You might remember Maximilien as a Top 8 finisher at the recent $10K Hamilton. He drove all the way from Quebec to attend this event. Daniel is from nearby Greenfield, Massachusetts. Maximilien won the die roll and selected the even initiatives. Both players kept their openers.
Daniel began with a first turn Optitron, discarding Red Star for Tim Drake ◊ Robin, Young Detective. Maximilien recruited Boris, Personal Servant of Dr. Doom, and got in for a point. On turn 2, Maximilien recruited Leech in front of Boris. Daniel had Tim Drake. Maximilien passed on his attack, and Daniel took down Leech with some help from Tamaran.
Daniel had a boosted Dawn Granger ◊ Dove for the third turn. Hank Hall ◊ Hawk entered play, and Daniel pushed his team to the front. Maximilien missed his recruit completely and set both of his characters in the support row. Daniel declared a team attack into Leech; Maximilien simply evaded. Hank went after Boris, and Dove was exhausted for Removed from Continuity. Daniel had the chance to look through Maximilien’s deck, finding no additional copies of Boris but revealing Maximilien to be playing a Gloom deck. Tim Drake was exhausted for another Removed from Continuity to get Leech out of the picture, and that was the turn.
On turn 4, Maximilien recruited Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius—flipping nothing—and passed. Daniel used Slaughter Swamp to return Red Star to his hand. He recruited the 4-drop behind Hank Hall, and then passed. Maximilien played a previously-revealed Reign of Terror to bounce Tim and Dove, then attacked Hank with Doom. Daniel attacked back with a powered-up Red Star, and neither player had additional effects. At this point, Daniel led 42-36.
Daniel used Optitron to begin turn 5, fetching Garth ◊ Tempest. He played Terra from his hand and passed. Maximilien under-dropped with Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern. The Catcher’s Mitt he picked up was recruited to Doom. Black Hand came into play for Maximilien, and he left his remaining resource point unspent. After setting up with Kyle protecting Doom, Maximilien passed. Daniel went into the tank, then declared Hank Hall into Kyle Rayner. Both characters stunned. Daniel activated Terra to stun Black Hand, and Maximilien responded with Home Surgery on Kyle. Red Star attacked Kyle with a power-up, and the 2-drop was stunned once again. With no more ready characters, Daniel passed. In recovery, Maximilien played another Home Surgery to recover Black Hand. He gained a point, bringing the endurance totals to 40-31 in Daniel’s favor.
Maximilien had the initiative on turn 6, and his only play was a new Kyle Rayner to replace the one he already had in play. Kyle fetched Breaking Ground. Maximilien kept the same formation as the previous turn, and passed. Daniel recruited Garth and Dove. He set up with Dove in front of Red Star and Hawk in front of Terra. Daniel passed to Maximilien, who sent Doom into Dove. Daniel responded by using Terra to stun Black Hand. Maximilien responded to this by flipping Rain of Acorns and exhausting Garth. Daniel allowed it; the 5-drop was exhausted as Black Hand stunned. Still before the attack was legal, Daniel played Betrayal. Maximilien responded by flipping Crisis on Infinite Earths, negating it. Finally, the attack was legal, and Dove went down. Kyle used Rain of Acorns to exhaust Red Star, and Maximilien passed. Daniel attacked Kyle with Hawk and a power-up. Kyle stunned. Next, Press the Attack readied Garth, who stunned Doom. Finally, Daniel paid 3 to return the Press, readied Garth, and played a third Removed from Continuity to get rid of Doom. Daniel led, 31-25.
On turn 7, Daniel hit his drops and Maximilien conceded.