Starting the day off with a match between two of my all-time favorite players is always a blast. Alex Shvartsman and Germany’s Maik Stich have both made names for themselves on the Pro Circuit, and both are men I’d consider friends. Stich is one of the best innovative players I’ve seen and is constantly pitching out new ideas. Today he's running a Squadron Supreme build that departs from the norm in several interesting ways. Shvartsman is playing Avengers reservist.

After what had to be longest search for a coin or die in the Pro Circuit’s history, Stich won the flip and took control of the initiative on odd turns. He immediately opened with a Surprise Attack, then recruited Ape X. The monkey ran off to Stich’s deck and came back packin’ heat, quickly taking aim at Shvartsman with Dual Sidearms. 

Shvartsman blinked, down five points thirty seconds into the game and now threatened by a gun-toting simian. “My turn is far less impressive. I don’t have a one-drop.”  The monkey capped him, and play moved to turn 2.

Dane Whitman ◊ Black Knight came to Shvartsman’s rescue, taking up position in the front row.  Shape came down on Stich’s side, and both promptly collided. 

“…Aaaaand just because I can! Five!” Stich cheerily flipped another Surprise Attack, and the monkey again let loose on Shvartsman with a direct attack. It was 32 to 48.

Stich went off-curve next turn, recruiting Tom Thumb and Quagmire. “You’re very lucky,” stated Shvartsman: “I have no guy.” He sighed a touch and then started contemplating his move. With a slight laugh, he announced his intent to replace a reservist and recruit Rick Jones. It was all he had.

Shape lashed out at Dane Whitman, and a power-up brought Stich’s hand down to one card—a lone Answer the Call. Whitman went down, and Stich then team attacked with his remaining characters, giving Tom Thumb a Flying Kick to hammer home even more damage. After some deliberation, Shvartsman decided not to send Rick Jones to attack. The endurance totals were a lopsided 21 to 46.

Stich brought out a two-liter bottle of Pepsi from beneath the table. “Ahh, American bottles!” He laughed, as did his opponent; Germany doesn’t have massive bottles of soda, so for many non-American players, there’s a certain novelty to some of the food products that are available.

“Well, normally we don’t do that,” Shvartsman stated as Stich started drinking the entire thing.

“I know, but I’m in the country—it’s like I have to!’

Shvartsman brought out Hawkeye, but Stich brought out his own bowman by recruiting Golden Archer from the resource row. “Bah, you can’t miss anything” said Shvartsman. When your turn 3-drop is Rick Jones, you’re allowed to decry your luck.

“I don’t have my 7-drop yet,” Stich quipped.

“You don’t have one!” retorted Shvartsman.

“I might,” said Stich in a jokingly shifty tone.  It’s Mike Stich—you can’t tell if he’s kidding.

Everything but Golden Archer went to the front row; Stich was playing aggressively, keeping the pressure on Shvartsman despite opening himself to some breakthrough. Dane Whitman took advantage of the lack of reinforcement, nailing Quagmire. Rick Jones, boosted by Avengers Mansion and Savage Beatdown then smacked into Shape. Shape was protecting Golden Archer, so the attack might have drawn a reinforcement.  Stich didn’t take the bait. Hawkeye sniped off the remaining 1-drops, and the Archer cracked off a shot with his effect. It was 15 to 35 in Stich’s favor, with Stich controlling Shape and Golden Archer against Shvartsman’s Hawkeye, Black Knight, and Rick Jones.

Stich’s draw landed him in a somewhat rough position—the Mega-Blast in his hand could quickly be sent to the KO’d pile, but the two characters Tom Thumb and Ape X, were keeping him from using Answer the Call to dig for Whizzer or Albert Gaines ◊ Nuke. He was forced to recruit Thumb and Ape X, leaving his board looking a lot like it did at the beginning of the last turn.  It’s true—nobody stays dead in comics nowadays.

The Ape charged to the Squadron’s arsenal and plucked out a Flamethrower; since Shvartsman only had 15 endurance remaining, it was a versatile threat.

The monkey went to lift its new toy, but Hawkeye shot it down before it could reach for the trigger. It was a nice move by Stich, limiting Shvartsman’s ability to swing back or snipe Shape or Tom Thumb. When Shvartsman recruited She-Hulk, Gamma Bombshell, Stich needed to think about how he’d play out the turn. His chance of ending the game early was getting progressively slimmer.

He eventually settled on sending Shape into Dane Whitman ◊ Black Knight.  Shvartsman used Avengers Mansion, and two of the four resources he revealed were copies of Wonder Man—next turn wasn’t going to be pretty for Stich. Rick Jones reinforced Black Knight for the attack, and Shvartsman went down to 13 endurance.

Mega-Blast went to Tom Thumb, who opened fire on Hawkeye. Answer the Call fetched another copy of Tom Thumb, and Stich powered him up to make the double-stun. Shvartsman went down to 7, and Golden Archer faced down She-Hulk when Stich passed combat. 

She-Hulk swung a massive green fist into Golden Archer’s face. Shvartsman activated her ability and gave her a power-up, and Golden Archer shot Shvartsman while She-Hulk brought him down. After a brief confusion over endurance, Stich still had 21 to Shvartsman’s single point. Stich had made an error in calculations and had believed that his burn with the Archer would bring Shvartsman to -1.  His error gave his opponent a strong chance, provided he could take the game this turn.

Shvartsman recruited Wonder Man but did not have the reservists needed to stun Golden Archer with Wonder Man’s effect. Stich played a resource, played Answer the Call, and spent some time contemplating his decision. After some brief deliberation, he settled on Albert Gaines ◊ Nuke, and his two remaining characters set up shop in the back row.

She-Hulk attacked Nuke, and Shvartsman played No Man Escapes the Manhunters to threaten more damage. Golden Archer did not reinforce, and the endurance totals went to 14 to 1. Wonder Man attacked the Archer, TWO Avengers Mansion bumped him to an ungodly ATK total, and Stich was already scooping as Shvartsman dropped a Heroes in Reserve.

Alex Shvartsman overcomes a 25-point endurance deficit to defeat one of Germany’s best and claim his round 1 win!