This match is a bubble match about two rounds before it will actually be considered “the bubble.” Why is this, you ask? Well, both players began the tournament with a 0-2 record and are hoping to win out to lock themselves into Day 2. Both Kim Caton and Tommy Ashton are familiar with this type of situation, so the pressure should be no problem at all.

Kim led off with the odd initiatives and a Galan, who immediately went to work gaining her endurance. Black Bolt, Illuminati joined her side the following turn in the concealed area, while Tommy had nothing for the second turn in a row. Morg, Slayer was all that Kim could muster the next turn, giving Tommy a shot to get ahead a little when he played Ruul Warrior with Power Gem equipped. “He’s always the right size,” Tommy pointed out when he played the Kree 3-drop. He then sent it after Galan, (who was reinforced by Morg), leaving the totals still well in Kim’s favor at 55-47.

Turn 4 saw both players underdrop, but Tommy was able to play Clumsy Foulup and press out a Jolen. Firelord, Pyreus Kril joined Kim’s team, but Tommy went on the warpath. Clumsy Foulup took care of Galan; Ruul Warrior dealt with Firelord; and Jolen was able to stun Morg without taking a scratch, giving him the cosmic counter at the end of the turn. The mass of stuns finally got rid of Galan, who had gained Kim 8 endurance before finally kicking the can.

Kim recovered smoothly on turn 5 by recruiting Silver Surfer, Righteous Protector. Tommy opted to play Sub-Mariner, Illuminati along with Alpha Primitives and a free Nenora. This was enough to bounce Clumsy back to his hand, saving the press 2-drop for a more noble purpose later. Kim started off the attacks by stunning Ruul Warriors with Firelord without any fuss. Silver Surfer then went after Sub-Mariner. Tommy flipped up Hala; Alien Insurrection; and Doomed Earth (KO’ing Alpha Primitives and Ruul Warrior), earning the stun on Surfer even though Kim was able to play Inspiring Demise and Power Struggle. The Kyln locked down Surfer for the turn after some small attacks from both players’ remaining low drops.

Clumsy Foulup came back down to play the very next turn, followed by Mar-Vell ◊ Captain Marvel, Soldier of the Empire and Sub-Mariner, Illuminati. Power Gem came back down on Mar-Vell, giving Tommy a pretty formidable army. Maximus the Mad came down for Kim, but Tommy was easily able to roll his three visible characters through Kim’s Firelord and Black Bolt, the latter of whom was moved to the visible area with Himalayan Enclave for an easy reinforcement. The turn ended with Tommy leading 34-11, obliterating Kim’s previous advantage from Galan. Waking the Ancestors from Kim served as a last-ditch effort to try to hold onto the game by locking down Sub-Mariner.

Turn 7 was going to be do-or-die for Kim; she needed to have a stellar initiative to hold onto the game. Terrax, The Tamer and Tonaja looked like they might help her get through the gigantic army Tommy had accrued. Tommy responded by playing Ronan the Accuser, which bounced Clumsy (remember, Doomed Earth was still up), and then Tommy replayed Clumsy. Before Maximus could put all of Tommy’s characters in the front row, he decided to deny Kim the satisfaction and put everyone in the front row during his formation step. Maximus started things off by going after Sub-Mariner, who decided he was a Hala-back girl, forcing Kim to use Blue Area of the Moon to protect Maximus from the stun. Terrax then went after Captain Marvel, and Kim found out that Marvel was also a Hala-back girl, as Tommy flipped over a second copy of the location. This ensured that he would be able to deal enough to Kim to lock the game away with hidden characters after the dust had settled.

Tommy Ashton moves on to 4-2 and is one game closer to living the dream of coming back from a 0-2 start and making Day 2.