Smilin’ Dave Spears is a veteran’s veteran: he plays, builds, writes, and loves the game. Michael Jacob is a fellow $10K Top 8 finisher who’s finished higher up in the standings on a consistent basis. Their pitting of Curve Sentinels against Mutant Nation should be explosive.
Game 1
On turn 1, Dave won the initiative but failed to play Boliver Trask, his only 1-drop. Michael played Longshot and activated it, naming Wolverine and Avalon Space Station and missing; this became a pattern as Longshot missed for three turns in a row. On turn 3, Jacob played Wolverine, Logan, to which Dave responded with Total Anarchy and Sentinel Mark II. Its big brother, the Mark V, came out on turn 4 with the endurance totals 44–50 in Michael’s favor. The Mark II attacked Longshot, which Jacob allowed to be KO’d, and then the Mark V attacked the 6 ATK/6 DEF Wolverine. Michael powered up, and so did Dave, but Jacob had yet another power-up coming, forcing Dave to use Savage Beatdown. Wolverine finally went away.
Michael’s Quicksilver, Speed Demon was met by Nimrod, and attacked the Mark V. Dave powered-up, but Michael had Lost City waiting, pumping his Quicksilver to 11 ATK/11 DEF. Dave used Cover Fire to force the bounce. With the endurance totals at 36–32 in Dave’s favor, Bastion came into play, a fact Jacob lamented as he could only muster a Longshot. “I think this game is going to be tough to win,” said the Michigan native. He proceeded to activate Longshot before it met its demise, missing yet again. With a hand full of Quicksilvers and each drop coming a turn late, Jacob knew victory wasn’t in the cards. The good news? He could shuffle all he wanted.
Spears 1, Jacob 0
Game Two
“This is what you call ‘Not a mulligan hand’.”—Dave Spears
Playing with the odds, Dave played Boliver on turn 1, searching for Hounds of Ahab. Michael called Dave’s Boliver with Longshot, which he used to try to find Wolverine and Rogue. He turned over:
Wolverine, Logan
Rogue, Power Absorption
Wolverine, James Howlett
Wolverine, Berserker Rage
Can you say “good game”?
On turn 2, Boliver attacked Longshot with the Hounds in play, taking out the little man, who missed on the second time around. This left the endurance totals at 48–48 as Longshot went to the KO’d pile.
On turn 3, Dave could muster no more than a second Boliver, fetching Sentinel Mark V, while Michael played Rogue, Anna Raven. She attacked Boliver, and Dave flipped Total Anarchy, following it with Nasty Surprise—but Michael had Lost City waiting, making Rogue a 7 ATK/7 DEF to Boliver’s 6 ATK/1 DEF. Dave powered-up again, but Michael had a face-down Avalon Space Station, boosting Rogue up to 10 ATK/10 DEF and finally making Dave give up the fight.
On turn 4, Dave’s Mark V was greeted by Wolverine, Logan and another Longshot. The Mark V attacked Rogue, who powered-up to trade with the Mark; it got stunned, Rogue was KO’d. Logan attacked Dave with a power-up for a total of 9 endurance loss, after which Michael passed. The Hounds attacked Longshot, but he got powered-up to 4 ATK/4 DEF, leaving the score 45-24. Even that lopsided score didn’t do the beating justice, as Avalon Space Station returned two future power-up options to Jacob’s hand.
On turn 5, Dave played a boosted Mark V, and Jacob recruited Quicksilver, Speed Demon. The Mark V attacked Longshot, but even that attack failed; power-up, Avalon, power-up, power-up ended the machine.
“When even Longshot takes out Sentinels, you know it’s going pretty badly.”—Michael Jacob
“I hate those guys who waste your time thinking when they know they’re dead.”—Dave Spears
Dave promptly scooped.
Spears 1, Jacob 1
Dave again missed the turn 1 Boliver, but Longshot made a showing, missing his first shot. Of course, Spears didn’t need Boliver to draw his one Hounds of Ahab, who came to play on turn 2. Longshot activated and missed, so Michael played a second Longshot and tried again, naming Wolverine and Mutant Nation. He missed again. The Hounds made the endurance totals 48-48.
On turn 3, Wolverine, Logan and Sentinel Mark II came to play, with Logan taking the Sentinel out before Longshot again missed finding Mutant Nation. 48-42 Michael. On turn 4, Sentinel Mark V and Rogue, Power Absorption hit play, with Rogue protecting Longshot in an L-formation and naming Longshot at the beginning of combat. Longshot loaded up and missed again as the Mark II attacked the little men, but Michael was ready with a power-up and Avalon Space Station. Dave knew it was coming however, having a power-up of his own and Total Anarchy to finish the job. His plan was to keep Michael from the team-up as long as possible. The Mark V and the Hounds attacked Logan, who powered-up to trade with the bigger attacker. Rogue then attacked the Mark II, KO’ing it thanks to Total Anarchy.
On turn 5, Jacob finally found his Mutant Nation, and played Quicksilver, Speed Demon. Dave brought forth the burly Nimrod, which of course received Dave’s lucky quarter. Lost City and Rogue teamed up to try to take out the quarter, but Dave had Cover Fire, Reconstruction Program and a second Nimrod for a power-up. Unfortunately for him, Jacob had another Rogue in hand. Nimrod lost the quarter.
On turn 6 “the man himself,” Bastion, came to play. With the help of Xavier’s School, Longshot was activated twice, finally hitting on Wolverine and Quicksilver. Jacob noted that he only had six unknown cards left in the deck, as he’d been writing down his Longshot failures. He did some math and figured out that calling Rogue and Quicksilver was the best way to go and he hit, allowing him to pump Quicksilver to 14—but Dave had an Overload waiting. Michael was visibly shaken.
Dave, then commenting on the weenie-riffic attack strategy he chose to employ, said “This is the Jason Dawson attack.” The smile on his face cemented the fact that Overload had turned the tides, with Quicksilver and Longshot going to the KO’d pile as a result of “the Dawson.” With both players playing very fast, Longshot completed the loop. Michael started going to town, drawing 4–5 cards a turn with the Longshot and Xavier’s School combo to get ready for Bastion’s impending fury. He played Wolverine, James Howlett, but could only wince as he watched Magneto, Master of Magnetism come into play with the endurance totals at 26 apiece.
Rogue attacked Bastion, with two Lost City-laced power-ups taking her to 13 ATK/13 DEF. Dave powered Bastion up once, forcing Michael to risk Overload by powering up again. Dave looked at each face-down resource before finally flipping…Total Anarchy on a masterful slow roll. Unfortunately, Dave was still feeling wimpy, and passed the turn with no attack from Magneto.
On turn 8, Michael used the Space Station to once again get back Longshot, but when he did, he made a big error, naming the two cards he’d just drawn, essentially throwing away two cards. At this point, it was becoming apparent that Dave’s earlier passive approach was coming back to cost him, as with each activation of Longshot, the game was slipping further away. Dave puzzled over his options, recognizing that none of them were great. He finally attacked Longshot with Bastion, the resulting reinforcement dealing 1 point of endurance loss. With the score 11-14, they readied for turn 9, with Jean Grey, Phoenix Force coming into play for Jacob. As impressive as Longshot had been this game, it was no match for the Phoenix Force. Facing a hopeless board situation, Michael scooped up his cards. Jacob took the game and the match and moved on to the finals.
Match Win: Michael Jacob