The big matchups continue as Josh Wiitanen battles Gabe Walls in the third round of the tournament. Gabe posts consistently high finishes, including a Top 8 in the first PC. Josh has seven $10K Top 8s to his name, including a win at the recent $10K San Francisco. Josh won the die roll and chose to take the even initiatives.
Gabe kept his opening hand, while Josh chose to mulligan. Gabe recruited Archangel, discarding Beast, Furry Blue Scientist to get Worthington Industries. Josh had no play. On turn 2, Josh had Sage, Tessa in the hidden area. Gabe matched the recruit with a Sage of his own, and then passed back to Josh. Before declaring his attacks, Josh used his Sage. Josh took down Archangel with his Sage, and Gabe used his own Sage before attacking back. At the end of the turn, Gabe led 46-43.
On turn 3, Gabe hit and discarded Archangel with his Worthington Industries. Gabe recruited Beast and passed. Josh played Tarot. At the beginning of combat, Tarot revealed Mutant Massacre. Gabe sent his Beast into Tarot, stunning both, and then attacked directly with Archangel. Both players used their Sages, and neither had any further attacks. Gabe maintained a lead of 44-34.
Josh had the initiative on turn 4 and recruited Empath next to Tarot. Gabe missed with his Worthington Industries, then used Sage. “Awkward. I don’t think I’m playing a guy this turn,” said Gabe. Indeed, Gabe completely missed. He set up with Beast in front of Archangel and passed. Josh’s Tarot revealed the top card of his deck to be Power and Wealth, and the players moved to Josh’s attack step. He sent Empath into Beast and then Tarot into Archangel. Both went down without issue. Instead of using Mutant Massacre, Josh attacked directly with Sage. Gabe had no return attacks, but instead used Phoenix Rising to recover Beast. In recovery, he used Beast to fetch Acolyte Body Armor. At this point, Josh had taken the lead, 34-33.
Before making his fifth turn recruit, Gabe used Worthington Industries, hitting Professor X. Gabe didn’t have a 5-drop; instead, he recruited the Professor and attached the Body Armor to it. Gabe set up with the Professor protecting Archangel and Beast next to the Professor in the front row. It was on Josh, and he used Sage to dig for a 5-drop. He hit Join the Club and played it to fetch Shinobi Shaw. Josh set up with Shinobi in front of Tarot and Empath next to Shinobi in the front row. At the beginning of combat, Josh drew Mastermind with Tarot. Gabe’s first attack brought the Professor into Empath. Josh allowed the stun and KO’d it, flipping down Join the Club. Gabe declared no further attacks. Instead, he played X-Treme Maneuver to exhaust Shinobi. Josh exhausted his remaining two characters to play Power and Wealth to search out The Hellfire Club. Gabe got another Body Armor with his Beast. At the end of the turn, Gabe led 33-29.
On turn 6, Josh used Sage and then immediately played Join the Club to retrieve a copy of Donald Pierce. He recruited the 6-drop in his visible area and pushed all of his characters to the front. Gabe flipped and used X-Corp: Paris before recruiting Jean Grey, Red with Body Armor. Gabe set up with his big guys in back, and the players moved to combat. Tarot revealed Sebastian Shaw on the top of Josh’s deck. Josh first sent Tarot into Archangel, which was reinforced. Next, he KO’d his Tarot to Massachusetts Academy to put a counter on Donald. Hellfire Club moved Shinobi Shaw aside, and Donald attacked Jean Grey. Gabe had two copies of Duck and Cover, but Josh had the Army of One. Gabe used Jean to replace his entire resource row, and flipped another Duck and Cover. Josh passed, and the attack concluded with no stun. Neither player could declare any more attacks, and play moved to recovery. Gabe drew a card with the Professor and searched for another Body Armor with the Beast. Josh exhausted Sage to remove Archangel from the game with Mutant Massacre. At the end of the turn, Gabe led 32-29.
Turn 7 was Gabe’s initiative, and he used Sage. Next, he used Jean Grey to replace his single face-up resource. Unfortunately for Gabe, he didn’t hit anything, and he missed yet another drop. Gabe recruited Emma Frost, Friend or Foe with his third Body Armor. He set up with Emma in front of Jean and Beast in front of the Professor. Josh continued his perfect curve with Sebastian between Sage and Shinobi in the hidden area. Before combat, Josh went into the tank to work out some math. Somewhere in the process of thinking, he had Power Play to steal the initiative. In the end, he sent Donald after Emma. Gabe simply reinforced with Jean. Josh’s next attack sent Shinobi into Beast. Again, Gabe reinforced. For the third attack of the turn, a 17 ATK / 16 DEF Shinobi ran over Professor X. Finally, Josh KO’d his two other hidden characters to ready Sebastian and send it into Jean Grey. Gabe had two copies of Shrink, but Josh had responses. He used Massachusetts Academy to KO Donald and add a counter to Sebastian, then moved Sebastian to the visible area with the Hellfire Club. Gabe had a power-up, and it was good enough to stop the attack. Gabe used Phoenix Rising to recover the Professor in recovery. At the end of the turn, Josh led 25-17. Gabe only lost Beast, while Josh was left with a single character in play. Things suddenly looked very bad for Josh.
On turn 8, Gabe hit Rachel Summers ◊ Phoenix, and passed. Josh recruited Courtney Ross and immediately KO’d it to put another counter on Sebastian. Josh had another Courtney, along with another copy of Shinobi, both in the hidden area. He passed to Gabe, who team attacked Professor X and Rachel Summers into Sebastian Shaw. The attack was legal, and Gabe played Psionic Storm on Professor X. The Professor traded stuns with Sebastian, and Josh conceded.
Gabe Walls wins!