Loren is a seasoned Vs. professional, equally recognizable for his win at $10K Detroit as for his extremely stylish hair. David is just as experienced on the $10K scene, but not as a player—he’s head-judged two $10K events so far. Both of these players know their game, so this should be a very interesting mirror match.

Loren won the die roll and selected the ubiquitous even initiatives. Loren kept his opener, while David shipped his back for four new cards. Neither player had a 1-drop. Loren made the first play of the game, flipping Brother I Satellite (discarding Asmodeus) to search out Sarge Steel. David recruited Talia, Beloved Betrayer. The characters traded, and that was the turn.

David led off turn 3 with Enemy of My Enemy, discarding another Talia for Ahmed Samsarra, White King. The 3-drop was recruited in the hidden area, and David passed. Loren had another Brother I Satellite, fetching an Ahmed of his own. His King was also played in the hidden area, and the players moved to combat. David traded 2-drop for 2-drop, then passed. Loren attacked directly with his King, while David KO’d his face-up Enemy of My Enemy to fetch a copy of Checkmate Safe House. In recovery, Loren had the lead in endurance, 46-40.

Turn 4 was Loren’s initiative, and he played an Enemy of My Enemy of his own. Loren discarded another copy of Ahmed for Fatality, Flawless Victory. The 4-drop was set behind Sarge, and Loren passed. David played Merlyn, Deadly Archer and equipped him with Knight Armor. David formed with Talia protecting Merlyn and passed to Loren’s attack step. Before declaring any attackers, Loren activated his King. He KO’d one of his Satellites to retrieve Sewer System. Loren used Sewer System on his Fatality and declared an attack on Ahmed. David flipped his Safehouse, teaming-up Villains and Checkmate. Knightmare Scenario, exhausting the Safehouse, made Ahmed 8 ATK / 8 DEF. Loren flipped his own Safehouse and played Threat Neutralized on Fatality, evening things up. David flipped a Satellite for a power-up, and Loren realized that he wasn’t going to get the job done. A stun on Sarge replaced Fatality’s stun. Loren passed on any further attacks. In David’s attack step, he flipped Coast City and Leslie Thompkins’s Clinic. Merlyn was exhausted to stun Ahmed. Fatality turned that stun into a KO, but Threat Neutralized removed Ahmed from the game instead. Before passing, David lost his Satellite for a fresh one, which he immediately flipped to fetch Annihilation Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot. In recovery, David gained an endurance from the clinic. Loren still led 44-41.

David had the initiative on turn 5 and he simply recruited his Annihilation Protocol. Loren recruited Talia, Daughter of Madness and set both of his characters in the support row. Before attacking, David used Ahmed to KO a face-down character, yielding Brother Eye. Merlyn was exhausted to stun Fatality, and Loren flipped and used The Science Spire in response. David sent his Robot into Talia with some help from Brother Eye. Loren activated his Safehouse to mitigate a point, but he still took quite a bit of endurance loss as both characters stunned. David’s 2-drop Talia attacked directly, and that was the turn. David now led 37-31.

Turn 6 was Loren’s initiative, and it looked like he’d need a pretty impressive play to salvage this game. He recruited Sensei, Martial Arts Master and pushed both of his characters to the front. Before recruiting, David replaced his Brother I Satellite, flipping the new copy to pick up a Sensei of his own. David set up with Sensei protecting Merlyn and Talia protecting OMAC Robot. At the beginning of combat, both players gained a temporary resource. Loren’s first attack sent Talia into Sensei. He flipped Pit of Madness and a Brother Eye, activating it to force the trade. Next, Sensei went after Merlyn. David played Knightmare Scenario on his Merlyn, then flipped a Pit of Madness of his own to give him +2 ATK. A power-up threatened the trade. Loren attempted to return Talia to his hand, but Loren exhausted Merlyn to his Robot to KO it. David’s own Talia exhausted to KO Loren’s Sensei, and David’s Annihilation Protocol attacked directly into Loren’s empty board. Loren, seeing no way out, conceded.