This match pits two $10K Top 8 veterans against one another for the final shot at the trophy. Randall Hughes is a busy gamer; he’s the Premier Tournament Organizer for Yu-Gi-Oh! in New Zealand and for Magic and Vs. System in Auckland. Today, he is running Titans. James White is facing off the Teens with his JLA/JLI deck.

GAME 1

Turn 1

Randall Optitroned for Terra, but James had nothing.

Turn 2

James had Connor Hawke ◊ Green Arrow in the front row, and Randall had Tim Drake ◊ Robin, Young Detective. They traded stuns and that was turn. The score was 48 up.

Turn 3

Randall played out Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal, Sharpshooter behind Tim and passed to James. James in turn recruited Shayera Thal ◊ Hawkwoman in front of Connor and passed.

Roy attacked into Hawkwoman with no shenanigans, and they both traded stuns. Randall either did not want to lose his Tim, or he was afraid of a power-up; we won’t know until later, but Randall passed his attack step. When James passed back to Randall, he revealed why he passed—he played Finishing Move on Hawkwoman. The score was 45 to 45.

Turn 4

James played out Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman in front of Connor and passed to Randall.

Randall played out Terra beside Roy and used her ability to stun Connor before he passed to James.

James didn’t want to lose his Hawkman to Finishing Move, so he attacked into Tim, a very safe play indeed. Tim got reinforced by Roy and turn 5 was near. The score was 43 up.

Turn 5

Randall had to under-drop with Red Star and flip over another Optitron to search out Garth ◊ Tempest with his last resource point. Randall formed with Roy and Tim in front and Red Star behind Tim.

James played out Oliver Queen ◊ Green Arrow, Hard-Traveling Hero and then flipped up Null Time Zone naming Teen Titans Go!. Randall heaved a big sigh. “This sucks,” he said.

James formed up with Oliver in front of Connor and Hawkman beside Connor in the support row.

Randall had to think hard now because he was most likely relying on TTG! He decided to attack with Red Star into Hawkman and activated Tamaran on Red Star before passing to James. James had nothing and just reinforced with Connor.

Randall had nothing else and passed to James, which made James smile. He attacked with Oliver into Tim and passed into recovery. Randall used Terra on Connor, replacing Optitron, and the turn ended there. The score was 37-35 to James; finally someone was leading in this match.

Turn 6

James had to think a good while before making any moves and got a verbal caution from the head judge, Ryan Dare. He then flipped Hero’s Welcome, discarding two cards to get only one copy of John Henry Irons ◊ Steel, Steel-Drivin’ Man. Before he played a character, he played Null Time Zone, this time naming Betrayal. He boosted out Booster Gold and then played out John Henry with an Nth Metal on Hawkman. Finally, he formed with John and Hawkman in front, with Booster Gold behind Hawkman.

Randall played out Garth, and with his remaining point, he used Red Star to burn James for 5. Randall formed up with Terra and Roy in the front row, Red Star behind Terra, and Tim behind Roy, which left Garth out in the open beside Tim.

James declared John Henry into Red Star, which was allowed by Randall. Randall then exhausted both Tim and Red Star to Roy; Garth was exhausted to Roy, but on the chain, James thought for a while before KO’d his Nth Metal to John Henry. Randall also responded by using Roy’s second ability to stun Hawkman. The power-up resolved, and James chose not to use Oliver’s ally ability. Before Randall passed, he paid 3 endurance to get back Finishing Move and exhausted Terra to KO Hawkman. The John Henry/Red Star attack step finally resolved, and Randall took 7 endurance loss. Oliver Queen then got to attack Terra. Terra complied and turned over in rapid time. Booster Gold was the last to attack, and his target was Roy Harper. Randall used Tamaran, but James had another Booster Gold to power-up and both characters stunned.

In recovery, Randall chose to recover Red Star and James chose to recover Booster Gold. The endurance totals were 26-16; James did well to widen the lead.

Turn 7

Before Randall laid a resource, he flipped up Betrayal and James chose to stun Booster Gold. Randall then laid out Koriand’r ◊ Starfire and activated immediately to stun Oliver. Garth then returned Betrayal and got James’s remaining character, which was John Henry Irons. James played out Fire and passed back.

Randall attacked with Red Star and got some help with Tamaran and Savage Beatdown. “I’ll enter the scoop phase now,” James said in response to Savage Beatdown.

GAME 2

Turn 1

Randall played out Dawn Granger ◊ Dove on turn 1, a play that normally signals Hawk on turn 2. James had Ted Kord ◊ Blue Beetle and activated him when Dove attacked, fetching Nth Metal. The score was 49-49.

Turn 2

Booster Gold came out for James, but Booster got the Nth Metal that Ted got before. Randall did indeed have Hank Hall ◊ Hawk, and he sent both of his characters into the front row, a.k.a. the firing line.

Ted Attacked into Dove, and both characters flipped over. Booster Gold then attacked Hank but had some help with Magnificent Seven to make sure he wouldn’t stun back. James led the endurance race, 48-45.

Turn 3

Optitron was flipped up to fetch Dove—not really a good turn for Randall, but it was the best play for him. James had his 3-drop in Shayera Thal ◊ Hawkwoman, and she also got an Nth Metal when Ted got one for her, nice guy that Ted is. Hawkwoman protected Booster Gold, and Ted was beside him.

Randall decided that the best option was to team attack into Hawkwoman. Her ally ability got out Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman. Before James passed back, he flipped up World’s Greatest Heroes. Randall had TTG! to ready Dove, and then he attacked into Ted. James’s attack saw Booster Gold attack through Randall’s wounded battlefield for 4 endurance. The score was 38-44 in James’s favor.

Turn 4

James had last turn’s Hawkman, who was placed in front of Booster Gold. Hawkwoman stayed near Hawkman in the front row.

Randall had Terra and USS Argus this turn. He also used Terra’s ability, replacing the new USS Argus to stun Hawkwoman.

Booster attacked Hank, but before it resolved, Randall used Death Trap to return Hawkwoman to James’s hand. Hawkman then flew over to bash Terra, but Randall had Tamaran. Not to be trumped, James flipped over Hero’s Welcome to get two copies of Hawkman and then powered him up once. Terra flipped over and that was turn. James still led the endurance race, 41-30.

Turn 5

Randall most likely did not have a 5-drop. He used Optitron to search out Red Star and placed him beside Terra in the support row. James flipped over JLI Embassy, only for it to be replaced by Kooey Kooey Kooey via New Era. The Kooey went and got out a Hero’s Welcome, which in turn got out two copies of Fire. Try to say that without flinching!

Fire protected Booster Gold, and Hawkman stood beside Booster Gold.

Randall attacked into Fire with Red Star, but before he passed, he used Tamaran and a Savage Beatdown to try to ensure the stun. That is indeed what happened, but not before Booster Gold reinforced her. Randall’s next attack was Terra onto Hawkman with another Savage Beatdown, which resulted in both characters stunning. The endurance totals were 26-28; it was a very good turn for Randall, who pegged back 7 endurance.

Turn 6

James played out John Henry Irons ◊ Steel, Steel-Drivin’ Man via its reservist ability and then equipped an Nth Metal from the KO’d pile to Fire. Formation saw James move all of his characters into the front row in fear of Koriand’r ◊ Starfire.

Randall flipped over another USS Argus but found nothing; he had to use Optitron for Roy Harper and then recruited Tim Drake ◊ Robin, Young Detective. Everyone exhausted to Roy before Randall passed, and then Randal used Roy’s secondary ability to “Roy” Fire. Fire flipped over without a fight. When that resolved, Roy got a Press the Attack and again stunned John Henry. Booster was the only one left on James’s side, and he attacked into Tim Drake. The score was 18-24, and Randall was finally leading the endurance race.

Turn 7

Randall boosted out Dove to get Hawk, and then burnt James for 5 with Red Star. Randall formed with the 1- and 2-drops in the front—Terra behind Hank, Red Star in the middle behind Tim, and Roy behind Dove.

James had Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman for the second time this game and another Ted Kord who found another Nth Metal, but this time for Hawkman. Booster and Hawkman found the front row, where they were protecting their respective partners in crime.

Randall exhausted the whole front row to Roy and then attempted to stun Fire, which resolved. Red Star then attacked Booster Gold with some help from Tamaran. James tried to minimize the damage and powered him up two more times, but before the second one resolved, Terra “Terra’d” Booster Gold to ready Red Star. When Red Star attacked for the second time this turn (but this time against Ted), James conceded.

Randall Hughes wins and is to play Kakarot Turker in the finals of $10K Sydney!