This is it—the final round of the day. If you play TCGs, this is what you’re waiting for. It’s kind of like the bottom of the ninth inning with bases loaded and all that jazz. These two guys have been fighting all weekend to get to this point. The winner of this match makes the elusive PC Top 8 and plays tomorrow for the chance to win $40,000. There’s a lot of money riding on this match, so I’m sure there won’t be too much chit-chatting with all the tension.

Both Loren and Milton are experienced Vs. players and have consistently proven themselves as top contenders at PC after PC. Either of these players would make a good addition to the Top 8 list.

Loren won the flip and chose odds. On turn 1 he recruited Galan and passed. Milton didn’t have a character, so he just played a resource. Loren activated Galan to gain 2 endurance and moved to the next turn.

Milton had the initiative on turn 2 and played Franklin Richards, Creator of Counter-Earth. Loren had no character, so Franklin attacked Galan, who was activated before he became stunned to gain 2 endurance for Loren.

On turn 3 Loren played Jolen hidden and passed. Milton played Captain America, Skrull Impostor. Loren declared an attack, but before it was legal, Milton moved Cap to the hidden area with Franklin. Jolen then attacked Milton directly. Then, Milton sent Franklin at Galan, and Captain attacked Loren directly.

Turn 4 started with Milton playing Dewoz and Loren playing Nahrees. Dewoz attacked Galan, who was activated to gain 2 and powered-up. Loren took 5 on the attack. Franklin and Cap attacked Loren directly, and Milton passed. Loren sent Nahrees into Dewoz and passed; Milton moved Dewoz to his hidden area after the attack became legal. Loren played Extended Family to put a counter on his Nahrees and activated it targeting Dewoz. The characters stunned each other, and Loren attacked with Jolen directly.

On turn 5 Nolen played Ethan Edwards, while Milton played Mr. Fantastic, Illuminati and equipped him with Mind Gem. He drew a card and discarded Pip the Troll. Milton thought for a bit, then flipped Negative Zone, discarding Taskmaster.

Loren declared Ethan on Mr. Fantastic, but before the attack was legal, Milton used Franklin Richards to move him to the hidden area. Loren sent his team at Milton uncontested. Now it was Milton’s turn. He sent Mr. Fantastic at Ethan Edwards, but Loren had The Devil We Know to cause them both to stun. The rest of Milton’s characters attacked Loren.

On turn 6 Milton terraformed Blue Area of the Moon, recruited Dinu, and used the ability to send Loren’s Ethan Edwards to the hidden area. Loren recruited Firelord, Harbinger of Havoc and passed. Milton flipped Extended Family and discarded a card to put a cosmic counter on Mr. Fantastic before flipping Blue Area so he could do some filtering.

Milton kicked off his attacks by sending Dewoz and Mr. Fantastic at Firelord, who stunned Dewoz. With no more visible characters, Milton declared a team attack with Captain America and Franklin Richards. Loren thought for a minute before allowing the attack, but he ultimately decided it was fine and took 7. Milton activated Negative Zone to drag Nahrees out of the hidden area and attacked him with Dinu. The attack was legal, and then Loren flipped Himalayan Enclave and moved Jolen next to Nahrees in his visible area to reinforce. This brought Loren to 1.

On turn 7 Loren played Crystal, Elementelle in his visible area and Human Torch, The Invisible Man. Milton activated The Substructure, terraformed The Kyln, and recruited Moondragon.

Loren sent Firelord into Dinu and powered-up. Milton went into the tank for a while. When he came out, he decided to pass, and Dinu became stunned. The next attack was Ethan Edwards on Moondragon. When the attack became legal, Loren played Extended Family, discarding Elemental Converters to replace Ethan’s cosmic counter and make his ATK 10. Milton used Franklin Richards to move himself to the visible area and played Extended Family, replacing his cosmic counter so he could reinforce. Loren then passed the turn over to Milton, who attacked with Dewoz and powered-up. He then crossed his fingers, hoping that Loren didn’t have anything, but Loren revealed Elemental Battle, and Milton extended the hand.

Loren Nolen defeats Milton Figueroa and makes Top 8!