The man. The myth. The legend. THE Josh Wiitanen. Playing in his record ninth $10K Top 8, Josh is looking to win his second trophy. In fact, Josh has proclaimed that his single trophy is getting quite lonely these days. In his way is the pride of Arizona, Phimus Pan. After dispatching the last Good Guys deck in the tournament in the quarterfinals, Phimus is looking to take down one of the giants of Vs. System in a Checkmate / Villains United mirror match.
Game 1
Josh won the roll and chose evens. Both players kept their opening hands. Phimus recruited a quick Connie Webb and got in for 1 when Josh had no recruit.
End of turn 1: Josh 49 - Phimus 50
To kick off turn 2, Josh used Brother I Satellite to fetch Sarge Steel, while Phimus had his Talia, Beloved Betrayer. After Josh attacked with Sarge Steel into Talia for the mutual stun, Phimus got back at Josh for a point.
End of turn 2: Josh 46 - Phimus 50
Phimus had the initiative on turn 3 and used Brother I Satellite to fetch Ahmed Samsarra, playing him in the hidden area and passing to Josh, who didn’t need a Brother I Satellite to find his Ahmed. Mirroring last turn, Phimus sent Talia into Sarge Steel for the mutual stun, sent Connie Webb in for a point, and then sent Ahmed direct with a Brother Eye pump. Josh merely replaced his Brother I Satellite with a Dr. Fate’s Tower via Ahmed Samsarra, and play moved onto turn 4.
End of turn 3: Josh 35 - Phimus 46
Uncharacteristically, both Josh and Phimus were quiet and focused on the match. While both are quite chatty, entertaining people, both wanted to stay at the top of their game.
On turn 4, Josh started his build by flipping up his Dr. Fate’s Tower, discarding a Checkmate Safe House to find an Amulet of Nabu. Ahmed Samsarra was activated to find another copy of Dr. Fate’s Tower, which found a Helm of Nabu. Both Fate Artifacts were equipped to Sarge Steel, and Josh apparently found a Bizarro, ME AM BIZARRO #1 in the top two cards, as Bizarro was quickly recruited and the Amulet and Helm were transferred to him. During his build step, Phimus took quite a bit less time to recruit his own copy of Bizarro, as he didn’t have to dig for it. Talia was placed in front of Bizarro, and Josh took some time to mull over his attacks.
Finally, he sent his 14 ATK / 9 DEF Bizarro into Phimus’s 11 ATK / 7 DEF Bizarro and passed. Phimus teamed-up with Checkmate Safe House, activated, and then passed back. Josh allowed Sarge Steel to take the stun, and Phimus took 10 while Josh gained 2 endurance overall, courtesy of Phimus’s Bizarro. Phimus took this opportunity to send his Talia back into Bizarro with a Target Acquired (exhausting Brother I Satellite) and a Brother Eye activation, Bringing Talia to 9 ATK. Josh flipped Checkmate Safe House and activated it to bring his Bizarro to 10 DEF, but Phimus had the power-up for Talia to secure the stun. Talia protected herself, although Ahmed activated to find a The Science Spire, returning Talia to his hand.
End of turn 4: Josh 33 - Phimus 38
Phimus made the most of his initiative by playing Maxwell Lord, Black King, while Josh played with his own Maxwell Lord. A mirror match, indeed. Quickly moving to the attack step, Phimus discarded Slaughter Swamp to his own Maxwell Lord’s ability, targeting the opposing Maxwell Lord. Josh went into the tank to think about his responses. If he let Phimus’s ability resolve, he would be unable to use his own Maxwell Lord later in the turn. However, Josh might have had a critical location in his hand he didn’t want to discard unless he absolutely needed to. In the end, Josh passed and Phimus was free to declare his attacks.
Phimus showed his characteristic aggressive Ahmed usage by attacking Bizarro with Ahmed and activating Brother Eye for 3. Neither player had effects, and Josh took 6 endurance while Phimus gained 1 endurance. Phimus’s next attack was Bizarro on the stripped-down Maxwell Lord. He played Knightmare Scenario on Bizarro to get over Max’s 12 DEF. Josh took 2 and Phimus took 4. Finally, Phimus sent his own Maxwell direct into Josh for 10. Josh activated his Ahmed Samsarra, fetching The Science Spire, which he used to return his Bizarro. Phimus also used his Science Spire, returning his Ahmed. Phimus was left with Bizarro and Maxwell, while Josh had Maxwell Lord, Black King equipped with Amulet of Nabu and Helm of Nabu, and an Ahmed.
End of turn 5: Josh 15 - Phimus 35
Josh quickly played Alexander Luthor, Diabolical Double and transferred his Fate Artifacts to him. Phimus also played Alexander Luthor, Diabolical Double, equipping an Amulet of Nabu to him. Wanting to protect his Alexander Luthor, Phimus mulled over the various formations, finally settling on Bizarro in front of Alexander Luthor, with Maxwell Lord flanking the Diabolical Double in the support row.
Josh went into the tank, doing his trademark math that takes up the entire score pad.
“I’m pretty sure you just wrote random numbers down; they don’t mean anything,” said Phimus.
“Maybe.”
Josh sent his Alexander Luthor into Phimus’s Maxwell Lord and passed. Phimus used his Maxwell Lord, Black King, stripping Josh’s Maxwell of its affiliations and abilities. Josh responded by using his Maxwell to strip the affiliations and the abilities of Phimus’s Bizarro’s “abilities.” Phimus activated his Checkmate Safe House, and Josh added more to the chain. First, Brother I Satellite was flipped to find Deathstroke the Terminator, Ultimate Assassin, and then Brother Eye was flipped and activated to give Alexander Luthor +5 ATK, bringing Luthor to a monstrous 19 ATK / 16 DEF. Phimus passed and lost 13 endurance. The teamless Maxwell Lord was then declared into the teamless Bizarro. After both players passed, Josh was left with 14 endurance and Phimus was left with 15 endurance and a ready 12 ATK / 15 DEF Alexander Luthor. After some deliberation, Phimus returned his Maxwell Lord with The Science Spire.
Meanwhile in the Mile High City, Alex Smith won his match, receiving the weakest high five in the history of Vs. from his teammate Josh Wiitanen.
Phimus declared no attacks, but exhausted his Luthor to remove Jaime Reyes ◊ Blue Beetle, fetching a Cloak of Nabu. Josh used his Ahmed, replacing Brother I Satellite with a face-down Brother Eye. Josh had Ahmed, Maxwell Lord, and Alexander Luthor (with Helm and Amulet) while Phimus had Bizarro and Alexander Luthor (with Amulet of Nabu).
End of turn 6: Josh 14 - Phimus 15. Phimus played a seventh resource, revealing it as Brother I Satellite. He deliberated for a moment over who he wanted to find. He finally settled on Annihilation Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot and boosted it. He played Cloak of Nabu on his Annihilation Protocol and passed to Josh. Instead of playing the Deathstroke he searched out on the previous turn, Josh played Sasha Bordeaux, Autonomous Prototype. Josh formed with Maxwell Lord in front of Alexander Luthor (with Fate artifacts), and Sasha flanking Alex Luthor in the support row. Josh chose to use the ability on Sasha Bordeaux, giving his team +2 ATK / +2 DEF and locking him out of plot twist use.
Phimus attempted to send Bizarro into Maxwell Lord, and once the attack was legal, he powered-up his Bizarro. Maxwell Lord stripped the affiliations off Phimus’s Alexander Luthor, and Phimus activated Brother Eye for 4. Josh dropped to 9 while Phimus fell to 11. Phimus then activated The Science Spire, returning Bizarro. His next attack was Annihilation Protocol into Sasha Bordeaux, with a Target Acquired (exhausting Brother I Satellite and Checkmate Safe House) bringing the Robot to 19ATK / 14DEF. Josh fell to 0 endurance with Phimus at 6. Josh was able to attack back with his Alexander Luthor, and a double Brother Eye activation ended game 1.
Josh Wiitanen wins game one!
Game 2
Phimus took odds for game 2, and both players passed on turn 1. Josh had a monster turn 2, playing Dr. Psycho, Mental Giant; flipping Dr. Fate’s Tower; and finding and playing Amulet of Nabu on his Dr. Psycho, who was joined shortly by Cloak of Nabu and Helm of Nabu.
“I think Dr, Psycho’s flavor text should be changed to, “Must be nice,” said Josh.
Phimus had an excellent turn 2 as well. He played Talia, Beloved Betrayer; exhausted her to use Jaime Reyes ◊ Blue Beetle; and then found and played Cloak of Nabu and Amulet of Nabu on his Talia. The monster 2-drops traded before moving to the next turn.
End of turn 2: Josh 48 - Phimus 46
On turn 3, Phimus missed his crucial Ahmed, playing Christopher Smith ◊ Peacemaker in the concealed area instead. Josh had the Brother I Satellite, although he only had one character to discard. Therefore, Josh had to search out his Peacemaker instead of the deadly Ahmed due to the King’s loyalty—reveal. Phimus used his Christopher Smith ◊ Peacemaker, targeting his Talia, then sent Talia into his opponent’s Fated up Christopher Smith. However, Phimus made a huge blunder by not realizing that his Talia wasn’t a Checkmate character, so his Brother Eye didn’t work. Phimus stunned his Talia, then took 12 direct from Josh’s Christopher Smith with a Brother Eye boost for 3.
End of turn 3: Josh 48 - Phimus 32
“We need a 4-drop,” pleaded Josh to his deck at the start of turn 4. The top two cards rewarded him with a copy of Elimination Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, and an activation of Dr. Fate’s Tower made him 11 ATK / 11 DEF with the addition of the Artifacts. Josh also used Christopher Smith ◊ Peacemaker’s backup ability on his robot. During his recruit, Phimus played Bizarro, ME AM BIZARRO #1 and Helm of Nabu, and then transferred all of his equipment to Bizarro. Josh sent his robot into Phimus’s Bizarro, and a Brother Eye activation boosted it another +3 ATK. Phimus allowed the stun, and his Peacemaker also stunned due to Josh’s backup effect. Dr. Psycho finished with an attack on Talia. However, Talia ensured that his Christopher Smith would stick around stunned.
End of turn 4: Josh 46 - Phimus 20
Given that neither player had the help of Ahmed Samsarra, the normally consistent decks were lacking at this point. This showed when Phimus recruited nothing and Josh merely had another 4-drop, Fatality, Flawless Victory. Phimus attacked Josh’s Christopher Smith ◊ Peacemaker with his Bizarro. The Elimination Protocol reinforced, and poor Christopher was KO’d due to Fatality. Josh decided to attack back with his 11 ATK / 11 DEF Fatality, and Phimus flipped Checkmate Safe House (using the stunned Christopher Smith to crossover Checkmate and Villains United). Josh had to use a Knightmare Scenario for a mere +1 ATK / +1 DEF to secure the stun.
End of turn 5: Josh 43 - Phimus 16
Josh had Elimination Protocol and Talia to help his cause, while Phimus played a very large Alexander Luthor, Diabolical Double and drew a pair of cards. Josh flipped Checkmate Safe House and team attacked the 15 ATK / 11 DEF Bizarro with Talia and one of his Elimination Protocols. A Brother Eye activation for 4 secured the stun for Josh. Before his next attack, Josh recovered his stunned Elimination Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot with the other one, KO’ing his Talia. His ready Elimination Protocol and Fatality teamed-up to take down Alexander Luthor. Phimus recovered his Bizarro and play moved on to turn 7.
End of turn 6: Josh 39 - Phimus 6
Phimus, unable to fetch his Sasha Bordeaux, Autonomous Prototype with Brother I Satellite because Sasha was already in the KO’d pile, boosted Annihilation Protocol for the second straight game on turn 7. When Josh played his Sasha Bordeaux, Phimus promptly conceded.
Josh Wiitanen wins 2-0 and moves to the finals in his quest for a second $10K championship!