Because the number of professionals at this event in relation to the total number of players is unusually high, you can expect to see big-name matchups at the top tables all day long. This round is no exception. Adam Bernstein is, of course, the only player in Vs. System history to have both a PC and $10K win under his belt. Donald Noland is a store owner from Nashville who has a history of consistent performances, including six $10K Top 8s and a 27th place finish at the recent PC Atlanta.
Donald won the die roll and chose to take the odd initiatives. He shipped his opening hand, while Adam kept. Donald had no first turn play, while Adam played Dallas Riordan in his visible area. He read his own card (today was the first time he’s picked up the deck) and chose to activate Dallas rather than attack with it. On turn 2, Adam recruited Yellowjacket with boost in his visible area, fetching Paul Ebersol ◊ Fixer. He recruited Paul and then passed to Dave, who had Postman. Adam went into the tank to consider his attack. He finally opted to pass. Donald attacked Dallas, and Adam once again exhausted it. At the end of the turn, Donald led 50-47.
Donald hit his turn 3 Tarot and set both of his characters in the front row. Adam had Beetle, Armorsmith, and he discarded another copy of Yellowjacket to grab . . . well, first, he went into the tank. After a few minutes, Adam finally came out with a Joystick. He set up with Beetle in front of Paul, Yellowjacket in front of Dallas, and Joystick next to Dallas. At the beginning of combat, Tarot yielded a Professor X, Headmaster for Donald. He sent Postman into Joystick for the trade, and then took down Yellowjacket with Tarot. Donald passed. Before declaring any attacks, Adam used Dallas to check the top card of his deck. He then flipped Faces of Evil and sent Beetle into Tarot. Donald replaced the Faces with War of Attrition, but Adam had Mob Mentality to force the issue. Adam attacked directly for 2 with Fixer, and that was the turn. Donald maintained his 41-39 lead.
Before recruiting on turn 4, Adam flipped Stormfront-1 to team-up Thunderbolts and Masters of Evil. He then played Hard Sound Construct to return Beetle to play. Adam discarded Marcus Daniels ◊ Blackout to Beetle’s power to fetch Cannonball, which he recruited. After arranging his characters so that they could all attack, Adam passed. Donald recruited Professor X behind his Tarot and quickly passed back to Adam. Before declaring any attacks, Adam flipped and used an X-Corp: Amsterdam to fetch another Faces of Evil. He attacked Cannonball into Tarot and passed. Donald flipped Eye of the Storm to gain 4 endurance, and then considered his options. In the end, he allowed the stun and took 3. Adam’s next attack sent everyone except Dallas into the Professor. Donald allowed it and traded stuns with Beetle. Adam exhausted Dallas to draw a card, and that was the end of combat. At the end of the turn, Beetle was KO’d to Hard Sound Construct’s effect. Donald still led, 38-37.
On turn 5, Donald had a predictable Emma Frost, Friend or Foe in front of the Professor. Adam exhausted Dallas to draw before recruiting both Speed Demon, Second Chance Speedster and Shocker, Vibro-Shock Villain. After trying several formations, Adam settled on setting Speed Demon in front of Shocker, Paul in front of Cannonball, and Dallas next to Paul and in front of Joystick. In combat, Donald played another War of Attrition to replace Adam’s Faces, and then flipped the War down with Emma in response. Adam chose to replace Donald’s face-up Eye of the Storm. In combat, Donald played Flying Kick on Professor X to take down Cannonball. Emma Frost stunned Speed Demon, and neither player had any other attacks. In recovery, Adam flipped another X-Corp to search out an X-Men United, which he left face down. Adam lost Cannonball in recovery. At this point, Donald had significantly widened his lead to 38-24.
At the start of turn 6, Adam went deep into the tank. He finally decided to play Beetle, discarding Archangel, Angel to search out another Yellowjacket, which he recruited with boost. Yellowjacket brought out Melissa Gold ◊ Screaming Mimi, and Adam used her ability to hit Donald for 8. Donald recruited Jean Grey, Red in front of Emma, with Professor X next to Emma in the back row. Before combat, Adam played Null Time Zone. In response, Donald flipped his Eye of the Storm and passed. Adam named System Failure with Null Time Zone, and the players moved to combat. Before declaring any attackers, Adam played two copies of Mob Mentality on Speed Demon. He went into the tank to figure out his attacks. He finally chose to send Speed Demon and Paul into Emma. Adam flipped a Faces, and Donald powered-up. Adam paid a point to ready Speed Demon, and Emma Frost traded stuns with Paul Ebersol. Adam went into the tank again. “Who are we brick-walling?” asked Donald. Adam attempted to send several of his characters into Jean Grey, but Donald had Phoenix Rising to recover his Emma and render the proposed attack illegal. Adam’s next attack sent Joystick, Beetle, and Shocker into Emma. Donald flipped War to replace the Faces, and in response, flipped the War face down with Emma. A single Shrink brick-walled the attack. Adam saw that his situation was hopeless and conceded.
Donald Noland wins!