After a dramatic conclusion to Karl Horn’s quarterfinal match, we are now prepared to determine who will have a chance to play for $40,000. Michael Dalton is a veteran of Sunday play and has to be considered the favorite in this match. Dalton’s record-breaking three Pro Circuit Top 8s have him on track to be considered the best player in this game. A win today would go a long way to solidifying that title. Standing in his way is up-and-coming pro Karl Horn. This is Karl’s first Top 8 appearance, but he had a strong Day 1 and clearly knows his deck well.
I asked the players what they thought about the matchup, and Karl revealed that he didn’t spend any time testing against Common Enemy, so he had no idea how it would turn out. Dalton claimed that the matchup was slightly in his favor, but with a good draw from Karl’s deck, it could be tough.
Karl won the die roll and chose to take the even initiative.
Turn 1
Karl had a monster opening hand with Alfred Pennyworth, Dagger, Child of Light, Wild Ride, and Glorious Godfrey. Dalton chose to mulligan his starting four and had no drop for the turn. Karl started the engine running by playing Alfred and using Dagger to get a Midnight Sons.
Turn 2
A Micro-Chip from Karl allowed him to team up and use Alfred, fetching Entangle. Dalton got his attack on, sending She-Thing into the replayed Alfred and dealing 1 to Karl.
Horn 49, Dalton 50
Turn 3
Dalton was forced to pass the turn with no drop, putting him in danger of falling too far behind. Horn used Wild Ride to fetch a Midnight Sons via Dagger, and then Alfred continued the search party by getting Mystical Paralysis. Alfred was replayed, followed by Robot Sentry, who thanks to a second Midnight Sons, ensured that no more endurance would be lost this turn.
Horn 48, Dalton 50
Turn 4
Karl continued to set up the perfect board position, using a Bat-Signal to fetch Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius, who then conveniently flipped down the very Bat-Signal used to fetch him. How diabolical. Michael finally used some search of his own, as Signal Flare fetched Human Torch, Hothead. An extended art Doom reset Dalton’s plot twist.
Karl chose not to attack this round, allowing Dalton to attack for 2 into a reinforced Robot Sentry.
Horn 46, Dalton 50
Turn 5
Dalton recruited the previously fetched Human Torch. Karl used Bat-Signal and Midnight Sons to recruit the all-powerful Glorious Godfrey, further blunting Dalton’s ability to attack. GG promptly exhausted Doom, dealing 4 to Dalton. Dalton was left with only one valid attack option, sending the Torch into Doom, who was reinforced by Alfred.
With Alfred exhausted, Dalton’s trap could finally be sprung. Dalton played Flame Trap, knowing that Horn couldn’t use Alfred to fetch the one Fizzle in his deck.
“Darn,” Horn commented as he shook his head. But Horn was not out of tricks. He used Robot Sentry to exhaust She-Thing, which enabled him to Press the Attack Alfred, giving him the needed Fizzle to save his team. With Dalton’s only Flame Trap blunted, it looked bad for the veteran player.
Horn 40, Dalton 46
Turn 6
Horn continued his textbook perfect draw by recruiting Dr. Light, Arthur Light. A flurry of exhausting effects on both sides left only Horn’s Dr. Light, Micro-Chip, and Dalton’s Human Torch ready going into Dalton’s recruit.
Dalton finally played Common Enemy to team up his squad before upgrading his Doom into Dr. Doom, Lord of Latveria. Horn responded with yet another exhaust effect, using Entangle to exhaust Human Torch. Big Doom then bashed into Dr. Light with a Savage Beatdown for 13 endurance loss.
Horn 27, Dalton 42
Turn 7
This match had attracted a large crowd by this point, but both the players and the audience were silent as Dalton Signal Flared for the mighty Thing, The Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing, prompting Horn to exchange Micro-Chip for another shot at Bat-Signal, while Robot Sentry was removed from the board by Thing’s effect.
Horn matched him with Psimon, giving Dalton his first real window to attack with more than one character. If not for the power of Doom 6, Horn could have recruited four other characters this turn and used his Marvel Team-Up to allow Dr. Light to stun Thing. That, combined with the Mystical Paralysis in his hand, would have prevented any good attacks from Dalton.
As it stood, Horn formed Dr. Light in front of Psimon and Doom in front of GG.
Dalton sent Human Torch into Doom, who predictably used the Mystical Paralysis to exhaust Thing. Dalton continued the onslaught by sending Doom into Glorious Godfrey, bringing Horn down to 11.
Horn 11, Dalton 42
Turn 8
Horn had a monster turn, recruiting Spider-Man, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Alfred Pennyworth, and Boris. After re-reading Psimon and sighing out an “Ookaay then,” Dalton opted not to recruit anything, forming Doom and Thing up front.
Spider-Man locked down Dalton’s team, and a team attack with the two Fearsome Five characters stunned Dr. Doom and allowed Horn to finally flip his last necessary Team Up. Dalton made a critical error this turn in his formation. If Dalton had formed Doom behind Thing this turn, he could have prevented the team up and possibly prevented Horn from finishing his combo before dying.
Horn 4, Dalton 36
Turn 9
Dalton once again had nothing to recruit thanks to Psimon’s lockdown. Horn used Dr. Light to stun Human Torch and then recruited Dr. Light with boost, prompting a concession from Dalton.
Horn 1, Dalton 0
GAME 2
Dalton opted to take the even initiatives.
Turn 1
Dalton started out with a strong edge, playing Boris, while Horn could only pass.
Horn shrugged, “You hit your 1-drop and I don’t play mine.”
“Yeah, I play four though!” Dalton smiled. “Clearly the right number.”
Turn 2
Horn finally found his 1-drop a turn late and recruited Alfred. Both players took 1.
Horn 48, Dalton 49
Turn 3
A Robot Sentry and Millennium allowed Alfred to fetch a Bat-Signal and return to play. Dalton’s newly recruited She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters combined with Boris to get an early double-stun against Horn, forcing him to lose his Robot Sentry.
Horn 43, Dalton 48
Turn 4
Common Enemy followed by Signal Flare gave Dalton a Human Torch, and a Doom from hand reset the search card. Horn matched with his own Doom, but a Reign of Terror from Dalton left Horn with only one character. Horn was able to stave off damage with a Mystical Paralysis.
Horn 43, Dalton 48
Turn 5
Horn played his first Marvel Knights character, Micro-Chip, allowing him to flip two Midnight Sons, naming Gotham Knights and Fearsome Five. A double use of Wild Ride then got Shimmer and Boris, dealing 3 to Horn.
Dalton used his own Boris to get his strongest weapon in the match, Flame Trap, and he immediately used it, preventing Horn from using Shimmer during his attack step. Horn’s Boris could only lamely fetch an Entangle because Dalton’s Doom prevented Horn from profitably using Fizzle this turn. A Mystical Paralysis stopped Dalton’s newly recruited Human Torch from attacking, but a Doom-on-Doom mutual stun left Horn with an entire board of stunned characters and a dangerously sinking endurance total.
Horn 28, Dalton 44
Turn 6
Dalton Signal Flared for his big beater, Hulk, New Fantastic Four, and Horn matched him with Spider-Man, The Spectacular Spider-Man, who took up a position behind Doom.
Horn’s Doom once again was able to paralyze Dalton’s biggest drop, leaving Human Torch to attack Doom. A key power-up allowed She-Hulk and Doom to team attack successfully into Spider-Man, once again leaving Horn with a board full of stunned characters.
Horn 16, Dalton 40
Turn 7
Horn started the turn by recruiting Psimon. Dalton responded with a slew of search effects, using Faces of Doom and Signal Flares to fetch Dr. Doom, Lord of Latveria, Sub-Mariner, Ally of Doom, and Thing, The Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing, who entered play during Dalton’s recruit. This clearly signaled that Dalton already had Silver Surfer in hand.
Spider-Man did his thing, and Psimon bashed into the smallest unprotected character, Human Torch, dealing 8 to Dalton and 2 to Horn.
Horn 14, Dalton 32
Turn 8
Dalton recruited Silver Surfer. Horn looked at the mighty Herald and conceded.
Match Score: 1-1
GAME 3
The tension was building as the players shuffled up for the third game. And, I kid you not, someone from the audience began to play a recording of the theme song from “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” prompting a chuckle from the crowd.
The players were finally ready to go, with Horn getting the preferred even initiatives.
Turn 1
Horn matched his strong game 1 opening by recruiting Alfred Pennyworth and using Dagger, Child of Light to fetch Midnight Sons.
Turn 2
A Wild Ride for Micro-Chip enabled Alfred to fetch Entangle and return to play. I have never had a butler, but if Alfred is any indication, it must be pretty sweet. Dalton could do nothing but pass.
Horn 49, Dalton 50
Turn 3
The three-time Pro Circuit quarterfinalist could only lamely recruit a Boris and lament, “I’m out again, aren’t I?” with a good-natured grin.
I will tell you folks, it takes a lot of character to be able to smile from this position. Regardless of the outcome of this match, Michael Dalton has proven himself to be both an incredible player and a good sportsman.
Horn learned his lesson from last game and began to close the limited outs left to Dalton by using Alfred to put a Fizzle in his resource row. Micro-Chip allowed Dalton to recruit Lacuna, who took up a position behind Alfred. The two man servants traded for a point.
Horn 46, Dalton 49
Turn 4
Both players recruited you-know-who. Horn flipped a Marvel Team-Up and passed, allowing Dalton to send his own Doom into a reinforced Alfred. I’m not sure why he didn’t attack Lacuna instead to get an extra point in, but it was unlikely to be relevant in this match.
Horn 45, Dalton 49
Turn 5
Dalton recruited his first Fantastic Four character, Human Torch, allowing him to finally flip Common Enemy. Horn recruited Glorious Godfrey, whose initials might as well stand for “good game.” After Glorious Godfrey used his ability, Dalton could only send Human Torch into a reinforced Doom, dealing 6 to Horn.
Horn 39, Dalton 45
Turn 6
Horn opted not to recruit Spider-Man and instead used Midnight Sons (naming Fearsome Five) and Wild Ride to get Dr. Light. Glorious Godfrey, combined with a Mystical Paralysis from both players, left Dalton with only Hulk to attack. Hulk stunned Horn’s Dr. Light, who went down without using his ability.
Before the end of the turn, Dalton attempted to use his Signal Flare, but Horn had other ideas and used his Fizzle to stop him.
Horn 27, Dalton 41
Turn 7
Horn’s gambit paid off, as Dalton could only recruit the inferior Thing, Heavy Hitter, which was matched by Horn’s mighty Psimon. Dr. Light then activated to stun Dalton’s already exhausted Dr. Doom, opening the way for Horn’s hand of powerhouse plot twists. Dalton’s face dropped further and further into his hands as Mystical Paralysis allowed Doom to exhaust Hulk, and Press the Attack allowed Dr. Light to stun Human Torch. Dalton lamely sent Thing into a reinforced Alfred. Had he been so inclined, Horn could have used Entangle to prevent even this paltry attack.
This one is all over but the crying.
Horn 26, Dalton 28
Turn 8
Both players recruited Silver Surfer this turn, and a pair of discards allowed Horn to maintain the initiative. Horn considered Dalton’s formation of Silver Surfer protecting Doom and Hulk protecting Thing. After deciding upon a plan of action, Horn opened with a Dr. Light direct stun to Hulk, followed by an attack with Psimon into Thing, who got reinforced by Doom. Silver Surfer and Lacuna team attacked into Dalton’s Silver Surfer. This attack turned off Dalton’s Doom and allowed Horn to Press the Attack, which prompted a concession from Dalton.
With a hand-shake and a round of applause, Karl Horn advances to the finals!