We rejoin Tillman Bragg in the third round of the tournament, where he remains undefeated. Tillman has a great deal of experience in this format, having made Top 8 in the first JLA $10K a few weeks ago. Loren Nolen is no slouch himself, having earned the title at $10K Detroit. Loren won the die roll and opted to take the odd initiatives.
Both players kept their opening hands. Loren led off with Gypsy, while Tillman recruited Ted Kord ◊ Blue Beetle. Tillman immediately used Ted’s ability, discarding Scott Free ◊ Mister Miracle, Man of a Thousand Escapes to search his deck for a copy of Booster Gold. Loren attacked, hitting each player for a point of endurance. On turn 2, Tillman recruited Booster Gold in front of Ted. Loren had Maxwell Lord, discarding Rama Khan to get World’s Greatest Heroes. Tillman declared an attack of Booster Gold into Maxwell Lord. Loren had Magnificent Seven, and Tillman was forced to use Glass Jaw to take Maxwell down. Ted attacked Loren directly, and Loren had to decide whether or not to attack back with Gypsy. He chose to do just that, and both players took an additional point of endurance loss. At the end of the turn, both 1-drops were lost, and Tillman led 46–42.
Loren had the initiative on turn 3, and he recruited Zauriel behind Maxwell. He used his World’s Greatest Heroes to team up, and then he passed. Tillman simply recruited Aquaman, Arthur Curry in front of Booster. Loren’s first attack sent Zauriel into Booster; Tillman had nothing. Next, Maxwell took down Aquaman with help from Trial by Fire. Tillman flipped JLI Embassy to prevent the loss of a character, and play moved to the fourth turn.
Tillman wasted no time in leading off with Poison Ivy, Kiss of Death in the front row. Aquaman was set next to her, protecting Booster Gold. Loren contemplated his play, and eventually decided to recruit Batman, Hidden Crusader in the hidden area. Tillman began combat by attacking Maxwell with Aquaman. Loren simply reinforced. Next, Tillman attacked Poison Ivy into Zauriel. Again, Loren could do nothing. Tillman passed, and Loren sent Batman into Booster Gold. At the end of the turn, Loren lost Maxwell. But he also led in endurance, 30–28.
Turn 5 was Loren’s initiative, and he under-dropped with Ice in front of Zauriel. Before Tillman recruited, he flipped Funky’s Big Rat Code, teaming up JLI and Secret Society while putting three characters into his KO’d pile. “Some of those look like they would be better in your hand than your KO’d pile,” quipped Loren. Tillman agreed, and he flipped up a Slaughter Swamp to retrieve Valkyra, which he recruited behind Aquaman. Poison Ivy was left protecting Booster. Loren sent Zauriel into Booster Gold, and Tillman powered-up to attempt to negate the attack. Loren played another Trial by Fire in a bid to force the stun, and he succeeded. Next, Ice was sent into Poison Ivy. Loren powered-up to attempt to avoid the stun, but Tillman had Counterstrike. Finally, Batman went after Aquaman. Tillman passed, and both characters were stunned. Loren passed, having no more attacks, and Tillman’s Valkyra crushed Zauriel. As the turn closed, Tillman lost Aquaman and Booster Gold, while Loren lost Zauriel. Loren had an endurance lead of 18–13.
The sixth turn was Tillman’s best chance to win the game, and he began in fairly spectacular fashion as a Membership Drive powered out Gorilla Grodd. He was set protecting Valkyra, and Poison Ivy was left next to him in the front. “Man!” exclaimed Loren. He recruited Batman, Avatar of Justice, KO’ing the Batman he had in play. Ice was set next to Batman in the support row, and Loren passed. Tillman’s first attack sent Gorilla Grodd into Batman; Loren reinforced. Next, he sent Poison Ivy into Ice. He had a Plasma Blast to force through some additional damage, and Loren conceded.
Tillman Bragg wins!