If you follow the Pro Circuit at all, you’re probably familiar with these two players. Di Shi is a consistent finisher at both $10K and PC events. He’s also a member of RIW Hobbies. Kim, a member of FTN, is the game’s most prolific female player, with a recent PC Top 8 under her belt.
Di won the die roll and selected the even initiatives. Both players mulliganed. Neither had a first turn play, and Di kicked things off with Sovereign Superior for Dane Whitman ◊ Black Knight, discarding Anne-Marie Cortez. Kim again had no play, and the 2-drop attacked into her empty board. On turn 3, Kim discarded The Calculator, Noah Kuttler to pick up a copy of Coercion. This signaled an X-Statix/Villains deck — perhaps the same one she played in Charlotte. Kim played Dr. Polaris, Force of Nature as her 3-drop and passed. Di recruited Black Panther, T’Challa, revealing three reservists for the optimal three counters. In combat, Polaris stunned Dane, and Black Panther smashed back on the 3-drop. Di led, 47-41.
On turn 4, Di led with Hawkeye, Clinton Barton behind Dane. Kim went into the tank, eventually choosing to play Enemy of My Enemy for Fatality, Flawless Victory, discarding Orphan, Guy Smith. The 4-drop was recruited behind Polaris, and Kim passed. In combat, Black Panther went after Polaris. The smaller of the 3-drops was stunned and KO’d, forcing Di to exhaust Dane. Hawkeye attacked Fatality for the mutual stun. Kim wasn’t done, though — she flipped Coercion to team up with X-Statix, and played Spin Doctoring to recover and ready Fatality. The 4-drop stunned and KO’d Dane, and that was the turn. Di still led, 41-30.
At the start of turn 5, Kim flipped The Science Spire and used it to return Fatality to her hand, drawing and discarding four. She had no 5-drop, and instead simply replayed Fatality. Di recruited Sabretooth, Savage Killer in front of Hawkeye, and passed. In combat, Fatality went after Hawkeye with Dead Weight for +4 DEF. Kim passed to Di, who sent Sabretooth into Fatality. Kim played Dead Weight, but her math was a little off, and the 4-drop stunned. Di attempted to send Black Panther in directly, but Kim had another Spin Doctoring to threaten a KO if he attacked. Di chose to trade a stun for a KO, and sent his 3-drop to take down Fatality. In recovery, Di led 32-22.
Di had Wonder Man for turn 6. He targeted Fatality, and Kim bounced her with Science Spire in response. Before passing, Di played Amelia Voght for free. Kim played another Enemy of My Enemy for the all-too-predictable Zeitgeist, recruited him, and passed. It was now Di’s attack step, and he had some difficult decisions to make. He eventually decided to send Wonder Man into Zeitgeist. Kim flipped X-Statix Cafe. Next, Di tried for No Man Escapes the Manhunters. Kim had the Star of the Show. Di played Air Strike, replacing a resource-row Meltdown. This was finally enough ATK to threaten a stun, so Kim simply exhausted Zeitgeist to stun Wonder Man and end the attack. Di tried again, attacking with Sabretooth and playing Call Down the Lightning. Kim had nothing to stop the mutual stun, so Amelia and Hawkeye were able to attack directly. Di had another Air Strike and another Call Down the Lightning, leaving him just short of enough ATK to win right there. Sabretooth was KO’d in recovery, and Di’s lead was now 21-1.
Turn 7 was Kim’s initiative. She was going to need a good one — Battering Ram was good enough for the moment, as it was almost certain to extend the game for an additional turn. Di recruited a new Black Panther, revealing five reservists to make him 9 ATK/8 DEF. He recruited Rem-Ram from his resource row, without replacement, and passed. Kim used Battering Ram to lock down Di’s board at the start of her attack step. In combat, Kim used Zeitgeist to take down Hawkeye. Di could neither stun back nor attack back, so that was the turn. Di led 8-1 going into what would almost certainly be the final turn of the game.
Turn 8 began with a Meltdown for Di, replacing a resource. He recruited another Rem-Ram, and with six resource points remaining, he had a choice between Hercules and a second Amelia. He chose Amelia. Di recruited another copy of Sabretooth, and passed. Before playing a resource, Kim flipped and used The Science Spire to draw and discard six. She played her eighth resource and played a third copy of Enemy of My Enemy. Ghost Rider, Danny Ketch came out to play, and was immediately activated to KO most of Di’s board. Wonder Man went in, and Di tried to play No Man Escapes the Manhunters. Kim pointed out that her Star of the Show was not team stamped, and Di scooped to the 8-drop.