Going into round 5, the standings look like this:

1. Josh Wiitanen
2. Martin Weis
3. Alex Tennet
4. Quang Nguyen
5. Jerry Balentuagin
6. Gavin Price
7. Alex Elzel
8. Adam Prosak
9. Niles Rowland
10. Mike Frayer

Here’s a quick look at what’s being played at the top tables today.


Doom/FF Control
Josh Wiitanen

4 Boris
4 She-Thing
4 She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters
2 Spider-Man, New Fantastic Four
4 Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius
1 Invisible Woman, Sue Storm
3 Thing, Heavy Hitter
1 Robot Destroyer
1 Hulk
1 Dr. Doom, Victor von Doom
1 Thing, The Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Thing
1 Sub-Mariner
1 Dr. Doom, Lord of Latveria
3 Acrobatic Dodge
1 Faces of Doom
1 Flame Trap
4 It's Clobberin' Time!
4 Ka-Boom!
3 Mystical Paralysis
1 Overload
3 Savage Beatdown
4 Signal Flare
4 Doomstadt



Josh’s deck is basically Doom-Fantastic Four control. “It has the best drops at every drop,” Josh commented. His deck has Dr. Doom to generate card advantage, and Fantastic Four’s search capabilities. It’s a little different from a typical deck due to an extra Mystical Paralysis and four copies of Ka-Boom!, designed specifically to beat Lost City. “And there’s one Faces of Doom because I always get unlucky and never see him on turn 4.”




Doom/FF Control
Martin Weis
 
4 Boris
4 She-Thing
4 She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters
3 Darkoth
4 Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius
1 Wolverine, New Fantastic Four
2 Thing, Heavy Hitter
1 Ghost Rider
1 Robot Destroyer
1 Hulk
1 Dr. Doom, Victor von Doom
1 Thing, The Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Thing
1 Sub-Mariner
1 Dr. Doom, Lord of Latveria

Plot Twists
3 Acrobatic Dodge
4 Common Enemy
1 Flame Trap
1 Faces of Doom
4 It's Clobberin' Time!
2 Ka-Boom!
3 Mystical Paralysis
2 Overload
3 Savage Beatdown
4 Signal Flare
4 Doomstadt

Martin’s deck is similar to Josh’s deck in that they’re both using Dr. Doom’s card advantage and the search power of the Fantastic Four, but Martin uses some different characters to achieve his goals. “It just takes what I feel is the best part of Doom and the [Fantastic Four] and it mixes them together. [But] I felt it was missing something . . . I thought Ka-Boom!s would be the perfect fit for the deck.”


FF Beats
Alex Tennet
 
2 Human Torch, Johnny Storm
4 She-Thing
4 Thing, Ben Grimm
3 She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters
4 Invisible Woman, Sue Storm
2 Wolverine, New Fantastic Four
1 Ghost Rider
4 Mr. Fantastic, Stretch
2 Hulk
1 Human Torch, Super Nova
2 Thing, The Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Thing
1 Invisible Woman, Sue Richards
3 Entangle
4 It's Clobberin' Time!
4 Ka-Boom!
3 Overload
4 Savage Beatdown
4 Signal Flare
4 Tech Upgrade
3 Fantasticar
1 Personal Force Field

Alex Tennet is also playing another variation on the Fantastic Four team. “It’s Fantastic Four with Ka-Boom! and multiple drops at each level.” Alex plays three copies of Overload to take down New Brotherhood and Sentinels. He plays Entangle mainly to react to Sabretooth and Sentinel Mark IV. “I played Doom at Origins, and I missed on 10 place by 1 endurance. I wasn’t happy with how slow it was.”


Mutant Nation
Quang Nguyen
 
4 Pyro
4 Nightcrawler, Kurt Wagner
4 Quicksilver, Pietro Maximoff
4 Wolverine, Logan
4 Sabretooth, Feral Rage
2 Nightcrawler, Fuzzy Elf
1 Wolverine, James Howlett
4 Quicksilver, Speed Demon
4 Colossus
2 Wolverine, Berserker Rage
1 Global Domination
2 Marvel Team-Up
4 Mutant Nation
4 Reconstruction Program
2 Relocation
4 Avalon Space Station
3 Cerebro
4 Lost City
3 Savage Land

Quang is playing a rather interesting deck today. “[It’s] Big Brotherhood with X-Men.” What led him to make this choice? “X-Men starts out stronger. Wolverine, Logan has the best 3-drop stats in the game. Colossus is also really strong.” It seems that the power of the Big Brotherhood engine is undeniable. “And not that many people use X-Men.”


New Brotherhood
Jerry Balentuagin
 
3 Destiny
3 Toad
3 Pyro
2 Darkoth
3 Quicksilver, Pietro Maximoff
3 Blob
4 Sabretooth, Feral Rage
3 Quicksilver, Speed Demon
4 Magneto, Eric Lehnsherr
2 Blind Sided
3 Flying Kick
3 Ka-Boom!
3 Not So Fast
4 Reconstruction Program
4 Savage Beatdown
4 The New Brotherhood
2 Avalon Space Station
4 Genosha
3 Lost City

Jerry’s choice of Reconstruction Program rather than a full complement of Avalon Space Stations adds some extra stability to his deck. “[I play] only two Avalon Space Stations instead of four to avoid Ka-Boom! and Relocation.” There’s something to be said for having familiarity with a deck. “I’m making some great comebacks and winning lots of dramatic games.” 


Big Brotherhood
Gavin Price
 
4 Toad
4 Mystique, Raven Darkholme
4 Rogue, Anna Raven
4 Sabretooth, Feral Rage
4 Blob
4 Magneto, Eric Lehnsherr
4 Scarlet Witch
4 Mystique, Shape-Changing Assassin
2 Sabretooth, Victor Creed
4 Magneto, Master of Magnetism
3 Acrobatic Dodge
2 Finishing Move
3 Overload
4 Relocation
2 Savage Beatdown
4 Avalon Space Station
4 Lost City

Gavin’s Big Brotherhood deck has a few changes from the rest. “I run Finishing Move. I haven’t used it yet today, though. But it seems like it’d be pretty good.” Gavin is also one to pick a deck and stick with it. “I’ve been playing it for a month and a half. It does better against the other decks than anything else I’ve ever played.” Still, Gavin won’t discount the luck factor. “I’ve had really good matchups today. But you have to be lucky to win!”


Medium Brotherhood
Alex Elzel
 
4 Destiny
4 Toad
4 Pyro
4 Quicksilver, Pietro Maximoff
4 Rogue, Anna Raven
4 Sabretooth, Feral Rage
4 Blob
4 Quicksilver, Speed Demon
3 Flying Kick
3 Ka-Boom!
3 Not So Fast
3 Savage Beatdown
4 The New Brotherhood
4 Avalon Space Station
4 Genosha
4 Lost City

Alex has chosen to go with the hybrid Medium Brotherhood deck that seems to be gaining favor among many players, due to its combination of strengths and minimal weaknesses. “[It] has Lost City, The New Brotherhood, Avalon Space Station, and breaks out with most of the Brotherhood characters.” Many players praise Brotherhood decks for their reliability, and this deck is no different from the rest. “It’s consistent. Your resources are always good.”


Medium Brotherhood
Adam Prosak
 
4 Destiny
4 Toad
4 Pyro
4 Quicksilver, Pietro Maximoff
4 Rogue, Anna Raven
4 Sabretooth, Feral Rage
4 Blob
4 Quicksilver, Speed Demon
3 Flying Kick
3 Ka-Boom!
3 Not So Fast
3 Savage Beatdown
4 The New Brotherhood
4 Avalon Space Station
4 Genosha
4 Lost City

Adam is playing the same deck as Alex. “I learned how to play Constructed four days ago.” His presence near the top of the standings is definitely not indicative of his experience with the format. “I decided to play the best deck. I always play the best deck when it counts.”


Common Enemy
Niles Rowland

1 Dr. Doom, Lord of Latveria
1 Thing, The Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Thing
1 Sub-Mariner
1 Dr. Doom, Victor von Doom
1 Hulk
2 Thing, Heavy Hitter
1 Ghost Rider
1 Wolverine, New Fantastic Four
4 Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius
4 She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters
3 Darkoth
4 She-Thing
4 Boris
4 Acrobatic Dodge
4 Common Enemy
1 Faces of Doom
1 Flame Trap
4 It's Clobberin' Time!
1 Ka-Boom!
2 Mystical Paralysis
4 Overload
4 Savage Beatdown
4 Signal Flare
3 Doomstadt

Niles’ deck is called Common Enemy, but with a mix of rare characters, there’s nothing common about it. “It’s like an FF Beatdown variant with Doom thrown in for control elements. It’s pretty solid and very consistent.” Niles was stuck with this deck while his friends played games against him, and ended up liking it more than any others. “It’s a solid deck and I kind of insisted that I play it. I’ve had a lot of favorable matchups today.”


FF Beats
Mike Frayer
 
4 Nightcrawler, Kurt Wagner
3 She-Thing
4 Wolverine, Logan
3 She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters
2 Rogue, Power Absorption
2 Invisible Woman, Sue Storm
1 Storm, Ororo Munroe
2 Thing, Heavy Hitter
2 Ghost Rider
1 Cyclops, Scott Summers
1 Hulk
1 Storm, Weather Witch
1 Rogue, Powerhouse
1 Professor X, World's Most Powerful Telepath
1 Thing, The Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Thing
1 Invisible Woman, Sue Richards
3 Children of the Atom
3 Finishing Move
4 Heroes United
3 It's Clobberin' Time!
3 Ka-Boom!
3 No Fear
3 Overload
4 Savage Beatdown
4 Signal Flare

Mike’s Fantastic Four deck uses X-Men to round out his team instead of combining the Fantastic Four with Dr. Doom. “[I] made [this deck] in five minutes,” he grinned sheepishly. Mike owns Gems Sports Cards in La Mirada, California, and StrategyProducts.com, and has helped a lot of people build decks in the past. “We get really bored with the conventional stuff. You pretty much know what they’re going to play.”

That’s what the top tables look like. The Brotherhood decks are pretty evenly matched with the decks with Fantastic Four as the base. Perhaps the Brotherhood’s dominance over the world of mutants, and the tournament scene, is coming to an end here today?