"Want to play a warm-up game while we're waiting? It's only warm-up if I don't win. Then, it's for real," Matt joked as he and Vidi shuffled up before the game. After many agonizing moments of waiting, Scott Elliott came out, gave an inspiring speech, and then gave them the go ahead to start their match. They agreed to roll to see who got to go first, and Matt let Vidi know that he had a die they could use. "I have a randomization method in my pocket," he announced. "We don't want to know about that," joked David Leader from the peanut gallery.

Vidi won the roll and chose to go first.

He began the game with the ideal Joystick with Thunder Jet that you'd expect from a Squadron Supreme deck. Fortunately for Matt, he wasn't going to miss his curve, and he played an Archangel, Angel to fetch a Worthington Industries. Vidi bashed in and used a Flying Kick to break through for a bit more endurance loss. On turn 2, Matt played his ideal Sage, Tessa. Vidi was a little less pleased with his turn 2 play. "I don't like to have to play her in this matchup," Vidi said sadly as he put Melissa Gold ◊ Songbird, Sonic Carapace into play. Matt used Tessa and then passed the attack to Vidi. Vidi took advantage of his attack by stunning Angel and bashing into Matt's face. He was ahead, as expected, by a total of 50-31.

Vidi had the initiative on turn 3, and continued on the curve with a Lady Lark, Linda Lewis. Matt recruited a Beast, Feline Geneticist. Vidi began by thinking about his attacks before sending his Joystick into Beast. Lady Lark then beat into Angel and got powered-up and Airskimmered. Now, Vidi had no hand, which let him flip Rocket Central to get the extra bonus. Things didn't look so hot for Matt. He was low on board presence and down 49-10.

As they started the next turn, Matt put Melissa Gold's trigger on the chain, which prompted Vidi to ask, "You can read Japanese? Because she's in Japanese."

"Really? I hadn't noticed," was Matt's sly reply. After digging a little deeper with Worthington Industries, Matt used his build to play Professor X, Headmaster with an Acolyte Body Armor. Vidi recruited the ideal Golden Archer on his turn, and it seemed his perfect draw would continue. Matt began by attacking Professor X into Joystick and followed that by sending Beast into Melissa Gold. Before his Beast stunned, Matt played Eye of the Storm to gain some much-needed endurance. Matt had no choice but to pass the attack and let Vidi see what he could do. Vidi sent Lady Lark in to stun the Professor X that was the last thing preventing Vidi from going to Matt's head. When Matt didn't have any defensive pumps, Vidi was free to send his Golden Archer over for the final 9 points of endurance loss.

Vidi Wijaya 1 - Matt Oldaker 0

Vidi and Matt discussed their opening hands between games. "What did you keep that game," Vidi asked. "Was it the Sage / Archangel draw?"

"Yup," Matt confirmed. "I kept a Rocket Central, Joystick, 3-drop hand.”

“It went pretty well," Vidi informed Matt. After the players finished shuffling, they presented their decks for game 2. Matt would be taking the odd initiatives.

Matt started the game off with a tough decision about his opening draw. After much thought, he kept his Emma Frost, Friend or Foe, Worthington Industries, and Sage, Tessa. He didn't draw a 1-drop on his first turn, but Vidi didn't have quite the same explosion as last game. He merely lead off with Electric Eve, one of the many non-Squadron characters that is signature of the FTN Squad deck. His turn 2 was a little more impressive, though, with a Joystick equipped with an Airskimmer. Matt had the Sage he had in his opening draw as his play. He put her into the visible area and passed to Vidi. Vidi's first attack was Joystick into Sage. Matt wasted no time in using his Sage's ability to dig a little deeper. After Vidi was done with his attacks, Matt attempted to smooth his draws out with a Worthington Industries. He didn't hit a 3, though, and was forced to look for it next turn.

His draw was a little more forgiving, as a Beast, Feline Geneticist was staring him back in the face as he looked at his hand. He promptly came into play equipped with an Acolyte Body Armor. That was going to create a fun little wall for Vidi to beat through. The only sound on this side of the feature match was Vidi quietly counting to himself in a very Rainman-like voice. Ultimately, he decided on a Speed Demon, Second Chance Speedster. Matt passed his attack and used a Mental Domination on Vidi's attack in to make it so only Beast stunned. Vidi evaded his Electric Eve during recovery to get a few more points in, and they finished the turn.

Turn 4 began with Vidi under-dropping a Melissa Gold ◊ Songbird, Sonic Carapace and a Shape. Matt had his ideal Professor X, Headmaster. Vidi was on the attacks first and sent Shape into Beast. He immediately powered him up and flipped up a Rocket Central to turn Shape into a 9 ATK / 6 DEF monster. Matt simply reinforced and took his 3 endurance loss. Vidi then returned to thinking about his turn, muttering, "How many Duck and Covers do you have,” under his breath. Eventually he sent his Melissa Gold and Joystick into Professor X for the stun. His last attack sent Speed Demon into Sage, who got the stun back thanks to a timely Mental Domination. Matt also had a Phoenix Rising for his Professor X during the recovery. Matt was down 24-38 now, but things were looking good. He'd survived in pretty good shape to the important turn 5.

Matt triggered the Melissa Gold's ability and flipped his Phoenix Rising back down so he could use it later. He then began his build by recruiting an Emma Frost, Friend or Foe. Vidi had some thinking to do on his turn once again, and he eventually ended up deciding on recruiting a Golden Archer. After Vidi formed, Matt got to go on the offensive. Beast was first up and smashed into Melissa Gold, who went down in flames. Professor X was next up, as he wheeled his way over Joystick. Emma Frost made the final attack of Matt's turn and, with a power-up, took down Golden Archer. Before he went down, though, the Archer got a quick hit for 6 in against Matt. During recovery, both players had a little something to do, with Vidi playing Answer the Call for an Albert Gaines ◊ Nuke, and Matt using Beast to get another Acolyte Body Armor. Matt was still down this game, but not as much anymore with the endurance totals 18-29.

Vidi used his turn to play the Nuke he'd just gotten, as well as the Ape X he'd drawn to fetch an Airskimmer. Jean Grey, Red came into play on Matt's side, which meant that he'd have a good chance to do some ridiculous things on defense this turn. The possibilities range from a total brick wall on an attack to gaining a bunch of endurance. It's up to his deck what he gets to do, though, so there's always the potential that he could hit nothing. Red picked up a Body Armor, and Matt shipped it to Vidi to figure out his attacks. And figure he did.

Knowing the number of plot twists that Red was capable of spitting out, Vidi knew he had to be careful on his attacks this turn, but he couldn't afford to give Matt too much time to take control of the game. Vidi's first attack was to discard Airskimmer to send Shape in at Matt's Beast, who was hidden behind Emma Frost. In response, Matt used Eye of the Storm (thanks to Emma) to gain a quick 8 endurance. Thanks to the endurance gain and the fact that Vidi was quickly running out of steam, things looked grim for him. After much deliberation, Vidi decided to flip up Mob Mentality, giving his Golden Archer a +3 ATK bonus. He then sent both Archer and Ape X at Jean Grey. Matt had a double Duck and Cover, though, and managed to brick wall the attack. That caused Golden Archer to stun, and really put Vidi in a vise. Vidi's last attack was to send Nuke at Emma, who immediately stunned. Matt then got to send his Jean at Ape X to bring the endurance totals to a close 12-13 in Vidi's favor. During recovery, Matt had a slew of effects. First, he used Phoenix Rising on Emma, which meant that he didn't lose a character that turn. He then used Professor X and Jean Grey's abilities before finally ending his turn.

Matt's turn 7 brought him to the top of his curve. Exodus, Acolyte hit the board. There wasn't anything Vidi could do, and he packed it in.

Vidi Wijaya 1 - Matt Oldaker 1

"Which initiative?" Matt asked Vidi. "Heh, you know," was Vidi's quick reply. Matt took the first mulligan of the match, but his second draw had everything he needed except his Sage, Tessa. Electric Eve hit the table on turn 1 for Vidi, and this game started much like the last. Matt's second draw was godlike, pulling the Sage on his first card. She came into play in the visible area, and the game continued to travel along the same path as the previous one. Vidi thought for a long time about his turn 2 play, which meant he was either going to miss or, more likely, he had to decide between which play to make on turn 2. When he played an Ape X for an Image Inducer and a Joystick, the reason for his decision became apparent. Matt chose to use his Sage to make an uncommon attack, and sent his little spy in after Vidi's Electric Eve. It saved him a few endurance in the long run, since Vidi couldn't do any recovery evasion tricks.

Turn 3 had Vidi getting back on curve with a Lady Lark, Linda Lewis and, during his formation, he moved Ape's Image Inducer to Joystick. Matt had a Beast, Feline Geneticist right on time for his play. He still didn't have a Professor X, Headmaster yet, and no Worthington Industries to help him find one. That could be very bad if he were to stumble on turn 4. Lady Lark was the first combatant to enter the ring, and we saw a mutual stun when she got into it with Beast. Before he passed, Vidi had an Other-Earth to force through a ton more damage. It also allowed him to send his Ape X at Matt's Sage. Losing Sage was going to be awful for Matt since he still needed to find a 4-drop, but he wasn't done yet. He played a Phoenix Rising and recovered his Beast, which allowed him to keep both characters.

And he's lucky it did. When his draw didn't yield the 4-drop he needed, he had to rely on his Sage, who came through with a clutch Professor X, Headmaster for Matt. He came into play with an Acolyte Body Armor that Beast had searched out a turn earlier, as well as bringing another into play for Beast. Vidi was incredibly far ahead at this point, though, and he managed to continue on curve with Golden Archer. He was up 40-19, and even with the tricks Matt's deck is capable of, it was going to be difficult for Matt to win this game.

Matt's first attack was to send Professor X at Golden Archer. The Archer hit Matt for 5 and then stunned. Matt then played X-treme Maneuver to exhaust Lady Lark. That would prevent some major endurance loss on the next turn, as well as hitting Vidi for 3. Vidi did some cool evasion tricks with Electric Eve, and Matt used his numerous recovery step effects before the players went to turn 5 with Vidi ahead 32-13.

Turn 5 was Speed Demon, Second Chance Speedster time for Vidi, and he picked up the Image Inducer that had been passed around for turns. Matt ended up playing the Emma Frost, Friend or Foe he'd been holding for a while, as well as the Acolyte Body Armor that had been searched out last turn. Matt had an armored-up army at his call, and Vidi was going to find it difficult to break through on this turn without an Albert Gaines ◊ Nuke or access to his Lady Lark. Speed Demon was the first attacker, and Beast was his prey. Vidi readied his Speed Demon and Beast stunned, but not before Matt reinforced to exhaust his Emma Frost. Vidi's next attack was sending Speed Demon and Joystick into Matt's Emma Frost. Matt had a triple Duck and Cover, and when Vidi tried to use Mob Mentality and Rocket Central to get over, Matt had the System Failure to remove the Speed Demon from the attack. All Vidi could do was send his Electric Eve into Matt's Tessa, burn him using Archer, and pass the turn. Matt sent his Prof X at Vidi's Speed Demon and ended the turn down 23-2, but he stood a good chance of coming back to win this game. It was all going to come down to Vidi's draw, and the presence of an Eye of the Storm.

Vidi used his Golden Archer with the draw still on the chain to make sure it was for 6, and then let both players draw their cards. Matt had his expected Jean Grey, Red with an Acolyte Body Armor, while Vidi had a Melissa Gold ◊ Songbird, Sonic Carapace. Matt first sent his Emma into Golden Archer, which stunned the bowman. When Matt tried to send his Prof X at Songbird, Vidi played a Panacea Potion on the intervening Archer to nullify the attack. Matt reconsidered his options and decided to send his Professor X at Lady Lark instead. All Vidi could do was reinforce, but it now looked like Matt wouldn't be able to do enough breakthrough to win the match. Jean Grey went through the Archer next. Vidi couldn't reinforce, and he dropped to 4. Matt was at -4, and he needed to deal 9 more endurance loss to get his opponent to dead. However, when he attacked his Beast into Songbird, Vidi readied his Speed Demon and used it to reinforce. That left Vidi at 1. Since all of Matt's characters were stunned, there wasn't anything else he could do.

Vidi Wijaya wins 2-1 and advances to the semifinals!