Perennial high-finishing pro player Sammy Gilly faces off this round against The Donkey Club’s Adam Fears. Gilly has been absent from the game for some time but is clearly making a comeback, as he sits on a 10-4 record entering this round. Though not as well known as some of his teammates, Fears is nevertheless judged by Gabe Walls to be among the top fifteen players in the world. Both players will likely need to emerge from the remaining rounds with five wins out of six games to make the Top 8; Gilly because his tiebreakers at ten wins are poor, and Fears because his tiebreakers at nine wins are good.
Fears won the initiative roll and chose the odds. He kept his opening hand, while Gilly stared at his for a good couple of minutes. His decision was tricky—he had drawn into all three 5-drops in his deck, plus a 3-drop. Eventually he decided to keep it and drew his next two cards with some trepidation . . . topdecking two 6-drops. The frown on his face could almost be heard round the feature match area, but he silently indicated to Fears that he could begin his turn.
Adam laid a resource and played Fiddler, while Sammy had no play. Fiddler poked the opposing player with his instrument, and it was on to turn 2.
End of turn 1: Adam Fears 50 endurance, Sammy Gilly 49 endurance.
On turn 2, both players simply laid a resource and passed their recruit steps, while Adam sent in the Fiddler once again.
End of turn 2: Adam Fears 50, Sammy Gilly 48.
Before drawing on turn 3, Fears discarded The Calculator, Noah Kuttler to fetch Coercion from his deck. He played Parademon and passed, while Gilly played Dr. Polaris, Force of Nature. While Fears contemplated his attack, this reporter was forced to wonder why it is that every would-be dastardly ruler of the universe holds a PhD. Thirty of the not-so-good doctors exist in Vs. System; all but a tiny few are pretty sinister. And one of them is a gerbil. One wonders what sort of institution awards a doctorate to a rodent. (I suspect it may be one of these online “degree awarding” programs that spam my inbox on a daily basis. I imagine for a hundred bucks, they would give an M.D. to a milkshake.)
Fears seemed unbothered by such matters however, and simply decided to send his Parademon into the opposing 3-drop of equal size, leaving both stunned. Dr. Polaris’s vengeance power exhausted Fiddler, and play moved on.
End of turn 3: Adam Fears 47, Sammy Gilly 45.
On turn 4, Gilly found his 4-drop in the shape of Elimination Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, and Fears matched him with Ragdoll. He formed up with Ragdoll in front of Parademon and Fiddler in the back row.
Gilly made the elementary attack of his OMAC into Fears’s Ragdoll, and both were stunned, Fears discarding a card to trigger Ragdoll’s recovery power in the next phase. Gilly then sent Dr. Polaris into Parademon, this time powering-up to ensure there was no stunback. Fears had no reply, and his Parademon was stunned after being reinforced with Fiddler. The turn ended with no characters lost on either side.
End of turn 4: Adam Fears 39, Sammy Gilly 41.
Fears’s turn 5 play was Black Adam, Teth-Adam with an Amulet of Nabu. Gilly contemplated the 5-drops in his hand for a long time before siding with Wonder Woman, Earth 2, sacrificing the lockdown power of the Mr. Freeze, Brutal Blizzard in his hand in favor of being able to use the Brothers in Arms in his resource row and the Wonder Woman power-up in his hand. He formed up with Wonder Woman shielding Dr. Polaris and his OMAC in the support row.
Fears sent his Black Adam, kitted out with bling, into Gilly’s Elimination Protocol. Gilly flipped Brothers in Arms and exhausted his 5-drop “sister in arms” in an attempt to get the stunback on Black Adam. Fears read the card, checked his hand and resource row and nodded affirmatively, stunning Teth-Adam and using his vengeance power on Wonder Woman.
It was not to prove key, however, as he simply made the attack he would have made regardless, team attacking Ragdoll and Parademon into Wonder Woman. The 4- and 5-drops both stunned, and Adam discarded to use Ragdoll’s effect again. Had Adam chosen to use Teth-Adam’s vengeance power on Dr. Polaris, he could have attempted to take him out with Fiddler in a 1 ATK / 1 DEF mirror match, but it was not to be, and Sammy used Polaris to assault the much smaller Fiddler and deal breakthrough to Adam.
End of turn 5: Adam Fears 31, Sammy Gilly 28.
Gilly opted to play Dr. Psycho, Twisted Telepath on turn 6 in an attempt to bring a hasty end to the game. Fears was having none of it, however, as he played the high-DEF Alexander Luthor, Diabolical Double and drew two cards before equipping him with a Helm of Nabu and drawing and discarding two more cards. He formed up with Ragdoll protecting Black Adam—who now had an additional +1 ATK / +1 DEF thanks to the Helm on Luthor—and Alexander Luthor in the front row.
At the start of combat, Sammy’s Dr. Psycho triggered and Adam lost 8 endurance to Sammy’s 7. Sammy sent his Dr. Psycho into Ragdoll. Fears flipped his first plot twist of the game, Forbidden Loyalties, and discarded a card to put a +1 ATK / +1 DEF counter on Black Adam while teaming up Secret Six and Villains United and reinforcing Ragdoll. He opted to use the discard ability to ensure Ragdoll would be around for him next turn.
Gilly then sent Dr. Polaris on a suicide mission into Black Adam, which stunned Polaris and triggered his vengeance power. Fears was forced to exhaust Alexander Luthor. Gilly decided not to attack with Wonder Woman, and play moved to the final turn.
End of turn 6: Adam Fears 19, Sammy Gilly 18.
Fears took the initiative by dropping The Calculator, Crime Broker in his hidden area. Gilly asked how many cards were in Fears’s hand, and it was confirmed to be four. Given that he would be playing his non-characters into his resource row, it was a fair bet that those four cards equated to another 8 damage to Gilly, while Fears could use the Coercion he still had if any of them were off-team.
Gilly flipped the reservist Black Adam, Ruthless Hero from his resource row and replaced the card. He formed up with Wonder Woman and Dr. Polaris in front of Dr. Psycho and Black Adam, respectively. Both players lost 11 endurance to Dr. Psycho’s triggered ability and moved to combat.
Fears, seemingly in a very strong position, spent some time contemplating his options. Eventually, he sent Alexander Luthor into Wonder Woman. Reinforced by her power, Wonder Woman stunned, and Gilly took 5. Fears shrugged and sent Black Adam into Dr. Psycho. Gilly considered all his options and eventually, realizing he had no way to win, extended the hand.
Adam Fears wins!