Once again, Hans Joachim Höh finds himself in a $10K Top 8. He has only ever missed the Top 8 in one, his first, which was $10K Vienna—and he still made money. The last event in which he missed the Top 8 was Pro Circuit Indianapolis. Suffice to say, Hans Höh knows Vs. By contrast, his opponent is a relative newcomer, though realistically there is nobody in Europe (and few in the world) who can compete with Höh’s $10K credentials. If Hans wins here, he will equal Michael Jacob as the player to have won the greatest number of $10Ks ever.
With Squadron Supreme against Avengers, there is a lot to be said about the potential power of Silver Age. The vast majority of cards being played in this final match are from the Avengers set.
Praet started with the initiative, but had no recruits. Hans also was without a character, but made up for it with two copies of Surprise Attack, to take down his opponent’s endurance total by 20 percent in spite of the empty board. Just as importantly, Höh’s hand size decreased, effectively making all of the long-haired champion’s Squadron Supreme cards that much more powerful.
For turn two, with the initiative, he recruited Shape, Malleable Mutant with a Thunder Jet. Praet looked at his hand of largely blue cards and sighed a little. He had one character in hand, and Dane Whitman ◊ Black Knight was a pretty good choice for the turn, but looking forward, Praet could be in trouble.
Shape barrelled into the two drop for the mutual stun and enough breakthrough endurance loss to put Praet at 35. Rough beats indeed. It seemed Hans was holding back on combat pumps slightly, perhaps rightly wary of the System Failure being run in his opponent’s Avengers build.
On turn three, Praet recruited Natasha Romanoff ◊ Black Widow, Super Spy and Rick Jones. On his initiative, the female secret agent would be particularly effective at stopping some of Höh’s powerful low-cost characters.
For the first time in the match, but surely not the last, Hans went to the tank to find the best play for the turn. He decided that Joystick was likely good enough, and passed with his 1-drop hidden behind his 2-drop. Natasha and Rick each attacked into Shape, looking to stun Hans’s entire board in a single attack. Marcel managed just that, and was able to swing to the face for his final attack, redressing the balance slightly, with the endurance totals standing at 42–33 in Hans’ favor.
On turn four, Hans played Golden Archer from his resource row, replacing his resource carefully before forming the four drop behind Shape. For Praet it was Carol Danvers ◊ Warbird from the resource row, who stood alongside Black Widow, in turn behind Black Knight.
Höh went right for the apex of this formation with Shape attacking Natasha Romanoff and Warbird reinforcing her. Golden Archer then attacked Carol herself, and Hans chanced a Mega-Blast. Rick Jones reinforced, and each player lost four endurance. Black Knight then cracked back at Shape, with some help from two copies of Call Down the Lightning. Höh let out a small laugh in the face of the big attack. He played Answer the Call, and with the effect on the chain used Panacea Potion to recover his four drop. Answer the Call resolved to fetch a power-up, and Marcel flipped a third Call Down the Lightning.
“Skill,” remarked a deadpan Höh.
After the attack from a 12 ATK/12 DEF two drop, Hans had dropped to 30, compared with his opponent’s 22. Each recovered a character (with Marcel losing Natasha Romanoff) and it was on to turn five.
Here Praet’s glücklich (lucky) draw showed itself to have a few weak spots, as his only recruit was Rick Jones.
“Er ist gut,” (He is good) complimented Hans, who may or may not have been sincere in his assertion.
For Höh, the recruit was Foxfire followed by Answer the Call to find Lady Lark.
Dane Whitman barrelled into Shape with a Flying Kick, and the two oversized 2-drops took each other down. It was then up to Carol Danvers to do the best she could with Rick Jones to help her against Golden Archer. The Archer shot Praet for 6, then got stunned and returned to Höh’s hand. With his visible board stunned, Marcel could do nothing but take the beats from Höh’s team.
Turn six saw Albert Gaines ◊ Nuke, Atomic Powerhouse from Hans, with a Thunder Jet to make him much larger. For Praet, the recruit was a slightly less-than-wonderful Wonder Man, who, due to a plot-twist–heavy draw, was unable to stun even Shape.
Hans’s team attacked into Decidedly Average Man, and Praet simply scooped them up.
Hans Joachim Höh wins game one.
For the second game, Hans wished his opponent no more luck. Given the way things ultimately turned out last game, it suggests that he really wanted to win this one. He was punished for such sentiments by being forced to mulligan his initial four, while Praet kept his cards.
Marcel opened with Rick Jones, to which Hans responded with Surprise Attack. On his recruits he had Joystick, who was big enough to deter Rick, and indeed to attack for two on the swing back. Neither player had a recruit for turn two, but it looked as though Hans had the more efficient clock, with Mega-Blast on Joystick allowing her to beat Marcel down to 37 endurance compared with no endurance loss for Höh.
Praet seemed less than happy with his draw as he considered his recruits. His Quicksilver, Mutant Avenger would be better at standing in the way of attacks than Black Panther, but was frankly rubbish in a race. Hans had Lady Lark.
Quicksilver attacked into the 3-drop, and Hans showed a power-up. Praet powered up right back, and Hans came over the top again. This is the wrong set for Ally decks. Avengers Mansion, revealing two copies of Carol Danvers ◊ Warbird was enough to finally ensure the stun, but at least for Höh he was now only taking one additional burn from his Lady.
When Rick Jones went into Joystick with a Flying Kick, Hans let out a disgruntled “Hmm.” He played Answer the Call for nothing, but Rick also had a power-up. Sometimes a plan just comes together, it would seem.
Before turn four, Hans had another Answer the Call with which to find Golden Archer. He played it in the back row next to Lady Lark and passed. For Marcel, it was Carol Danvers ◊ Warbird from the resource row, who hid behind Quicksilver. Golden Archer attacked into Quicksilver, who ensured the mutual stun with some help from Avengers Mansion.
Lady Lark then came into Carol with extra Mega-Blast action to take the endurance totals to 37–19 in Hans’s favor. A small smile crept onto Hans’s face as he anticipated winning a third shiny $10K trophy.
When the recruits from Praet turned out to be Beast, Furry Blue Scientist and Natasha Romanoff ◊ Black Widow, Super Spy, this feeling cannot have entirely gone away.
Höh’s recruit was the considerably bustier Albert Gaines ◊ Nuke, Atomic Powerhouse, who dwarfed anything on Marcel’s side of the board. Given the quality of his characters, it was likely that Praet had some considerable number of pumps, but nonetheless Hans was smiling as he formed up and passed.
Beast attacked into Golden Archer and applied a little bit of Savage Beatdown to achieve the stun. Golden Archer shot Praet for his trouble, and then Nuke reinforced. A team attack with Avengers Mansion was enough to stun (and bounce) Nuke, but with the endurance totals at 38–8, Hans had very little left to do.
He drew for turn six and let out a little laugh. He played Nuke again, and a Surprise Attack before passing. Marcel looked at his board and simply extended his hand.
Hans Joachim Höh wins $10K Bremen 2005!