It's Sentinels versus EMS, and we're giving a Vs. Feature Match baptism to VSRealms Administrator Shane Wendel, in his first feature match ever! His opponent is Your Move Games stalwart Craig Edwards, otherwise known as the guy who likes to fix ballots.

 

Craig won the toss and chose the even initiative. A handshake and good luck between them, and they were off!

 

Turn 1

 

After a double-mulligan, Shane placed Micro-Sentinels face down in his resource row and no drop on the field. I knew that Micro would come in handy against EMS—it's about all that Sentinels has that can really stop it—and I wondered if Craig was using Have a Blast! as a counter.

 

Craig played a GCPD Officer and attacked, drawing first blood (50-49).

 

Turn 2

Craig played Alfred, and Shane played nothing. Another swing and it was Edwards 50, Wendel 48.

 

Turn 3

Shane played Mark II, Number II.

 

Craig used Alfred to get Marvel Team-Up, and then played Shimmer and Alfred. Alfred was set in front of Shimmer, with GCPD Officer in the support row.

 

Shane sent his Mark II, Number II in on Shimmer. Craig flipped his Marvel Team-Up, naming Sentinels and Gotham Knights, and used GCPD to reinforce (48-48).

 

At the start of the recovery phase, Shane played Micro-Sentinels on Alfred. Since Craig could use the Alfred to avoid the Micro effect, this was probably not the best time to use it, however—or, alternately, Alfred may not have been the best target.

 

Turn 4

The Micro-Sentinels effect went on the chain, but Craig responded using Alfred to fetch a Bat-Signal.Craig then used The Underworld Star, discarding Shimmer and fetching Commissioner Gordon. Craig played Gordon and replayed Alfred. His formation looked like:

 

Alfred—Shimmer

Commish—GCPD

 

Shane played a Sentinel Mark II. Craig Shimmered to exhaust Shane's board and prevent an attack, but Shane used the Sentinel Mark II's ability to negate the effect, discarding a Mark V—a smart play by Craig, as he was guaranteed to exhaust at least half of the board, either way. Shane sent his Mark II, Number II to attack Commissioner Gordon, and Craig reinforced with his GCPD Officer (46-48).

 

Turn 5

Shane played a boosted Sentinel Mark V in front of the Mark II, Number II, with his Sentinel Mark II next to the Number II, in support.

 

Craig used Alfred, but Shane negated the effect with Mark II, discarding Mark V. This meant that Alfred still went back to Craig's hand, but his effect was negated. Craig then played Alfred and Robot Sentry.

 

Shane attacked the GCPD Officer with his Number II, and Craig reinforced with Commissioner Gordon (45-48). Then Shane attacked Shimmer with his Mark V (36-48). Shane was trying to get some endurance loss in and some characters out before it was too late.

 

At the start of recovery, Shane flipped a second Micro-Sentinels, targeting the Robot Sentry, Shimmer, and the GCPD Officer. Craig responded by flipping Have a Blast!, targeting that second Micro and discarding Psimon. Craig then recovered Shimmer, knowing that he was going to lose the GCPD anyway.

 

Turn 6

 

Craig flipped Metropolis, teaming up Doom and Gotham Knights. He exhausted Commissioner Gordon to Bat-Signal for Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius, playing Doom and turning Have a Blast! face down. He equipped Doom with Power Compressor and used Alfred to fetch Mystical Paralysis, following up by replaying Alfred yet again. His formation:

 

Commish—Alfred—Shimmer

Sentry—Doom

 

Shane played Bastion in front of his Number II, with the Mark V in front of the Sentinel Mark II.

 

Craig used Shimmer, forcing Shane to exhaust his board. Craig then used Reign of Terror on the Sentinel Mark II and flipped Have a Blast!, discarding Fizzle, to take out the other Micro-Sentinels. Things were looking grim for Shane—he'd need another Micro-Sentinels to take this one.

 

Turn 7

 

Shane played Mark V without boost and the Sentinel Mark II that had been Reigned. He put his Bastion in front of the Number II, the boosted Mark V in front of the Sentinel Mark II, and the non-boosted Mark V next to the Sentinel Mark II

 

Craig played Dr. Light, Arthur Light, and used it to stun the boosted Mark V (36-44). He used Alfred to fetch a Bat-Signal, then replayed the butler. His formation:

 

Commish—Alfred—Shimmer

Sentry—Doom—Light

 

Craig then played Bat-Signal, exhausting Shimmer, to fetch another Dr. Light.

 

Shane attacked Shimmer with his Number II (32-44).

 

Then Craig used his Robot Sentry on his own Commissioner Gordon just so he'd have enough exhausted characters to use Press the Attack. He used the Press to ready Dr. Light, then used Dr. Light again, this time to stun Shane's Mark V. He then Pressed again, this time using Dr. Light on the Mark II. When the dust settled, it was Edwards 32, Wendel 37, and he had not only stalled to prevent character loss, but had gained some major board advantage. These moves, on Shane's initiative, were all but the killing blow.

 

Shane recovered the boosted Mark V and inwardly hoped for a Craig Edwards meltdown . . .

 

Craig recruited a second Robot Sentry, used Alfred to get a Bat-Signal, then Signaled, exhausting Commissioner Gordon, to fetch Boris. He played Boris and Alfred, forming like so:

 

Commish—Boris—Shimmer—Alfred

Sentry—Doom—Light—Sentry

 

Shane played Magneto, Master of Magnetism and flipped Genosha. This would be interesting—Shane had to take it this turn, as he knew Craig had a Dr. Light in hand. He put his Number II in front of Bastion and his Mark V in front of Magneto.

 

Craig Shimmered to exhaust Shane's board and used Dr. Light to stun the Mark V. Shane took a deep breath, looked at his hand and board, and scooped.