Michael Pittman is the Pro Tournament Organizer of Canberra and is yet another, rabid Arkham fan (is there any other kind?!). Sporting a classy Bizarro T-shirt, the former Metagame writer and professional editor is 5-0 with a JSA/Villains United deck going into round 6. He comments that he has been very lucky all day, explaining that he was able to win a seemingly hopeless game by KO’ing Samsarra for the win on turn 4!
As for Alex, his previewed deck won its first round nicely and it should prove interesting to see how it is performing first hand here at the feature table.
After 7 (!) mirrors of Rock/Scissor/Paper, Alex’s paper finally beat Michael's Rock and won him the odd initiative.
Turn 1
Alex had no recruit, but a timely Aspiring Pawn, Army came out for Michael. In sharp style, the Pawn attacked and gained a counter, taking Alex down to 49.
Endurance
Michael:50
Alex:49
Turn 2
Chay-Ara ◊ Hawkgirl came out for Michael. "Bit of a waste," commented Michael as he flipped Thanagarian Invasion and used its ongoing ability to turn Chay-Ara into 5 ATK/1 DEF. Weather Wizard came down for Alex and both players moved to combat.
Chay-Ara attacked into the Wizard and both players passed. The Pawn then swung in directly and become an impressive 3 ATK/3 DEF.
Endurance
Michael: 49
Alex: 43
Turn 3
Alex had an under-drop of his own in the form of Prince Khufu ◊ Hawkman. Liking Michael’s style, he used Thanagarian invasion to make the Wizard a 5 ATK/3 DEF for the turn. Remarkably, Michael had to under-drop with a Prince of his own prompting him, too, to use Invasion and make Chay-Ara a 5 ATK/2 DEF. "You played that really well," commented Alex, who realised that he had very few attack options.
The Wizard attacked Chay-Ara and became a 6 ATK/3 DEF. They both traded and then Wizard gave Alex's Prince +1ATK/+1DEF. The Prince swung into Michael's prince for 5 and both characters traded. The aspiring pawn became a ridiculous 4 ATK/4 DEF as he attacked directly once more. Alex recovered the Wizard and Michael chose to keep his Prince.
Endurance
Michael:38
Alex:36
Turn 4
Michael recruited Ted Grant ◊ Wildcat in the back row and then used a resource point to give the Prince another +3 ATK. The Pawn received a Laser Watch (to become an incredible 6 ATK/4 DEF), and Michael exhausted Thanagar to draw a card in the process. Alex recruited Bizarro, ME AM BIZARRO #1 with an Amulet of Nabu in the front row and passed his recruit.
The Little Prince attacked Bizarro and a very timely copy of I Still Hate Magic! meant that the 4-drop went down in slick style. Michael effectively gained 2 from Bizarro and then declared the Pawn into Weather Wizard. Realizing that he had left Ted Grant in the back row, Michael was unable to attack directly — with Michael commenting that he had meant the Laser Watch for Ted and changed his mind at the last moment.
Endurance
Michael:40
Alex: 26
Turn 5
Alex recruited a copy of Annihilation Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, Army who received a Laser Watch (sans card draw) and was recruited in front of Bizarro.
Michael elected to under-drop in the form of a Bizarro of his own and then used his final resource point to recruit Surveillance Pawn, Army who was promptly activated to spread +1 ATK across his board. The OMAC attacked an open Ted Grant and Michael simply used Thanagar and took the 10. Villains United and JSA were teamed up via Justice United ("Before I forget to do it again!" commented Michael).
Bizarro attacked Michael's Bizarro and both characters traded stuns. With a huge 6 ATK/4 DEF Pawn (who doesn’t get the bonus from the Surveillance Pawn, incidentally) and a 4 ATK/2 DEF Prince still available to attack, Michael got a bargain team attack when Alex's 5-drop went down without a fight, trading with the Pawn. No Mercy ensured that Bizarro wasn’t coming back, whether Alex liked it or not, and so Michael's Bizarro and Alex’s OMAC were recovered.
Endurance
Michael: 24
Alex: 21
Turn 6
Power Girl, Earth 2 came down for Michael, and he activated his copy of the Pawn once more. Superman, Earth 2 came out to join Alex’s OMAC, and both players passed.
Power Girl attacked into the Annihilation Protocol, and Thanagar tried to prevent a trade by Michael. Alex was really out of options and with no Team-Up he simply had to take the 10. The Prince and Bizarro them teamed attacked into Superman and Alex traded with Bizarro to make the best of a bad situation. Bizarro and Supes were recovered and play moved to turn 7.
Endurance
Michael: 20
Alex: 19
Turn 7
Black Adam, Ruthless Hero came out on Alex’s side of the board in front of Superman, while a concealed The Calculator, Crime Broker came out for Michael — practically ensuring that this game wasn't going to see an 8th turn.
Black Adam realized a hole in Michael’s formation and flew over to attack a lonely, back row Bizarro. Commenting that it was unlikely that Michael had both a copy of Defend Yourself! and a way to exhaust Bizarro, Alex found the attack to be low risk. He was right, and Michael was forced to take a whopping 13.
"Heh. I was talking so much about strategy before in the Sealed Pack clinic . . . none of it is here!" exclaimed Alex. A 15 ATK/12 DEF Superman then attacked the Prince and, after some quick math, Michael passed. At the end of the attack the scores looked like this:
-6 to michael.
13 to alex.
With Power Girl and The Calculator still readied for Michael it was all a matter of maths from here on out. Power Girl attacked into Black Adam, and Thanagar ensured that Power Girl wasn’t going to trade. Black Adam went down whilst Michael's Power Girl remained unscathed. Calc burned for 4 discarding two Villains United cards and then attacked into Superman. Alex looked at his board and realized that he simply had no way to trade. He looked at The Science Spire in his row and realized the error of not teaming up on turn 5. With so few cards left and a game-breaking copy of Advance Warning still sitting in his deck, Alex realised that he no longer had any way out and had to accept the stun.
With the final scores at -6 and -8, both players began to discuss how seemingly incidental mistakes had become so monumental.
Michael Pittman takes down Alex Antonios and is 6-0 going into round 7!