Alex was confident going into the first Marvel Knights draft of the afternoon. Marvel Knights draft is his best format, and the Kings Games owner drafts more Marvel Knights than almost anyone.

The draft started with an uncharacteristic grab, with Alex picking Bullseye, Deadly Marksman over Moon Knight. He would later tell me that he hates Crime Lords and generally doesn't draft the team, though he has presumably played against it dozens of times. He returned to form by taking Moon Knight as his second pick. Moon Knight is one of the strongest characters on the Marvel Knights team. He's a powerhouse when you have the initiative, and he can fill the 4- and 5-drop slots. The third pack yielded a copy of Midnight Sons, and the Marvel Knights plan was in full effect.

His fourth pick, Punisher, Executioner, gave Shvartsman his first 5-drop. The next couple of packs yielded Elektra, Elektra Natchios and Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze. I could tell from the way that Alex had gingerly taken the latter card—with the distaste of a man who was changing a dirty diaper—that Ghost Rider isn't exactly high on his list of priorities in the 6-drop department. It was a weak pack.

Pick 7 was another copy of the 3-drop Elektra, and then I could see Alex settle back in his chair to wait for the dregs. He took a copy of Nightmare out of pack 8 (with no reasonable alternative), and then he picked up his second Crime Lords character, Mr. Code. And then he got a third in the form of Stilt-Man, who was also his first 2-drop. Alex's comedic double-take at the presence of Death-Stalker as the packs rotated around for pick 11 added some levity to the otherwise humdrum late-pack proceedings. One of the better 3-drops in the set, and it's going eleventh? That's crazy talk!

Deacon Frost was the last card that I saw Alex take in pack 1, and he would later confirm without any sense of shame that it was a rare-draft. The rest of the cards were unworthy of even a cursory glance, though I was able to record the fact that Alex had, in fact, drafted fourteen characters and only one plot twist in pack 1.

That sordid lack of blue was something that he was able to remedy quickly at the beginning of pack 2, when he snatched Head Shot, pausing only briefly to consider Bullseye, Master of Murder and Bring the Pain. Then, Alex was shipped Spider-Man, The Spectacular Spider-Man, and I wrote it down as his pick before Shvartsman could even exhale at his good fortune. He followed up that coup with Bring the Pain, Face the Master, Iron Fist, Living Weapon, and a sixth-pick Head Shot that must have set his heart a-flutter. And what about the seventh-pick Dagger, Child of Light to go with his Midnight Sons from pack 1? His ventricles were probably dancing the Charleston.

The pack wrapped up with Lacuna, Swan Dive, and a pile of unplayable junk that included Frog Man. When Frog Man is the most noteworthy card of a bunch, you know the other cards must be abysmal.

If pack 1 was interesting and pack 2 had a few surprises, what about pack 3? I'll answer that for you: there was some nuttiness going on!

It started off with a mildly encouraging Punisher, Executioner for pick 1, followed by a second copy of the powerhouse Moon Knight (though Alex briefly pondered taking War Wagon instead). Then came Bring the Pain. Alex was making up for lost time with those ATK pumping plot twists. He then surprised me a little by taking The Family over the double team-stamped plot twist Moving Target, but in Marvel Knights, a conditional +2 DEF isn't that exciting.

With his fifth pick, Alex yanked Kirigi. That was probably a great relief to him, since up until that point, there had been a decent chance that Ghost Rider would be getting in his deck. As if to knock turn 6 out of the park, the next card along the line was Elektra, Agent of the Hand—the perfect tool for Alex's Marvel Knights/Crime Lords combination.

Seventh pick: Bullseye, Master of Murder

Eighth pick: Jester

Ninth pick: Swan Dive

Tenth pick: War Wagon

I asked Alex for his thoughts on the latter pick later on, and the response wasn't fit to print.

Then, Alex picked up Caretaker as his eleventh pick, collected the rest of the dregs, and chatted about how his draft went. It was all Shvartsman could do not to click his heels and start whistling with happiness.

“This is probably the best MK deck I've ever drafted,” he crowed.

“I had some Crime Lords, but I wasn't really committed, because I absolutely hate them as a team. They're fine as a side team. I have no problem taking some of them as a side team, which is exactly how it turned out.”

Alex set out his curve, and it was, as we say in the industry, “like buttah.” He highlighted his two copies of Moon Knight. “I was shocked that they were passing me so many copies of this guy,” he said. Pointing out his 6-drop Spidey, he remarked, “I think these two are the strongest characters you can possibly get for Marvel Knights, and they both came with 3-drop Daredevil. I had to pass two of those too.”

While sorting his cards, Alex talked about the reason for the apparent ease with which he'd cut up the table. “I'm starting to get the impression that people don't actually draft this game, even at the pro level. That was table 1? I don't know what went on.”

When all was said and done, Alex had built the following deck.

Characters
1 Bullseye, Deadly Marksman
1 Bullseye, Master of Murder
2 Moon Knight
2 Punisher, Executioner
2 Elektra, Elektra Natchios
1 Nightmare
1 Stilt-Man
1 Spider-Man, The Spectacular Spider-Man
1 Iron Fist, Living Weapon
1 Dagger, Child of Light
1 Kirigi
1 Elektra, Agent of the Hand
1 Caretaker
1 Jester
1 Deacon Frost
1 Death-Stalker
1 Mr. Code

Plot Twists
1 Midnight Sons
2 Head Shot
2 Bring The Pain
1 Face The Master
2 Swan Dive
1 The Family

Equipment
1 War Wagon

Alex predicted a 3-0 performance with this machine, and I don't blame him for that sort of hubris. This deck is a monster.