Kim is a well known professional player coming off a fifth place finish at the recent PC: San Francisco. Jabulani is an Atlanta player with some professional experience, but no major finishes to date. Kim won the die roll and selected the odd initiatives.
Jabulani mulliganed, while Kim kept her opener. Kim had no first turn play, so Jabulani kicked off the game with Ape X, Xina. The Ape searched out Cloak of Nabu and then attacked to end the turn. Jabulani was up again on turn 2, and he recruited Shape. The 2-drop was equipped with both a Cloak and a Helm of Nabu, and Jabulani passed. Again, Kim had no play. Jabulani attacked into her empty board, powering-up Shape. In recovery, Jabulani led 50-41.
Turn 3 was Kim’s initiative, and she played Enemy of My Enemy, discarding Zeitgeist to get Dr. Polaris, Force of Nature. Jabulani recruited Ted Kord, Blue Beetle and discarded Joystick to get a Flamethrower. He recruited another Joystick and recruited the equipment to Ape X. With no cards in hand, Jabulani set up with Joystick protecting Ape and Shape protecting Ted. Kim sent Polaris into Ted, and then passed. Ted was stunned, and Jabulani attacked back with Shape into Polaris. The 3-drop’s vengeance ability exhausted Joystick, and Jabulani attempted to use Flamethrower. In response, though, Kim flipped Mutant of the Year, negating the ability. In recovery, Jabulani led 46-34.
Jabulani had the initiative on turn 4, and he played an Answer the Call from his hand for Golden Archer. He recruited the 4-drop and passed. Kim recruited Fatality, Flawless Victory. After she entered play, Jabulani attempted to use Ape to burn Kim for 5. In response, Kim flipped and used The Science Spire to bounce Polaris and negate the Flamethrower. In combat, Jabulani sent Golden Archer into Fatality, trading. His remaining three characters attacked directly, and that was the turn. Jabulani led 42-15.
Turn 5 was Kim’s initiative, and she discarded The Calculator, Noah Kuttler to get Coercion. She played Meltdown on Jabulani’s Flamethrower, then recruited Mr. Freeze, Brutal Blizzard behind Fatality. She passed to Jabulani, who played Enemy of My Enemy to get Albert Gaines ◊ Nuke. He recruited the 5-drop from his resource row and discarded his remaining card to Ted Kord to give Shape a Helm of Nabu. Jabulani set up with Albert protecting Joystick, Ape protecting Shape in the adjacent row, and Golden Archer protecting Ted Kord in the row adjacent to that. Kim, who was sitting at precariously low endurance, went into the tank to consider her attacks. She eventually chose to send Fatality into Shape. Jabulani activated Golden Archer, and Kim allowed it. She played another Meltdown on Shape’s Amulet, then powered-up Fatality to allow her to survive the attack.. Shape was stunned and KO’d. Mr. Freeze attacked Ape X, and the 1-drop was also stunned and KO’d. It was Jabulani’s turn to swing back, and he declared an attack of Albert onto Fatality. The attack wasn’t legal, and Kim used The Science Spire to return Fatality to her hand. Albert took down Freeze, who locked down Albert for the turn. Jabulani declared a direct attack with Joystick, but it wasn’t legal—Kim flipped Coercion to team-up X-Statix, then played Spin Doctoring to recover Freeze. Jabulani was forced to pass. He maintained a sizeable lead of 29-1.
Jabulani had the initiative on turn 6, and he used Ted Kord to search out Helm of Nabu, which he equipped to Golden Archer. He recruited Melissa Gold ◊ Songbird, Sonic Carapace, and then passed. Kim had Zeitgeist behind Mr. Freeze. Jabulani set his Thunderbolts characters into Mr. Freeze, and Kim bounced him with the Spire before the attack was legal. Jabulani was forced to pass on his attacks. Kim took down Golden Archer with Zeitgeist, and that was the turn. Jabulani still led, 19-1.
On turn 7, Kim searched out another Coercion. She played and flipped it, teaming-up Spider-Friends. Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man was recruited, and Kim passed. Before recruiting, Jabulani attempted to use Golden Archer to burn Kim for 4. She bounced Zeitgeist in response, allowing Mutant of the Year to render the activation illegal. Jabulani, with only 4 resources in play, used Ted Kord to get another Cloak of Nabu. He equipped it to Nuke and passed back to Kim. She played Meltdown on the Cloak and discarded Zeitgeist to exhaust him. Spider-Man took down Joystick, and that was the turn. The endurance score was now 9-1 in Jabulani’s favor.
Turn 8 was Jabulani’s initiative, and he had no recruit. Kim recruited Ghost Rider, Danny Ketch, and that was the game.