John Stephens is the editor of VsUniverse.com. He got into the PC on a courtesy invite in return for his respected contributions to the Internet community.
Rachel Reynolds, from Seattle, also played on a courtesy invite. Her best known work in the industry is programming Magic Online.
Stephens won the die roll after a total of three rerolls due to repeated ties. He took initiative, recruited nothing, and got lantern-slammed by Reynolds’s turn-1 Boris.
Stephens filled turn 2 by playing his own Boris, and Reynolds missed her drop. The result was what only can be described as a violent spectacle of purple hats and swinging lanterns, resulting in a point of endurance loss to both competitors.
Reynolds Signal Flared on turn 3 to bring out She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters, potentially giving Boris something large and green to hide behind but not opting to take advantage of it—Boris was left in the front. Reynolds nailed her team-up immediately, flipping Common Enemy. Stephens matched the She-Hulk recruit with one of his own, prompting Stephens to quip “I think we might be playing the same decks.” Stephens’s She-Hulk swung at the exposed Boris for 4 damage.
Stephens opened up turn 4 by recruiting Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius, chaining two copies of Common Enemy from his resource row. He then used two Reign of Terrors to wipe Reynolds’s field clear. Reynolds recruited her own Diabolic Genius, and after some pondering, put him in the front. Stephens’s Doom attacked Reynolds’s Doom, and Stephens flipped Doomstadt. Reynolds had no answer, and her Dr. Doom was stunned. She-Hulk then swung for 4.
Turn 5 began with Stephens Have a Blast!–ing Reynolds’s Common Enemy in order to keep her from potentially recruiting Thing, Heavy Hitter. Reynolds recruited Purple Man and Boris, and gave a sigh: Stephens sent Boris into the deck to run and fetch a copy of A Death in the Family. He flipped Common Enemy again.
“Now I’m going to make your turn 5 look spectacular, because I’m going to go, Boris.” Stephens recruited Boris. “And uhh . . . now it’s your attacks!” They both laughed a bit. “Not what I was expecting!” said Reynolds. She came to life a bit, seeming to see a second chance for domination in Stephens’s lack of adequate recruit.
Reynolds contemplated her next move carefully before making it. Stephens’s turn 5 gave her a reprieve, but since he was in an L formation with Doom in the back, She-Thing in the front, and Boris in the hinge position, she still had very little of an approach—it looked as if she would have to send Doom after She-Hulk and Purple Man after Boris. Instead she took a risk and activated Purple Man, catching nothing but air as Stephens flipped her target: Unmasked. Doom then went after She-Hulk without any sort of defensive bonus for the double-stun. Stephens’s Doom then attacked Purple Man, and Reynolds reinforced with Boris. It was an unfortunate turn, but didn’t become crushing until A Death in the Family nailed Dr. Doom.
Stephens opened turn 6 by recruiting Iceman, Cool Customer to his back row. Reynolds then used Signal Flare to hit her drop, nabbing and recruiting Hulk, New Fantastic Four. Ice Man attacked Purple Man, and two copies of Betrayal stunned both Boris and Hulk. Reynolds’s jaw fell. Doom swung for 7 and She-Hulk swung for 4; the score was now 35 to 8 in favor of Stephens. Then, Ice Man forced Reynolds to discard seven cards. The discard showed what had gone wrong for her: everything. Almost every card Reynolds was forced to discard was a 3-drop characters or lower, cards she drew after their key turns.
Reynolds Signal Flared on turn 7 for Thing, The Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing. She recruited him, but before Thing could send Boris packing, he yet again scampered into the deck, this time getting Stephens a Mystical Paralysis.
“Hmm, so he’ll get She-Hulk too . . . I don’t think I can use her to get a plot twist, though . . .” She-Hulk bounced, and Stephens formed up in an L with Sub-Mariner in the front, Doom in the hinge, and Ice Man in the back. Thing attacked Sub-Mariner, but Stephens made the obvious play of Mystical Paralysis on Thing to prevent the attack. Hulk then attacked Ice-Man, giving Hulk an It’s Clobbering Time! Sub-Mariner took down Hulk just as time was called, and that brought Reynolds down to -1.
Game Win: John Stephens