Neil Reeves, longtime TCG pro, sits at 8-2, right in the thick of things for a Top 8 berth. In his way stands Matt Boccio, a New York area TCG player who won the first Vs. $10K event. After Neil and Gabe Walls, also in the feature match area, stopped yelling at each other, their opponents, and passers-by, the match got underway.

Game 1

Boccio won the choice and took the initiative on odd turns, along with a mulligan, and Neil threw his hand back as well. Boccio played nothing on his first turn, while Neil had Dove. Neil played Hawk on the second turn, causing Boccio to cringe, but he fired back with Tim Drake ◊ Robin, The Boy Wonder equipped with Crossbow. Neil sent Dove into Tim Drake, but Boccio had another Tim Drake to power-up. Neil simply flipped Titans Tower and discarded Red Star to force the trade. Boccio played Huntress on his third turn, while Neil ran out Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal. Boccio considered his options, eventually deciding to send The Boy Wonder into Arsenal. Neil reinforced with Dove, and the two traded. Boccio then attacked Dove with Huntress, and Neil used Titans Tower, discarding another Hawk, to pump Dove’s ATK to 4, but Boccio played a From the Shadows from his hand. Neil had no other responses, and Dove was stunned. Neil then attacked with his Hawk into Huntress, stunning both characters. Neil lost his Hawk and Dove, while Boccio recovered Tim Drake.

On the fourth turn, Neil played Man-Bat, while Boccio spent his half of the turn playing down Cassandra Cain ◊ Batgirl after much deliberation. Neil sent Man-Bat into Tim Drake, and Boccio had a Break You, discarding one card to get Tim Drake’s ATK to 6 (3 ATK plus the Break You plus the Crossbow) and the two traded. Neil didn’t attack with Arsenal, and when Boccio attacked with Batgirl, Neil exhausted Arsenal to pump himself and discarded Pantha to the Titans Tower to force a trade. Boccio lost his Tim Drake, while Neil lost Roy Harper during the recovery. Boccio ended the turn with one card in hand, and on his fifth turn played a resource and a Killer Croc, prompting Neil to say, “Ewww, that’s nasty. Did you peel that one?” Neil played Cassie Sandsmark ◊ Wonder Girl on his half of the turn. Boccio sent Batgirl into Wonder Girl and powered-up with the last card in his hand to try to trade the two, which Neil allowed. Then Boccio attacked Killer Croc into Man-Bat, stunning Man-Bat, which he lost during recovery. Neil had a Mountain Stronghold to get Bane, Ubu at the end of turn, discarding his last card, Hassan. Neil played a resource and the Bane, asking Boccio, who was empty handed at the start of the turn, “Did you mise?” to which Boccio replied, “I don’t know if I would consider it a mise.” He played a sixth resource and a Catwoman. Neil attacked Killer Croc with Wonder Girl and discarded the last card in his hand, a Pantha, to the Titans Tower with a “Ding!” Croc was stunned, and Neil then used Megablast to attack with his Bane from the support row at Batgirl. Boccio reinforced with Catwoman and used Tag Team to trade. Boccio recovered his Killer Croc, and both players entered the turn empty handed.

Neither player had a character to play, so it was Boccio’s Killer Croc and Catwoman facing Neil’s Wonder Girl and Bane, with the endurance totals 13-10 in Boccio’s favor. Boccio attacked with Killer Croc at Bane and used Combat Reflexes to reduce Neil to -1, and Neil conceded.

Reeves 0, Boccio 1

Game 2

Neil took the odd initiative and kept his first four. Boccio took a new hand, and Neil started the action with a Pantha. Boccio had a GCPD Officer, and Neil forced a trade. On turn 2, Boccio had Tim Drake ◊ Robin, The Boy Wonder, while Neil had Mirage, revealing Wonder Girl, and made Mirage a League of Assassins Character. Boccio traded his Officer with Mirage, and then stunned Pantha with Tim Drake. Neil elected to lose Mirage and then played Dove with boost on turn 3, searching for Hawk. Boccio’s answer play was a less than impressive Crossbow on the GCPD Officer, with no character recruited. Neil then sent Pantha into Tim Drake, and Boccio reinforced. Reeves then sent Hawk into the cop, and Boccio had no responses. Dove wrapped it up by getting in for another 2.

On turn 4, Boccio only had the 2-cost Commissioner Gordon and was quickly falling behind in the game. Neil played a Man-Bat, and Boccio team attacked his two characters at Man-Bat, powered up Tim Drake, and flipped Dynamic Duo, saving one character. Neil returned by sending Pantha at Tim Drake, stunning both. Then Hawk came at the Commish, but Boccio had a Break You, discarding one card. The two traded, and Neil lost Hawk and Pantha during the recovery, while Boccio pitched the Commissioner. Neil’s fifth turn featured Bane, Ubu, while Boccio finally made a decent character play in Killer Croc. Neil attacked Bane into Killer Croc and flipped a Mountain Stronghold, fetching Ubu, and flipped a Break You, discarding the Ubu. Boccio had a Break You of his own, discarding Catwoman, and they traded. Man-Bat then took out Tim Drake, and Dawn Granger got in for an additional one. Boccio lost Tim Drake during recovery and played Koriand’r ◊ Starfire on turn 6. Neil countered with Roy Harper, exhausted Dove to pump Roy, then played a Dove with boost, searching for another Hawk and Dove set. Neil then exhausted the new Dove to pump Roy, and Neil used his ability to stun Killer Croc, losing a resource. Boccio then told Neil that he would concede to a Megablast, which Neil showed him, and it was off to game 3.

Boccio took initiative for the third game and started off with a mulligan. Boccio had nothing on turn 1, while Neil started with Dove. On the second turn, Neil played Hassim, while Boccio had Tim Drake. Neil attacked with Hassim into Tim Drake, forcing a trade, and then flipped Tamaran and hit Boccio for 2. Boccio played a Huntress on the third turn, while Neil flipped Mountain Stronghold, searching for an Ubu, which he then played. Boccio sent Huntress into Dove and pumped with Tim Drake, while Neil used the Tamaran on Dove to prevent 1 point of breakthrough. Neil sent Ubu into Tim Drake, then Neil used his fourth turn to play Hawk and Tim Drake ◊ Robin, Young Detective. Boccio was able to keep pace with a Batgirl, and then Neil sent Dawn at Tim Drake. Boccio considered for a long time before powering up with another Boy Wonder, to which Neil responded with a Tamaran activation. Boccio then reinforced with Huntress and flipped Tag Team. Neil asked Boccio, “How many cards in hand?” while considering his options, and then flipped Break You, discarding one card. Boccio allowed it, and the two characters traded. Neil then sent Tim Drake and Hawk into Huntress, which Boccio allowed, and Hawk traded with the Young Detective. Neil attacked Batgirl with Ubu and flipped Mountain Fortress, fetching another Ubu, and then pumped Ubu with Hassim. Boccio discarded Catwoman and Cassandra to Batgirl, and when Neil went to power-up with Ubu, Boccio had the third Gotham Knights character.

Now empty handed, Boccio drew two and played a resource and Lady Shiva, Sandra Woosan, while Neil could only say, “Nice draw,” clearly frustrated with how the game turned. Neil a played fifth resource and Jinx, using his remaining point to search for Titans Tower. Boccio sent Shiva into Jinx, and Jinx was stunned. Then, Batgirl charged at Ubu, and all Neil could do was reinforce. A Combat Reflexes on Tim Drake to take out Hassim came next, and all Neil could muster was a, “Yep,” as he fell to 14 and lost everyone except for Jinx. On Neil’s next turn, he played Hawk with boost, getting Dove; played Mirage, revealing