We’re getting down to the nitty gritty here in Chicago as round 7 comes to a close. The Top 8 is starting to take shape, with success at the top tables this round meaning a very strong position in the standings. Have a look:

Table 1: “Big” Tom Barda vs. Shane Wiggins

And then there was one. Shane Wiggins became the last undefeated player in the tournament when Dr. Light was played with boost on turn 9, allowing Evil Medical School—the common enemy of Doom and the Fantastic Four—to attack for victory.

Table 2: Mike Dove vs. Joel Jones

This New Brotherhood Blitz mirror match was a squeaker. On turn 5, Jones was up 23 to 4, but turn 6 saw Dove play three characters followed by two copie of The Mutant Menace. Michael won by a score of -2 to -4.

Table 3: Michael Jacob vs. Tim Batow

Jacob, playing Mutant Nation with Jean Grey, Phoenix Force, won this one on turn 7. When asked what the key card was, he admitted that the win wasn’t really his doing. Rather, he attributed his turn 7 victory to Batow’s inability to find Cosmic Radiation or Rigged Elections.

Table 4: Lawson Sutherland vs. Philip Cash

These two friends, who made the trip to Chicago together, got playfully heated in a marathon game between Sutherland’s Curve Sentinels and Cash’s pet Fantastic Four deck. At one point, neither player noticed that Mr. Fantastic, Scientific Genius couldn’t recover because Magneto, Master of Magnetism was in play. The judges ruled that he’d have to stick around, because the game state had changed too much to rectify. It didn’t matter, though, as Magneto and Bastion did their jobs and won the game for Sutherland.

Table 5: Josh Wiitanen vs. Mark Slack

In this Teen Titans mirror feature match, Slack practically admitted defeat on turn 3 when a Not so Fast countered his Overload. It took three more turns for Josh to claim victory, but it was only a matter of time.