This exciting quarterfinal match features two prominent figures of the Vs. System landscape. Michael Dalton of Team FTN may be the most successful player in Vs. System history. He has made Top 8 an unprecedented three times now. He is considered one of the best players in the world right now, and he certainly has the numbers to make the case.
His opponent this round is no slouch, though. Dave Spears is another member of Team FTN, and he has a pretty decent resume himself. He has put up some consistent numbers on the Pro Circuit—including two back-to-back Top 8s—but he is primarily known as one of the biggest and best personalities on the Circuit. Let it be known that Dave Spears is a fine gentleman. He even comes equipped with his own cheering section, and her name is Hope. “You’re a cog in the wheel of my life,” Dave said to her, lovingly. “What about me?” Adam Prosak asked as though he’d been insulted. “You’re like the fifth most important person in my life,” Dave assured him. “What about the kids?” Hope reminded Dave. “Oh yeah,” Dave said with surprise. Dave Spears truly is the consummate family man.
Michael won the die roll and chose the crucial even initiatives. Neither player was very happy with his starting hand, so after some mulligans, they got things underway. Turn 1 was rather moot, as both players passed. Michael got things rolling on turn 2 by playing a She-Thing, which Dave could only match with a Boris, Personal Servant of Dr. Doom. Mike sent his She-Thing into Dave’s Boris and passed the turn.
Dave’s poor luck continued, as he passed his third turn without a recruit. Michael continued his near-perfect draw with his new lady friend She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters. Like Thelma and Louise, the two ladies ran roughshod over Boris and Dave Spears, and at the end of the turn, Michael was up 50-40.
The fourth turn saw Dave start to climb out of the hole his deck had dug for him. Michael started things off with a Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius. Dave was fortunate to get back on track with one of his own. Michael sent his Doom across the line at Dave’s. Dave was ready, though, with a Doomstadt. When Michael played Savage Beatdown to ensure the stun, things looked grim for Dave. However, he had been holding two copies of Reign of Terror in reserve, and he used them to return She-Thing and She-Hulk to Michael’s hand. He then used Boris to reinforce. Suddenly, it was Dave who had the advantage. He had a Boris that Michael couldn’t match, but he still had a way to go since he was down 36-46.
During Dave’s turn, before he played his resource, he activated Boris to fetch a Signal Flare out of his deck. He then played it into his resource row. He flipped it up and snagged a Human Torch, Hothead out of his deck. Dave then played the Hothead and decided that Hothead and Doom had a Common Enemy in Michael. Michael thought for a long time on his turn before playing his resource. He had started the game in a dominating position, but those Reigns from Dave had set him back. Now he was forced to play Luke Cage, Hero for Hire and Medusa, Inhuman instead of a 5-drop.
Dave started the turn 5 attacks off by sending Doom into Luke Cage. Michael used Medusa to reinforce. That left the window open for Dave to send Human Torch into the exhausted Medusa. Fortunately, Michael had the Mystical Paralysis to prevent the attack. He ended the turn still up 44-36.
Turn 6 was Michael’s initiative, and he used it to recruit Dr. Doom, Victor Von Doom. This was slightly unfortunate for him, because it meant that he had to replace the Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius he had in play and hence didn’t increase his total character count. Dave thought for a minute before using his Doom to Mystical Paralysis Michael’s bigger Doom. He then replaced his little Doom with a big Doom of his own. “How lucky for me that he’s not teamed-up,” Dave beamed.
Michael now had a difficult combat ahead of him. He was left with a 2-drop and a 3-drop facing down Dave’s 5- and 6-drops. On top of that, Dave had lined up his Doom in front of Human Torch, and he still had the bonus from Doomstadt, making him a 13 ATK / 15 DEF. He had no choice but to pass and let Dave do his worst. Dave sent Dr. Doom into Luke Cage, who got a little bigger due to a discarded She-Thing. Then Hothead went after Medusa, and Dave ended the turn ahead for the first time 36-23.
Dave started off turn 7 with a Signal Flare to get a Thing, The Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing, who promptly fell into play. That forced Michael to put his Medusa back in his hand, thus further cementing Dave’s advantage. Michaels had a big Thing of his own, but he was a character down, and not teamed-up.
Dave sent his Doom into Michael’s Thing and used It’s Clobberin’ Time! to make his ATK exactly the same as Thing’s DEF. Michael had the Signal Flare for a power-up, though, and he forced the attack to bounce. “Greedy,” Dave squealed in a high-pitched singsong voice. After getting rejected like that, Dave decided to play it safe and send his Thing in for the kill. Michael didn’t have anything, and both of the orange guys stunned. That left the path open for Michael to swing into Human Torch with his Doom. He was, however, still behind at the end of turn, 14-20.
Michael shook his head after drawing for turn 8. “I hate having to do this,” he said as he played a Common Enemy out of his hand to burn a card. He was in real danger of losing this game if he couldn’t come up with something big, preferably a Silver Surfer. His deck was unkind, though, and all it could produce for him was a Sub-Mariner, Ally of Doom. “Now I can’t play Thing from my hand. Great,” Dave said. “You mean from your row, right?” the judge corrected him. “I knew what I meant,” Dave laughed. For his build, Dave made a Boris, Personal Servant of Doom and replaced his big Doom with a smaller Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius after using Mystical Paralysis to exhaust Michael’s Sub-Mariner.
Michael led off the turn 8 attacks with some hot Doom-on-Doom action. However, the little Doom was no match for the big guy and took one for the team. Dave chose not to reinforce, taking the full 8 and dropping to 12. Michael then played Flame Trap. “I may respond to that,” said Dave. “Yeah, I figured,” laughed Michael. “Part of my response may be the Scoopage,” Dave said glumly. After the game, Dave showed the Mystical Paralysis he had in his row. “I completely forgot to respond with this,” Dave said, “Oh well. I’m making progress. I made less mistakes than I usually make.”
Michael Dalton 1 – Dave Spears 0
Dave said, “I’m going to take evens for game 2.” “I’ve heard evens are good,” Michael replied with a hint of sarcasm. “You make me sad,” Dave yelled at his deck after drawing his opening hand. After some agonizing, Dave decided to pitch his hand back. “How lucky,” he commented after drawing his new one. Both players again passed on turn 1.
Dave managed to get the first recruit with a turn 2 She-Thing. When Michael passed, it seemed that the early momentum would go opposite from the last game. Michael led turn 3 with a Medusa, Inhuman, which got a “Yaus! She’s hot!” from Dave. All Spears could do to follow it up was play Boris, Personal Servant of Dr. Doom. Medusa beat in and, thanks to a Clobberin’ Time, was able to force a bit of damage through.
Dave was a little unhappy after drawing his cards on turn 4. “That is so not ‘paint the fence,’” Dave said, whatever that means. “We do have a plan though.” Dave played Signal Flare and went to grab an Invisible Woman, Sue Storm. “What? That’s not supposed to be in the deck,” Michael joked. “I forgot that I don’t have to play those guys. I never miss Doom.” Michael made good on his threat with a Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius, which met an improvised song and a bit of “Eye of the Tiger” from Dave.
Dave began his attacks by sending Invisible Woman into Dr. Doom. “Please pass,” Dave begged. When Michael flipped up a Doomstadt, Dave was forced to use Savage Beatdown to get through. However, Michael had another copy of Doom and forced the mutual stun. Dave was a little disappointed, but it didn’t stop him from sending his She-Thing in with the help of a little Clobberin’ Time to beat up Medusa. Dave ended the turn up 41-37.
Michael spent his recruit playing Human Torch, Hothead. Dave finally got to “paint the fence” when he played his copy of Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius. However, Michael responded with a Flame Trap, which ate Boris and She-Thing. “Michael, Michael, Michael,” Dave said with a frown. Hothead took down Invisible Woman, and Michael’s Dr. Doom got to take down his counterpart. Before recovery, Dave used a Reign of Terror to put his She-Thing and his Boris back in his hand. He also used a Faces of Doom to go get Dr. Doom, Victor Von Doom, telegraphing his next play.
On turn 6, Dave started off by playing the Dr. Doom that he had gotten last turn. While Michael was thinking about his responses, Dave decided to take a break and talk to the mass of people watching the match. “So how did you do yesterday,” he asked one of the random spectators. One of the members of the peanut gallery mentioned how much Dave was like a talk-show host as he interacted with the crowd. “Just let me know when you need me, Mike,” Dave said. When he was ready, Mike played a Hulk, New Fantastic Four and let Dave start combat.
Dave announced his Doom into Michael’s Hulk. Michael wasn’t having any of it, though, as he used Mystical Paralysis to exhaust Dave’s Doom. That left Dave with no attacks, and Michael was free to send his Human Torch, Hothead into Invisible Woman. Dave was taunting Michael a little bit as he cried, “Do me,” and, “Stick me!” Michael smiled at him and sent Hulk into Doom. Michael knew that Dave was playing System Failure and wasn’t going to fall into a trap. After all, it was his initiative next turn, and he was ahead on endurance. He left the attack as it was and ended the turn ahead 31-12.
Michael hit a bit of a late game stumble, though, as his only play on turn 8 was a Medusa, Inhuman. Dave pumped the fist because it now appeared that he may have a chance. He used Boris to get a Mystical Paralysis, which he used to shut Hulk down. He then played another Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius. He used its ability to flip down a Clobberin’ Time. That was a crucial error. He replayed Boris and used it to fetch another Mystical Paralysis, this time aimed at Hothead. Michael sent his Doom in to battle Dave’s and used a Savage Beatdown to seal the deal and end the game. If Dave had used Doom to flip down a Savage Beatdown, he could have used it on the incoming Doom and used System Failure to extend the game to another turn. Both of these players are good friends, and Michael was sorry to have won the way he did. Dave wasn’t looking for pity, though. “I made those mistakes, and you deserved to win. I may not be the best player, but I certainly can pick em’,” Dave said with a smile as he glanced at Hope. I love a story that ends well. Both players left the feature match happy, and the wheels turn for another day.
Michael Dalton wins 2-0!