We just reached the middle of the Marvel Knights draft rounds and we thought it might be a good time to check out how two of remaining Americans were faring out. With the rush of the draft now pass them, would jet lag crawl back into action?

Greco sent his first hand back and opened the game with turn 2 Steel Wind, while Dalton came out with turn 3 Brother Voodoo. Vincent had no 3-drop, so he settled for Mr. Hyde. They traded blows and Quick Kill sent Mr. Hyde away before his buddy Cobra had a chance to show up.

Again, Vincent missed his drop, settling for Deathstalker on turn four. Dalton pondered his play and dropped Anton Hellgate. Deathstalker tried to take down Brother Voodoo, but Michael had another one (the third of the game) to save it.

“That’s triple Brother Voodoo!” complained Greco.

Dalton’s duo struck back, and Greco ended the turn with only his Deathstalker. Dalton would not relent and unleashed a juicy (especially in draft) Iron Fist, Living Weapon on turn 5. Vincent was falling way too far behind, so he had to make something happen quickly.

He figured it was time for desperate measures and dropped his own Anton Hellgate with three counters. Iron Fist traded with Vincent’s Anton Hellgate, and the rest of Dalton’s crew brought Greco down to 18. Michael was still at a very healthy 41.

Finally, Greco hit his drop—turn 6, Blackheart. Dalton kept pace with one of my all-time favorite rampaging lunatics: Nuke. He’s second only to Gary Wise, really.

Blackheart, with the help of some Black Magic, went after Nuke, and Greco’s other two characters managed to stun Dalton’s fiends without getting stunned. Dalton’s Anton Hellgate struck back to stun Deathstalker.

Michael used Penance Stare to leave Greco at a very dangerous endurance total: 1. That meant Vincent Greco had one more turn, without the initiative, to make up for the 24-endurance difference.

Dalton had no turn 7 drop, so he settled on dropping three smaller characters. Greco had Nightmare, Dark Lord of Dreams and The Darkhold to equip on his Anton Hellgate. That was clearly not enough.

Methodically, Michael Dalton worked his way through his attack step until Vincent Greco reached negative endurance. He had missed too many “full” drops earlier on, and by the time he caught up, it was too late. He conceded.

Result: Michael Dalton wins.