Anthony showed himself to be the high roller in the matchup, winning the option on initiative and electing to take the odd initiative.

 

The starting hand of two Avalon Space Stations, Alfred Pennyworth, and A Death in the Family was good enough for Tim, and the game was afoot.

 

Both players recruited Alfred Pennyworth on turn 1, and it was quickly on to the next turn for each. Batow played Bat-Signal with his Alfred Pennyworth, as he lacked the other Gotham Knights character necessary to use the butler's ability. He fetched a GCPD Officer to put his man online for next turn and then played it and Dazzler.

 

For Justice it was Micro-Chip and a Marvel Team-up that came out initially on turn 2. With an active Alfred Pennyworth, he chose to search his deck for a Bat-Signal of his own. This Bat-Signal could potentially be doing double duty by virtue of the Marvel Knights 1-drop. Alfred Pennyworth came back down, and it was on to combat.

 

Batow's Dazzler attacked and stunned Alfred Pennyworth, and was stunned back in return. Following this, he passed to Justice, who couldn't attack, as Micro-Chip was in the back row. Batow made the strong play of A Death in the Family on his opponent's Alfred Pennyworth at this first opportunity. Killing old men that fetch things tends to be worth it. As it was, though, Justice had the Fizzle, so the butler lived.

 

Before Justice played a resource, Batow used his Alfred Pennyworth to fetch Total Anarchy, a potentially very powerful card in this matchup, which appeared to bystanders a little out of the ordinary in an otherwise robotic field. Justice played his resource and immediately showed it to be a copy of Midnight Sons, which teamed his characters up with Doom and allowed a Wild Ride for Robot Sentry. The Sentry immediately hit play, and almost as immediately, Alfred Pennyworth bounced back to Justice's hand to fetch another Wild Ride. One way or another, Justice's deck seemed likely to hit all its important drops. He came back into play exhausted, and Justice passed.

 

The first recruit from Batow was Longshot, which he activated naming GCPD Officer and Beast. He revealed the following, with an “Ouch.”

 

Xavier's Dream x 2

 

Not only had he missed, it was now abundantly clear exactly what he was playing, eliminating any rogue advantage he might have had. Justice's Micro-Chip attacked Alfred Pennyworth, and both players had a power-up, leading to a mutual stun. Justice's Robot Sentry attacked Dazzler, leaving the life totals at 46 to 41 in Anthony's favor. At the start of recovery, Batow used Avalon Space Station to return Alfred Pennyworth, discarding another Xavier's Dream. This meant that the fourth must surely already be somewhere useful, or that Batow had another plan for Evil Medical School.

 

Longshot activated and missed, revealing the following cards.

 

 

A second Longshot hit, getting two GCPD Officers and a Beast, and putting Pleasant Distraction on the bottom. Alfred Pennyworth fetched Fizzle for Batow, and he recruited Beast before setting up Beast in front of Longshot and passing.

 

The game was up, and Justice now had to find a way to shatter some dreams. He had Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius, and upon recruiting him, he flipped down a Fizzle. Robot Sentry exhausted Beast, and Justice set up in such a manner that Doom was protecting Robot Sentry and Alfred Pennyworth was protecting Micro-Chip.

 

Tim's GCPD Officer attacked his opponent's Alfred Pennyworth, and he flipped up Total Anarchy. Justice took a moment to refresh his memory as to what Xavier's Dream actually does, and elected to power up. Batow had a powerup of his own. Alfred Pennyworth then activated, fetching Justice another Fizzle. The Fizzle count on both sides of the board was pretty high, and Justice would need as many as he could get if he wanted to force through a piece of removal on an opposing Xavier's Dream. The now ready GCPD Officer attacked into Micro-Chip. This was responded to with a Wild Ride by Justice (fetching Commissioner Gordon), and a Micro-Chip activation to turn Wild Ride face down. Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius attacked Beast, and in response, Tim showed that there was indeed an Xavier's Dream in his resource row. Beast was stunned and then KO'd in short order. At the start of the recovery phase, Batow used Avalon Space Station to get back Beast, and Justice used his Wild Ride to fetch another Robot Sentry. His Xavier's Dream got its first counter

 

On turn 5, Justice spent his points on Commissioner Gordon, Alfred Pennyworth and Robot Sentry. Batow activated his Longshot, missing but seeming largely unconcerned—it seemed equally important to him to know what was where in his deck. He recruited a GCPD Officer and passed.

 

Anthony activated Robot Sentry to exhaust a GCPD Officer that could otherwise have reinforced the Longshot that Doom attacked in short order. He then exhausted the other Officer such that there would be no more attacks. Avalon Space Station was activated by Batow, making sure that he would have a character to discard to Xavier's Dream.

 

“What you need is Project Wide Awake,” quipped Jeremy Gray from the bleachers.

 

Batow did not make any more guys, while Justice recruited Dr Light, Arthur Light. He could prove to be crucial in that he could stun Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius to keep Xavier's Dream from coming true. He teamed up and duly did just that. In recovery, Batow returned Longshot, but didn't win as he had probably hoped to. Justice used a Bat-Signal to fetch Psimon, and suddenly things looked bleak for Batow and his dream.

 

There were no possible recruits for Batow, and he scooped in the face of massive board disadvantage.

 

Anthony Justice wins.