Kevin and Phimus are both from Phoenix, AZ, and with 5-2 records, they both need the win to guarantee a slot in Day 2. Phimus is fresh off his solid Top 4 finish in Denver (the last $10K he played in), and he’s looking for a win here today to give him a shot at his second consecutive Top 8 appearance.

Three dice were rolled to decide on initiative, and even though Phimus had a hard time totaling the rolls (it was getting rather late, after all), he won and had no problem choosing odd initiatives. Nenora went to work for Phimus right away, hitting through an empty board. Frankie Raye ◊ Nova, Optimistic Youth was a turn too late for McCoy and only hit Phimus for 1 before an opposing Black Bolt, Illuminati took down the 1-drop. Nenora went in on cleanup to bring Kevin to 43.

The momentum came to a screeching halt for Phimus when he whiffed on turn 3, doing nothing besides taking down Kevin’s fresh Firelord, Pyreus Kril with a team attack from his two characters. The next turn was just as good for McCoy when he saw Ronan the Accuser, Starforce join his team and a Mind Gem come down on Firelord. Phimus’s newly played Sub-Mariner, Illuminati was taken down by a team attack from Firelord and Frankie Raye, and Ronan attacked directly to Phimus’s dome. Black Bolt stunned Frankie before the players moved on to the next turn with the score nearly tied at 34-33 in Pan’s favor.

Silver Surfer, Righteous Protector seemed like a strong play to shut down Ronan on turn 5. Kevin replayed Mind Gem on Ronan and found a more suitable 5-drop in the form of Mr. Fantastic, Illuminati. Phimus thought for a while before sending Sub-Mariner into Ronan for a mutual stun and Silver Surfer after Mr. Fantastic for a similar fate. A team attack from Nenora and Black Bolt took down Firelord, leaving Kevin with Mr. Fantastic and Phimus with Nenora; Silver Surfer; and the endurance advantage with totals at 23-21.

Phimus jokingly chanted, “Miss! Miss! Miss!” as Kevin replayed Mind Gem for what seemed like the millionth time, leaving only four cards left in his deck. Naturally, Kevin didn’t miss his drop for the turn, playing The Fallen One, which was quickly joined by Dr. Doom, Sorcerous Savant from Phimus. Kevin incorrectly assumed that a Blue Area of the Moon activation for +4 DEF would protect The Forgotten One against Dr. Doom, but Alien Insurrection for the full +6 ATK took down the Heralds character. This resulted in board-wide stuns after the dust settled from the turn, giving Phimus a shot to put the game away.

Turn 7 saw Invisible Woman, Flame On! come to the rescue for Phimus before Kevin recruited Silver Surfer, Harbinger of Oblivion with Power Gem. Silver Surfer didn’t do much though, as Phimus KO’d Nenora (who had acquired the Doom affiliation from The Herald Ordeal) to play Doom Needs Only Doom on The Forgotten One. It was enough to allow Phimus’s Surfer to take down the 6-drop. Pan flipped Himalayan Enclave, which served no purpose besides allowing Invisible Woman to burn Kevin for 5 endurance, putting him low enough that the attack soundly put him down for the count.

Phimus Pan takes the win, surviving the bubble match and giving himself a shot at his second consecutive $10K Top 8!