Osyp Lebedowicz was clearly out of his element. Absent from his demeanor was all the mischievous charm that has made him such a popular fixture at TCG tournaments. Osyp’s quiet may be tied to a lack of confidence in his Vs. System skills, which is weird—Osyp did recently finish ninth at Pro Circuit Los Angeles, and has the strong resources of the TOGIT squad for practice and playtesting.
Robert Leander, normally a brash young man himself, was not exactly full of vim or vigor coming into this final round. Osyp was playing Cosmic Cops, a deck based off of Ben Seck’s winning list from the recent Australian $10K. Robert was playing Teen Titans—the same affiliation he used to win the Texas $10K and finish fourteenth at Gen Con So Cal—and felt that he had zero chance of winning the match.
“It's over. I can’t win, unless he doesn’t draw Alfred and doesn’t draw Bat Signal. This has to be the luckiest one-game match of my career.”
Osyp mulliganed his first four cards and kept his second hand, which was complete with Alfred. Leander's turn 2 play was Tim Drake ◊ Robin, Young Detective, and Osyp tried to figure out how best to play his second turn.
“Please say done,” Leander pleaded, but Osyp held up a finger to indicate that Leander would not be getting his wish. A GCPD Officer turned on Alfred and ran off to fetch a Bat-Signal. Leander got in a shot at the cop, but from the glum look on his face, you could tell he felt the outcome would not be in his favor.
Osyp led off turn 3 with Invisible Woman, The Invisible Girl and flipped up World’s Finest. He then Bat-Signaled for Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards. Leander boosted out Hawk and Dove and pushed all his characters to the front row.
Osyp sent Mr. Fantastic after Dove, and Leander flipped up Titans Tower to power her up. Osyp played A Child Named Valeria from his hand. Leander sent all his characters over, pecking away a couple endurance points at a time via breakthrough damage on Osyp’s unstunnable team. With some help from Alfred, Osyp Bat-Signaled for Spoiler at the end of the turn.
Leander flipped up USS Argus during his build phase and recruited Terra. Osyp played A Child Named Valeria in response. He recruited Barbara Gordon ◊ Oracle and then paid 1 resource point to draw a card. Then he played an Alfred with his remaining resource point. Leander continued to chip away at Osyp's endurance total, pounding his characters into the GCPD Officer. He then replaced his USS Argus with Terra’s ability, targeting the Officer so that he could prevent being locked by the location.
Osyp played Spoiler and three more GCPD Officers. He also spent 1 resource point to draw a card and gain 1 point of endurance. Leander put the effect from USS Argus on the chain, and Osyp responded by activating Alfred. Leander responded to that by using Terra on Barbara Gordon and replacing his location. Osyp got another A Child Named Valeria, and then the effect from the Argus resolved. Leander played Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal and put him behind Terra, leaving everyone else up front.
Osyp sent all of his Officers after Tim Drake and stunned the Titan. He then attacked Dawn with Sue and Reed, and after a brief exchange, she got stunned as well. Leander cracked back with his characters and whittled Osyp's endurance down a little more.
Leander had Red Star and a leftover resource point with which to burn Osyp for 5 endurance. Osyp was at 31, while Leander was at a hearty 47. Leander proposed sending Dove into a GPCD officer. Osyp attempted to play Cosmic Radiation, which prompted Leander to use Terra on Alfred. Osyp played another A Child Named Valeria, and Leander responded to that by using Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal on Alfred.
Leander pecked away at the Child-protected team, and finally sent Red Star to attack with a Tamaran and two copies of Savage Beatdown. Osyp dropped to 9 endurance, but Leander was out of gas . . . or was he? He Pressed the Attack to ready Red Star, and Osyp struggled to find a way out. With Alfred stunned behind him, there was no way to reinforce.
Red Star readied and Leander announced an attack on the Officer. Osyp went to 3 endurance. He climbed back to 4 endurance during recovery, thanks to a card drawn with Barbara Gordon.
Osyp had the initiative for the crucial seventh turn. He gained 2 more endurance and promptly used Alfred. Leander responded by smoking Spoiler with Terra. When Alfred's effect resolved, Osyp found a Bat-Signal and searched up Batman, The Dark Knight. Leander responded by smoking Mr. Fantastic with Arsenal.
Osyp drew seven cards and exhausted his entire team to give him a hand size of fourteen. Osyp Pressed the Attack and drew another card. Leander had no play, except to burn Osyp for 5 endurance. Osyp just shrugged. Despite all of his cards, he was missing the other Cosmic Radiation needed to successfully pull off the combo.
Osyp wished Leander good luck in the Top 8 and stuck around long enough to find out that he had mirrored his So Cal finish with another ninth place performance.