For this round, I am again covering the first table. Yoel is the tournament’s last remaining undefeated player. He’s playing Stephen, who has only a single loss. Yoel won the die roll and selected the even initiatives. Yoel mulliganed, and Stephen kept. “I hope your draw’s bad, because my deck is awful,” remarked Stephen.

Nevertheless, Stephen began the game with Lockjaw, Inhuman’s Best Friend, who fetched Crystal, Elementelle. Yoel had no first turn play. On turn 2, Yoel hit his 1-drop in the form of Frankie Raye ◊ Nova, Optimistic Youth (discarding Thing, Rockhead) and Luna Maximoff. Yoel recruited Mind Gem onto Frankie Raye and passed. Stephen recruited Destroyer, Soulless Juggernaut and passed back. Yoel had no attacks, and Stephen got in for 6. In recovery, Stephen flipped and used an Arsenal of Doom.

Stephen began turn 3 with another Arsenal activation. He recruited Crystal in front of Lockjaw in his hidden area and searched out Extended Family. Yoel replayed his Mind Gem and recruited Valeria Von Doom for the alternate cost. He flipped The Herald Ordeal, teaming-up Heralds and Inhumans and drawing and discarding from Valeria. Next, He exhausted Frankie Raye for Cosmic Necessity, drew and discarded, and gained 5. Finally, Yoel flipped and used Soul World to return his 3-drop to hand. Firelord, Pyreus Kril was recruited behind Frankie, and Yoel passed. In combat, Stephen traded Lockjaw for Frankie. Destroyer ran over Valeria, and Crystal went after Firelord with a power-up. Yoel played The Devil We Know to stun back. In recovery, Yoel used Luna Maximoff to recover Firelord and move it to the hidden area. Frankie and Lockjaw were lost. Stephen led, 46-34.

On turn 4, Stephen once again used his Arsenal. Yoel played Mind Gem on Valeria, then used Soul World to bring back Human Torch, The Invisible Man. He protected Valeria with his 4-drop and passed. Stephen under-dropped with Technarx in his support row and Luna Maximoff in his hidden area. Yoel declared an attack of Firelord into Destroyer, and the 2-drop went down without trouble. Human Torch stunned Technarx, and Valeria attacked directly to gain Yoel some endurance. Stephen considered his options, but in the end, he chose not to attack back. Instead, he used Luna to recover Destroyer and move him to the hidden area. Stephen still led, 41-35.

Turn 5 started with yet another Arsenal activation. Stephen recruited Paibok behind Technarx. Yoel revealed and KO’d Warskrull to fetch Act of Defiance. Yoel flipped it to team-up Skrull and Heralds, drawing and discarding from Valeria in the process. Yoel paid 4 to Soul World to return Thing, and then recruited both the 4-drop and Luna Maximoff. Stephen traded Destroyer for Valeria, then played For the Glory of Doom! and Doom Needs Only Doom, KO’ing the Destroyer to give Thing -4 DEF. Technarx swung into Thing, and Yoel played Power Struggle. Stephen played Relentless Onslaught to force the stun. Paibok attacked Human Torch, and Yoel had Alien Insurrection to stun back. Crystal attacked directly for 5, and Yoel returned the favor by discarding for Firelord and attacking directly for 9. In recovery, Stephen KO’d Technarx to burn Yoel for 2. This turned out to be a bad move, as Yoel had a devastating Cosmic Order. Yoel was left with Human Torch, Firelord, and Luna. Stephen had only a concealed Crystal. The endurance totals were 22-15 in Stephen’s favor.

Turn 6 was Yoel’s initiative. He re-recruited Mind Gem onto Human Torch, then used Soul World to return The Fallen One, which he recruited. Stephen terraformed Battleworld into play, then recruited Terrax, Harbinger of Ruin. Yoel sent The Fallen One into Terrax, and then played Sworn Enemies. Stephen replaced Arsenal of Doom to stun Luna, used Battleworld to give Terrax +1 ATK, and exhausted him to play Cosmic Necessity. Yoel allowed Stephen to draw two, and both characters stunned. Human Torch and Firelord attacked directly, and Yoel discarded for the 3-drop. The endurance score was now 4­ to -2 in Yoel’s favor. Stephen played Intergalactic Summit from his resource row but, finding nothing, simply conceded.