Team Neutral Ground, comprised of Elijah Madera, Bryan Sanchinell, and Shane Scurry, is a name that everyone has heard of. Team No Name, on the other hand, decided on their name because nobody has really heard of the team from Toronto. It consists of Sau Hoang, Chris Kuligz, and Sacha Akow. Both teams came into this round at 6-1, hoping to get a win here to ensure an appearance at the Draft tables tomorrow. The losers will be on the bubble.

I sat down at seat A with Shane and Sau. Shane asked me if I could change the team’s name to Team National Gangstas, but the other two thirds of the New Yorkers weren’t having that. Shane won the roll, choosing evens, and the game started with no action until turn 2 when Sau recruited Black Thorn. Shane brought down a Kate Spencer ◊ Manhunter, and after trading stuns, they went to turn 3.

Shane stepped into the driver seat with a Ted Grant ◊ Wildcat, only to be outdone when Sau recruited Ahmed Samsarra and flipped a Dr. Fate’s Tower to find a Cloak of Nabu for Ahmed. He then exhausted the tower to play Tricked-Out Sports Car on Black Thorn. Shane went directly with Wildcat and Kate Spencer, and Sau answered back by stunning Wildcat with Black Thorn and Kate Spencer with Ahmed, leaving both players at 37 and forcing Shane to lose Kate.

Sau played an Amulet of Nabu on his turn 4 play of Elimination Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, and then he used the Tower to move the Cloak from Ahmed to the OMAC. Richard Tyler ◊ Hourman came down on Shane’s side of the board, which was promptly stunned along with Wildcat in Sau’s attacks, leaving Shane at 23 and Sau at 35.

Wonder Woman, Earth 2 came out to help Shane dig out of the hole he was in on turn 5, but Sau pressed his advantage by playing Valentina Vostok ◊ Negative Woman, opting not to exhaust her for the backup ability. Wonder Woman stunned the OMAC Robot with the help of a power-up, and Hourman went directly at Sau, sending him to 26 to Shane’s own total of 23.

Sau just kept on rolling with Huntress, Reluctant Queen with the initiative, to which Robert responded with Power Girl, Earth 2. Sau thought for a while during Shane’s formation step, using Negative Woman’s backup and moving the two Fate Artifacts from the OMAC to Huntress. OMAC attacked Wonder Woman, earning a mutual stun. Black Thorn attacked Hourman, forcing Shane to use his power to stop the attack but making him a viable target for Ahmed. Powering-up with The Phantom Stranger, Wandering Hero caused both characters to stun. Huntress attacked and stunned Power Girl, but an Epic Battle ensured the mutual stun, and he exhausted Power Girl to Revitalize Wonder Woman. They ended the turn at 15-5 in Sau’s favor, with Leslie Thompkins’s Clinic activating to prevent Ahmed from KO’ing during the recovery phase when Sau chose to recover Huntress.

Shane dropped a boosted Superman, Earth 2 the next turn to put counters on every character he controlled. Staring down a board that had suddenly grown by +2 ATK / +2 DEF, Sau thought long and hard before deciding on his play for the turn. He decided to run with Sasha Bordeaux, Autonomous Prototype, going all-in and using her ability along with Negative Woman’s backup in the hope of holding on to his lead. A Thanagarian Invasion allowed Power Girl to stun Sasha, sending Sau to 5 and leaving Shane at -1. Shane played Watch the Birdie! on Negative Woman and sent Wonder Woman in after her. When Sau exhausted Huntress to reinforce, Shane was forced to pack it in, giving the game to Sau. This was almost immediately followed by a loss from Sacha in seat C, putting the weight of the match on the shoulders of Bryan and Chris in the middle seat. With the initiative on turn 7, Bryan attacked Chris into a hole that he was unable to come back from, giving the game and the match to Team Neutral Ground.