David and Josh were an instantly chatty pair as they sat down to play, perhaps a reflection of differing emotions on the part of each player. Leader—who has played every Pro Circuit and made the Top 8 in two of them—was surely more confident sitting in the feature match area, surrounded by spectators, than his Day 3 virginal opponent. Josh was happy to be matched up with a pleasant, sportsmanlike player for this first round and felt he had been fortunate all weekend in this respect. He and Dave discussed the consistency of Josh’s deck, and Josh explained to Dave that he did not have trouble with bad draws in any of his games on Day 1. The FTN leader gave Josh a mini-speech on probability and concluded that perhaps it was time for his thus-far lucky chickens to come home to roost.
The players gave each other a firm handshake and rolled off for the initiative. David won and declared that he would take evens. Josh commented that if he had known this would be the case, they wouldn’t even have needed to roll. Both players mulliganed their opening hands, and play commenced.
Josh began his turn with a Manhunter Clone, while Leader had no play. The clone attacked and then double-evaded to send Dr. Fate’s Tower and Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster to Josh’s KO’d pile.
End of turn 1: David 49, Josh 48
Dave drew into a Ted Kord ◊ Blue Beetle on turn 2 and dropped the little fellow into his support row. Josh returned Mr. M from his KO’d pile to his hand and flipped Funky’s Big Rat Code to team-up Secret Society and Manhunter affiliations, and Helm of Nabu; Hector Hammond, Mind over Matter; and Satellite HQ were flipped into his KO’d pile. He played Deadshot, Floyd Lawton and passed.
Dave decided to send Blue Beetle into Josh’s Manhunter Clone, and there was a mutual stun, with Josh KO’ing a Helm of Nabu from the top of his deck. He attacked with Deadshot straight to Dave’s face before flipping Slaughter Swamp and discarding Mr. M to return Hector Hammond to his hand.
End of turn 2: David 45, Josh 47
At the start of his recruit step, Josh put Mr. M on the chain and evaded his Manhunter Clone to flip a Slaughter Swamp from his deck. He returned Mr. M and then played him, passing to Dave. Dave exhausted his Ted Kord to find Booster Gold and played him with an Nth Metal in the front row.
The combat phase was simple as Josh attacked into Booster Gold with Deadshot and powered-up, resulting in both characters stunning.
End of turn 3: David 43, Josh 44
Leader began turn 4 by discarding Oliver Queen ◊ Green Arrow, Hard-Traveling Hero to Blue Beetle and fetching the Cloak of Nabu. Josh randomly commented that he wished he had some playskill, and Leader told him not to worry because “I have none.” Josh pondered aloud how Leader managed to acquire his $40,000 check then, and to whom he had to give favors to receive it. Leader was suddenly silent. He played his Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman, Thanagarian Enforcer with a Cloak and Amulet of Nabu.
Josh squinted at his opponent’s play and asked, “So how big is he?” “That’s a personal question,” chuckled Leader, demonstrating to everyone his sharp wit. Josh decided to play Hector Hammond and flipped Dr. Fate’s Tower to find Helm of Nabu from his deck. He played the Helm, drew into a Gorilla Grodd, and discarded Fatality, Flawless Victory. He formed his characters with Deadshot in front of Hammond, with Mr. M adjacent.
Leader looked at Josh’s KO’d pile and asked how many cards were in it; the answer was nine. “Do you have a card in there named Hector Hammond?” “No sir.” Satisfied, Dave attacked with Booster Gold into Hector and played a Blinding Rage. “Show it to me,” he invited. Josh did so, producing a power-up from hand, discarding Mark Desmond ◊ Blockbuster to Slaughter Swamp and then powering-up again. Dave burned a Magnificent Seven, and Josh responded with the removal of Deadshot from the game to take down Booster. Dave nodded and sent his Hawkman straight into Hector, who was stunned by the 10 ATK / 11 DEF 4-drop.
End of turn 4: David 43, Josh 40
For turn 5, Josh exhausted his Slaughter Swamp to return a copy of Hector Hammond to his hand, then produced Crystal Frost ◊ Killer Frost and readied his Swamp. Dave had Fire with an Nth Metal.
Josh decided to team attack Katar Hol with Hector and his tricky little Mr. Mxyzptlk. He flipped Gorilla City and exhausted it to add +3 to his attack and KO another card from his deck. Dave played Hero’s Welcome to find two copies of Katar Hol and powered-up his defender, burning with Fire. Josh discarded his own power-up for Mr. M, and Hector and Hawkman stunned each other.
Josh then sent his Crystal Frost into Ted Kord, who exhausted to find an Nth Metal. Dave then passed and took 8 damage. He attacked his Fire into Crystal Frost, burned for 2 endurance, and then KO’d a Kooey Kooey Kooey to find a card. He played Trial by Fire to get the stun, and Josh was forced to lose his Hector.
End of turn 5: David 31, Josh 24
Dave began his initiative on turn 6 by dropping a card in his resource row and then revealing it to be John Henry Irons ◊ Steel, Steel-Drivin’ Man. “That’s actually what I got last turn with Kooey,” claimed Leader. The excellent reservist 5-drop came into play and pulled back an Nth Metal for himself from the KO’d pile. Josh dropped his Gorilla Grodd and formed up with Mr. M in front of Grodd and Crystal Frost at the Ape’s side.
Before combat, Dave used Magical Lobotomy from his resource row on Frost, then turned it face down again for 4 endurance. He attacked Crystal Frost with his Fire and burned for 2 endurance. “I am currently a 10 ATK / 10 DEF to your 8 ATK / 9 DEF. Are those the stats you believe the characters have?” asked Leader. “I’m okay with that,” responded Hensley, though he looked somewhat less than okay, truth be told. He thought for some time after Dave passed—contemplating KO'ing his 5-drop to Grodd’s power— but in the end simply nodded and let his character stun.
Dave flipped Magical Lobotomy again targeting Grodd, and Josh decided to save them some time by scooping on the spot.
David Leader wins Game 1.
Josh opted to take odds for the next game, assessing that it had been his draw rather than initiative that had cost him the previous game. He mulliganed his opening four with a frown, while Leader was happy to keep his hand.
Hensley opened with Manhunter Clone again, while Leader had his optimal play of Ted Kord with a discard of Mr. Mxyzptlk to find Booster Gold. Josh sent his Manhunter Clone into combat, both characters stunned, and a Gorilla Grodd was put into Hensley’s KO’d pile.
End of turn 1: David 49, Josh 49
Josh prayed to his deck in the draw step, “Come on deck, give me something!” Dave already had his drop, playing Booster Gold and activating Beetle to find an Nth Metal for him. Josh dropped Deadshot in his support row and passed.
Leader attacked Deadshot with Booster to cause some small damage; Hensley reinforced with his Clone and then evaded it to flip a Crystal Frost into his KO'd pile.
End of turn 2: David 49, Josh 46
“Come on deck, gimme it one time!” pleaded Josh, drawing his cards and appearing crestfallen. He laid a second Manhunter Clone and a Mr. Mxyzptlk. “You are the world’s best cutter, sir,” Josh said. “You slice better than anyone else I know.” Leader smiled, appearing a little more smug than usual as he played Shayera Thal ◊ Hawkwoman and activated Beetle to find another Nth Metal for her. He formed up with Hawkwoman protecting Beetle, with Booster holding his own in the support row.
Josh sighed as he examined his options. Dave made either a silly mistake or the world’s worst attempt at cheating as he thought he forgot to return Mr. Mxyzptlk this turn from his KO’d pile; both opponent and judge were quick to correct him. With nothing he could do, Josh passed his attacks.
Dave happily sent his Booster Gold into Deadshot, triggering Nth Metal and using Shayera’s ally effect to find Katar Hol. Deadshot stunned. He then attacked with Shayera into a Manhunter Clone (which was evaded), then did the same to the other (which followed suit). Funky’s Big Rat Code and Helm of Nabu were sent to the KO’d pile. Shayera finally made her attack stick on Mr. Mxyzptlk, triggering her ally ability with Nth Metal and finding Amulet of Nabu.
End of turn 3: David 49, Josh 36
Dave opened what seemed like his third turn of initiative in a row with Katar Hol, equipping him with a Cloak and Amulet of Nabu. Josh chose not to return Mr. M from his KO’d pile and played Hector Hammond, forming up with one Clone in front of the other and Deadshot shielding Hector. Leader flipped up a Magical Lobotomy pre-combat and targeted Hector before paying 4 endurance to flip it back down.
Hensley flipped Funky’s Big Rat Code to get some more cards into his KO’d pile, which turned out to be Mark Desmond ◊ Blockbuster; Straight to the Grave; and Gorilla Grodd. He evaded both his clones to see some more cards: Mr. Mxyzptlk and Satellite HQ. He then had ten cards in his KO’d pile. Removing Deadshot from the game, Josh targeted Shayera Thal for KO, and she was duly lost.
Dave attacked with his Hawkman into Hector Hammond before flipping Magical Lobotomy and targeting him for the second time this turn. Hector was stunned, and Booster Gold hit Josh to the face for 4 endurance. Dave rounded off the turn by activating Blue Beetle to find himself another Nth Metal.
End of turn 4: David 45, Josh 23
At the start of his recruit step, Josh returned his Mr. Mxyzptlk to hand and removed the other one from the game. He played Helm of Nabu on Hector Hammond and then Crystal Frost in front of him.
Before laying his resource, Dave flipped Hero’s Welcome and searched out John Henry Irons from his deck. Josh thought for two seconds before conceding. He wished Dave luck, shook Dave’s hand, and scooped up his cards.
David Leader wins and advances to the semifinals!