This match pits two well-known competitors against each other in the second round of the tournament. Each of these players has a $10K victory to his name. Tim took down a Golden Age tournament, while Nick won one of the three previous North American Sealed Pack events. Nick won the die roll and chose to go first.
Nick tossed back his opening four, while Tim kept his. Nick had no play, while Tim had Sue Dibny to search for Maxwell Lord. Tim led off turn 2 with Maxwell, this time choosing not to search, and Nick had Connor Hawke ◊ Green Arrow. Predictable attacks occurred, and the turn ended with Tim ahead 48–46.
Nick had the initiative on turn 3 and recruited Queen of Fables in front of Connor. Tim had Shayera Thal ◊ Hawkwoman behind Sue and equipped her with Nth Metal. Maxwell was left next to Sue in the front row. Nick attacked his Queen into Maxwell, and Maxwell went down. Connor took out Sue, and Nick passed his attacks. Tim sent Shayera into Connor, and Nth Metal’s ability powered her up. He used Shayera’s ally power to fetch a High-Tech Flare Gun, and Connor was stunned. Tim lost Sue at the end of the turn but maintained an endurance lead of 42–40.
Tim had Henry King ◊ Brainwave in front of Shayera for his fourth turn recruit; Maxwell stayed in the front row. Nick recruited Rocket Red #4 in front of Connor, giving it +4 DEF, and chained two copies of World’s Greatest Heroes. Tim’s first attack once again sent Shayera to take out Connor. Next, Henry King went after the Queen of Fables, but Nick had a trick. A power-up and Disband the League (returning Connor) assured the mutual stun. Tim had no further attacks, and neither did Nick. “I should have chosen ATK with Rocket Red,” he lamented. Nick was falling farther behind—the score was now 38–28.
Before Nick recruited anything on the fifth turn, he played Membership Drive. He played Faith, “The Fat Lady” in his support row and recruited Connor next to her. Gypsy was recruited in the front row of the hidden area. The Queen was set in front of Faith, and Rocket Red protected Connor. Tim had John Henry Irons ◊ Steel, Steel-Drivin’ Man in the support row next to Henry King. John got the High-Tech Flare Gun, and Shayera was left protecting Henry. Tim passed his recruit, and Nick went into the tank. “Neil Reeves would know what to do here,” he said. “I wish I weren’t so incompetent.” Eventually, he sent all of his characters except for the Queen into John. This was more than enough to take him out, and Connor went down with him. Queen of Fables went after Shayera, and an activation from a newly-flipped Bizarro Ray allowed the trade. The only ready character left was Henry King, and Tim chose to send him into Faith. Nick used Disband the League, returning Connor, to power-up Faith and gain an endurance. The attack succeeded. Before recovery, Tim KO’d Shayera to Henry to hit Neil for 3. Tim had a commanding lead of 30–13.
Tim had the initiative on turn 6 with Charaxes, Killer Moth in the front row protecting Henry. It was equipped with High-Tech Flare Gun, and John was kept in the support row. Tim passed to Nick’s recruit, and he quickly played Metamorpho in front of Rocket Red. Faith was left next to Rocket Red in the support row. Before he declared his attacks, Tim played Funky’s Big Rat Code to team up JLA and Secret Society. His first attack sent John and Charaxes into Metamorpho in a team-attack. Charaxes and Metamorpho stunned. Henry went after Faith, and Nick used her to play Death Trap on Charaxes. Disband the League was used to get Faith off the board, and Rocket Red was big enough to absorb Henry’s next attack. At the end of the turn, Nick clung to a single point of endurance, while Tim was at 24.
Turn 7 was Nick’s last chance to win, and he recruited Ultra-Humanite with Quadromobile in the front row. Rocket Red was set behind Ultra-Humanite, and Metamorpho was set beside him. Tim recruited The Joker, Headline Stealer in front of Dr. Sivana and left John in front of Henry beside them. Nick went deep into the tank for this, his final attack step. His first attack set Rocket Red into Henry. Ultra-Humanite’s ability gave Rocket Red +4 ATK, and Tim reinforced. Before the stun, Tim KO’d Dr. Sivana to hit Nick for 3. Ultra-Humanite took down John, then Metamorpho ran over the Joker . . . and Nick had somehow pulled out the game!
Nick Little wins!