Craig Krempels absolutely tore through the competition the last two days, coming into the Top 8 as the first seed. On the other hand, Nick Little squeezed in on tiebreakers. All that is irrelevant now, of course, as the winner goes to the semifinals and the other player will need to watch and prepare for the next event if he wants to win a Pro Circuit. Krempels is playing a straight-up Doom deck, while Nick Little has the hybrid Doom/Fantastic Four Common Enemy deck, which seems to be the top archetype in the format.

Game 1

Little played Boris on turn 2, and had She-Hulk on turn 3. Krempels had no play until turn four, when he flipped over Doomstadt, played Faces of Doom, and searched out Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius.

Little: “Is this how you play around Reign of Terror?”

Little responded with Common Enemy, and Krempels flipped Faces of Doom face down. Boris was activated, and Krempels responded with Have a Blast! targeting Doomstadt. The ability still occurred, and Little grabbed Signal Flare from his deck. This let him get his own Diabolic Genius, and when it came into play, Krempels responded by bouncing She-Hulk with Reign of Terror. Little played Thing, Heavy Hitter on turn 5, and Krempels had Robot Destroyer. Thing went after Doom, and Krempels had Acrobatic Dodge to take care of the attack. Krempels team attacked Thing right back, pushing through some endurance loss. He then played Faces of Doom to get Dr. Doom, Victor Von Doom, and played him when he got the initiative. In response, Little used the Signal Flare that would soon be useless, getting Hulk.

Little’s Doom exausted Krempels’s with the help of Mystical Paralysis, and Hulk’s attack on Doom caused Krempels to play Acrobatic Dodge. Little added It’s Clobberin’ Time! to the chain, and Krempels responded with Faces of Doom. This searched out a Diabolic Genius, which was used for a power-up. The end result was that no one was KO’d during recovery. On turn 7, Little played Ghost Rider and She-Thing, moving all his characters to the front row. He knew what was coming, as Krempels played Sub-Mariner. Thing and Ghost Rider attacked Sub-Mariner, causing Sub-Mariner and Thing to become stunned. She-Thing and Hulk team attacked Doom, causing another stun for Krempels’s Doom and Little’s Thing. A Doom attack prompted Krempels to activate his Doom Destroyer, leaving his entire team stunned. After recovery, Little was left with Hulk, Ghost Rider and She-Thing, while Krempels only had Sub-Mariner.

Krempels played Boris and activated him. In response, Little used Have a Blast! to take care of Doomstadt. Krempels had another, and was able to activate Boris to get Face of Doom, searching for and playing the Diabolic Genius. He then played him, along with a Doom-Bot. Little dropped Apocalypse and moved everyone to the front once again. Krempels played Faces of Doom, searching for Dr. Doom, Lord of Latveria. Sub-Mariner attacked and stunned Little’s Doom, and Krempels’s next Doom attack was halted with Acrobatic Dodge. With Apocalyse doing his thing, it was apparent that Krempels had little chance to come back. When Little searched out and played Dr. Doom, Lord of Latveria, Krempels conceded.

Little 1, Krempels 0

Game 2

Little had a first turn Boris, and Darkoth on turn 3. Krempels played Doom-Bot, and Darkoth attacked him to get through a little endurance loss. Doomstadt and Faces of Doom got Krempels a Diabolic Genius, and when he was played, Little responded with Signal Flare. Krempels responded to this with Reign of Terror, bouncing Darkoth. Little searched out Ghost Rider, and Doom was last to resolve on the chain. Little played his own Diabolic Genius, and Krempels responded with Flame Trap to stun Boris. The following attack stunned Little’s Doom, which meant that Boris was KO’d during recovery. Little played Ghost Rider on turn five, and Mystical Paralysis exhausted him. Krempels played Dr. Doom, Victor Von Doom, and Little used Signal Flare to get Hulk, who came into play.

Doom attacked and stunned Ghost Rider, then Krempels used Boris to find Mystical Paralysis. This, along with Acrobatic Dodge, slowed down Little’s assault a bit. Little played and activated Boris to find Signal Flare, which found Thing, Heavy Hitter. It came into play, and Little once again put all his characters up front, expecting Sub-Mariner. Indeed, Krempels had it, and he also used another Paralysis to exhaust Hulk. Little flipped over Common Enemy, and took some endurance loss thanks to Sub-Mariner. Both players had Apocalypse on turn eight, and started KO’ing resources. Krempels had the initiative, and Apocalypse attacked Ghost Rider, then Sub-Mariner caused another stun, prompting Little to concede.

Little 1, Krempels 1

Game 3

Little played She-Thing on turn 2, and Krempels had Boris, Doom Sentry, and Puppet Master all in play by turn 3. Little had Boris, and on turn 4 used Doomstadt and Faces of Fear to find and play Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius. Krempels played his own, and Little responded by playing Reign of Terror to bounce Doom Sentinel and Boris. In response, Krempels flipped over Doomstadt and activated Boris to get Mystical Paralysis. Puppet Master combined with Robot Destroyer gave Krempels plenty of ways to stall Little, and Signal Flare let Little search out and play Thing, Heavy Hitter. Robot Destroyer activated to stun Little’s Doom, and then Krempels sent Doom after She-Thing for a stun. Thing, Heavy Hitter went after Doom, but Krempels was able to use Acrobatic Dodge to minimize the damage.

Hulk made Little’s side better, and Common Enemy provided some synergy. Little seemed to be confident, but thanks to the Sentry and a Puppet Master activation followed by a fresh Master and another activation, Little was unable to mount an offense. Boris was activated, as Krempels got Faces of Doom to find Dr. Doom, Victor Von Doom. He had the initiative and played Doom, and Little responded with Signal Flare to get Sub-Mariner. Krempels moved all his characters to the front, and Little activated Boris to get Mystical Paralysis. This was used to exhaust Krempels’s Doom, and in response, Krempels used his own Paralysis to exaust Hulk. A team attack stunned Thing, and Little was at 25 while Krempels was at 35.

It was now turn 8, and with it came Little’s Apocalypse. Everyone went to the front, and Krempels used Robot Destroyer to stun Little’s Doom. This was followed by Dr. Doom, Lord of Latveria, but Little’s side was still far more intimidating. Apocalypse attacked Pupper Master to force through a ton of endurance loss. A team attack stunned Krempels’s Doom, bringing him down to 3, while Little was at 14. A turn later, the game was over.

Final Result: Little defeats Krempels, 2-1