The players started things off in a very non-Japanese manner, determining the initiative choice by means of dice instead of the usual Rock-Paper-Scissors that is common practice in Japan. That can only mean one thing: these guys are professionals. Which is no surprise for anyone who has read about past Tokyo $10K tournaments or seen the various coverage the Japanese players have been receiving at the Pro Circuits (Nate Price seems to have an unquenchable affinity for any Japanese players who show up). Masami is one of the leading pro players in the Japanese professional Vs. community, and Hirotaka won $10K Tokyo in January with the help of his JLA Sealed Pack skills. He won the roll and took odds.

The defending champion started things off with a Dallas Riordan that Masami answered with an Ape X, searching for an Image Inducer and playing it. Dallas jumped into Ape X, but Masami decided to take a stand early and discarded another Ape X for a power-up. Hirotaka thought for a minute, but then let it slide. Ape X attacked back, bringing totals to 50-47.

Masami hit a bump in his aggressive plan when he missed on turn 2, allowing Hirotaka’s Beetle, Armorsmith to come down to a meager board. Ape X attacked a protected Beetle with the help of a discarded Airskimmer; both stunned, and it allowed Dallas to attack back unimpeded.

Hirotaka had a fairly strong turn 3 with Cannonball and an Archangel, Angel, searching out an X-Corp: Amsterdam. Masami got back on track with a Lady Lark, Skylark to hold down the fort. Hata took the lead and teamed-up X-Men and Thunderbolts with Brave New World, giving them the Physical trait, and then flipped Faces of Evil. Beetle and Angel team attacked Lady Lark, leading to a power-up for the 3-drop in an effort from Masami to lower his hand size. Cannonball stunned Ape X, and Dallas attempted to go straight at Masami, but he played Answer the Call and then Panacea Potion on Lady Lark. This stopped Dallas in her tracks and earned him a Golden Archer when the Answer the Call resolved, leaving the score at 40-39 in Ibamoto’s favor.

Masami used his initiative to recruit Golden Archer and passed. Hirotaka used Mystic Summons to find Speed Demon, Second Chance Speedster, playing him along with Radioactive Man, Chen Lu. After a period of contemplation, he moved on to formation, putting Radioactive Man, Dallas Riordan, and Archangel in the front; and Speed Demon, Cannonball, and Beetle in the back.

For his first attack, Masami sent Ape X into Cannonball with a discarded Airskimmer and flipped Rocket Central. Beetle reinforced Cannonball, and Lady Lark attacked and stunned Speed Demon. Golden Archer stunned Dallas, turning the initiative over to Hata, who passed, sitting at 21 to Ibamoto’s 40.

Now it was Hata’s turn. He teamed-up with Stormfront-1, hoping to draw something, but instead just drawing an extra Archangel. Down came a boosted Yellowjacket, which caused Hata to think for a moment before finally settling on Melissa Gold ◊ Screaming Mimi. Screaming Mimi came out, followed by Nathan Garrett ◊ Black Knight,and Hard Sound Construct brought back Cannonball. Using his last resource point, he sent Masami to 32 with Melissa Gold’s ability. All Masami could muster was a Melissa Gold ◊ Songbird, Sonic Carapace, bracing himself for the attack.

An X-Corp: Amsterdam got a second copy of Faces of Evil for Hata before he sent Yellowjacket in to stun Melissa. Speed Demon attacked Lady Lark and readied, allowing Cannonball to stun the formerly protected Ape X. Speed Demon was sent in to hit Golden Archer, and Masami activated him to burn Hata. But it was all for naught, because by the time the rest of the team finished their attacks, Masami was at -5 to Hirotaka’s 10, giving the win to Hirotaka Hata!

I took a moment to ask the players some questions about the format after they finished, and Masami commented that he liked the format because of the lack of Origins cards, but disliked the fact that there weren’t really enough cards with which to build many different decks. Hirotaka agreed, commenting that the lack of cards was the hardest thing because it really limited deckbuilding possibilities.