It couldn’t get any better than this for the English fans. Two veteran, successful English players are fighting to be the last undefeated player at the tournament. (Hans Joachim Hoeh is also undefeated, but he was paired down).

They both mulliganed, and for the first time today, Edbury missed his first two drops. Riboulet came out with a “robust” turn 2 Toad, turn 3 Boris, while Richard showed his purple colors with a turn 3 Sentinel Mark II.

He followed that with Sentinel Mark V, and Riboulet answered with Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius.

Richard: “Ah, Dr. D.”

Michael: “Yup, but sadly, I’m not turn anything face down.”

Richard: “Now I have to take make a difficult decision.”

Finally, he settled on sending in Sentinel Mark II, but Riboulet had Reign of Terror for it. Sentinel Mark V went after Boris, and the turn ended with Edbury’s one creature to Riboulet’s three.

The Brotherhood/Doom player got the initiative and used Boris to fetch Rise to Power before playing another Boris. He had no other drops, which isn’t very good on turn 5.

Richard: “How many Curve Sentinels have you beaten today?”

Michael: “Three.”

Richard: “Okay, so this is probably not a good matchup for me.”

Michael: “I did consider Curve Sentinels while building the deck.”

Richard: “Fair enough.”

Still, Richard Edbury bounced right back into the game with Nimrod, Mutant Hunter. Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius got attacked by Nimrod, and Riboulet sprung a surprise on his opponent. He revealed Marvel Team-Up to connect his two teams, and then revealed Lost City to pump his Dr. Doom.

That forced Richard Edbury to use Savage Beatdown to trade the Nimrod counter for a stunned Dr. Doom. He followed that with Finishing Move to totally ice it, but Michael answered with Boris, fetching Faces of Doom to get Dr. Doom, Victor Von Doom.

Edbury smiled and prepared for the next turn. Out came Master Mold with a “sorry, I didn’t draw Bastion.” He used it to pump out another Sentinel Mark V. Riboulet answered with Dr. Doom, Victor Von Doom, but he was still outnumbered.

One of the Sentinel Mark Vs dove in to catch Toad, and all of a sudden, Dr. Doom was all alone. Still, Edbury’s Sentinels weren’t too sure about ganging up on him.

Richard thought about it and decided that he might as well bite the bullet. The purple armada circled Dr. Doom. Riboulet had no surprises and fell to 32.

Michael used his seventh turn to drop Magneto, Master of Magnetism, and Edbury answered with the same card, dropping another Sentinel Mark V with the hardworking Master Mold.

Michael: “That’s a lot of creatures.”

He was now outgunned six to two. But still, Richard didn’t seem happy about the game. He dropped his head in his hands and stared at the table, trying to figure out what Michael could do to destroy him.

Riboulet’s Magneto destroyed Nimrod, and Dr. Doom tried to get one Sentinel Mark V. Edbury tried to save it with Cover Fire, but Michael used his Lost City.

The purple squad struck back, led by Edbury’s Magneto. Magneto took down Dr. Doom, and the two remaining Sentinel Mark Vs teamed up on Riboulet’s Magneto. He tried to save it by using Rise to Power to fetch another to use with Lost City, but Richard Edbury had seen that coming and stopped it with Savage Beatdown.

Down went Michael’s Magneto. That left Michael Riboulet with no characters and Edbury with three. Riboulet used Avalon Space Station to get back two copies of Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius. He used one to fire Mystical Paralysis at Magneto, Master of Magnetism and left the other one sitting back.

It was not enough, as Richard was ahead on resistance, and on the extra turn after time was called, he dropped Bastion and another Sentinel Mark V to further unbalance the table.

Since Hans Joachim Hoeh lost on table 2, Richard Edbury is the only undefeated played in the tournament.