In an all Volunteer State finals, good friends Tillman Bragg and Doug Tice squared off for the $10K LA title. While the tone of the match was as friendly as you would expect it to be, it was obvious that both players really wanted to take home the title, which would be the first for Tillman and a second for Doug. Doug was sporting an aggressive Morlock/X-Men deck while Tillman had a Brotherhood/Hellfire Club deck with lots of concealed tricks.

Tillman won the roll for initiative and selected evens, probably the thousandth time that’s happened this weekend. Doug kept his opening four while Tillman shipped his to the bottom. Doug came out strong with Angel Dust, while Tillman had Rem-Ram, hitting Empath. The two characters traded stuns. Tillman decided that Sage, Tessa should Join the Club!, discarding an army 1-drop. Doug had Artie, and moved Angel Dust off to the hidden area. Sage attacked Artie and Doug evaded, giving -1 ATK to Rem-Ram. Tillman sent his team in for 3, and Angel Dust cracked back at Rem-Ram. Turn 3 featured a slightly embarrassing Multiple Man ◊ Jamie Madrox and Tommy from Doug, while Tillman had Mastermind, which he placed in the visible area. Tommy and Rem-Ram traded, and then Doug team-attacked with his squad into Mastermind, with Mastermind taking down Angel Dust. Sage then picked off Multiple Man, and Doug lost his Angel Dust and (obviously) Multiple Man during recovery. Madelyne Pryor showed up for Tillman on the 4th turn, while Doug, struggling to keep his head above the water, didn’t help his cause with an off-initiative Feral. Mastermind grilled Feral with the help of The Hellfire Club. Tice then evaded his two evasion characters, allowing Tillman to come across for 10 points of endurance loss. On the 5th turn, Doug looked to make a game of it with Marrow, while Tillman used another Join the Club! to find Scanner, who set up shop in the visible area in front of Pryor. Feral shipped into Scanner, and Tillman reinforced, trading stuns. Marrow tried to announce on Pryor, but Tillman responded by moving Pryor over to the hidden area with the club and recovering Scanner with Absolute Power after teaming up. Doug tried to evade his smaller characters to stun Scanner with Marrow without getting stunned back, but Tillman had Army of One to force the stunback. This, along with a turn 6 Donald Pierce, put the game out of reach for Tice.

Tillman 1-0

In game two Doug took the obvious initiative, and both players kept their first four. Tillman whiffed on 1 while Doug again had Angel Dust, who attacked directly. Tommy showed up for Doug on 2, who also decided to move Angel Dust to the hidden area. Tillman had a concealed Sage, and took 5 to the face, then cracked back with Sage on Tommy. Tillman recruited Tarot on the 3rd turn, while Doug continued to dig in defensively with Healer, who set up behind Tommy. Tillman attacked Tarot with Tommy, who was reinforced by Healer. No more attacks from either player. Turn 4 saw Bishop, XSE Commando from Doug, who then teamed up X-Men and Morlocks with Mutopia. Tillman again had Pryor in the visible area. Doug sent his two 2-drops after Pryor and flipped X-Corp Hong Kong for the stun, but not before Tillman used The Hellfire Club to move Pryor to the hidden area. Doug then sent Bishop after Tarot, but Tillman had Army of One for the stunback. Healer got in directly, and play moved to turn 5. Tillman had Trevor Fitzroy in the visible area, while Doug had Feral and dumped a point into her. Trevor went after Bishop, but Doug used Turnabout for the stunback. Then, when Pryor went after Healer, Doug saved his buddy some time by evading his whole team. Pryor got in directly, then Feral came across an empty board. A turn 6 Blackbird Blue and some random dudes from Doug was enough to push Tillman well into the negatives on 6.

Tied 1-1

Tillman had the critical even initiative for the third game, an importance that was reinforced by both previous games ending on 6 in favor of the person with the initiative. Doug kept his first four, while Tillman again mulliganed. Doug started with an insane opening of Artie, evade Artie, then Tommy, while Tillman had Rem-Ram, and flipped Tarot. On turn 2, Tillman made his trademarked Join the Club for Sage, while Doug had Plague. Artie was already making life hard on Tillman, who couldn’t force a stun with Rem-Ram. Sage traded stuns with Plague, and Tillman held Rem-Ram back. Doug took the opportunity to evade Artie and stun Rem-Ram with Tommy, and Tillman lost his 1-drop during recovery. On turn 3, Doug had Beast, Feline Geneticist, while Tillman recruited Mastermind in the hidden area. Doug team-attacked Tillman for 13 directly, then Tillman tried to pick apart Doug’s board by attacking Artie with Sage. Doug showed the day belonged to him, though, powering up Artie and forcing the stunback. Mastermind then went into Beast, trading stuns. Doug continued with the blowout, flipping Harry’s Hideaway to recover Beast, then using Beast to find Blackbird Blue, making the prospect of a turn 5 kill appear very likely. In turn 4 Tillman recruited Madelyne Pryor, while Doug recruited Healer and paid a point to recover him. Pryor went after Beast, who was stunned. Then, Mastermind went after Plague with the help of Psionic Storm, as Tillman tried to save a little bit of endurance. Doug had another recovery effect, this time Angel of Mercy, to get back Plague, and the scene was set for a turn 5 kill. Doug had Feral and the Blackbird Blue on Healer, while Tillman had Trevor Fritzroy. Artie and Plague tried to go after Pryor, which resolved, with Plague and Pryor trading stuns. Next, Feral tried to attack Trevor. The attack resolved, and Tillman tried to stem the tide by moving Trevor over with the Hellfire Club and tried to use Absolute Power on Pryor, but Doug had the Drain Essence for the complete blowout. Between his unopposed characters and a couple of pumps, Doug was able to knock Tillman to exactly 0endurance, ending the game before the critical 6th turn.

Doug Tice wins 2-1 and wins $10K LA!