These are two experienced pros from two of the top teams in the game. Knowing that they had three games to play, they wasted no time getting down to business. Tim won the die roll and selected the odd initiatives for the first game. Tim kept his opener, but Michael threw his back.

Game 1

Tim led off with a first-turn Duela Dent ◊ Harlequin to Michael’s Dawn Granger ◊ Dove, Avatar of Order. On turn 2, Michael recruited Holly Granger ◊ Hawk. Tim had Apparition. Dawn traded with Duela, and Holly attacked directly. Apparition attacked back, and Michael played High Society for the stunback. Duela and Holly were KO’d in recovery. On turn 3, Tim played Mobilize for Shrinking Violet ◊ Leviathan, which he recruited with a Titans Communicator. Michael had Vic Stone ◊ Cyborg 2.0, Titans Tomorrow East with a Flight Ring next to Dawn in the support row. In combat, Apparition stunned Dawn, and Michael reinforced. Shrinking Violet ran over Vic, losing the counter to become 6 ATK / 8 DEF. Michael lost Dawn in recovery. Tim led, 45-39.

On turn 4, Michael under-dropped with Chameleon and R.J. Brande in front of Vic. Tim also under-dropped with a concealed Cosmic King. Before attacking, Michael removed Chameleon’s counter to draw a card. He flipped Youth of Tomorrow to team-up and put a cosmic counter on Vic, then team attacked Violet with Vic and Chameleon. Vic traded with both Violet and Cosmic King. Tim swung back into R.J., who was KO’d with Violet in recovery. Tim’s lead was now 39-35.

Tim’s turn 5 recruit was Atrophos. Michael matched him with Live Wire next to Vic. He protected Vic with Chameleon, then passed to Tim, who played Legion of the Damned. Tim declared Cosmic King into Live Wire, flipping 31st Century Metropolis to team-up. Let’s Go Legionnaires, exhausting Apparition, gave the King +4 ATK. Live Wire traded with the 3-drop. Next, Atrophos attacked Vic, who also went down without a problem. Tim looked through Michael’s deck, noting cards of importance. He eventually chose to remove two copies of Foiled Assassination from Michael’s deck. There were no further attacks, so Vic was lost in recovery. The endurance score was now 36-18 in Tim’s favor.

Turn 6 was Michael’s initiative. He recruited Beast Boy, Party Animal and Ferro Lad. Tim recruited Wildfire from his resource row, without replacement, and followed that up with Bouncing Boy. Next, Tim recruited Ra’s Al Ghul, Leland McCauley. He set up with Bouncing Boy protecting Wildfire, and then passed. Michael went into the tank and came out with a plan of sending Chameleon and Ferro Lad in a team attack into Atrophos. He flipped Legion World, and the attack concluded with Chameleon stunning. Beast Boy traded with Wildfire, and Live Wire crushed Bouncing Boy. Tim chose to return the 2-drop to his hand. Michael passed, and Tim attacked back, trading Ra’s for Ferro Lad. In recovery, Wildfire, Ferro Lad, and Chameleon all hit the bin. The endurance totals were tied at 9 apiece.

On turn 7, Tim recruited Validus with boost. Michael played Colossal Boy ◊ Leviathan from his resource row without replacement. He set up with Beast Boy protecting Colossal Boy and Live Wire adjacent to Colossal Boy in the support row. Michael passed to Tim, who declared an attack of Atrophos into the 7 ATK / 7 DEF Beast Boy. Both characters stunned, and Tim got to look through Michael’s deck. He chose not to remove any cards from the game. Tim played Busted Knee on Colossal Boy, and then sent all three of his characters into the 7-drop. Live Wire attacked directly, and when the dust settled, Michael was ahead by 2.

Michael 1 – Tim 0

Game 2

Tim took odds again and tossed his hand away as soon as he picked it up. Michael quickly followed suit. This time, neither player had anything in the way of a first-turn play. Michael kicked things off on the second turn with Ferro Lad. Tim recruited Bouncing Boy, and the characters traded in combat. On turn 3, Tim recruited Cosmic King in the hidden area. Michael had Karate Kid in the support row next to Ferro Lad. In combat, Bouncing Boy went after Ferro Lad. Michael reinforced, and Tim bounced his 2-drop back to his hand. Cosmic King went after Karate Kid, and Michael allowed the free pump. In recovery, Ferro Lad was KO’d. Tim led, 45-41.

For his fourth turn, Michael played Vic Stone ◊ Cyborg 2.0, Titans Tomorrow East with a Flight Ring. He used his remaining resource point to search out Holly Granger ◊ Hawk with Tamaranian Garden, and then passed. Tim recruited Umbra in the hidden area and passed right back. Michael attacked directly for 12, and Tim attacked back, sending Umbra into the Karate Kid. Cosmic King stunned Vic Stone, and again, Michael declined to discard a card. Karate Kid was KO’d in recovery. Tim still led, 30-29.

Tim had the initiative on turn 5 and recruited Glorith. He used Umbra to move her to the hidden area, then recruited Ra’s Al Ghul ◊ Leland McCauley with his final resource point. Michael recruited XS, Jenni Ognats and R.J. Brande, setting up with all of his characters in the support row and XS in the center. In combat, Tim went about the business of crushing Michael’s team. First, he used Glorith’s free ability. Michael discarded Dawn Granger ◊ Dove, Avatar of Order. “Guess what I drew?” asked Michael. Glorith attacked XS, and Michael attempted to reinforce. Tim returned Ra’s Al Ghul, and Michael allowed it. Umbra took down Vic, and Cosmic King stunned R.J. Still in combat, Michael had Foiled Assassination to return R.J. and recover Vic. The endurance scores were 30-15 in Tim’s favor at the close of the turn.

Turn 6 was Michael’s initiative. He continued his trend of under-dropping by playing a lone Live Wire, and then passed. Tim substituted in Dark Firestorm for Cosmic King, then recruited Andromeda. He chose not to use Umbra’s ability and recruited Ra’s Al Ghul for free. Michael went into the tank. Eventually, he chose to send Vic and R.J. into Andromeda. Legion of Super-Pets gave Vic +5 ATK and invulnerability. The attack resolved, and Vic was stunned back. Michael team attacked Tim directly with another Legion of Super-Pets. XS readied and attacked again for 6, bringing the total amount of endurance loss inflicted for the turn to 34. It was now Tim’s turn to attack. He sent Glorith into Live Wire with Busted Knee, and both characters stunned. Umbra attacked XS with two copies of Let’s Go Legionnaires and a Clash of the Titans. The 3-drop was stunned. Dark Firestorm stunned Michael’s 1-drop, and Ra’s attacked directly. At the end of the turn, remarkably, the endurance totals were tied at -8 apiece. But it was clear that Michael wasn’t going to win without the initiative on the next turn.

Michael 1 – Tim 1

Game 3

Michael took the even initiatives for the last game. There were only sixteen minutes remaining on the ninety-minute clock, so the competitors would have to play quickly to get a full game in. Tim kept, but Michael mulliganed. Tim had no play on the first turn; Michael played R.J. Brande. On turn 2, Michael played Ferro Lad, Andrew Nolan. Tim recruited Apparition in the hidden area. Ferro Lad attacked directly, and Apparition attacked R.J. Michael removed Ferro Lad’s counter to draw a card. On turn 3, Tim under-dropped with Peter Merkel ◊ Ragdoll. Michael played Rose Wilson ◊ The Ravager, Titans Tomorrow East. He set up with Ferro Lad protecting R.J. and passed. Tim attempted to send Apparition into Ferro Lad, but Michael stunned him with Rose. Tim sent Peter into Ferro Lad instead, and Michael debated reinforcement. In the end, he decided to draw a card instead. Apparition was lost in recovery. Michael led, 44-40.

On turn 4, Michael under-dropped with a boosted Timber Wolf. He used the 3 resource points he had remaining to recruit the near-ubiquitous Vic Stone ◊ Cyborg 2.0, Titans Tomorrow East. Tim recruited Glorith behind Peter. In combat, Michael team attacked Glorith with Ferro Lad and Timber Wolf. Tim used Glorith’s free ability, and Michael discarded for it. Timber Wolf traded with Glorith, and Time evaded Peter. Michael attacked directly with his remaining characters, and that was the turn. No characters were lost in recovery. Michael led, 42-26.

Turn 5 was Tim’s initiative. He recruited Atrophos and pushed all of his characters to the front. Michael recruited Live Wire and set up with Live Wire protecting Timber Wolf, Rose protecting Vic in the next column, and R.J. protecting Ferro Lad in the column adjacent to that. It was now on Tim to decide on his attacks, and he kicked things off by flipping up United Planets HQ. He activated the location, teaming-up Secret Society and Future Foes, then flipped Legion of the Damned. Tim attacked Glorith into Live Wire, and Michael reinforced. Both characters stunned. Peter went after Vic Stone, and Michael exhausted R.J. to remove his cosmic counter and draw a card. Again, both characters stunned. Finally, Atrophos attacked Ferro Lad. The 2-drop was stunned. The 5-drop’s ability triggered and Tim looked though Michael’s deck just as time was called. He removed a Legion of Super-Pets from Michael’s hand, and then passed. Neither player had any additional attacks. In recovery, Vic, Ferro Lad, and Peter were KO’d. The score was 21-20 in Michael’s favor.

On the sixth turn, Michael played XS, Jenni Ognats, and then played another Ferro Lad from his resource row without replacement. He discarded to Tamaranian Garden to search out Beast Boy, Party Animal, which he substituted in. Tim, seeing that his predicament was hopeless, scooped it up.

Michael wins and advances to the semifinals!