I featured both of these players earlier in the tournament. Michael Jacob is a noted pro with a number of accomplishments under his belt, including two Canadian $10K victories. David frequently judges $10K events. The players are sitting at table 1 this round, and Michael is the only undefeated player.

Michael won the die roll and selected the odd initiatives. He mulliganed his opener, and David followed suit. Michael began the game with Archangel, Angel, discarding The Phantom Stranger, Wandering Hero to fetch X-Corp: Amsterdam. David missed his drop. David missed on turn 2 as well, while Michael recruited Beetle, Armorsmith .He discarded Wesley Dodds ◊ The Sandman to fetch Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose. Michael attacked for 5, and that was the turn.

Michael had the lead on turn 3, and he began by playing Enemy of My Enemy, pitching Ivy to fetch Evil Star. He recruited Dr. Light, Master of Holograms and exhausted him to return Poison Ivy to play. David played an Enemy of My Enemy of his own, discarding Ahmed Samsarra for Sage, Xavier’s Secret Weapon. Michael responded to the recruit by flipping his Amsterdam. Still in the build phase, Michael exhausted Ivy and Archangel to return The Phantom Stranger to his hand. The players moved to combat, and Michael sent Beetle into Sage. He powered-up, and the characters traded stuns. Michael activated his Amsterdam to get Justice League of Arkham, then KO’d Beetle to Ivy to fetch another Amsterdam and get a second Arkham. All characters recovered, and Michael led 48-40.

Turn 4 was David’s initiative, and he recruited Merlyn, Deadly Archer in front of Sage. Michael said “Gotta go into the tank on this one,” and he did as promised. He eventually chose to use Dr. Light on Beetle, discarding the Stranger to fetch Deadshot, Floyd Lawton. Michael KO’d Archangel to Ivy to trade a Hard Sound Construct in his resource row for a Slaughter Swamp. He used the Swamp to recur Archangel and played it, fetching another Amsterdam. Yellowjacket was played from the resource row with boost, fetching Beetle. Finally, Michael recruited Deadshot with nine cards in his KO’d pile. At the beginning of combat, David flipped four locations: Checkmate Safe House (teaming-up X-Men), Brother Eye, Sewer System, and Brother I Satellite (fetching Annihilation Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot). David used Merlyn to KO Dr. Light, and this allowed Michael to KO Sage with Deadshot. Neither player had any attacks, and Michael used another Amsterdam to search for a third Justice League of Arkham.

Turn 5 was Michael’s initiative, and it looked like he might be going off. He began by exhausting Yellowjacket and Beetle to return The Phantom Stranger to his hand. He used Slaughter Swamp to trade Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern for Wesley Dobbs. Next, Beetle was KO’d to Ivy to trade the Swamp for a Phantom Zone. He played Hard Sound Construct from his resource row, targeting Beetle. The 2-drop came into play, and The Phantom Stranger was discarded to get the all-important Hope. He recruited her and flipped two copies of Justice League of Arkham. Next, he played Dr. Light and used him to return Kyle Rayner to play. Kyle searched out a Hard Sound Construct, and Michael teamed-up again. He KO’d Hope to get another card and played the Hard Sound on Hope to get yet another. David was left with two cards in hand when Michael passed to him. He recruited his Annihilation Protocol in front of Merlyn and passed. Still in the build phase, Michael recurred Phantom Stranger and used Phantom Zone to remove a card into David’s KO’d pile from the game. In combat, David KO’d Dr. Light with Merlyn and attacked Beetle for 15 with his Robot. David now led 40-33.

David, with two cards in hand, passed on both his resource and his recruit on turn 6. Michael, after some Stranger hijinks, played and used Evil Star to KO Merlyn. David’s Protocol attacked Evil Star with help from Brother Eye. The ten-second turn ended with David ahead 31-26.

Michael had the initiative on turn 7. He recruited the Stranger, while David had Merlyn and Sarge Steel in front of his Robot. Evil Star crushed Sarge Steel—the Robot reinforced—and The Phantom Stranger attacked Merlyn. David could do nothing but team-up with Checkmate and activate two Safe Houses. Michael played Straight to the Grave for Coach and returned it to his hand before recovery. He now had the lead, 26-20.

Turn 8—the last turn of the game due to time—was Michael’s initiative. He recurred his Psycho-Pirate, and David extended the hand.