I wanted to cover the other semifinal match, but by the time this one got started, the other one had already finished! Go ahead and blame Tim and Michael’s glacial pace of play—I sure do. Anyway, we all know Michael. Will is an Atlanta player who snuck into the Top 8 without so much as a feature match. The winner of this match, of course, advances to the finals. Michael won the die roll and selected the even initiatives.

Game 1

Both players mulliganed their openers. Will started things off with a first-turn copy of The Blight. Michael used Tamaranian Garden to search up a copy of Vic Stone ◊ Cyborg 2.0, Titans Tomorrow East and took 2 from the Army character. On turn 2, Michael recruited Ferro Lad with a Flight Ring. Will had Jazmin Cullen ◊ Kid Quantum and put both of his characters in the front row. Michael attacked Jazmin, and Will had Girls Night Out to stop the breakthrough. On turn 3, Will recruited Lashina in the support row. Michael had Holly Granger ◊ Hawk, searching out Dawn Granger ◊ Dove, Avatar of Order. He also recruited R.J. Brande. Michael set up with Ferro Lad protecting R.J. Hawk was adjacent to R.J., and Dove was set adjacent to Hawk. In combat, Jazmin traded with R.J. The Blight traded with Ferro Lad, and its ability triggered, allowing Will to look through Michael’s deck and remove a Foiled Assassination from the game. Finally, Lashina went after Holly, and Michael reinforced. In recovery, Michael had Foiled Assassination, returning R.J. to his hand to recover Ferro Lad. The Blight was KO’d in recovery. Will led, 47-41.

Turn 4 was Michael’s initiative. He recruited Vic Stone ◊ Cyborg 2.0, Titans Tomorrow East and used his remaining resource point to use the Garden to get Kid Devil, which he substituted in for Hawk. Michael passed to Will, who simply recruited Spark behind Jazmin. In combat, Michael attacked Jazmin with Ferro Lad. Next, he sent his three remaining characters into Spark. Vic traded stuns with the rest of Will’s team. In recovery, Will played Foiled Assassination to save his 3- and 4-drops. Ferro Lad was KO’d. Will led, 39-38.

Will had Brainiac 5.1 for turn 5, while Michael had Live Wire. Michael set up with Live Wire protecting Dawn and Kid Devil protecting Vic. Before declaring any attacks, Will used Brainiac’s ability. He then sent Spark into Live Wire. Michael powered-up, but Will had a power-up of his own. Lashina took down Dove, and Brainiac ran over Cyborg to close out combat. Dove and Vic were both KO’d, and Will’s lead had expanded to 35-25.

On turn 6, Michael contused with his under-drop theme by recruiting Beast Boy, Party Animal. He recruited Timber Wolf with boost, paving the way for a new Ferro Lad. Will recruited Cosmic Boy. He set up in a defensive T-formation, with Lashina at the center, and passed. In combat, Michael sent Beast Boy and Kid Devil into Spark. The attack was legal. Will used Cosmic Boy’s ability to put counters on Brainiac and Spark, and then used Brainiac’s ability to draw a card. He played Awestruck, and Michael countered with High Society. Will had another power-up, and Michael immediately conceded the game.

Will 1 – Michael 0

Game 2

Michael switched up his strategy and chose to take odds for the second game. Will mulliganed and Michael kept. Michael started things off with a first-turn Tamaranian Garden, allowing him to turn a Flight Ring into Vic Stone ◊ Cyborg 2.0, Titans Tomorrow East. Will again had The Blight. On turn 2, Will had no play whatsoever and passed. Michael recruited Timber Wolf. The characters traded stuns and The Blight triggered. Will got rid of a Generation Next. On turn 3, Michael recruited XS, Jenni Ognats with a Flight Ring. Will passed, again with no play. Michael ran over Will, leaving the endurance totals at 45-39 in Michael’s favor at the end of the turn.

On turn 4, Will recruited Spark behind The Blight. Michael had Saturn Girl, which he recruited by removing Timber Wolf’s cosmic counter. He set up with Saturn Girl protecting Timber Wolf, and passed. Will sent Spark into Saturn Girl and played Ravaged! for +1 ATK / +1 DEF. Michael reinforced and his Saturn Girl was stunned. The Blight went after Timber Wolf, but Michael had Foiled Assassination to recover Saturn Girl and get Timber Wolf off the board. Will flipped Many Worlds, removing Spark’s cosmic counter, and replaced it to draw a card. After all this, Will passed. Michael attacked the Blight with XS, and that was the turn. Michael led, 41-33.

Turn 5 was Michael’s initiative. He recruited Live Wire and passed. Will recruited Brainiac 5.1, and set up with Brainiac protecting The Blight. Michael wasted no time in sending XS into The Blight again. Will flipped Past, Present, and Future to team-up and draw, then used Brainiac’s ability to dig father into his deck. Will reinforced. Michael used XS’s ability to ready itself and declared a team attack of XS and Saturn Girl into Brainiac. The 5-drop traded with Michael’s 4-drop. Live Wire attacked Spark, and both characters stunned. In recovery, Will played Foiled Assassination to keep both his 4- and 5-drops around. In addition, he discarded Star Boy to give Brainiac another cosmic counter. Michael led, 32-15.

At the beginning of turn 6, Will used Brainiac’s ability to dig a bit deeper into his deck. He recruited Cosmic Boy in front of Spark, and then passed. Michael recruited Timber Wolf with boost, paving the way for both Ferro Lad and Karate Kid. Michael set up with Ferro Lad protecting XS, Karate Kid protecting Timber Wolf, and Live Wire adjacent to Timber Wolf in the support row. In combat, Spark stunned XS, and Michael reinforced. Brainiac attacked Live Wire, and the characters traded. Cosmic Boy attacked Timber Wolf and flipped Science Police Central for a bit of extra breakthrough. Michael had no attacks back. He had another Foiled Assassination to return Timber Wolf to his hand, recovering Live Wire. The endurance scores at the end of the turn were 10-7 in Michael’s favor.

Michael had the initiative on turn 7, and he began by going into the tank. He came out with Colossal Boy ◊ Leviathan. Will recruited Kara Zor-El ◊ Supergirl. He set up in a defensive T-formation with Spark at the center, and then passed. Michael sent XS and Karate Kid into Cosmic Boy. Will used Cosmic Boy’s ability and followed it up with Brainiac’s ability. He allowed the attack to conclude, trading Cosmic Boy for XS. Michael attacked Spark with Colossal Boy. Will used Girl’s Night Out, exhausting Brainiac to halt breakthrough. Spark was stunned. Finally, Michael team attacked Ferro Lad and Live Wire into Kara. This was more than enough to lock up the win, and Will conceded.

Will 1 – Michael 1

Game 3

Will took the odd initiatives for the last game of the semifinals. Both players mulliganed their opening hands. Will had no play on the first turn, while Michael recruited Dawn Granger ◊ Dove, Avatar of Order. On turn 2, Michael recruited Ferro Lad with Flight Ring. Will had Timber Wolf. Michael attacked in with invulnerability, then got in for another point with Dawn. On turn 3, Will recruited Kinetix. Michael played Holly Granger ◊ Hawk and Kid Devil, setting up with Dawn protecting Holly and Ferro Lad protecting Kid Devil. Timber Wolf attacked into Ferro Lad, and the characters traded stuns after Michael reinforced. Kinetix stunned Hawk with help from Science Police Central. Michael had no attacks and KO’d Hawk in recovery. Michael led, 42-38.

On turn 4, Michael under-dropped with Beast Boy, Party Animal. Will removed Kinetix’s cosmic counter to play Jazmin Cullen ◊ Kid Quantum for free, and also recruited Spark. He set up with all of his characters in the support row, in this order: Kinetix, Jazmin, Timber Wolf, Spark. Michael declared a team attack of Beast Boy, Dawn, and Kid Devil into Spark. Will removed the counter to ping Michael for a point, and Spark traded stuns with Beast Boy. Ferro Lad went after Kinetix, and the characters traded stuns after Will reinforced. In recovery, Will played Foiled Assassination, returning Timber Wolf to his hand to recover Spark. Michael lost Ferro Lad. Michael still led, 36-31.

Will had the initiative on turn 5. He played Ultra Boy and pushed his characters to the front. Michael played Live Wire and set up in a defensive T with Beast Boy at the center. In combat, Will attacked Kid Devil with Jazmin, trading stuns. Michael reinforced to stop the Science Police Central breakthrough. Kinetix ran over Dove, and Spark stunned Beast Boy. Finally, Ultra Boy traded with Live Wire after Will removed a counter for invulnerability. In recovery, Michael used Foiled Assassination to return Live Wire to his hand, recovering Beast Boy. He lost Kid Devil in the process; Will lost Jazmin. Will now had the lead, 28-18.

Turn 6 was Michael’s initiative. He boosted Timber Wolf to bring out Live Wire. Will recruited Sun Boy behind Ultra Boy and set Kinetix in front of Spark. In combat, Michael sent Timber Wolf after Kinetix. Will had Ravaged! for +1 ATK / +1 DEF, and Michael flipped High Society to force the stun. Next, Beast Boy and Dove team attacked Ultra Boy. Will removed Sun Boy’s counter for invulnerability. Finally, Michael traded Live Wire for Sun Boy. Will made the only attack available, smashing into Dove and powering-up. This was enough to bring Michael to exactly 0, locking up the game.

Will advances to the finals!