Two of the finest non-American VS players squared off for a likely Top 8 berth. Andre “The Mule” Muller already has a PC Top 8 and three $10K Top 8s to his name, making him one of Europe’s most successful players. Alex Brown goes by many nicknames, but the most fitting would be “The World’s Greatest Technical VS Player.” The winner of this match would likely secure yet another $10K Top 8 for either player. This match also highlighted these players’ preferred Draft archetypes, with Alex sticking to a standard curve and Andre sporting his favored off-curve aggressive strategy.

Alex won the choice for initiative and selected evens. Both players sent back their first 4, and Andre kicked things off with Electric Eve. Alex missed, and Andre attacked for 2 and did his whole “evade recover-during-recovery evade recover” tomfoolery.

“Nice Play.”-International Gadabout Hans Ho.

The 2nd turn featured Chrome from Alex, while Andre had Plague set up in front of Electric Eve. Alex exhausted Plague and passed the attack, and then Andre sent Electric Eve into Chrome for the mutual stun. Andre kept up the pressure on the 3rd turn with Annalee, while Alex found Silver Sable. Alex set up with both in the back, and Andre attacked Chrome with Electric Eve for the mutual stun. Plague took out Sable and Annalee got in directly, putting Andre at a significant endurance advantage. During recovery, Andre decided to keep Electric Eve around over his 2-drop, while Alex got rid of Chrome. Turn 4 saw Alex use Sovereign Superior to find Doctor Druid, setting up a potentially big turn in conjunction with Silver Sable. Andre seemed willing to give him a hand, first recruiting Jubilee, teaming up Morlocks and X-Men with Mutopia, then recruiting the best possible characters for Alex: Angel Dust and another Plague. Andre set up with his unreinforceable characters in the front, with Annalee still lurking in the hidden area. Alex first sent Sable after Plague, stunning Plague and recovering Sable. Next, Alex flipped up Sewer System and attacked Annalee with Sable, forcing a double stun. Doctor Druid then attacked Angel Dust, and Andre evaded Electric Eve. He tried for the stunback with Retribution, but Alex had Psychic Armor to keep the Doctor hanging around. Just when it seemed like Alex had gotten over the initial rush, Andre had Angel of Mercy to recover Plague and Angel Dust, losing no characters for his turn in the process. Andre went off on his 5th turn: Pyro, Freedom Force, Archangel, Angel, and finally the gamebreaker,Blackbird Blue. Alex had Polaris, Acolyte, but it wasn’t nearly enough to stem the tide.

Andre Muller won 1-0.