Roy St. Clair flew under the radar all weekend. The only times this former Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship Top 8 competitor spoke up was when someone claimed that he was playing Ben Seck’s deck from the Australian $10K. He was insistent that the TCG community know that his was no ordinary Cosmic Cops deck. Fatman, as he likes his deck to be called, is something he has been working on for some time.

Robert Leander was not excited about the prospect of playing against this deck with his Titans build. Despite some talk earlier in the week with his teammates, Leander had not managed to work in a copy of Roy Harper ◊ Speedy to deal with this matchup. In fact, Leander almost didn’t play his trademark deck. He could not choose between Titans and TNB, and instead let the judges randomly select a deck list for him. He did not even know which one had been selected until he sat down for round 1.

Leander claims that he cannot win this match—the same claim he made before dispatching Osyp Lebedowicz in a similar matchup in the final Swiss round yesterday. Of course, Osyp was playing Ben Seck’s list, while Roy St. Clair isplaying a different 64 card concoction that contains Silver Surfer and Onslaught.

Still, Leander thought he had a small chance to win if he could have two games where the initiative would not belong to St. Clair when turn 7 rolled around. Leander hoped for the best as they rolled the dice. “C’mon, turn 7 . . . ”

“I’ll take turn 1,” grinned the high-rolling St. Clair.

Game 1

Roy led off with Harvey Bullock, while Leander Optitroned for Tim Drake ◊ Robin, Young Detective. Not to be outdone, Roy Bat-Signaled for Alfred Pennyworth. Both of the searched-for cards hit play, and Ray added an Invisible Woman, The Invisible Girl for good measure.

Leander went after the Invisible Girl, and St. Clair flipped up World’s Finest.

Alfred sought out A Child Named Valeria—Roy chose to chain Alfred’s ability to his draw. He explained that he was hoping to thin his deck. The only problem with that strategy is that you don’t want to thin your deck of cards you want to draw . . . but what do I know? If I were playing a deck that relied on a turn 1 Alfred, I would probably try to keep the deck down to 60 cards, too. He replayed Alfred and added Mr. Fantastic.

Leander boosted out Hawk and Dove—shiny versions signed by the artist. St. Clair was impressed. “Are all your cards signed, or what? What did you do? Mail them in?” Actually, Leander had the opportunity to get his Cully Hamner cards signed at Pro Circuit So Cal and his Andrew Robinson cards signed at Pro Circuit Indy.

There were no attacks from St. Clair. Leander sent Dove in, and Child of Valeria was flipped up in the resource row. Tim Drake came over with a boost from Tamaran, and Hawk joined the party, as well. None of Roy’s characters stunned, but he did lose 4 endurance.

Leander played Terra on turn 4, which prompted another Child (via Alfred) from Roy. He then played Alfred and three cops. Harvey Bullock gummed up the works, preventing Leander from mounting any type of attack. He attempted to Foiled the World’s Finest, but Roy Fizzled it.

Turn 5 sent Alfred scurrying for another Child, but other than a re-recruited Alfred, there was nothing new on Roy’s side of the table. Leander activated the USS Argus and played a Red Star, leaving him with a resource point to burn. Instead of burning, Leander activated Optitron to fetch up a Garth ◊ Tempest.

Mr. Fantastic attacked Dove and Roy flipped up Child, giving Leander a huge window to defenestrate his opponent. He activated Terra, and then Finishing Moved Invisible Woman to negate the effect of the Child. He powered up Dove with Tamaran and went to work on Roy’s squad, taking down both members of the FF by the time the dust had settled.

Leander played Garth and used his remaining point to dome the visibly unsettled St. Clair. “I made a mistake. I could have blocked that whole turn. I could have Fizzled the Foiled.” St. Clair went for a Cosmic Radiation with Alfred. Two GCPD Officers exhausted Dove. St. Clair replayed Alfred and then offered a Mr. Fantastic. Leander responded by using Terra on Harvey Bullock. Mr. Fantastic used his ability to find an equipment, but mostly he just exhausted so the Press the Attack would allow Alfred to fetch Bat-Signal. He replayed Alfred. Another Press the Attack sent Alfred scurrying back out of the room to find A Child Named Valeria. He replayed Alfred, and the first Cosmic Radiation readied the team. Bat-Signal summoned the Invisible Girl, and St. Clair had just enough to replay her.

“I had to do that just right or it would never have worked.”

Alfred was tireless this turn, getting yet another Bat-Signal. Leander paid 3 and returned Finishing Move to KO Bullock. Roy had played Child, and there was little point in attacking. Foiled was Fizzled.

Roy played Batman, and Leander responded by using Terra on Mr. Fantastic. Roy drew six cards with his three other characters and a Cosmic Radiation. He equipped a Utility Belt to the Caped Crusader. Leander activated a USS Argus and recruited Raven, prompting everyone to lean and read the card.

“No one ever saw Raven before?”

Batman announced an attack on Garth, and Leander returned a Finishing Move before he was stunned.

Leander announced that everyone but Raven would be attacking a GCPD Officer. Leander flipped up Titans Go and sent Dawn after Invisible Woman. She got stunned. Hank came after another Officer. Leander had another Titans Go and announced he was sending 16 points of team attack at Batman. It stunned. Nothing of Leander’s stunned because he redirected the damage to Red Star, who was powered up with Tamaran. Leander had yet another Titans Go, and he Finishing Moved Batman. St. Clair had been bluffing a Fizzle throughout the whole turn, but he had nothing.

Leander got in a clean attack with Raven and paid 1 endurance to activate her ability. They moved to the next turn, but St. Clair was running on empty and quickly packed it in. It was on to game 2.

“Rob, you are a God!” yelled one of the spectators.

St. Clair was unimpressed. “That was a perfect draw you had. You had everything you needed. Two Foiled, three Teen Titans Go! . . . I still would have won if I had blocked that Foiled with the Fizzle in my hand.”

Robert Leander – 1, Roy St. Clair - 0

Game 2

“I hope you don’t draw perfect again,” grumbled St. Clair.

Winning a game when St. Clair had the initiative was huge for Leander, and he was feeling like he might have a chance. Even if he lost this game, the third would not see St. Clair with the initiative on the critical seventh turn. “I hope you don’t draw Alfred. Would you like to go first or second?”

Both players mulliganed. Roy went straight to Alfred, and Leander had no play. He led off turn 2 with Tim Drake. Roy played a GCPD and promptly sent Alfred to fetch the Bat-Signal. Roy replayed the loyal manservant.

Turn 3 saw Roy use Alfred for a Royal Decree, after which he played Alfred and two more cops. Leander had no turn 3 play.

St. Clair searched up another Bat-Signal. Leander led off with Terra. Roy played Alfred and then followed with Barbara Gordon. Leander responded by activating Terra to stun Alfred—he flipped up a Titans Tower—and using a Finishing Move to terminate the butler. Roy Bat-Signaled for another Alfred and drew a card during recovery.

Mr. Fantastic was the turn 5 play for Roy. He flipped up Royal Decree and used another Bat-Signal to find the Invisible Woman, which he played. He put all of his cops up front and left only the Invisible Girl unprotected. Leander had Garth.

Turn 6 saw Leander play Roy Harper, and Leander asked if St. Clair had any responses. He didn’t at first, but changed his mind after it had already resolved. St. Clair asked for a judge to hear his case, but Charsky (who had been sitting there the whole time) said “tough luck.” St. Clair brought out Harvey Bullock and Alfred. He also used a resource point to draw a card with Babs. He activated Mr. Fantastic, hoping for a lucky Utility Belt, but he didn’t find one.

Bullock attempted to exhaust Roy Harper. St. Clair responded to his own ability by using Press the Attack on Alfred. Leander responded with Terra targeting Alfred. Roy tried to force through a Child, and Arsenal took a shot at Mr. Fantastic.

Arsenal’s ability resolved, and Leander put Finishing Move, targeting the stunned Mr. Fantastic, on the chain. Roy responded by Fizzling, but Leander paid 3 and put another Finishing Move, also targeting Mr. Fantastic, on the chain. It was a long chain of effects.

Finishing Move resolved. Child resolved to no effect. Terra was still on the chain targeting Alfred, and . . . this was all during St. Clair’s build step, mind you. He still had 3 resource points to spend. Roy responded with another Press the Attack targeting Alfred, and Leander went one better with his own Press the Attack to ready Terra.

The Press on Terra resolved and Terra readied. Leander then responded to the Press that was still on the chain by activating Terra on the beleaguered Alfred. Finally the whole chain resolved, and Alfred was stunned. Leander flipped up another Press the Attack to ready Garth and stun an additional cop.

Roy played Batman on turn 7, and Leander announced responses. Arsenal munched the flipped-up Press and started firing away at Barbara Gordon. She stunned. Batman resolved and Roy drew three cards. He played a Utility Belt and tried to figure out where to put it. He ultimately decided upon Harvey Bullock.

Leander played Red Star and burned St. Clair for 5. Batman went after Red Star, and Leander flipped up Heroic Sacrifice. St. Clair bounced Alfred, putting Batman into Overload range. St. Clair threw away a Marvel Team-Up, and Leander flipped up Savage Beatdown. St. Clair threw away more team-ups, a Crowd Control, and a Cosmic Radiation.

Radiation resolved and Roy readied three characters. The Savage Beatdown and Overload resolved, but the Overload had no effect. Then Alfred resolved, and St. Clair searched out a Press the Attack.

The score was 45 to 35 in favor of Leander, by the way. Heroic Sacrifice was still on the chain, and finally, Red Star exhausted. Tim Drake was the character that got stunned as part of the cost when this chain began a long time ago.

St. Clair drew three cards and then Pressed the Attack targeting Batman. Batman readied and announced an attack on Terra. Leander granted that the attack was legal and waited for St. Clair to pass. Leander exhausted Terra to give Arsenal his bonus. Garth then reinforced Terra. Leander paid 3 endurance to return Press the Attack and use it to ready Roy. That resolved, and eventually, Terra stunned and Leander took 4.

Leander got the initiative and sent his Arsenal after the GCPD Officer. Leander let Tim Drake drift off, and St. Clair did the same with Barbara Gordon. The score was 38 to 34 in favor of Leander.

Leander played Cassie Sandsmark ◊ Wonder Girl and used a point to burn for 5. St. Clair had Silver Surfer and another Utility Belt. When the combat phase began, he ditched Alfred to steal the initiative. St. Clair announced that Silver Surfer would attack Garth ◊ Tempest. Leander activated Arsenal, putting his Heroic Sacrifice in the KO pile. St. Clair negated with Harvey Bullock. He then flipped up Press the Attack and readied Roy Harper. He attempted to shot the Officer, but the other Utility Belt negated that.

Leander paid 3 to return the Heroic Sacrifice and then played it, stunning Terra. Garth responded to the exhaust effect by pumping Roy Harper. Heroic Sacrifice resolved, and then Batman attacked Red Star. Both players passed, and the score was 26 to 29 in favor of St. Clair.

St. Clair attempted to draw one card with Invisible Woman, and Leander responded with USS Argus. The draw resolved, and Leander played Tim Drake ◊ Robin, Young Detective with boost. Then he paid 1 resource to burn with Red Star.

St. Clair recruited a cop and Ant Man and drew a couple cards. He recruited Mr. Fantastic, and when the combat step rolled around, he had a cop to pitch to steal the initiative. Silver Surfer announced an attack on Roy Harper and used Ant Man’s ability. Leander activated Roy to shoot Bullock, and the fat detective hitched up his Utility Belt and negated it. The attack resolved and Roy stunned—Leander fell to 7. Press the Attack readied the Surfer, who glided over after Garth. Leander paid 3 to activate Garth, and St. Clair remembered to use his other Utility Belt.

“Is that game?” Yes, it was.

Robert Leander – 1, Roy St. Clair - 1

Game 3

Leander mulliganed, and from the look on his face, he wanted to do the same with his next four. St. Clair kept his openers, and when he played a first turn Alfred, it was obvious why. GCPD Officer provided Alfred with an escort to fetch the Bat-Signal, and then it got replayed. Hawk and Dove came boosting into play on turn 3. St. Clair did a lot of strumming of the table during his build phase and ultimately returned Alfred to get A Child Named Valeria. He played Ant Man and flipped up World’s Finest. He then flipped up Bat-Signal to get the Invisible Girl, and played her as well. She exhausted for another Bat-Signal, and Mr. Fantastic went to Roy’s hand. Alfred returned to play. The cop and the girl went up front to protect Alfred and Ant Man. Everyone but Ant Man was exhausted.

Tim Drake went after the cop while Dove went after Ant Man. Hawk attacked Alfred. Leander flipped up Titans Tower and pitched Raven to bash over for 11. Roy recovered Alfred, and he still had the Invisible Girl awaiting her husband’s appearance next turn.

Alfred found a Fizzle. Reed Richards, a cop, and Alfred hit play. Roy played Child before Leander could go to his build step. Red Star was the play for Leander. Mr. Fantastic and an Officer team-attacked Dove. Leander cracked back with his guys, giving Red Star a little help from the Tower. The score was 48 to 27 in favor of Leander.

Leander played Terra after Roy used Alfred to find and play a Child. Leander made an uncharacteristic mistake this turn, forgetting to burn St. Clair for 5 with his extra resource point. Alfred was readied via Radiation, and Roy found a Crowd Control. His only drop was to replay Alfred. He also played a Belt and put it on the cop.

Leander banged away at St. Clair’s board, but he could not get through for anything notable. The turn passed with little change in the endurance totals.

Roy attempted a Child and Leander tried to Terra Mr. Fantastic. The GCPD negated that attempt. Roy replayed Alfred and tucked everyone back into the support row before flipping up Crowd Control. Leander had no attack.

Roy used Alfred (chained to Leander’s draw), found his fourth Child, and played it. Leander responded by activating Terra targeting Invisible Girl. The cop negated it with his ill-fitting belt. Leander flipped up Argus during his build. He played Connor Kent ◊ Superboy and paid a resource point to burn St. Clair down to 12. “Finally, Connor Kent. Now I can do some stuff.”

Roy played Batman, The Dark Knight and drew a couple of cards. He played a second Belt and put it on another cop. Leander used Connor Kent to KO the Belt on the ready cop. St. Clair drew a card in response. Leander Overloaded Batman, “Let’s make you waste some cards.”

St. Clair Fizzled the Overload. Leander announced a team attack with everyone but Arsenal, Connor, and the exhausted Terra. St. Clair responded with Cosmic Radiation, and Leander responded to that by KO’ing the other Belt. St. Clair drew four cards. Leander flipped up Titans Go and St. Clair Fizzled. Leander activated Titans Tower and pitched a Tim Drake. St. Clair flipped Cover Fire, while Savage Beatdown flipped up in Leander’s resource row. They cancelled each other out.

St. Clair had another Cosmic Radiation and drew enough cards to get above the attack, but Leander had a Beatdown to go 2 over the Dark Knight. St. Clair Fizzled it and it turned out that the math was not right—Leander was actually still 1 over. St. Clair drew another card, and he made it seem like he had drawn a Fizzle by saying he wanted to respond the original Savage Beatdown. Alex Charsky, however, correctly ruled that those effects were not on the chain any longer.

Batman finally stunned, and St. Clair went to five—he would have been at 0 if Leander had not missed the turn 5 chance to burn St. Clair. Connor Kent came over for Invisible Girl, and St. Clair used Press the Attack to reinforce. Leander used his own Press to ready Connor, and he went after the same target. St. Clair said “okay” and then wanted to change his mind, but again, the Head Judge was right there and made sure that everything went according to the rules. St. Clair had another Press the Attack and was able to reinforce. The score was 43 to 4 in favor of Leander, but the initiative was going to be St. Clair’s

St. Clair drew some cards during build and found Silver Surfer. Leander activated Argus and found another Red Star. He took St. Clair to -1, pumped Roy Harper, and played another Red Star. With his remaining resource points, he pumped Roy Harper with Tim Drake and played another.

Silver Surfer came after Red Star, and Rob used Terra to stun Mr. Fantastic. St. Clair did some quick math and came to the conclusion that there was no way for him to win.

Robert Leander is the New Jersey $10K Champion. He is also the first player in the young history of the game to claim that feat twice.