Before we get anything started here, Paul would like to give a shot out to his lovely wife Melissa. Brian and Paul are good friends from nearby Berkley, California. Today, they sit undefeated at the first table of the tournament. Neither of them has a $10K Top 8 finish to his name yet, but that’s sure to change. Brian won the die roll and chose to take the even initiatives. Both players mullignaed their openers.
Paul kicked off the game with Micro-Chip, while Brian had G’nort. The characters traded stuns, and that was the turn. On turn 2, Brian had no play, while Paul immediately flipped up Midnight Sons to team up Gotham Knights. He then flipped Wild Ride from his resource row to fetch Alfred Pennyworth, Faithful Friend, which he recruited. A few more stuns later, and play moved on.
Before recruiting on turn 3, Brian flipped Willworld. He hit Dr. Light, Master of Holograms, which he discarded. He recruited another Dr. Light, and passed. Paul played and flipped another Midnight Sons, naming Doom. Next, he used Alfred to get Bat-Signal. He replayed Alfred, then used Micro-Chip to recycle Wild Ride into a Robot Sentry, which he recruited. Some uninteresting attacks occurred, and at the end of the turn, Brian led 48-40.
Before recruiting on turn 4, Brian again used his Willworld. He hit Katma Tui, and discarded Gorilla Grodd. He recruited Oliver Queen ◊ Green Arrow, Emerald Archer, and passed. Paul exhausted Robot Sentry to play Bat-Signal, fetching Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius. Alfred got Reign of Terror, which was played immediately after Doom to bounce Dr. Light to Brian’s hand. In combat, Brian had Rain of Acorns to shut down any attacks.
On turn 5, Paul played Wild Ride from his hand to get Dagger, Child of Light, which immediately turned into another copy of Midnight Sons. It was played and flipped, naming Fearsome Five. Paul re-played Alfred, Bat-Signaled for Lacuna, and recruited Shimmer from his hand. Brian missed on his Willworld activation, and recruited Katma Tui. Before combat, Brian paid 2 endurance to Oliver to KO Alfred. In combat, Paul used Shimmer to exhaust Brian’s team. Next, he sent Doom into G’nort. Brian KO’d it to Emerald Dawn to fetch Guy Gardner, Egomaniac. Neither player had any other attacks, and that was the turn. Brian led 49-39—not that it mattered.
Brian again missed with his Willworld on turn 6, and simply recruited Sinestro, Green Lantern of Korugar from his hand before passing. Paul had another Dagger to retrieve his fourth copy of Midnight Sons, which he immediately played and flipped, naming Darkseid’s Elite. Predictably, a Bat-Signal from Shimmer yielded Glorious Godfrey. Paul recruited Alfred with his last resource point, and it was again immediately KO’d by Oliver. In Brian’s attack step, Dr. Doom was used to play Mystical Paralysis on Sinestro. Brian simply flipped Central Power Battery and exhausted Sinestro to draw a card. Godfrey shut down Oliver, and Paul had no more effects before Brian attacked. Brian chose not to attack, and simply drew a card with Katma. Neither player had anything else to do, and that was the turn. The endurance totals were now at 43-39 in Brian’s favor.
Paul had a mercifully simple turn 7, playing Wild Ride from his hand to fetch Brimstone, which he played. Before passing, he targeted one of Brian’s resources for destruction. Brian used Willworld, and then recruited Dr. Light and Malvolio. Dr. Light brought back Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern, which fetched Brian Helping Hand. He exhausted all of the characters that he could to draw some cards, and then passed. Paul used Godfrey and Shimmer, and that was the turn. At the end of the turn, Brian led 39-33.
Turn 8 was Brian’s initiative, and he hit a few little guys with Willworld. Before building, he exhausted his entire team to draw some cards. He flipped Book of Oa to look at the top five cards of his deck at the beginning of his recruit step. Brian used all of his resource points (he had lost a resource to Brimstone) to recruit Guy Gardner, Egomaniac, who he immediately used to draw a card. Thinking a bit, Brian passed. On Paul’s recruit, Brian played Wild Ride from his hand to get Boris, Personal Servant of Dr. Doom. He then recruited Micro-Chip from hand, Bat-Signaled for and played Alfred (who was again immediately KO’d), and used Brimstone to take out another resource. Neither player felt like attacking, so the turn ended.
On turn 9, before Paul recruited, Brian used Breaking Ground on the Midnight Sons teaming up Fearsome Five. Paul had a Marvel Team-Up to render this moot. Paul used Brimstone, and then played Ghost Rider, Danny Ketch. He immediately activated the 8-drop, prompting Brian to exhaust all of his smaller characters to gain endurance. Most of Brian’s characters went away, and Paul passed. Brian recruited Katma and Black Hand, then passed back. Neither player attacked, and again, that was the turn.
Turn 10 was Brian’s initiative. He exhausted some of his guys to draw him cards, and then recruited some other guys—the specifics don’t really matter. Everything except Guy and Sinestro were again KO’d by Ghost Rider. Brian had another Breaking Ground to take out Paul’s Fearsome Five team-up, and time was called. Paul fetched another team-up with his Lacuna, and recruited Dr. Light, Arthur Light with boost. Brian’s meager board was obliterated, but because of Katma Tuie, Brian still led 60-26 at the end of the turn.
On turn 11, Paul was up. He used Dr. Light to stun Brian’s lone Guy Gardner, and played another Dr. Light with boost. He passed to Brian, who recruited Dr. Light. The doctor immediately brought back Kyle Rayner, and Brian played a few other little guys. Brian just didn’t have enough to stop Paul’s massive army of characters, and Brian succumbed to end this very silly game.
Paul Sung wins!