Doug won the toss and elected to take the even initiative.

 

Adam's opening four cards seemed good enough, with his 3-, 4-, and 5-drops all ready to go. Neither player had a turn 1 recruit, but Gnaxos was there for Tice on turn 2 to dish out some beatings.

 

“That guy is such a good 2-drop, but he's an embarrassing 5-drop,” remarked Horvath as he took his beats.

 

On turn 3, Horvath had Space Bears, while it was Carol Ferris ◊ Star Sapphire for Tice. The 3-drop from the former PC winner smashed in, and it was on to turn 3.

 

Frostbite was the recruit on turn 4 for Doug, who held the initiative, while Adam had the choice between Rot Lop Fan and Kyle Rayner, Green Lantern of the Universe. He eventually decided upon the visible character, and stood him in front of his Bears, challenging the attack from Tice.

 

Never one to refuse a challenge, Tice used Q Field to make Frostbite visible and draw a card before smashing in with Gnaxos on Kyle Rayner. The Green Lantern was stunned when No Man Escapes the Manhunters lowered his DEF to a lowly 2. With the ring bearer dealt with, Frostbite was open to attack the Bears, bringing Horvath to 37, then a cheeky one from Carol Ferris made it 36. Tice was still sitting pretty at 44 endurance.

 

Major Force was Horvath's choice of 5-drop, but seemed a little outclassed by Guy Gardner, Strong Arm of the Corps for Tice. The whole of his team hung out on the back row, trying to look cool, while Horvath teamed up with Hard-Traveling Heroes. Kyle Rayner attacked Gnaxos, who was reinforced by Frostbite. Meanwhile, Major Force attacked and traded with Guy Gardner, making the endurance totals 35-31 in Tice's favor. In Evil Star's Evil Clutches allowed Horvath to switch around his resources a little, and then Chopping Block let Adam KO his opponent's Green Lantern character, putting him a whole power ring up on his opponent.

 

Turn 6 meant St'Nilli for Tice, who showed his entire team how to be really good at hiding. Like ninjas, or small children, they waited to jump out and shout Boo! at Adam at the first opportunity.

 

“This situation is physiologically impossible,” remarked Adam dryly. “It both sucks and blows.”

 

He recruited Virman Vundabar, who activated to exhaust Frostbite. Tice responded with In Remembrance. Chopping Block got given to Major Force, who stood behind Kyle Rayner, in the hope that he could do a bit of chopping.

 

Gnaxos attacked Kyle Rayner, and with a bit of Cosmic Conflict the mutual stun was assured. St'Nilli attacked Major Force, who responded with a "chop" on Gnaxos. This stunned the shrinking 5-drop and did 4 breakthrough, taking Horvath to 16. Frostbite then went for Virman Vundabar. Lantern's Light made St'Nilli visible, and Carol Ferris then ensured that Frostbite's attack was more than enough to stun Horvath's man. The endurance totals moved to 29-9 in favor of Doug Tice.

 

Two-Face, Split Personality was the recruit for Horvath. “That works,” remarked Doug.

 

Adam could only reply “It's a start.”

 

Doug had a Ganthet, who hid behind St'Nilli. Being so small, compared to his protector, it's a wonder that anyone could see him. Two-Face attacked St'Nilli, and Tice used In Remembrance to help out his 6-drop's defense slightly.

 

When Ganthet tried to attack Major Force, In Evil Star's Evil Clutches removed his flight, after which Tice had nothing more. He gained 11 endurance, and it was on to the next turn.

 

Tice's 8-drop was the very spicy Hal Jordan ◊ Spectre. Horvath had Azrael Batman, which would ordinarily be pretty good, but it seemed a little subpar when compared to his opponent's powerful rare. Batman hid behind Two-Face in an implausible twist on traditional comic book loyalties, and Horvath passed. When Ganthet attacked Major Force, it was enough for Adam to scoop it up.

 

Doug Tice wins game one.

 

Horvath elected to go first once more, hoping for a slightly stronger draw in the second game. With just a Space Bears in his starting four in terms of characters, he mulliganed. Tice did also, and turn 1 passed without incident as neither player recruited.

 

Turn 2 saw Gnaxos once more from Tice, while Horvath had Hector Hammond, who received a little bit of a beating from the yellow robot.

 

On turn 3, Horvath had Kreon and a Chopping Block for his 2-drop. Dead-Eye, the concealed archer, hid out for Tice. When Kreon went for Gnaros, Tice showed In Remembrance, which made the characters bounce, then had nothing for the counter attack.

 

Frostbite in the hidden area was the recruit for Tice on turn 4. This hiding fad was not Horvath's style though, as he made Kyle Rayner in front of Hector Hammond, who looked menacing behind the high-powered Green Lantern with his Chopping Block. Frostbite attacked Kreon, wary of being chopped. Deadeye then went for Kyle Rayner with a little help from Qwardian Council Hall, which was used twice, thanks to some help from a discarded John Stewart. Both characters stunned, and were KO'd to Dead-Eye's effect. Gnaxos was now able to go for Hector Hammond without fear of serious consequences.

 

Horvath elected to keep his Hector Hammond over Kreon, as he was about to become big and special on turn 5. Major Force didn't have huge amounts of synergy with Hector, but Adam felt they both were good enough for his little gang and put the new character up front. Tice's new recruit of Guy Gardner hid behind Gnaxos, waiting for attacks.

 

Hector Hammond got revenge on Gnaxos for previous beatings, and Major Force went after Guy. In Remembrance saved Tice a point of breakthrough, but the mutual stun was inevitable.

 

Frostbite attacked back with some help from Qwardian Council Hall on the frustrating Hector Hammond. He got a little more frustrating for Tice, when Nero Unleashed got flipped up. He discarded two characters to ready the Council Hall enough to avoid the stun back, and successfully emptied Horvath's board of characters. He was left with just Major Force going into turn 6.

 

Superwoman was the concealed recruit for Tice, though a Q Field meant she didn't stay that way for long. For Horvath it was Boodikka, who hid behind Major Force. Guy Gardner attacked the Emerald Enemy, taking Horvath to 15 endurance while Tice stayed on 32. Superwoman then went for Boodikka with a pump from Qwardian Council Hall. Horvath went to a risky 9, then 7 more came from Frostbite to make it 2.

 

“I can't finish you off” admitted Tice

 

“That's good,” replied Horvath, a master of understatement.

 

Two-Face was again the 7-drop of choice for Horvath, who was less than entirely disappointed with his opponent's lack of a 7-drop, having already discarded Ganthet to Qwardian Council Hall. His recruits were Elasti-Man and Carol Ferris Star Sapphire. Two-Face called evens, and half of Tice's board turned sideways.

 

Horvath attacked into Superwoman with Two-Face, doing a whopping nothing when Tice reinforced. Boodikka then attacked Elasti-Man, whose DEF was boosted by one using In Remembrance. Tice went to 23, and it was on to turn eight.

 

When Tice put down Hal Jordan ◊ Spectre, Horvath cursed his luck, missing out on the opportunity to be the first person to win a PC and a $10K. He would have been able to look at a nice silver trophy through his massive glass one. It wasn't officially over, but it did not look good for the PC Amsterdam champion.

 

“So . . . nothing can get stunned on my side of the board then or I lose,” muttered Horvath to himself.

 

Tice pointed to his 8-drop and mentioned “Or mine.” Horvath extended his hand

 

Doug Tice wins 2-0 and is the $10K New York champion!