Masami Ibamoto, Japan’s biggest export since Biolante, is a two-time $10K Top 8 player and all-around nice guy. He was stuck between a rock and an extremely good-looking hard place, with Bulk Lao on his left and Matt Tatar ◊ Male Model to his right. Sitting at a table with Steve Horowitz, Colin Rodriguez, Jonas Skali, Tommy Ashton, and John Fiorillo, Ibamoto—who just went 3-0 in his first draft of the day—isn’t happy with his deck.

Although he had intended to draft a JLI Taskforce deck, he was left with early choices that forced him into a Secret Society build.

“It was a very hard draft,” he says. “I couldn’t find a Slaughter Swamp, which is key to this deck.”

The opening pack was weak, with only a Solomon Grundy, Born on Monday and a Henry King Jr. Brainwave, Sinister Psionic as cards of any merit. He opted for the Brainwave.

“He’s good,” he explained. “Everything that KO’s your own characters is good in this; I will take them every time. Also he is good with Chomin to end games.”

His prospects for any power cards dwindled as he looked at his second and third packs, opting for IQ and Poison Ivy.

“I would rather draft Justice League Task Force. I don’t like JLI that I saw,” he said. He started building up his power-up and pump options with another Poison Ivy and a Gorilla City over Ultra-Humanite and All Too Easy.

The rest of the pack saw him snag two Secret Files, a Signal Flare, and a Lair of the Mastermind.

Ibamoto shook his head at the junk he’d been given. It was mostly Secret Society with a bit of Injustice Gang. There were no 3-drops, no 6-drops, and only one 5-drop.
 
The second turn offered him the classic JLA draft dilemma—should he take the Martian Manhunter, J’onn J’onzz; the Gorilla Grodd; or the Scarecrow, Fearmonger? He settled on the little green man, whose reinforcement ability is incomparably good.

He followed that up with Hawkman ◊ Katar Hol, who he chose over an array of goodies that included a decent pump card and another Brainwave.

Still short of 3-cost and 6-cost characters, he needed to buckle down and start targeting those drops.

The next pack yielded him a Charaxes, whose powerful KO ability fit nicely into Ibamoto’s curve and outweighed the pack full of useful 4-drops that included Oliver Queen ◊ Green Arrow, Emerald Archer and Kimio Yoshi ◊ Dr. Light, Starlight Sentinel.

“I don’t think this deck can 3-0, but I want to get 2-1,” he said. “If I draw the right cards, I think I have a chance.”

A second copy of Charaxes was turned down as the next pack offered up some pirate booty; Ibamoto decided that Psycho-Pirate shivered his timbers and he added an 8-drop to his curve.
 
The fifth choice in the pack yielded the first 3-drop for Ibamoto, a David Clinton ◊ Chronos, which is the hammer against the concealed Army builds that are floating around today.
 
Two choices later, he passed up a second  David Clinton ◊ Chronos for an Atlantean Trident. “The trident is quite good,” he said, adding that at pick eight, it was nice to get anything good.

He ended the pack with a much-needed 3-drop, Queen of Fables. At this point, his curve was looking a lot nicer, though it was still lumpy: four 2-drops, two 3-drops, four 4-drops, two 5-drops, two 6-drops, two 7-drops, and an 8-drop for good measure. He was still hunting for 3-drops.

Starting off the last pack, he windmill-slammed an Aquaman, Arthur Curry, hardly looking at the rest of the pack. The second pack yielded no 3-drops, so he was forced to take another IQ.

Despite the presence of a Straight to the Grave, he chose a Poison Ivy, apparently assuming that the Straight to the Grave would come back around to him.

The next pack posed a problem—should he take his first ATK pump of the draft in the form of an Air Strike, or should he snag a much-needed 3-drop in the form of the sauciest angel, Zauriel?

Realizing the rarity of pump in the format, he opted for the former and was rewarded the next pack with a Dr. Sivana for his next pick.
 
The money, however, was in the last cards of the draft. Fourth to last he was passed an Attend or Die, second to last he received Straight to the Grave, and last he got a copy of Funeral for a Friend.

“My deck is higher costed, so if I can get to turn 8, it’s good,” he said. “The Funeral for a Friends are good cards for that reason. Plus, KO effects are good against Grodd.”

He chose an odd curve with only one card each at the 6-, 7-, and 8-drop slots and only two 5-drops. However, with the number of graveyard effects he’s running—and the superb Attend or Die on his side—he feels he can make it.

Characters
1 Chomin
3 IQ
1 Libra
1 Aquaman, Arthur Curry
1 Aquaman, King of the Seven Seas
1 Faith
1 Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman
1 Shayera Thal ◊ Hawkwoman
1 Martian Manhunter, J’onn J’onzz
1 Charaxes
1 Darkseid, Heart of Darkness
1 Dr. Sivana
2 Henry King ◊ Brainwave, Sinister Psionic
1 Manhunter Clone
2 Poison Ivy, Kiss of Death
1 Psycho-Pirate
1 Queen of Fables

Plot Twists
1 Air Strike
1 Attend or Die
1 Die for Darkseid!
1 Funeral for a Friend
1 Poisoned!
1 Resistance is Useless

Locations
1 Gorilla City
1 Lair of the Mastermind

Equipment
1 Atlantean Trident