Lo Moro is one of six Italian players in this Top 8. What makes him special among them is the success he has had with TCGs for a long period of time—since 1998, to be more exact. That’s more than enough to make him one of Italy’s best hopes to keep the title at home, and it was more than enough to earn him an invitation to the first Pro Circuit.

But first, the Italian needed to reach the finals. Raffaele’s first adversary in that quest sat across the table from him. Ireland’s Robert Feeney brought his Gotham Knights deck all the way from Cork, taking advantage of a horrible flight schedule to score some extremely cheap plane tickets.

Feeney opened the game with a turn 2 Spoiler ◊ Robin, forcing Lo Moro to review the evasion rules, and a turn 3 Huntress. The best that Raffaele could do was a turn 3 Tim Drake ◊ Robin, Young Detective.

Tim Drake took one for the team and on the fourth turn, Lo Moro found Terra while the smiling Irish dropped Cassandra Cain ◊ Batgirl. It was Lo Moro’s turn to attack first, and he wanted to take full advantage of it.

He sent Tim Drake after Spoiler ◊ Robin, but Feeney used evasion to hide it. The Italian stared at his hand of high-cost characters and grimaced. He was forced to give Feeney a chance to strike back.

When the dust cleared, Feeney had dealt a ton of damage, and Lo Moro lost Huntress in the process. He found a more than suitable replacement in the lovely shape of Lady Shiva, Sandra Woosan while Raffaele Lo Moro hit his curve with a turn 5 Garth ◊ Tempest.

Feeney had the initiative, so he sat quietly pondering how to destroy Raffaele’s formation. He settled on a team attack exactly as the judge got up to find the Dynamic Duo card text for Raffaele Lo Moro. They backtracked so the judge could follow the game. Again Feeney tried to team attack, but Lo Moro answered with Terra’ ability targeting Spoiler ◊ Robin. Robert used Evasion to save it in response.

Cassandra Cain ◊ Batgirl took a swing at Garth ◊ Tempest and a flurry of effects followed. In the end, when Raffaele tried a Heroic Sacrifice, Robert Feeney had a Fizzle for it.

On turn 6, the Italian dropped Connor Kent ◊ Superboy and Feeney answered with Dick Grayson ◊ Nightwing. Raffaele stared at the table, his hand, and his resource row for what seemed like hours. He clearly wanted to make sure he made the perfect decision.

Suddenly, he blinked, sending Connor Kent ◊ Superboy, Tactile Telekinetic into Dick Grayson ◊ Nightwing. Feeney decided he liked the trade and let both characters stun without interfering.

Terra went looking for Spoiler ◊ Robin but again Spoiler evaded the attack. Lo Moro thought before unleashing Garth ◊ Tempest on Cassandra Cain ◊ Batgirl. Feeney tried to defend Batgirl with Acrobatic Dodge, but Raffaele was determined to take it down.

Between a power-up and an activation of Tamaran, Cassandra Cain bit the dust and Robert Feeney got a chance to strike back with Lady Shiva. He went after Terra and Lo Moro used Titans Tower to make sure they both got stunned.

This left Robert with Dick Grayson ◊ Nightwing and the tricky Spoiler ◊ Robin while Raffaele Lo Moro kept Garth ◊ Tempest and Connor Kent ◊ Superboy. Raffaele was at 9 endurance to Robert’s 18.

The Irishman added Batman, Caped Crusader and Tim Drake ◊ Robin, The Boy Wonder to his side of the table, while Lo Moro played a single character, though his was more impressive—Raven. Feeney thought about it for a full minute before sending Batman, Caped Crusader to attack the huge Raven.

This ushered a flurry of effects that ended with Lo Moro revealing a second copy of Tamaran to save Raven, going down to five resources and taking down the attacker.

Again, Feeney considered his options before sending Dick Grayson ◊ Nightwing into Connor Kent ◊ Superboy. Raffaele used a power-up and its own effect to save it.

Robert Feeney had now lost two attackers without taking out any defenders. That convinced him that it was as good a time as any to move on to the second game.

Game Win: Raffaele Lo Moro

Game 2

The Irishman came out fast with Alfred Pennyworth, and Lo Moro had his only copy of Dawn Granger ◊ Dove in hand to play on his first turn. Feeney dropped a somewhat tricky combination on his second turn that literally had Raffaele Lo Moro running to the head judge for an explanation—Spoiler ◊ Robin and a Utility Belt.

The Italian had no second-turn drop and had to resort to using Tamaran to at least trade stuns when his Dawn Granger ◊ Dove was attacked. Feeney quickly returned the favor by missing his turn 3 drop, while Lo Moro found the essential Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal.

Spoiler ◊ Robin went after the small Dawn Granger ◊ Dove again, and Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal hit Feeney directly. With USS Argus online, Raffaele Lo Moro tried to kick the game into a higher gear before Robert Feeney could use Alfred Pennyworth to take control of the game.

Lo Moro played Terra and ordered Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal to strike down the newly arrived Cassandra Cain ◊ Batgirl with a little help from Dawn Granger ◊ Dove and Titans Tower.

On the following turn—the fifth—Robert Feeney dropped Lady Shiva, Sandra Woosan and Lo Moro had the obvious play of Garth ◊ Tempest, then agonized over his formation. With a mere five minutes on the clock, Robert Feeney’s eyes darted across the cards, looking for a quick way to the third game.

Lady Shiva traded with a pumped-up Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal and the Irishman found no other openings. He was forced to let Raffaele Lo Moro have a free swing at his endurance total.

That play was what sealed the quarterfinals. Feeney had fought bravely, but he was a game down, with a much lower endurance total and had less than a minute on the clock. Anything short of a miracle wouldn’t save him.

The round ended, and Feeney had one more turn to save the game. He was down 13 endurance to 37, had the initiative and a new Dick Grayson ◊ Nightwing. Somehow, the players went through the motions. “You know what? I don’t think I can do 37 damage. I’ll just concede,” Robert said.

Match Win: Raffaele Lo Moro

Raffaele Lo Moro advances to the semifinals.