time had also been called by this point, so both players took their time.

The game ended anticlimactically on turn 7, though, when Scott had no 7-drop and scooped to Andrew’s Anarchist, Man of the People.

Winner: Andrew Corney