“My last match was a comedy of errors—it was only funny because I won.” —Kibler

Having just come off of a long quarterfinal, Brian Kibler grabbed some water and shuffled up, letting the mirror match begin. Nick Little was calm and ready, looking completely relaxed despite the large crowd gathered. The two friends shuffled up and joked a little about the upcoming match, which was a virtual mirror match.

Little began with Boris, who got 2 points through unchallenged. (Dr. Doom would be proud.) Turn 3, Kibler brought out She-Hulk, who was more than a match for the old man.

Turn 4, Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius debuted on both sides, with Little responding to Kibler’s by Boris’ing for a Reign to bounce She-Hulk. Little flipped Doomstadt, and it was clear that he had won the turn. 46-43 Little.

Turn 5, Invisible Woman showed up for Kibler, and Little more than answered with Ghost Rider. Kibler teamed up and surveyed the situation, Signal Flaring for Hulk.

“I’m terrible at this game,” Little said, realizing that if he’d flipped his Common Enemy earlier, he could have prevented the Signal Flare from being played. “That’s okay. We’re both terrible,” replied Kibler. Little double Common Enemied, then Have a Blast!ed, to stop the team attack. Kibler just flipped his own Common Enemy, team attacking Ghost Rider. Little stunned Sue, leaving his well-matched Doom to attack his doppelganger. Kibler Have a Blast!ed Doomstadt and left it all even. Little chose to recover the Ghost, while Kibler held on to Doom. 37-34 Little.

Turn 6 opened up with Little’s Signal Flare, looking for Victor Von Doom, who promptly came into play. Kibler responded with his own Signal Flare, searching up Sub-Mariner. “I’ve lost,” commented Little, “in more ways than one.” Kibler matched Victor with Hulk, targeting Victor Von Doom with Mystical Paralysis and then smashing Ghost Rider. Scores 34-27 Kibler, going into Kibler’s turn 7 initiative.

As Namor came out, Little looked over his options and realized he was in serious trouble. He quickly picked up his cards.

Kibler 1, Little 0


Game 2

Kibler mulliganed his opening hand into a nicer one, although it seemed a little slow. Little kept his initial four, and dueling She-Hulks were the first play. Dr. Doom showed up for Little on turn 4, and he double-flipped Common Enemy, drawing Apocalypse. Little responded to Kibler’s Doom by Reigning She-Hulk. Kibler’s Doom trick was much less impressive—Faces of Doom for Victor Von Doom. In Doom on Doom violence, Doomstadt is king—and Little again had his, while Kibler had none. 50-41 Little.

Kibler Signal Flared for “the mother of all 5-drops: Ghost Rider.” Minor chuckling ensued. With Ghost Rider in play, Kibler flipped his own Common Enemy. Little played a slightly better 5-drop in Robot Destroyer. The Rider hit Doom and the Destroyer stunned Kibler’s Doom. 41-37 Little.

Choosing not to recover his Doom, Little shockingly played the 6-drop Doom. Kibler matched, though Doomstadt loomed over Kibler, making his Doom inferior. Little hit Ghost Rider, who was reinforced, leaving the scores 36-28 Little. The game had been very evenly matched with only minor changes.

Kibler dropped turn 7 Sub-Mariner, while Little would be forced to play defense. “It appears that it’s time to play a Ghost Rider—let me tell you how sad I am about that.” Little’s Doom Paralyzed Sub-Mariner, dropping the value of the 7-drop considerably. It appeared that turn 8 would be the battleground—and that definitely favored Little, who had been saving an Apocalypse for several turns.

Kibler Have a Blast!ed Common Enemy in response to a reinforcement, canceling it. The card replacing it was Little’s 7-drop Thing. Kibler jammed through a decent bit of damage, as Little’s characters were suddenly mismatched for reinforcement. 28-18 Kibler.

Turn 8 was all about matching Apocalypses. Little, down on endurance and facing a mismatched board, would need a strong combat to win this one.

Apocalypses blasted the resources down, though Little failed to blast Kibler’s Common Enemy. Kibler nailed a Paralysis and Have a Blast!, both of which were essentially useless on this key turn. Ghost Rider busted down Apocalypse, and the Dooms squared off, with Little flipping a second Doomstadt. Though Kibler pumped twice, he was not able to stand against Little’s pump. Though he did quite a lot of damage, the game would go to turn 9. 13-7 Little.

Kibler mustered a Thing, Heavy Hitter, and Little flipped Signal Flare. Unfortunately for him, his 7-drop Thing was now in his resource row thanks to Kibler’s earlier Have a Blast! Little searched out Hulk and definitely had the better of the board. “I might steal this one,” he said offhand. Either way, the game would end this turn.

First, Apocalypses blew up resources—irrelevant for Kibler, but taking Little’s Doomstadt and an unflipped It’s Clobberin’ Time!

Thing and Ghost Rider fought Apoc, with the Egyptian lord taking out Ghost Rider and leaving Little as a defender precariously low on endurance. Kibler declared an attack with his Apocalypse, and Little realized that nothing could save him. He extended the hand and wished Brian luck in the finals.

Final Result: Kibler defeats Little, 2-0