Two men enter and one man leaves—that’s the way these things go. David Bauer’s only been playing for six months, but he’s been running the Vs. System hardcore, with his success in Columbus proving to be a harbinger for this weekend’s performance. By contrast, Jacob Hershberger started at the beginning, but stopped playing for half a year before taking up the cards in a more casual fashion. This is just his second tournament, the first being a Sealed Pack PCQ in which he made the Top 8.

Both players made it here on the strength on one of the game’s best decks—Curve Sentinels. Sure, there were minor differences in their builds, but both players agreed that this matchup was closer than 51 to 49%. That meant this match would likely come down to winning the coin flip, with odd initiative a huge advantage by getting the draws. Missed drops would be catastrophic and a little skill would be thrown in for good measure.

Game One

With both players seeing the exhaustion in the faces of judges and assembled reporting staff, the match got off to a blistering start. After both players mulliganed, Jacob started off with Boliver Trask fetching Sentinel Mark II. David had no actions, but on his second turn played the single Sentinel Mark I in his deck, which promptly stunned Boliver.

On turn 3, each competitor played Sentinel Mark II, with Jacob’s taking out Bauer’s Mark I, and David’s running into a Nasty Surprise when it attacked Boliver. Both players brought forth Sentinel Mark Vs and David’s team attack stunned both, then both players played Nimrod on turn 5. Jacob’s Nimrod attacked Bauer’s Mark V, which David powered up twice. David’s Mark V was stunned, but Nimrod lost its counter. At this point, we were about two minutes into the match.

The game started slowing down because things started getting nasty. Both players had the ideal turn 6, recruiting Bastion, with Jacob remarking, “It’s gonna be a fun turn.”

After a few moments of thinking about his formation, David remarked, “I guess the formation really doesn’t matter,” noting every robot’s flight and range has. David’s Bastion and Mark V team attacked Jacob’s Bastion, with both Bastions getting stunned in the process.

Are you confused yet? Just wait—it gets better.

Dave’s Nimrod attacked Hershberger’s Mark V, backing it up with Not So Fast and two power-ups in response to Jacob’s Nasty Surprise, stunning the Mark V. Jacob’s Nimrod then attacked Bauer’s Mark V, but Dave’s Reconstruction Program allowed him the fuel to power his character up twice. The resulting stun left the endurance totals at 17 to 16 in Dave’s favor.

Turn 7 was yet another identical turn, with both players producing Magneto, Master of Magnetism . The repetitive nature of each turn was apparent to everyone, with Jacob’s “Imagine that,” summing up every eye roll in the house. Jacob’s Magneto attacked Bauer’s, with the ensuing melee seeing six power ups from Jacob, just enough to overcome the increased DEF provided by Dave’s Cover Fire. That encounter left Dave at 10 endurance. Jacob’s Bastion then attacked Dave’s. Jacob still had fuel in the tank, powering his Bastion up and leaving Dave’s stunned. Dave’s Nimrod took out its frustration on the Mark II that’d been watching all this.

Dave’s strategy became apparent as he started building, with a second Bastion joining Nimrod against Bastion and Magneto. Having exhausted his reserves, Jacob had no plays for the turn, allowing Dave’s Nimrod, augmented by Savage Beatdown, to trade its counter for Bastion’s state. Before being stunned, Bastion powered up Magneto three times, but it wasn’t enough: Dave had two more Savage Beatdowns, putting Bastion’s ATK at 22. That was enough. The final endurance totals were David at negative 3 and Jacob at negative 11.

Game Two

Both players again mulliganed their hands, mirroring one another even when the curve wasn’t working. Jacob again found a first-turn Boliver Trask, this time using it to further his curve with Sentinel Mark III. While Dave failed to make any plays on his first two turns, Jacob’s Mark III and initiative-fueled Mark II gave him the early advantage. The Mark IIs traded off, leaving the endurance totals at 47 to 38 in Jacob’s favor.

Bauer’s mediocre draw continued to assert itself, with turn 4 seeing him play Boliver and the searched-for-Mark II. Jacob’s perfect draw continued meanwhile, with Sentinel Mark V coming to play. After a flurry of Mark on Mark action, Jacob’s boosted Mark V was met by David’s Nimrod, but when David went to place a counter on Nimrod, Jacob pointed out Bauer’s lack of Sentinels. Jacob’s boosted Mark V attacked Nimrod, with Jacob winning the power-up war two to one.

With Dave holding the initiative, he had one last chance. He played Bastion, hoping that Jacob wouldn’t do the same, but his prayers weren’t answered. Nimrod attacked the un-boosted Mark V, leading to this exchange:

Dave: Power-up Nimrod
Dave: Power-up Nimrod
Dave: Power-up Nimrod
Jacob: Power-up Mark V
Jacob: Power-up Mark V
Jacob: Power-up Mark V
Jacob: Cover Fire
Dave: Reconstruction Program
Dave: Power-up Nimrod
Jacob: Reconstruction Program
Jacob: Power-up Mark V
David: Power-up Nimrod
Jacob: Power-up Mark V
David: Power-up Nimrod
Jacob: Power-up Mark V
David: Genosha

Genosha found nothing. Dave’s Bastion attacked the boosted Mark as a last-ditch effort. Jacob flipped Reconstruction Program and Dave had seen enough. “Let’s go to game three.”

Game Three

For the first time this match, Dave made the first play, finally finding Boliver Trask at the right time. The little man summoned Sentinel Mark I. Hershberger, whose track record suggested he’d have a Boliver of his own, didn’t disappoint, playing one and getting a Mark II from his deck. The Bolivers traded stun damage, followed by Dave’s Mark I—one of the few dissimilarities between the decks as Jacob used Sentinel Mark III instead—watching as they stunned one another again, with both players choosing not to recover. When asked why, they explained that with Boliver so small and the other characters in the match up so potentially huge, the little man could become a breakthrough-based liability later in the game.

Turn 3 produced Mark IIs on either side; turn 4, Mark Vs. Jacob started making up lost ground, with his Mark II stunning Dave’s Mark I and his Mark V stunning Dave’s Mark II. That left the score 40-33 in Dave’s favor.

Dave’s turn 5 produced another Mark V, this time with boost, but Hershberger did him one better with Nimrod rushing into the fight. After the Mark IIs stunned one another, Dave’s boosted Mark V attacked Jacob’s. Jacob flipped Nasty Surprise, but David had Overload waiting as Jacob’s face belied his displeasure. David’s remaining Marks then team attacked Nimrod, depriving him his counter. The endurance totals were 33 to 26 in Bauer’s favor.

“Got him?”

“Yeah.”

Both players had the dreaded Bastion on turn 6, meaning we still had a ballgame. The melee began with Jacob’s Nimrod attacking Bauer’s Mark V without boost. Dave was waiting for it, providing Cover Fire and resulting in the two combatants bouncing off one another. Next it was Bastion’s turn, successfully stunning Dave’s boosted Mark V, leaving the endurance totals 29 to 26 in Dave’s favor. Dave’s counterattack saw Bastion taking on Hershberger’s Mark V.

“ . . . And so it begins.”—Jacob Hershberger, 2005

Dave started things with a power-up and Jacob replied. They did this dance again, with Dave’s third power-up going unmatched, and the Mark stunned as a result. The turn ended and the fight began anew, with both players playing Magneto, Master of Magnetism. Despite the intensity of the action, both players were calm and friendly, with the chatter flying back and forth. When Dave’s Magneto attacked Hershberger’s Bastion, here’s what followed.

Jacob: Activate Genosha
Jacob: Cover Fire from the hand.
Dave: Power-up Magneto
Dave: Reconstruction Program
Dave: Power-up Magneto
Jacob: Activate Genosha
Jacob: Cover Fire
Dave: Savage Beatdown
Jacob: Power-up Bastion
Jacob: Power-up Bastion
Dave: Power-up Magneto
Jacob: Power-up Bastion
Dave: Power-up Magneto
Jacob: Power-up Bastion
Dave: Power-up Magneto (leaving him with no cards in hand)

They bounced.

Dave was fried. Jacob’s Magneto attacked Bastion, and both were stunned. The Mark V, Bastion and Nimrod team-attacked Dave’s Magneto. That left the endurance totals at 16 to 9. Both players recovered Magneto for turn 8. “I’m an idiot,” Jacob said. He knew he’d left Bauer an opening with the way he’d played the turn, leaving him muttering to himself for the duration, but looking at the game situation, he was still looking good. Jacob played a replacement Bastion, and he, nimrod and the Mark V team attacked Magneto, stunning the two big men. Jacob then reconstructed his hand before attacking Bauer’s boosted Mark V with Magneto. The endurance totals stood 5 to 3 in Dave’s favor, but that was as close to victory as he’d come. He started turn 9 by activating Genosha, but could only find Mark V and Mark II. Jacob then used Genosha himself, bringing his hand to nine cards.

David asked, “Got any tricks? If you do, I’ll concede.” Jacob showed Savage Beatdown and Reconstruction Program. That was enough. Three great games, two great players, one heck of a show. Bauer extended the hand, and the tournament was over.

Jacob Hershberger 2, David Bauer 1