Opposite him sits Melbourne's own Igor Koval. Igor, another of Vs. System's young champs at just 17, hails from Sydney, and has a few Top 4 PCQ splits to his name. He doesn't make it to a lot of $10Ks because of school, but he's been testing his Good Guys build a lot, and is confident today, touting Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster as the greatest asset in his build.

Both players are at 4-1 today. Time to find out who will reign supreme . . .

Igor won the initiative decider and determined that odds was the best course of action.

Turn 1

Igor had a copy of Ted Kord ◊ Blue Beetle (hinting at a Good Guys build) with Scott commenting, "Meh, why not?" as he recruited Haywire with a copy of Light Armor.

Hoping to make the most of Ted's ability, Igor passed and play moved over to Scott. Scott swung right on in and Ted activated (discarding Reality Gem — for the mirror perhaps?) to net a copy of Nth Metal.

Endurance:

Igor:46

Scott:49

Turn 2

Scott had an interesting drop in the form of Kate Spencer, Manhunter  while Igor had to activate Ted (discarding Enemy of My Enemy) to find a copy of Booster Gold. Booster received some Nth Metal bling and formed in front of Ted.

Scott hummed away on his iPod (to Kiss, no less) and eventually decided that the 4 DEF was too risky to deal with. He passed initiative and Booster was able to swing into Kate without trading stuns.

Endurance:

Igor: 46

Scott: 45

Turn 3

World's Greatest Heroes teamed-up Igor's board as a copy of Shayera Thal ◊ Hawkwoman came down for him. Ted activated and discarded Mxy to find some bling for Shayera. Meanwhile back on Scott's side of the table Beetle, Armorsmith came out for the Sydney-sider (discarding a Mxy of his own) and found a copy of Nenora, who was recruited into Scott's hidden area.

Booster once again swung into Kate Spencer without trading, and Shayera swung into Haywire, using another copy of Magnificent Seven to make sure her DEF way too high for Haywire to ever deal with. Igor discarded a copy of Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha! to find a copy of Nth Metal from his deck, and Scott was forced to take 6 endurance loss.

With no reasonable attack, Scott moved right on over to recovery and was forced to let Haywire KO — electing instead to recover his Kate Spencer.

Endurance:

Igor: 46

Scott: 37

Turn 4

Mxy came back to Scott's hand, and he recruited a potentially dangerous combo for Igor in the form of Natasha Romanoff ◊ Black Widow, Super Spy and Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose. Mxy went back to Igor's hand as well (cue Timberlake: "I’m bringing Mxy back.") and Igor began to look through his hand and row. He realized that he had made a huge mistake when he discovered that he had searched for Nth Metal instead of Katar Hol the previous turn. "Damn . . . I thought I had one in hand," the youngster bemoaned, as he was forced to pass and play moved right on over to Scott's attack.

In an uber-safe attack, Scott teamed Natasha and Kate into Ted Kord. Natasha and Ted traded stuns, and Shayera was taken down in the process via the Avenger's ability. Still humming away (this time to Queens of the Stone Age) Scott's remaining drops attacked into Booster Gold for a total of 8 ATK). Scott took the opportunity to KO Natasha to Ivy's ability (fetching Slaughter Swamp) and then Ivy and the JLI 2-drop traded blows.

A timely JLI Embassy ensured that Booster and Shayera would hang around and Scott recovered Poison Ivy.

Endurance:

Igor: 40

Scott: 33

Turn 5

This time, Igor's deck seemed to be doing the quintessential Good Guys thing much better, when Fire came down into his front row sporting some very fashionable Nth Metal. Kate Spencer ◊ Manhunter and Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern came down for Scott (who grabbed a copy of Hard Sound Construct)

Birthing Chamber let Scott mill through his deck somewhat, and then Melissa Gold ◊ Screaming Mimi, Mimi Schwartz came into the game via the Hard Sound. Scott used a resource point to burn for 7 endurance loss and then passed his initiative.

Shayera attacked into Ivy and Scott was burnt for 2 endurance in the process. Shayera's trigger (finally) found a copy of Katar Hol and Scott decided to KO his Melissa Gold to Ivy (fetching a fresh Birthing Chamber) before the Arkham princess was reinforced by Kate Spencer and became stunned. Booster Gold attacked into Natasha and Fire, Booster Gold, and Shayera all triggered (netting a second copy of Katar Hol). Scott merely passed and took the 4 endurance loss. Fire then swung over Kyle Rayner and into Scott's Kate Spencer (who was now left with no reinforcement options). Shayera found a 4th copy of Nth Metal for Igor and a Kooey Kooey Kooey was cracked to find a copy of Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha!. Igor then flipped a copy of Magnificent Seven (netting a copy of Light Armor) and used the Light Armor to bring Fire's ATK to 14. Scott decided to pass and merely recovered Natasha Romanoff in the recovery phase.

Endurance:

Igor: 33

Scott: 5

Turn 6

Scott started his turn off by “bringin’ Mxy baaaack.” A copy of Hard Sound Construct attempted to bring Melissa Gold into play, and, after some discussion as to whether Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha! would negate the plot twist, the Queen of Burn came down into Scott’s front row. Electric Eve was then recruited into the back row, and Birthing Chamber was used to draw 2 cards. The Sydney player then used a second Birthing Chamber (KO’ing the first) to draw another 2 cards. He then used his Swamp to re-recruit Kate Spencer and the final resource point was used to bring Igor down to 26. Mxy was returned to Igor's hand and then he discarded the Troublesome Trickster to Enemy for a copy of John Henry Irons ◊ Steel, Steel-Drivin’ Man. Hoping to maximize the defensive power of Booster and the burn potential of Fire, Steel and Shayera were placed in the front row respectively.

Beetle, Natasha, and Electric Eve teamed into John Henry. Steel was brought to 13 DEF, but Scott had Silver Age's *hot* card in The Wrecking Crew. However, it was met by a disastrous copy of Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha! from Igor. Thankfully for Scott, he had a second 'Crew, but it too was met by a second Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha!. When Igor KO'd the Nth Metal to increase John Henry's DEF further, Scott knew that this game was all wrapped up. In almost poetic grace, Scott hummed away as his iPod pumped out "Faith No More."

Igor Koval takes out Scott Hunstad in round 6, to take him to 5-1 for day 1 so far!

BREAKING NEWS: THE ZORBA DECK IS 2-4 AND IS OUT OF CONTENTION FOR TOP 8. BUT, IN THIS REPORTER'S OPINION, 2 WINS IS *MORE* THAN ENOUGH TO PROVE YOURSELF, ZORBA. YOU DID JRO PROUD LITTLE ZORBA . . . you did us proud.