Game One

Both players kept their opening hands, and Wijaya won the initiative for turn 1. Both players passed on turn 1, though Wijaya popped a Surprise Attack. Tim Drake came down on Wiitanen’s side and Toad on Wijaya’s side, and after a minor tangle they moved to turn 3.

“This card is broken against you by the way, just so you know—it’s gonna win me the game.” Wiitanen held up one card from his hand, not revealing it to Wijaya.

Wijaya recruited Rogue, Anna Raven and Wiitanen recruited Dove with boost, and formed up with everyone in front. By the end of combat, Wijaya was left with nothing but Rogue on the field, while Wiitanen seemed happy with his Hawk and Dove.

Wiitanen opened turned 4 by activating Argus- he Argus’d straight into Terra. “Oh yeah . . . I’m not even gonna look at the other three, cause it don’t matter!” Wiitanen’s already-fast play seemed to pick up even more speed. He recruited Terra and passed the initiative to Wijaya. “Whatever you’re playing, I’m responding with Betrayal,” grinned Wiitanen—the card was obviously useless.

Wijaya recruited Sabretooth, Feral Rage and formed up with Rogue protecting him. Wiitanen entered his combat phase, activated Terra to take out Rogue, and then team attacked with Dove and Hawk. A Tamaran powered up Dove, Hawk stunned, and Wijaya lost Rogue. The endurance totals were close, 38-36 in favor of Wiitanen.

“Hold on a sec, I’m gonna look at my resource row,” joked Wijaya as the pace of the game dropped to a crawl.

“My resource row is so bad,” laughed Wiitannen. Wijaya recruited Magneto, Eric Lehnsherr, and was matched by Garth ◊ Tempest on Wiitanen’s side of the board. Wijaya formed up with Magneto behind Sabretooth, and Wiitanen made the gutsy formation of Hawk and Garth in front, protecting Dove and Terra respectively.

Magneto exhausted Terra, and then swung in on Dove with a Savage Land for a total of 14 ATK. “Are you passing?” asked Wiitanen. Getting the affirmative, Wiitanen played Savage Beatdown on Magneto and Overloaded him.

But that wasn’t all for Wijaya. He responded by flipping and activating Genosha. He then flipped Not So Fast from his resource row, prompting Wiitanen to Garth for the Overload and play it again. A second Not So Fast was played from Wijaya’s hand, and Wiitanen conceded the war after looking at his options. However, he won a small battle in the form of Heroic Sacrifice to prevent the breakthrough. Hawk stunned instead of Dove, and Dove was immediately pounded by Sabretooth. Wiitanen lost Dove, and play moved to turn 6.

Wijaya was holding on and curving, but he wasn’t where he wanted to ideally be. Wiitanen didn’t seem pleased with his own position either. If he couldn’t play a 6-drop, he could have been in trouble—while if he could, he’d at least survive. His ideal out, Tim Drake and Red Star, didn’t seem like it was going to happen and that impression was reinforced as he used Optitron for Tim. Still, his other three resource points hit the field in a big way. While Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal wasn’t the ideal play, it would certainly protect his venture into a late game that he could likely handle better than Wijaya. He formed up with Terra, Garth, and Roy in the back row, with Terra protected by Tim and Hawk protecting Garth—Wiitanen was telegraphing offense.

While the first five turns of the game blazed, this one was far slower. As play moved to Wijaya’s build phase, he took long hard looks at the field, his resource row, and his hand before even selecting a resource. He settled on recruiting Lorelei, Avalanche, and Toad, forming up with Toad and Sabretooth protecting Lorelei and Magneto, with Avalanche out to the side beside Magneto. He scribbled some numbers that he shielded from Wiitanen, and Wiitanen struggled to see. “I was hoping that like, maybe whatever you wrote would help. Or maybe you were writing, like, J heart V, or something . . . ”

Tim Drake swung into Avalanche, and took him out with a power-up, which was a telling play that seemed to communicate the lack of a Teen Titans Go! He then activated Terra’s effect to take out Lorelei, and Garth swung into Toad. Wijaya activated two copies of The Mutant Menace, but the attack was legal and it dropped Wijaya to 13 endurance. Wiitanen was playing it smart, whittling away at Wijaya and knowing he could own the late game if he played carefully. Garth brought up Savage Beatdown and Roy Harper used it to fuel an attack on Sabretooth. Wijaya didn’t reinforce with Magneto, apparently hoping to press an offensive. That would be cut short though, as Press The Attack readied Garth and Garth and Hawk stunned Magneto. At the end of the turn, it was a lone Magneto against Terra, Tim Drake, Garth, and Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal. With the endurance totals sitting at 14 to 5 in Wiitanen’s favor, it looked like he had the first game in the bag.

Wijaya clearly knew he had to wreck Wiitanen on this turn. He recruited last turn’s bounced Toad and another Sabretooth, Feral Rage, and pushed everything to the front row. Wiitanen activated Optitron, and waited to see if Wijaya had a Global Domination. “No? So lucky!” He ended up recruiting Dove and Hawk with boost, as well as another copy of Tim Drake. Tim and Dove exhausted to pump up Arsenal, and Arsenal took a shot at Magneto. Garth brought back Press The Attack, everything exhausted to pump up Roy, Press The Attack readied him, and Wiitanen looked Wiajaya dead in the eye.

“I’ll Betrayal you.” He flipped it from his resource row and paused. He then sacked it for the final shot from Roy Harper, and that was game one!

“Yes, I told you Betrayal would win me this match . . . can I side these out now?”

Josh Wiitanen 1, Vidi Wijaya 0

Game Two

Wijaya shook his head at his opening hand and immediately took a mulligan. Wiitanen did the same. Wijaya again missed a 1-drop, but Avalanche was fuelled by a The New Brotherhood on turn 2 for a direct swing.

Wiitanen recruited Dove with boost to open turn 3. “So, out of interest, if I showed you four Overloads would you concede?”

Wiitanen laughed. “Show me five.”

Wijaya grinned. “What if I show you four and a Betrayal?” Wijaya smirked, amused. He had no recruit, but swung into Dove with Avalanche. The New Brotherhood and Savage Land bumped up his attack, and after Hawk attacked directly the score was 40 to 44.

Wiitanen drew for turn 4 and activated Argus. He again Argus’d straight into Terra and recruited her. Wijaya was drawing hard – he played his fourth resource, popped a Genosha and recruited Sabretooth, Feral Rage. Terra activated to take out Avalanche, Hawk swung with a Savage Beatdown into Sabretooth, and Dove poked Wijaya for two. The endurance totals were 38 to 34 in Wiitanen’s favor.

Wijaya considered his hand carefully. “You’re not going to Genosha again, are you?” wisecracked his opponent. Wijaya had nothing. He recruited Toad, pushed him to the front alongside Sabretooth, and passed. Wiitanen recruited Garth, formed up with Hawk and Terra protecting Garth and Dove respectively, and passed. Wijaya smiled, but shook his head—it just wasn’t happening. Toad attacked into Terra and Savage Land gave him the ATK pump he needed. Wiitanen played Overload. Wijaya played Not So Fast in response, Garth brought back the Overload, and it was again added to the chain. A second Not So Fast flipped from Wijaya’s resource row, but yet another Overload flipped from Wiitanen’s. Wijaya smiled, played two Savage Beatdown on Toad, popped another Genosha, looked at the cards he drew with what was almost disinterest, and offered Wiitanen the handshake.

“I drew nothing!” he lamented, still smiling. “Sorry about that, man.” Wiitanen was sincere, and both players walked off discussing future tournament plans together. Despite possibly the worst draw a The New Brotherhood deck has ever seen, Wiajaya showed that he had a lot of class.

Josh Wiitanen 2, Vidi Wijaya 0