Neither player had a recruit on turn 1. Etzel was the first with a play, in the form of a turn 2 Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern, which fetched Lanterns in Love. Vincent did not have a recruit and took his 2.

As it went to turn 3, Ian bemoaned his luck. “I’ve had my optimal 2- and 3- drops all day, but as soon as I step into the feature match area . . .” He did not need to finish his sentence. Etzel played Enemy of My Enemy to fetch Dr. Light, Master of Holograms and then brought back the Olapet he had discarded.

DT had Talia, Beloved Betrayer and a Knight Armor for her, and passed. Rain of Acorns more or less ended the turn, and it was on to turn 4. Ian had Fatality, Flawless Victory, which seemed pretty good, but it was a little outclassed by Etzel’s board, especially when Hawkeye, Clinton Barton entered the fray. With Book of Oa smoothing his draws, Etzel couldn’t help but have gas, while Vincent had a thoroughly wretched grip of cards.

Fatality tried it on in a fight with Dr. Light, but ended up staring down two copies of Helping Hand from Etzel, who also had a G’Nort, thanks to Dr Light—bad times for the Englishman.

When given the option to crack back the following turn, Etzel simply played Katma Tui and let Ian play Annihilation Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, who was exhausted by Rain of Acorns along with Fatality. Alex gained some endurance, and it was on to turn 6.

Vincent flipped a Brother I Satellite to fetch Huntress, Reluctant Queen, discarding the Ahmed Samsarra he had really needed on turn 3. He gave a chuckle as Etzel read it. “It does nothing while it’s in play,” he remarked with the smile of someone who could feel the game slipping away.

“You aren’t going to miss your 6-drop are you at all?” asked Vincent, looking for outs. Etzel flashed Enemy of My Enemy with a cheeky grin.

He fetched Gorilla Grodd, discarding Black Hand, and got them both into play with a little help from Dr Light. Ian slumped a little in his chair.

DT began his attack step with Mikado and Mosha taking G’Nort out of the game, thanks to Fatality. Huntress then went for Gorilla Grodd with a Knightmare Scenario. A Helping Hand forced another Knightmare Scenario, at which point Etzel tried to take Fatality with his Gorilla. No dice though, as The Science Spire returned Fatality to Etzel’s hand.

The endurance was 53 to 46 in Etzel’s favour, and even after the OMAC Robots beat up Black Hand to take Alex to 43, it looked unlikely that Ian was anywhere close to getting in control. Lanterns in Love recovered Black Hand to put Alex up to 54 endurance, and on turn 7, he used Enemy of My Enemy to find Madame Xanadu. Vincent cottoned on immediately. Enemy of My Enemy number two found Captain Marvel, Champion of Magic, and a Conjuration was enough to end the game.

All Ian could do was shrug. He flicked through his deck and flashed an Asmodeus with a sigh. “Tim Willoughby came up with this bit of tech. He is a master.”

Alex Etzel wins!