You’ve already seen what Tillman’s deck looks like, but it’s anyone’s guess what Loren is running today. Given the quality of Tillman’s powerhouse, it might be difficult for Loren to pull this one out. Tillman won the die roll and selected the even initiatives. Loren kept his opener, but Tillman threw his away.

Neither player had a first turn play. Tillman kicked things off with Dr. Minerva, fetching Ruul Warrior. Loren missed again, and the 2-drop attacked into his empty board. On turn 3, he finally had a drop in the form of Firelord, Pyreus Kril with a Power Gem. Tillman recruited Technarx, Cyborg General and followed that up with Mind Gem and Dr. Minerva. Firelord attacked Minerva, and Tillman used Pressed into Service to reinforce. Mind Gem was returned to Tillman’s hand, and the endurance scores were tied at 48 apiece.

Tillman began the fourth turn by replaying the Mind Gem on Technarx. He brought out Captain Att-Lass and Ruul Warrior, and then passed. Loren recruited Moondragon behind Firelord, and passed right back. Ruul Warrior went after Firelord, and the characters traded stuns. Loren chose to return the Power Gem to his hand. Tillman’s remaining three characters team attacked Moondragon; Loren flipped and used Worldeater Apparatus before allowing the stun. Technarx got stunned back and, along with Firelord, was KO’d in recovery. Loren led the endurance race, 43-42.

Turn 5 was Loren’s initiative, and he recruited Air-Walker, Harbinger of Despair in front of Moondragon. Interestingly, he did not play the Power Gem again. Tillman, on the other hand, did choose to re-play his Mind Gem (on Ruul Warrior), drawing and discarding in the process. Tillman used terraformed a Penal Colony into play, then recruited Ultron ◊ Ultron 11 and equipped it with Nega-Bands. He set up with Ultron protecting Att-Lass and Ruul protecting Minerva, and then passed. At the beginning of combat, Air-Walker exhausted Ruul Warrior. Loren sent Moondragon into Minerva, and Tillman reinforced with Att-lass. Next, Air-Walker stunned Att-Lass without difficulty. Loren passed, and Tillman went into the tank. Eventually, he decided to attempt to send Ultron into Moondragon, but I Must Obey (revealing 7-drop Galactus) foiled that plan. Tillman flipped and used Penal Colony to return Dr. Minerva, and that was the end of combat. In recovery, Tillman KO’d Ultron to return Technarx to play, then removed four cards in his KO’d pile to return Ultron to play at the start of the next turn. Loren still led, 43-32.

At the start of turn 6, Ultron returned to play. Tillman recruited Minerva, netting Admiral Galen Kor, and followed her up with Lieutenant Kona Lor, replacing Loren’s I Must Obey. Next was Commander Dylon Cir, Admiral Galen Kor, and Magneto, Acts of Vengeance. That press mechanic sure is nifty, eh? With all nine of his characters arranged to his satisfaction, Tillman passed.

Loren chose to under-drop was well, recruiting Mar-Vell ◊ Captain Marvel, Soldier of the Empire and Ronan the Accuser, Starforce. Tillman considered responding to Ronan, but eventually chose not to. Before forming, Loren flipped The Herald Ordeal to team-up Heralds and Kree and recruited Nega-Bands onto Air-Walker. He set up with Air-Walker protecting Ronan, Mar-Vell next to Ronan in the support row, and Moondragon next to Mar-Vell. Loren passed to Tillman, who sent Commander Dylon Cir into Mar-Vell. His ability triggered, and Loren played Elemental Battle from his resource row so that he wouldn’t be forced to replace his Worldeater Apparatus. Neither player had further effects, and both characters stunned. Magneto attacked Ronan, and Loren flipped and used Elemental Converters. He played Conquered Planet for the stunback and exhausted Ronan to his Apparatus to gain some endurance. The characters traded. Tillman flipped Doomed Earth, KO’ing Magneto and Dylon Cir, and sent Galen Kor into Air-Walker. Again, the Apparatus was activated and both characters stunned. Ultron ran over Moondragon, and Tillman’s remaining characters—except Minerva—team attacked with Battleworld for 27. Minerva activated to hit Air-Walker with Improper Burial. In recovery, Loren gained 2 with The Herald Ordeal and was left with only Moondragon. Tillman led, 20-7.

On turn 7, Loren recruited Ronan the Accuser, Supreme Public Accuser (revealing 7-drop Galacts) with Nega-Bands. He also brought out Power Gem on Moondragon, set out with the 7-drop protecting the 4-drop, and passed. To start his turn, Tillman returned Minerva to his hand with Penal Colony. Minerva was re-played, fetching Tillman another copy of Commander Dylon Cir. She was quickly joined by Sentry #459, Tillman’s lone 6-drop. Left to right, Tillman formed his eight characters as such: Kona Lor protecting Ultron, Att-Lass protecting Technarx, Galen Kor protecting Minerva, and Ruul Warrior protecting Sentry #459. At the start of combat, Tillman was forced to replace all of his face-up resources, leaving him with a single card in his deck. It was time for Loren to attack, and he went into the tank. Before attacking, he used The Herald Ordeal to gain 2 endurance. After another trip to the tank, Moondragon went after Ruul Warrior. Loren played Creation of a Herald, discarding Galactus to get Interstellar Offensive. Loren played it, giving his attacker 11 ATK. Tillman flipped The Lunatic Legion to give all of his characters +2 ATK, and both characters stunned. Loren returned the Power Gem to his hand and passed on further attacks. Tillman chose to send Galen Kor, Att-Lass, Kona Lor, and Sentry #459 into Ronan. Loren conceded.