Game One       

Game 1 began slowly for Palma, and early on he caught the brunt of a double Reign of Terror. Padilla went into turn 4 with the initiative and by the time he finished, it was Shimmer, Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius and Purple Man against Palma’s single Dr. Doom. Things weren’t looking good for Palma.

Palma’s turn 5 consisted of Alfred, Shimmer, a GCPD Officer, and a Power Compressor. He caught some luck as Padilla recruited nothing but a Power Compressor of his own. A Mystical Paralysis from Padillaheld off Palma’s Doom and he used his GCPD Officer to Bat-Signal. Moments later, as Padilla took control of the initiative, the Officer went down and so did Shimmer, costing Palma the latter.

Padilla shook his head at his turn 6 hand before grinning and recruiting Puppet Master. Palma recruited a Boris, Robot Sentry, and Commissioner Gordon and in an instant the Commish was confiscating Doom’s Power Compressor. Doom then swung, and as a Doomstadt flipped from Padilla’s row the fate of Palma’s opposing Doom was sealed. Doom Mystical Paralysised on Puppet Master before going down, and Shimmer attacked Palma’s Robot Sentry with a power up for the stun.

Turn 7 saw Palma flip a second Marvel Team-Up, and he quickly exhausted Commissioner Gordon for a Bat-Signal. He found Psimon and recruited him. Padilla had the same idea, recruiting Psimon without a need for a character-search card. Palma’s Shimmer exhausted Padilla’s entire board, and wincingly he braced for the attack.

Padilla’s Psimon smashed into Dr. Doom, dishing out a good chunk of damage even with Doomstadt in play. His own Doom then took out Shimmer, which was soon KO’d. Before the end of the turn Padilla flipped Avalon Space Station to retrieve a previous copy of Shimmer, a backup plan in case he missed an ideal high-drop character.

It would be a smart but fruitless move as Padilla went on to recruit Sub-Mariner on turn 8. It was a great move that placed a ton of pressure on Palma, forcing him to push everything he had to the front row, and he was without a recruit for the turn.

Doom took down Doom and Purple Man attempted to attack Boris. The old man quickly ran to the safety of the deck. Instead, Purple Man went after Commissioner Gordon, Sub-Mariner took down Psimon, and Psimon attacked Shimmer. It was a clean sweep for Padilla, and a single power-up of a second Psimon let Padilla take the game!

Game Two

Palma opted to begin with the initiative, and after calling a mulligan he had the perfect turn 1 with Alfred. Padilla wasn’t looking shabby either though, recruiting a Boris and sending him to terrorize Alfred. Turn 2 saw Palma get a Boris of his own while Padilla recruited Robot Sentry. Marvel Team-Up teamed both characters and Alfred ran off to get a Reign of Terror. Alfred was re-recruited, Robot Sentry attacked into Boris, and Palma gave it two power-ups, including one fed to him by a Bat-Signal.

Turn 3 saw Palma keep his death grip on his Alfred, playing him again in conjunction with Shimmer. He promptly got another Bat-Signal. Padilla got a copy of Shimmer as well, but combat was at a near standstill.

Next turn, Padilla recruited Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius and thee copies of Reign of Terror cleared out Palma’s entire field. Boris ran to fetch a Have a Blast!, which blew away Palma’s team-up. Palma played a resource, recruited Alfred, Boris, and a Robot Destroyer and hid Boris behind the ‘Bot. An attack from Doom was the next move for Padilla, and the Green Machine let loose with an old-folk beating that Alfred would feel for months.

Palma brought up a Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius with a Power Compressor next, and Padilla recruited Jinx. Padilla would lose his low drops to a Reign of Terror and clever attacks, and by the end of the turn it was his 4-drops versus Boris, Robot Sentry, and a Doom.

Both players jockeyed for advantage in the all-important mid-game, but Padilla was still struggling. All he had for turn six were a Robot Sentry and another copy of Shimmer to Palma’s Dr. Light. Though both players had Psimon on the field, Palma’s control seemed to win out on turn 7. He wiped Padilla’s board of everything but Psimon and Doom, and next turn neither player had an 8-drop. Padilla attempted to recruit a smaller character, but Palma was alert enough to know to stop him with Psimon. Palma smiled, revealed his hand to Padilla, and that was it for the game, as Padilla scooped.

Game Three

Padilla opened with nothing, but Palma managed to score a GCPD Officer with which to Bat-Signal. A turn later Padilla had a Shimmer, but Palma had an Alfred. Nothing was happening, combat-wise.

On turn 3, Palma recruited Shimmer and Boris, while Padilla recruited Puppet Master—still, both players held off. It wasn’t until turn 4, when dual Dooms hit the field, that things would heat up.

A Reign of Terror tore through Palma’s Shimmer and Boris, and Padilla formed up with everything of his up front. He flipped a Marvel Team-Up, did the same with an Underworld Star to fetch a copy of Psimon, and then passed. Palma almost played a resource quickly but then stared at his hand. He decided to send Alfred off to get a Bat-Signal, and then Signal for Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius with his remaining GCPD Officer. He brought Doom into play, but as he did, Padilla played another Reign of Terror to bounce away the GCPD. It was his Doom, Puppet Master, and Shimmer against Palma’s lone Doom.

Puppet Master activated to exhaust Doom, but Doom Bat-Signaled in response. The two Dooms traded off for a double stun and Shimmer swung directly,

Palma began turn 5 by recruiting Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, and Shimmer. Padilla recruited Jinx and used her effect to grab a Latveria. Palma activated Shimmer, and though Puppet Master chained to exhaust Palma’s Doom not a whole lot happened, as a Mystical Paralysis kept the turn locked up and free of damage.

Padilla opened turn 6 by activating Puppet Master to exhaust Commissioner Gordon. It was his first move for the turn after playing a resource, and the reason behind doing so was his second move of recruiting a second copy. It was all he had, though, and things weren’t looking too bright for Padilla. Palma recruited Dr. Light, Arthur Light, and proceeded to dish out some heavy damage that cost Padilla his Jinx.

“I’m going uno, dos, tres, quatro, cinco,” remarked Palma as he played two GCPD Officer, a Boris, and a Robot Sentry. He immediately used Boris for The Underworld Star, and that was his turn. Mystical Paralysis shot across the table from Padilla’s side, and since it was aimed at Dr. Light Palma had no choice. He activated Dr. Light to stun Padilla’s Doom. Things looked grim for Padilla until he recruited Psimon, making his turn drop, and equalized the field with a Flame Trap! Palma had no answer, and though his Dr Doom, Diabolic Genius got to swing directly, it seemed as if Padilla’s sacrifice might have been a strong step in the right direction. Padilla ended up keeping Psimon while Palma held onto Dr. Doom, Dr. Light, and Shimmer.

Padilla was lacking the follow-up, spending half his resource points on turn 8 toward Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius. It let him turn The Underworld Star face down, and after using his latest copy of Doom, he recruited yet another to get himself another Mystical Paralysis. Palma was not lacking anything though, as he recruited Dr. Doom, Lord of Latveria on turn 8. A single Paralysis shut down Palma’s offense, and play moved to the next turn.

Turn 9 was clearly where it was all going to end. Padilla opened with a Have a Blast! on Palma’s last team-up, and though both players hit big drops—Padilla with Lord of Latveria and Palma with Dr. Light—Padilla was able to use Boris and told Palma that he was going for Gamma Bomb. Revealing that he had the loop, Padilla offered Palma a handshake as both players knew Padilla had won.

Game Win: Kyoshi Padilla