Going into the second round of draft day, Patrick Yapjoco is set to face off against David Fielder. Both have had considerable success in Vs., most notably David’s PC So Cal Top 8 and Patrick’s three $10K Top 8s. Both are 8-2, with the winner pretty much guaranteed a spot in the Top 8 and the loser needing to win his third match and hope for the best in terms of tiebreakers.

David, a feature match hater, complains frequently about getting them, as his record is pretty awful in them—after yesterday’s 1-1 feature match record in the PC, he’s about 2-9, lifetime. He told Patrick, “If you do win—no, let me correct that—once you win, you’d best go 3-0 for my tiebreaks.” Threatening Patrick and his Morlock deck with violence may not be the best strategy, but David has a killer reservist deck that makes him a force to be reckoned with.

And then, just as things were about to get started . . . a deck check. With a gleeful smile, David commented, “I did same thing when head judging at $10K Detroit. Jason Grabher-Meyer was reporting on a Vidi Wijaya/Ryan Jones feature and I deck checked them.”

Nine minutes later, the decks were returned, and the bloodshed began!

THE ROLL

David won and chose odds. With no mulligans, the game proceeded to . . .

TURN 1

David recruited Kleinstock Brothers, while Patrick had nothing. (Fielder 50–Yapjoco 48)

TURN 2

Patrick recruited Postman, and this time, it was David who had nothing. Patrick sent Postman into Kleinstock Brothers. (Fielder 47–Yapjoco 46)

TURN 3

David recruited Senyaka, placing him behind Kleinstock Brothers.

Patrick recruited Healer, placing him next to Postman.

David sent Senyaka into Postman. Patrick powered-up Postman, and David responded with Psychic Armor. Postman stunned (Fielder 47–Yapjoco 42). David then passed.

Patrick sent Healer into Kleinstock Brothers (Fielder 44–Yapjoco 42), and when Postman recovered, Healer’s ability triggered for a gain of 1 (Fielder 44–Yapjoco 43).

TURN 4

Patrick recruited Hump with a discard, placing him next to Postman and Healer in the front row.

David recruited Anne-Marie Cortez, burning for 2 with Senyaka’s ability (Fielder 44–Yapjoco 41). David placed Anne-Marie Cortez in front of Senyaka, with the Kleinstock Brothers in support.

At the beginning of the combat phase, David revealed a 2-drop for Anne-Marie Cortez’s ability, preventing Patrick from using 2-cost plot twists for the turn.

Patrick sent Healer into the Kleinstock Brothers (41-41).

Patrick then evaded Postman and Healer (41-36). The Morlock evasion deck thrives on using evasion for various effects in order to stomp the opponent—in this instance, making Hump a massive 12 ATK/9 DEF 4-drop!

Patrick sent the now-huge Hump into Anne-Marie Cortez. David reinforced with Senyaka (Fielder 37–Yapjoco 36).

Patrick recovered Healer first, to gain 1 endurance from his ability (Fielder 37–Yapjoco 37).

David recovered Anne-Marie Cortez, losing the Kleinstocks.

TURN 5

David recruited Jetstream, burning with Senyaka (Fielder 37–Yapjoco 35), and equipped an Image Inducer to Jetstream. He placed Anne-Marie Cortez in front of Senyaka, with Jetstream in support

Patrick recruited Marrow, placing her behind Hump, and Postman in front of Healer.

At the beginning of the combat phase, David again revealed a 2-drop for Anne-Marie Cortez’s effect.

David sent Anne-Marie Cortez into Hump, with David shouting, “Evade the team! Evade the team!” Patrick smiled and decided instead to reinforce with Marrow (Fielder 33–Yapjoco 31).

David then sent Jetstream into Healer, with Healer evading (Fielder 33–Yapjoco 28).

David then sent Senyaka into Postman, with Postman evading (Fielder 33–Yapjoco 26).

David decided to team attack Jetstream and Senyaka into Marrow. Patrick hesitated for a moment, and then said, “Oh, nice! Forgot about that!” in reference to the Image Inducer, which gave Jetstream the Brotherhood affiliation. Patrick wouldn’t have wasted the evasion, otherwise—he’d thought they couldn’t team attack, and neither could take Marrow alone, especially with three stunned characters on the board to give her huge stats! Patrick chose to stun Jetstream (Fielder 28–Yapjoco 21).

During recovery, Patrick flipped The Hill to draw a card and then recovered Healer first, gaining 3 endurance for his subsequent recoveries, and lost Hump to the KO’d pile (Fielder 28–Yapjoco 24).

TURN 6

Patrick recruited Storm, Morlock Leader and Tar Baby, placing all of his drops in front save Marrow, whom he put behind Storm. Tar Baby and Healer were placed next to Storm for her leader ability.

Then a spectator’s cell phone went off, prompting David to say, “The worst thing about a cell going off at an event where spectators are supposed to be quiet is when it sounds really stupid . . . ahhh, the intelligence of our youth!”

Once the bystanders had vacated, David recruited Harry Delgado from the resource row, burning Patrick for 2 (Fielder 28–Yapjoco 22). He transferred the Image Inducer to Delgado and placed Jetstream in front of him, with Senyaka and Anne-Marie Cortez in support.

“Postman into Jetstream, he can do it!” David prompted. When I suggested that he shouldn’t push his luck—who knows what pumps Patrick had!—David responded, waving his hands towards Patrick, “The power of force compels you! These are not the pumps you’re looking for!”

Patrick passed on the Postman suggestion, sending Storm into Senyaka. David replaced a Bevatron for Delgado’s ability, ensuring that Storm couldn’t be reinforced throughout the turn. He did so merely for the replacement, however, hoping for a topdeck. That failing, he discarded Genis-Vell ◊ Photon, Transformed to boost Senyaka’s DEF by 2 and minimize the endurance loss (Fielder 24–Yapjoco 22).

Patrick then evaded Tar Baby and Healer to pump up Marrow (Fielder 24–Yapjoco 17).

Patrick sent Marrow into Jetstream, and David responded by powering him up. Patrick evaded Postman (Fielder 24–Yapjoco 15), and David reinforced with Delgado. Patrick flipped Morlock Justice for a loss of reinforcement and a burn of 3, plus the stun (Fielder 14–Yapjoco 15). Patrick used The Hill for a draw, then gained 4 through Healer (Fielder 14–Yapjoco 19). David KO’d Senyaka and recovered Jetstream.

TURN 7

David recruited Exodus, with Delgado and Jetstream on either side, in front.

Patrick recruited Scaleface, Tommy, and Artie, evading Artie for his effect, targeting Exodus (Fielder 14–Yapjoco 18).

Patrick’s formation:

        Scaleface       Tar Baby       Storm       Postman

     Artie (stunned)  Tommy      Healer      Marrow

David flipped District X, calling Physical.

Combat began with David sending Jetstream into Storm. Patrick reinforced with Healer and then evaded him (Fielder 14–Yapjoco 14).

David then sent Delgado into Tommy, flipping Planet X and replacing it for +2 ATK on Delgado. Patrick took 15 (Fielder 14–Yapjoco -1).

David then used Delgado’s effect, targeting Postman.

David sent Exodus into to Postman. Patrick played Backs Against the Wall and then chained a Postman evasion and a Tar Baby evasion, though only with David’s help correcting Patrick on the order of play. Patrick was going to play Backs after the evasions, but David essentially saved him. Exodus was removed from the attack, and it was Fielder 14–Yapjoco -6.

Patrick sent Marrow into Exodus, flipping a Shrapnel Blast to make her 19 ATK/18 DEF. David played Immovable with a double discard, which was enough to boost Exodus’s DEF and put the tally to Fielder 6–Yapjoco -6

Patrick then sent Scaleface into Jetstream, and it was Fielder -6–Yapjoco -12.

With multiple recovery effects on the chain, Yapjoco first flipped The Alley for a burn of 4 (Fielder -10–Yapjoco -12), then gained 3 from Healer (Fielder -10–Yapjoco -9) and took a 1-point win, sealing a Top 8 finish and sending Fielder to an eventual ninth place finish!