Kristian Kockott and David Leader are squaring off in one of the two GLEE mirror matches in this Top 8. For Kristian, this is his second PC Top 8, putting him on a very short list of players with that distinction. This is David Leader’s first PC Top 8, but solid finishes at multiple $10K’s prove this performance is no fluke.
Kristian won the option for initiative and took the evens. Leader kicked off the action with Roy Harper ◊ Speedy, while Kristian started off with Willworld, revealing Olapet and The Shark, and then discarded The Shark and Sinestro, Green Lantern of Korugar. He then recruited Arisia. Speedy attacked, and the players exchanged a point of endurance.
On the second turn, Kristian used Willworld and revealed Arisia and Hector Hammond, then discarded Arisia and another Willworld. He then recruited Hector. David played Major Disaster. Kristian attacked Major Disaster with Hector and flipped Oa, forcing a double stun. Kristian then tried to attack Speedy with Arisia, but Leader would have none of it, using Speedy to KO Arisia. He then discarded two cards (including Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern) to Chopping Block Hector Hammond, leaving him with only one card in his hand on turn 3. However, this didn’t prevent him from recruiting Dr. Light, Master of Holograms on the third turn, and used the Doctor to return Kyle Rayner to play. Kyle fetched a Light Armor, and the armor went on Kyle. Kristian made the exact same sequence of plays after discarding Kyle Rayner to his Willworld. Leader then made two trades—his Kyle Rayner for Dr. Light, and his Major Disaster for Kyle. Both players kept around their Doctors during recovery.
Kristian had an explosive fourth turn, boosting an Olapet to find G’Nort, returning Kyle Rayner to play with Dr. Light and fetching a Light Armor, equipping Olapet. He then flipped a Birthing Chamber, drew a card, and used his last resource point on Speedy. Leader elected not to play a resource, as he was extremely tight on cards in hand, and recruited only a Speedy. He then returned Kyle Rayner with Dr. Light and searched out a Helping Hand. Kristian tried to attack Speedy with Kyle Rayner, but David used Speedy on G’Nort. Kristian then clobbered G’Nort with Olapet. Kyle tried to attack his clone, but before that could happen, Major Disaster replaced Kristian’s Oa. Kristian continued with his attack, and when David went for a Helping Hands, Kristian flipped a second copy of Oa to force the trade. This ended combat for the turn, and David was clearly being avalanched by all of Kristian’s extra cards. David could only muster Speedy for his fifth turn, and conceded to Remoni-Notra ◊ Star Sapphire that he couldn’t even stun on his initiative.
Kristian 1-0
For game 2, David took the even initiative, which is critical in a matchup that's often dictated by Guy Gardner, Strong Arm of the Corps on turn 6. Kristian again had a first turn Willworld but missed with its activation, and played Speedy. David had Salakk after flipping his own Willworld, hitting and discarding Hector Hammond. Kristian passed on his attack, and David attacked, forcing a double stun after Roy pumped himself.
On turn 2, David again used his Willworld, hitting Rot Lop Fan and G’Nort, and discarded both G’Norts. He then recruited Kyle Rayner and searched out a Light Armor, which he kept in his hand. Kristian used his Willworld, this time hitting Kyle Rayner and discarding Henry King Jr. ◊ Brainwave, but he decided to recruit Major Disaster instead. Kyle tried to get a piece of Speedy, but Speedy shot down Salakk. David then passed on his remaining attack, and Kristian took the opportunity to use Major Disaster on David’s Willworld.
On the third turn, Kristian again missed with Willworld and didn’t have Dr. Light, forced instead to recruit Kyle Rayner, who fetched a Light Armor for himself, and The Shark. David did have Dr. Light and used him to get back G’Nort. Kyle tried to stun G’Nort, but David had Trial by Sword. This forced a Light Armor out of Kristian for the double stun. Major Disaster then went after Kyle, and when Kyle tried to survive the attack via Helping Hands, Kristian flipped over a Prison Planet, forcing the stun. The Shark took a big bite out of Dr. Light. While Kristian was able to stun David’s entire board, David’s Dr. Light was making this plan look futile. Dr. Light recovered, as did The Shark.
On the fourth turn, David looked to push the game out of reach with a boosted Olapet for G’Nort, Arisia, and Dr. Light returning Kyle to play, again getting Light Armor. Kristian’s turn was much weaker. He recruited Tomar Tu, G’Nort, and Speedy, and formed up with Tomar protecting G’Nort. Arisia went after Tomar, and Kristian used Speedy on G’Nort. Arisia was still able to take down Tomar with the help of No Man Escapes the Manhunters. Olapet then bashed G’Nort, then Kyle took down Major Disaster with the help of Light Armor. Kristian shipped The Shark into Dr. Light, forcing a stun and dealing a minimal amount of damage, but he would need a huge turn 5 to make any sort of game of it. All he could do was recruit Ch’p after not playing a resource, and he scooped it up to Remoni-Notra ◊ Star Sapphire.
Kristian 1-David 1
Kristian again decided to take the evens, and both players kept their opening four. Salakk kicked things off for David, and Kristian had Speedy. Both players exchanged stuns and a point of endurance. Both players had Tomar Tu on turn 2, with Kristian smashing Tomar into Tomar, with David taking the opportunity to use The Ring Has Chosen to get and discard Kyle Rayner, signaling Dr. Light on the third turn, then both players passed the remainder of the attack.
Turn 3 was the obvious Dr. Light from David, putting Kyle Rayner into play, who found a Helping Hands. For the second straight game, Kristian missed Dr. Light, and could only boost Olapet to find G’Nort, and put Light Armor on Olapet. Salakk attacked Speedy, and Speedy pumped himself to force a trade. Now with Speedy stunned, David could flip and use his Birthing Chamber to draw a card. Tomar then traded with Tomar, and Kyle traded with G’Nort. When Kristian cracked back with Olapet on Kyle Rayner, David had a devastating power-up, resulting in Kristian’s whole board being stunned.
Kristian kept around Olapet, and on the fourth turn, he found Dr. Light, recruited him along with Arisia, and pulled Tomar Tu back with the Doctor. David had boosted Olapet for G’Nort, along with Kyle Rayner out of his KO’d pile, fetching another copy of Helping Hand. Kristian’s entire attack was blunted by the three Helping Hands David had accumulated at this point, and Kristian again lost his whole board on the swing back. With the initiative on the fifth turn, David’s Remoni-Notra yielded a concession from Kristian in a game that was never close.
David Leader wins 2-1 and advances to the semifinals.