Round 5 brought together two very different players. John Rich, an associate of players on the various web teams but himself unaffiliated, and Nick Little, one of the Famous Four Magic players who, along with Brian Kibler, Neil Reeves, and Gabe Walls, took four of the Top 8 spots at PC Indy. Nick used to room with Gabe Walls and played Magic for seven or eight years, on and off. Although he never really had the time or drive to be successful on the Magic Pro Tour, he was happy to follow Gabe into the Vs. System, realizing that it was a system that he could excel in.
John, who is a near-clone to pro wrestler Bam Bam Bigelow, brought a Teen Titans deck to the table. Nick, who is a near-clone to actor Eric Stoltz, played a similar Common Enemy deck to the one that performed so well for him at Indy—although with some Web of Spider-Man touch-ups.
John won the coin toss and decided to let Nick go first. Nick mulliganed, and while drawing, tried to guess back and forth with John as they tried to figure out who was playing what. Nick asked,” You wanna play a robot?” John replied, “Not really, you wanna play a robot?” Nick grinned and simply answered, “Maybe . . . ”
Turn 1 went by, and no drops for anyone. Come turn 2, John still had no drop. Nick played a She-Thing and correctly surmised that John was hoping for a boosted Hank Hall ◊ Hawk as his 3-drop. The She-Thing attacked, putting John down to 47, and with first blood, the battle commenced!
Turn 3 had Nick flipping a Signal Flare to fetch a She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters, discarding a Silver Surfer. “I’ll get the foil one . . . ” set off a “She’s a pretty one” response from John, and a two-minute discussion on the foil 5-drop She-Hulk, Green Jeans.
John didn’t get a Hawk or Dawn Granger ◊ Dove, and instead was forced to recruit Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal.
Nick sent She-Hulk into Arsenal, stunning both. Then, She-Thing launched herself directly at John. It was Nick 47, John 40.
John began turn 4 with Red Star; “I think he’s pretty good,” he said as he laid Red Star. “You would!” Nick shot back. John laughed and asked, “Don’t you?” A simple “sometimes” was all he got in reply.
Nick recruited Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius, flipping down his Signal Flare. He placed Doom in front of She-Thing, with She-Hulk next to Doom.
John launched an attack with Red Star on Doom, using Tamaran to power him up. Unfortunately for John, Nick flipped Unmasked, preventing the power-up and forcing a double-stun. Nick 40, John 36.
John then pushed Arsenal into She-Thing, but once again, Doom’s nefarious tricks came into play, and Nick chased Arsenal away with a Reign of Terror. Nick was then free to send in She-Hulk, knocking John down to 32 endurance and leaving Nick at 40.
Turn 5, and Nick paid to flip Unmasked back down. He then flipped a Common Enemy, teaming up and garnering a draw. He then flipped his Signal Flare back up and searched for Thing, Heavy Hitter, discarding a spare Diabolic Genius. He pushed everyone into the front row. John recruited Garth ◊ Tempest into his support row, behind Red Star.
Nick began the bloodbath. Or so he thought. First, he team attacked with She-Thing and She-Hulk on Red Star. John proved that Doom wasn’t the only nefarious one, dropping a Savage Beatdown on She-Hulk and popping her with Overload. Nick, not wanting to lose two characters without any return, decided to let She-Thing get medieval, and what do you know, It’s Clobberin’ Time!. John powered-up, but Nick flipped his Unmasked back up. John chained Tamaran to the Unmasked, ensuring a power-up. Nick played Faces of Doom for a Diabolical Genius, then flipped another Signal Flare to fetch a She-Thing for the power-up, discarding the fetched Doom! When the dust cleared, both characters were stunned and it was Nick 35, John 29.
Not one to give up so easily, Doom blasted Red Star, then sent Thing directly at John. John’s life was down to17 and he elected to recover Garth as Nick recovered Doom.
Turn 6, and the battle had just begun! John played a boosted Dove to fetch Hawk—three turns late! He then played another Arsenal. Hawk stood in front of Arsenal, Dove in front of Garth.
Nick flipped another Common Enemy for the draw. He played a Robot Destroyer, exclaiming, “I told you I was going to recruit a robot!” He placed Thing in front of Doom, with the Robot Destroyer in the support row.
John pumped Arsenal with Hawk, bringing his ATK 6, and then began the super-chain. It all started with a (harmless?) attempt by Dove to pump Arsenal even further. Nick decided he’s had enough of that, and stunned Robot Destroyer, chaining to Dove’s pump attempt to stun Arsenal before he could grow bigger. In response, John used Garth to pump Roy, and chained Press the Attack, followed by the use of Roy’s ability to stun Doom. Alas! ‘twas not to be—Nick dropped a Flame Trap, and Hawk, Dove, and Arsenal stunned before the Press the Attack could resolve, although Nick did lose his Doom. The chain finally broken, Nick was at 22, and John was down to 8!
Nick then sent the Thing at Garth, John using Tamaran to power him up and ease the damage. He fell to 2 endurance. He also played a Foiled to eliminate one of Nick’s Common Enemies. John recovered Garth, Nick recovered Robot Destroyer, and John would need a miracle to win this one.
Turn 7 arrived, but the miracle didn’t. Nick flipped another Signal Flare for Dr. Doom, Victor Von Doom, putting him behind Thing, with Robot Destroyer in support.
John asked Nick if he had any recommendations, revealing his hand as they discussed the possibilities. In the end, he played Arsenal and Tim Drake ◊ Robin, Young Detective, with Tim in front of Garth and Arsenal in support. The Robot Destroyer attacked Arsenal, and John simply scooped. Doom conquers the Teen Titan once again!
Result: Little defeats Rich