No political correctness here—Duncan Tang wouldn’t have it any other way! It was all about the transplanted Chinese . . . at least, according to Tang, who called himself an ‘HK Chinese fanboy.’ Insatiably energetic, Tang is thrilled just to be at the PC, let alone in a featured match, or, as he called them ‘cage matches’. He repeatedly mentioned how excited he was to get his first feature match. (After the game, he actually stood up and took a photo of the featured match screen.)

Bulk Lao, on the other hand, has pretty much flown under the radar, with a lot of success on the PC and $10K level, including several Top 8 finishes. “I’m not flashy, I guess, just a pretty shy guy.”

“Chinese, basically,” Duncan chimed in, and Bulk hesitantly agreed.

Duncan then rolled for the initiative and won, choosing even. Both players kept their hands.

TURN 1

Bulk played Soldiers of New Genesis. Duncan played Arisia. Bulk attacked with the Soldiers on Arisia, stunning her. It was Tang 48, Lao 50.

TURN 2

With Duncan on the initiative, Duncan used The Ring Has Chosen for “Scooby-Doo” (his nickname for G’Nort), discarding a 2-drop Kyle Rayner. He played G’Nort and Henry King, Jr. ◊ Brainwave. He put Brainwave in front of G’Nort and Arisia in the support row. Bulk played Lois Lane and Soldiers of New Genesis, all in front alongside the other Soldiers.

Duncan sent Brainwave in to attack Soldiers of New Genesis #1. Bulk replied by flipping Shock Troops. Duncan then played his own Shock Troops. Both characters stunned (47-50).

Duncan then sent Arisia into Soldiers of New Genesis #2. Bulk played Lanterns in Love, exhausting Soldiers of New Genesis and Lois Lane Endurance totals were Tang 46, Lao 49. In recovery, Duncan kept Henry “‘cause Arisia’s not very good in this matchup.”

TURN 3

Bulk flipped Royal Decree and drew a card. He recruited Superman Robots. Duncan recruited Dr. Light, Master of Holograms and activated him to bring Kyle Rayner into play, but Bulk sent him to a freshly flipped Phantom Zone.

Bulk sent his Superman Robots into G’Nort. Duncan flipped an Ole and exhausted G’Nort to deal 1 to Bulk through Brainwave’s effect (46-48). Both characters stunned. (42-46) Bulk then sent Lois Lane into Brainwave. Another double stun made it Tang 41, Lao 45.

Bulk then team-attacked with his two Soldiers of New Genesis on Dr. Light, who stunned one of the Soldiers of New Genesis in return—the non-Invulnerable one. (38-44)

Duncan recovered Dr. Light as Bulk recovered his Superman Robots. Duncan now only had Dr. Light left, while Bulk had one Soldiers of New Genesis and a Superman Robots.

TURN 4

Tang had the initiative, and he started the trash-talk, Tang style. “I have so many plot twists I don’t know what to put down!” He eventually flipped and used Birthing Chamber, playing Olapet to get G’Nort and playing him as well, followed by The Shark.

Bulk played a boosted Superman Robots. He put one Superman Robots behind Soldiers of New Genesis, with the non-boosted Superman Robots in the support row.

Duncan sent Olapet into the Soldiers of New Genesis. Bulk flipped Millennium, exhausting the Soldiers, for a card draw. Bulk double-powered-up Soldiers of New Genesis, and with no response from Duncan, Olapet stunned (36-44). “So now I know he has no attack pumps . . . ” Bulk mused.

Duncan was quick to jump to his own defense “Or I’m saving them! I might be saving them!”

Tang sent his Dr. Light into the same Soldiers of New Genesis. Grinning in triumph, Duncan declared, “He’s a 10/10 cause he’s Dr. Light and Soldiers of New Genesis sucks!” The good Doctor shed some Light on Bulk’s endurance level, leaving Tang at 36 and Lao with 41.

After a pass from Duncan, Bulk sent Superman Robots #1 on G’Nort (30-44), and Superman Robots #2 on Dr. Light. At Tang 25, Lao 41, things weren’t looking good for Duncan, who was having the last laugh. Tang recovered Dr. Light, and on to . . .

TURN 5

Bulk activated his Phantom Zone to remove Olapet from Duncan’s KO’d pile, then replaced it to remove Arisia. He recruited Soldiers of New Genesis. Both Soldiers of New Genesis were in front, the two Superman Robots in support.

Tang, still doin’ his chit-chat thang, grinned at Lao and said, “In all seriousness, if you want me to be quiet, just ask. I’ll probably ignore you, but please ask anyway!” He then played Myrwhydden, placing him in front of The Shark with Dr. Light in the support row.

Bulk sent his two Soldiers of New Genesis into Dr. Light. Duncan stunned the non-Cosmic one. (22-40) Then it was a Double-Robot Attack!™ into Myrwhydden. Endurance totals were Tang 18, Lao 37, and it was getting painful to watch, as Tang was being devastated. Bulk recovered a Superman Robots, and we entered . . .

TURN 6

Unable to decide what to play, Tang eventually settled on Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern (the other choice, he then showed me, was Guy Gardner, Strong Arm of the Corps). Upon Kyle’s recruit, he searched for Ole, and he recruited Olapet, boosted, with Arisia. Duncan placed Myrwhydden next to Olapet, with Arisia behind Myrwhydden, Kyle behind Olapet, and The Shark next to Arisia.

Bulk played a boosted Superman Robots, prompting Duncan to implore him to choose a Canadian coin as a counter, “It’s Canadian money—hopefully that makes him smaller.” Bulk put his boosted Robots behind the Soldiers, with the other two Robots in the support row.

Duncan sent Olapet into the boosted Superman Robots. Bulk flipped Shock Troops, and in response, so did Duncan. Bulk flipped and actived a new Phantom Zone to remove G’Nort from the game, then replaced it to remove the other G’Nort in Tang’s KO’d pile. A double stun and it was Tang 16, Lao 33. Tang smiled, “So, no more Shock Troops, eh?”

Duncan, after thinking of what he would do next for a minute or so, suddenly looked at his hand and exclaimed, “Awesome! I have stuff in my hand! Now I have to think again.” He ended up teaming up Kyle and Arisia to attack Superman Robots #2. He played Ole on Arisia. Bulk stunned Kyle, as a result. (14-30).

Then it was The Shark on Superman Robots, using Myrwhydden’s ability to KO a face-down Chopping Block for a +4 ATK/+4 DEF pump, to make The Shark an 8 ATK/5 DEF. Both characters stunned. (13-26).

Then, Duncan sent Myrwhydden into Soldiers of New Genesis, and *poof*, like magic, the score had shrunk to Tang 13, Lao 22. But would it be enough? Tang recovered his Shark as Bulk recovered his Robots.

TURN 7

The shock of the game, Bulk passed with no drop. All he had was a single Robots. Tang flipped a Hard-Traveling Heroes for a card draw, then discarded another Hard-Traveling Heroes for another draw. He ponders, “I could play Johnny Quick, but I don’t think you’ll like that! The Shark can stun you! I’m so excited!”

Tang used his Chamber, then recruited Johnny Quick. Bulk forlornly commented, “You weren’t kidding!”

Duncan passed, spinning in his chair “I’m Antonio De Rosa! I’m spinning my chair!”

Bulk sent his Superman Robots into Johnny Quick with a No Man Escapes the Manhunters. He took 3 from Johnny Quick, followed by the double stun (7-19). Tang’s face down card was a G’Nort, so he couldn’t flip it to boost The Shark. He could only hit for 18, with that G’Nort being dumped for Myrwhydden’s effect. After the dust settled from the attacks, it was Tang 7, Lao 1, and a forced Turn 8.

TURN 8

Tang played his Guy Gardner with boost, then used his Chamber

Bulk played Soldiers of New Genesis plus Lois Lane, using Lois’ ability and hitting a Robots, which he played with boost.

Tang sent Salakk into Lois; Superman Robots reinforced. (7-0) Then it was Myrwhydden into Superman Robots, with the other Superman Robots reinforcing. (7- (-3)) Johnny Quick then attacked Soldiers of New Genesis. (7 – (-11)) Finally, Duncan paid 3 to ready Johnny Quick. (4 – (11))

Guy attacked Superman Robots (4 –(-14), Johnny attacked directly (4 - (-22) and Bulk conceded before it got worse. Tang, thrilled at the result of the “Asian Death Match,” called Ben Seck over (“Ben! You’re Asian! You can sign it!”) for a final dose of Asian power.

Duncan Tang wins.