This match saw two of the most decorated Vs. players square off. Each player had faced the same matchup in the previous round and come out victorious, and it was obvious from their actions and demeanors that they were treating this like a heavyweight battle.
Game 1
Turn 1
Jacob won the initiative roll and took odds. Neither Vidi nor Jacob kept his opening hand. Jacob mulliganed into a decent hand with Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose and Archangel, Angel. Jacob played his resource and recruited Archangel, discarding Roy Harper ◊ Speedy to search out an X-Corp: Amsterdam. Vidi laid a resource and passed.
Endurance totals: Jacob 50, Vidi 48
Turn 2
Vidi shuffled through his cards, trying to determine how best to recover from missing his 1-drop. After deliberating, he recruited Shape into his front row and passed. There was little banter between these two seasoned pros, as they both wanted to take home the trophy and were thoroughly focused. Jacob laid a resource and recruited Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose, placing her in front of Archangel. In the combat phase, Vidi declared an attack of Shape into Poison Ivy, making Shape 3 ATK / 4 DEF with a power-up. Jacob passed. Vidi then used Mikado and Mosha to stun Archangel.
Endurance totals: Jacob 47, Vidi 48
Turn 3
After considerable thought, Jacob laid his resource and played Enemy of My Enemy, discarding Beetle, Armorsmith, to fetch a copy of Dr. Light, Master of Holograms. He ditched a second Enemy of My Enemy to search out Deadshot, Floyd Lawton. He then put Beetle and Poison Ivy in the front row, with Dr. Light behind Beetle. It was now on Vidi to recruit, and he was deep in thought. In his previous round, Vidi hit Sage, Xavier’s Secret Weapon both games and rode her to victory—he went with that plan again here, fetching Sage with Enemy of My Enemy, but only after going through his deck thoroughly, looking for a better option. As Sage came into play, Jacob flipped up UN Building, teaming-up Akham Inmates, Masters of Evil, and Emerald Enemies. He also flipped up X-Corp: Amsterdam and used his third Enemy of My Enemy, discarding Deadshot. However, his choice was not clear, so he languished over the decision between Yellowjacket and Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern. He ultimately decided to go with Yellowjacket. Once they passed into the combat step, Jacob team attacked with Ivy and Beetle into Sage and passed. Vidi also passed, and Ivy and Sage stunned. Jacob passed the attack over to Vidi. Vidi declared Shape into Dr. Light with the help of a Flying Kick from his resource row. Jacob had no response, and Dr. Light stunned.
Endurance Totals: Jacob 40, Vidi 45
Turn 4
Before the recruit step, Vidi flipped his second copy of Enemy of My Enemy, discarding Electric Eve and finding a copy of Golden Archer to place in his hand. Vidi then laid his resource, recruited Jester, and put a Laser Watch on Shape. He put Jester and Sage in the front row and had Shape hiding out behind Jester.
Now it was over to Jacob’s recruit. After he laid his resource, he activated Dr. Light, targeting Beetle. Jacob then recruited a new Poison Ivy, and followed that play up with a boosted Yellowjacket, who searched out a second copy of Beetle. Jacob then flipped up a Slaughter Swamp and used it, discarding Beetle to return the copy of the Deadshot he had discarded last turn. He then used Poison Ivy’s power, KO’ing Beetle and Slaughter Swamp to get a second Slaughter Swamp into his row. He activated the new Slaughter Swamp, discarding Hard Sound Construct, to get a copy of Archangel back into his hand, and he immediately recruited the winged friend. Jacob ditched a Justice League of Arkham for Archangel’s power and fetched out another X-Corp: Amsterdam. He then formed with Dr. Light and Yellowjacket in the front row and Angel, Poison Ivy, and Deadshot in support.
Vidi looked intently at the massive board and the prospect of Deadshot KO’ing Sage. He declared Sage into Deadshot, and Jacob responded by activating X-Corp, which gave him ten cards in his KO’d pile. Jacob then removed Deadshot from the game to KO Sage. Vidi next declared the 6 ATK Shape into Dr. Light. Jacob flipped up a Justice League of Arkham in response to team-up Arkham and X-Men. Vidi ditched an Electric Eve, and Jacob reinforced with Angel. Vidi then sent Jester into Yellowjacket, who was reinforced by Poison Ivy.
Endurance Totals: Jacob 36, Vidi 45
At the start of the draw step, Jacob activated X-Corp: Amsterdam to get another Justice League of Arkham. Jacob remarked to Vidi that he had drawn the “stone nuts.” Jacob next activated another X-Corp to get another Justice League of Arkham and played a Straight to the Grave to send a copy of The Phantom Stranger, Wandering Hero to his KO’d pile. He activated Dr. Light to put Beetle into play, and with Beetle’s effect on the chain, he exhausted Angel and Beetle to get back Phantom Stranger. When Beetle’s effect resolved, the Stranger was discarded to get Hope. Jacob flipped up another Justice League of Arkham, calling Arkham and Revenge Squad. He then exhausted Poison Ivy and Hope to get back the Phantom Stranger again and used him with Slaughter Swamp to get back Yellowjacket, who he recruited with boost. Jacob searched out another Hope and then flipped up yet another Justice League of Arkham. Now Vidi only had one card in his hand. Jacob KO’d Hope, turned down the Team-Up he just flipped, and flipped it back up, which took Vidi’s last card.
Jacob recruited another Hope with his last point and then KO’d Beetle and Slaughter Swamp with Poison Ivy’s power to search out a Birthing Chamber. He used Hard Sound Construct on Beetle and, with Beetle’s effect on the chain, exhausted Beetle and Hope to bring back Phantom Stranger. Still before resolving Beetle’s effect, Jacob activated Birthing Chamber, drawing two cards and discarding Phantom Stranger. He then resolved Beetle’s effect discarding a Slaughter Swamp to get a copy of Deadshot, Floyd Lawton. Next, Jacob KO’d Hope to turn down one of the two Revenge Squad/Arkham Team-Ups and then used another Hard Sound Construct to bring her back. His board consisted of Dr. Light, Yellowjacket, Hope, and Poison Ivy in the support row, with Archangel, Beetle, and Deadshot in the front.
Vidi recruited Golden Archer from his resource row and placed him with Jester in the support row and Shape in front of him. Jacob KO’d Deadshot, and Vidi transferred the Laser Watch to Jester. Jacob passed, and Jester then attacked Dr. Light. Jacob reinforced, and Golden Archer attacked Archangel.
At the start of recovery, Jacob turned down the X-Men teamed Justice League of Arkham with Hope, and then he KO’d Archangel.
Endurance Totals: Jacob 26, Vidi 42
Turn 6
At the start of turn 6, Jacob flipped up two copies of Justice League of Arkham to force Vidi to ditch John Henry Irons ◊ Steel, Steel-Drivin’ Man and Light Armor from his hand. Vidi had no plays, so he passed over to Jacob.
Jacob activated Dr. Light, targeting Beetle, and used his power to fetch Hope. Jacob then activated Birthing Chamber to draw a card and recruited the Hope that was just fetched. Next, he KO’d Yellowjacket to get UN Building and used Slaughter Swamp to get back Yellowjacket. She was boosted into play, getting another copy of Beetle. Jacob played Beetle, searched out Archangel, and recruited him, ditching another Beetle to get his fourth X-Corp: Amsterdam of the game. He KO’d Hope to turn down a Justice League of Arkham, and then he replayed another one. Recurring the Phantom Stranger from his KO’d pile each time Beetle came into play allowed him to do all this without feeling the effects of so many discards.
Jacob then formed with Dr. Light, Hope, Archangel, and Poison Ivy in the support row with Beetle and Yellowjacket in front of Hope and Archangel. Vidi made two attacks: Jester into Dr. Light, who was reinforced by Hope, and Golden Archer into Beetle, who took the full brunt of the attack.
Endurance totals Jacob 16, Vidi 42
Turn 7
Vidi chained Golden Archer’s power to the draw, burning Jacob for 6, and Jacob lamented that his deck was a blast to play against. Jacob activated Dr. Light to get back Beetle, who fetched Coach. Phantom Stranger was returned, with Hope and Yellowjacket exhausting, and Birthing Chamber was then activated. Jacob flipped up Justice League of Arkham twice (thanks to Hope) to make Vidi ditch his two cards, and then recruited The Phantom Stranger. Looking at the field, the impending attacks, and the inevitable appearance of Psycho Pirate on turn 8, Vidi scooped.
Game 2
Vidi chose the evens against Jacob, and both players shuffled up. Vidi was unusually quiet as Jacob talked about the good draw he had in game 1. Vidi decided to mulligan his hand, and Jacob kept his. Jacob laid a resource and recruited Archangel, Angel, discarding Coach to search for X-Corp: Amsterdam. He then passed. Vidi recruited Joystick into his support row and passed. They exchanged shots, with both characters getting stunned.
Endurance Totals: Jacob 49, Vidi 48
Turn 2
Vidi recruited Melissa Gold ◊ Songbird, Sonic Carapace in front of Joystick, and then passed over to Jacob. Jacob contemplated his next play, settling on flipping Slaughter Swamp and ditching Deadshot, Floyd Lawton to return Coach. Jacob played Coach hidden and then passed to Vidi. Vidi looked puzzled at this play and had to think for a moment. He declared Melissa Gold into Archangel with a Light Armor, and then attacked directly with the 2 ATK Joystick.
Endurance Totals: Jacob 38, Vidi 48
Turn 3
Jacob passed on Melissa Gold’s ability and went into his recruit step, mumbling under his breath about whether or not he could get this game. Jacob played Enemy of My Enemy, discarding Dr. Light, Master of Holograms, to get Beetle, Armorsmith, and then he used Slaughter Swamp to ditch Beetle and get back Dr. Light. He activated Dr. Light to get back Beetle, and with Beetle’s effect on the chain, he flipped a Birthing Chamber and drew a card. He then ditched an X-Corp: Amsterdam to get a Mikado and Mosha. He put Dr. Light in front of Beetle and Archangel next to Beetle.
Vidi recruited Sage, Xavier’s Secret Weapon, and Jacob, in response, teamed-up X-Men, Masters of Evil, and Emerald Enemies with a UN Building. Jacob then team attacked with Beetle and Archangel into Sage. Beetle and Sage stunned. Then Mikado and Mosha was used to cut down Joystick. Vidi’s only attack was Melissa Gold into Beetle.
Endurance Totals: Jacob 30, Vidi 44
Turn 4
This time, Jacob decided to flip down the UN Building. It was Vidi’s build phase now, and he had some decisions to make. He flipped up an Enemy of My Enemy and ditched another Melissa Gold to get Golden Archer. He then recruited Ape X and Shape for the Squad rush, searching out a Atlantean Trident with Ape X’s ability and equipping it to Shape. He put everyone in the front row except Melissa, who hid behind Shape.
When Jacob went into his build phase, he feverishly jotted down notes on his possible plays, saying, “if I could get there,” obviously referring to Deadshot’s ten-card restriction. He activated Dr. Light to get Deadshot back and recruited Beetle, discarding Hope. Jacob found Yellowjacket and then recruited Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose.
As Jacob went into his formation step, he tossed Deadshot aside, indicating that he would be gone very soon. He formed up with Coach (who was hidden), Deadshot, and Archangel in the front row, and Poison Ivy, Beetle, and Dr. Light in the support row.
Vidi carefully looked at the board. The death of Sage had essentially cost him the game last time. He declared Ape X into Deadshot, and Jacob flipped up UN Building, teaming-up Secret Society, Masters of Evil, and X-Men. Jacob then played Straight to the Grave, placing Evil Star and Breaking Ground into his KO’d pile, putting him one card away from the ten he needed. He then activated Slaughter Swamp, discarding Yellowjacket and targeting Hope, and in response, used Deadshot’s ability. It worked, as Sage was KO’d and Hope returned to Jacob’s hand. Vidi then declared an attack of Shape into Poison Ivy. Jacob decided to KO his Archangel and Slaughter Swamp with Poison Ivy’s ability, searching out a different Slaughter Swamp. Jacob then flipped up an X-Corp: Amsterdam and activated it to get a Justice League of Arkham, naming Arkham and Masters of Evil, in response to which, Vidi discarded a Shape power-up. Jacob then reinforced with Beetle. Vidi declared Melissa Gold into Dr. Light, and Jacob quickly responded, “Bring it!” Vidi flipped a Trial by Fire, and Jacob passed, with both characters stunning. Vidi then passed into recovery. Jacob activated Slaughter Swamp and ditched Hope to return Yellowjacket.
Endurance Totals: Jacob 19, Vidi 42
Turn 5
Using Melissa’s power, Jacob turned down Justice League of Arkham. He then asked how many cards Vidi, to which Vidi replied, “Three.” Jacob then boosted Yellowjacket into the visible area and fetched his second copy of Deadshot. He activated Dr. Light and brought back Poison Ivy, and then used Slaughter Swamp and discarded Phantom Stranger to get back Hope. Jacob recruited Hope and then followed her up with Deadshot. He exhausted Deadshot and Hope to get back Phantom Stranger and activated Birthing Chamber, discarding the same Phantom Stranger. After using multiple copies of Justice League of Arkham and Hope to make Vidi discard his hand, Jacob KO’d Beetle and Slaughter Swamp for Poison Ivy’s effect and got another Slaughter Swamp. He then exhausted Ivy and Yellowjacket to get back a Phantom Stranger, who went right back into his KO’d pile to get Hope, with the help of the newly-acquired Slaughter Swamp. He then passed. Vidi recruited Golden Archer from his resource row and passed.
At the start of the combat step, Jacob KO’d Shape with Deadshot’s ability. Vidi then declared Melissa Gold into Hope. Jacob KO’d in response and flipped over one of his Justice League of Arkhams. Vidi flipped a Flying Kick on Ape X and attacked Poison Ivy for the mutual stun. Melissa Gold went into Yellowjacket, and Jacob passed. Finally, the Archer attacked into Dr. Light, and Jacob passed again.
Endurance Totals: Jacob 5, Vidi 41
Turn 6
At the start of the build phase, Jacob discarded a copy of Justice League of Arkham to make Vidi ditch a card, and then he used another one with Melissa’s power to make Vidi ditch again. Vidi had no cards in hand, and all his resources were face up, so he passed to Jacob. Jacob recruited Beetle and got a copy of Hope. Jacob then activated Slaughter Swamp, ditching Poison Ivy, to return Evil Star, and played Hard Sound Construct to bring back Yellowjacket. He then activated the Birthing Chamber to get one more card to help his decisions. Jacob had Coach (hidden), Yellowjacket, and Evil Star in the front row, with Beetle and Dr. Light behind them in the support row. Vidi announced Melissa Gold into Beetle, to which Jacob responded by activating Evil Star, KO’ing Yellow Jacket and Beetle to KO Melissa. Vidi then activated Golden Archer for the burn, and Jacob returned Coach to his hand to barely stay alive.
Endurance Totals: Jacob 1, Vidi 39
Turn 7
Even with only 1 endurance, Jacob remained calm. He played a Straight to the Grave from his resource row to get Dr. Light, recruited Hope, and followed up with Archangel. With Archangel’s power on the chain, Jacob exhausted Archangel and Hope to bring back Phantom Stranger, who was then discarded to fetch a copy of X-Corp: Amsterdam. He tried to stay alive by taking Vidi’s hand with Hope/Justice League and gaining endurance with Coach, but Vidi’s last card was a Die for Darkseid!, which put Jacob too far below for Coach to save him.
Game 3
Jacob decided to take odds after lamenting about how poorly he played the game before. Jacob looked at his hand, and after a few moments, he decided to ship it. The hand he mulliganed into didn’t look much better. Jacob recruited Hope and passed. Vidi laid his resource and recruited Joystick with a Laser Watch. The characters traded stuns.
Endurance Totals: Jacob 49, Vidi 49
Turn 2
Vidi sighed loudly as he contemplated his next drop. He recruited Melissa Gold ◊ Songbird, Sonic Carapace, put her in front of Joystick, and passed. Jacob continued to grumble about how poor his hand was as he laid a resource. He recruited Poison Ivy and put her in front of Hope. Melissa attacked into Poison Ivy and found a power-up. In response, Jacob KO’d Hope and a face-down resource (The Phantom Stranger) to get a Slaughter Swamp. After that, Jacob passed. Vidi declared Joystick into him, but Jacob used Straight to the Grave/Slaughter Swamp to get a Mikado and Mosha into his hand to stun Joystick.
Endurance Totals: Jacob 43, Vidi 48
Turn 3
Jacob turned down the Straight to the Grave with Melissa’s ability and then dove into the tank to figure out his next move. He played Straight to the Grave targeting Beetle, Armorsmith and then played an Enemy of My Enemy from his hand, ditching Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern to get Dr. Light. Dr. Light activated and brought back Beetle. A Birthing Chamber was discarded search out a copy of Deadshot, who went into Jacob’s hand. Jacob put both Beetle and Ivy in the front, with Dr. Light behind Beetle. Vidi started his build step and keenly eyed his opponent’s board. Vidi leaned over to the judge next to him and an inaudible question, and then threw down Black Panther, King of Wakanda in disgust. He searched out a Flamethrower and equipped it to Black Panther. He put Melissa in front of Panther and Joystick next to Panther. Jacob then activated the Slaughter Swamp and got back Mikado and Mosha, which was immediately discarded to stun Joystick. Jacob flipped up a UN Building, teaming-up Arkham, Emerald Enemies, and Masters of Evil, and then declared a team attack of Beetle and Poison Ivy into Melissa, which Vidi allowed.
Endurance Totals: Jacob 36, Vidi 45
Turn 4
At the start of the build phase, Jacob again turned down Straight to the Grave with Melissa’s ability. Vidi played an Enemy of My Enemy for Jester. He put Jester in front of Melissa, with Black Panther flanking Jester.
Jacob took a long time deciding what to do next—he only had two cards in hand after his resource. Jacob activated Dr. Light to bring back Deadshot. Next, he played Straight to the Grave to fetch a copy of Breaking Ground and Cardiac to join his growing KO’d pile. He then activated Slaughter Swamp, discarding X-Corp: Amsterdam and bringing back Cardiac, who he recruited. He then formed with Dr. Light and Cardiac in the front row and Beetle, Poison Ivy, and Deadshot in the support row. In the combat step, Jacob activated Cardiac to stun Melissa. Vidi proposed Jester into Deadshot, and Jacob thought long and hard about his next move. He decided to KO Cardiac and Slaughter Swamp to get an X-Corp: Amsterdam, giving him ten cards in his KO’d pile, and he removed Deadshot from play to KO Black Panther. In response, Vidi paid 3 endurance to move the Flamethrower over to Jester and sent Jester into Dr. Light, which Jacob reinforced with Beetle.
Endurance Totals: Jacob 28, Vidi 40
Turn 5
At the start of the turn, Vidi had four cards in hand, so Jacob decided to get his discard engine started. He used the various combo pieces in his deck to flip Justice League of Arkham several times, leaving Vidi with no cards in hand. Once he was done with his recruit, Vidi immediately recruited Archer out of his resource row and placed him in front of Jester.
Jacob passed his attacks. Vidi declared Jester into Hope, and Jacob immediately KO’d her to flip down a Justice League of Arkham. Vidi declared Golden Archer into Beetle, who was subsequently reinforced. He then sent Jester into Archangel, who could not be reinforced.
Endurance Totals: Jacob 15, Vidi 40
Turn 6
Before Vidi’s recruit, Jacob flipped Justice League of Arkham and teamed-up X-Men, forcing Vidi to ditch one card. Vidi was left with one card in hand, and he laid a resource and passed. Jacob anguished over what do to next for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, he decided to activate Slaughter Swamp, discarding Phantom Stranger to bring back Coach. Next, Jacob played a Straight to the Grave to send Evil Star to his KO’d pile and exhausted Kyle and Archangel to return the Stranger. He then KO’d Kyle and Slaughter Swamp to go get another one. He activated the new Slaughter Swamp and ditched The Phantom Stranger to return Evil Star, and then played Evil Star and activated Dr. Light to bring back Kyle Rayner and get a Hard Sound Construct. Next, Beetle was brought into the fold courtesy of the Hard Sound Construct, with a Beetle discarded to fetch yet another Beetle. Time was called in the middle of Jacob’s recruit, which may have impacted the way he recruited. In combat, Jacob declared Beetle and Kyle into Golden Archer. Vidi burned in response, and Jacob played his Beetle power-up to get the stun. Next, Jacob activated Evil Star and KO’d Kyle, Poison Ivy, Beetle, and Archangel to KO Jester. Jester burned with the Flamethrower in response.
Endurance Totals: Jacob 2, Vidi 36
Turn 7
With time being called in the middle of turn 6, this would be the final turn of the match. At the start of the draw step, Vidi activated Golden Archer to burn for 6. Dr. Light brought back Kyle, who again came with a Hard Sound Construct. The Hard Sound Construct brought back Beetle, and then Beetle and Kyle exhausted to bring back The Phantom Stranger. Jacob opted not to trigger Beetle’s ability. The Phantom Stranger was brought into the fold, and Jacob was forced to pass. Vidi revealed an equipment and John Henry Irons ◊ Steel, and Jacob said there was no reason dragging it out, because he had no way to win.
Vidi Wijaya survived another thriller and is on his way to battle for his second consecutive PC championship!