Antonino DeRosa: the jolly man of Vs. System. The second I saw his name in the feature match area, I knew I had to go get a piece of that action. Ant is one of those guys who—much like Ted Knutson‘s perennial favorites Nick Little and Gabe Walls—never seems to run out of funny things to say. He’s no slouch at the game, either; he has managed to claw his way to fourth at $10K Charlotte and fourth at PC New York. His opponent this round is Kim Caton. Kim is a member of team RTS, which boasts an impressive roster including Alex Tennet, Jason Dawson, and Peter Sundholm. She has put up some pretty good numbers, including making Top 8 at $10K New York and finishing 42nd at PC Amsterdam. Both players are sitting at 3-4.

The ever cordial and charming De Rosa immediately tried to strike up a conversation with Kim. “How are you?” he asked. “Same as you,” Kim replied. “We’re pretty bad, aren’t we?” De Rosa lamented. Apparently he’s had a bit of trouble so far deciding what initiative to choose as well. “I’ve been choosing odds, but every time I’ve lost the roll, I’ve been given even and won. I’ve lost on odds every time . . . I’ll choose odds.”

Turn 1, Ant started off with a Shadow Creatures. Kim followed that up with a Salakk. Salakk was a little bigger than Ant’s ninjas, so he had to pass the turn. Turn 2 sent Kim into the tank. She flipped up The Ring Has Chosen from her row, grabbed a Roy Harper ◊ Speedy, and dropped him into play. “Rough,” Ant said as he looked his cards. In response to Ant playing a resource, Kim popped her Speedy to kill Ant’s Shadow Creatures to make sure she got around Qward. Ant provided a couple more Speedy targets when he recruited G’Nort and Arisia on his turn. Kim sent her Salakk into Ant’s G’Nort, concluding the turn’s action.

Next turn, Ant led off with a Dr. Light, Master of Holograms. The good doctor did his job and returned a Shadow Creatures to play for Antonino. Kim ran a boosted Olapet for a G’Nort, but then decided to run the Speedy back into play instead of the doggie with the watch. Ant sent his Shadow Creatures into Speedy, prompting Kim to activate her Speedy targeting Ant’s G’nort. He then sent his Shadow Creatures into her Olapet and powered it up twice, netting him a stun. Next, he sent Arisia into Salaak, thinking it would trigger for some reason. After he realized his mistake, he said, “Wow. I messed up again. Isn’t this deck too tough to play?”

On turn 4, Kim played The Ring Has Chosen to get Dr. Light, Master of Holograms. She then used her Dr. Light to get back a G’nort from her KO’d pile, then gave him a buddy in a recruited Speedy. Ant dropped a Kiman into play, then mirrored Kim’s play of returning G’Nort to play using his Dr. Light. Kim used her Speedy to KO Ant’s G’Nort before starting to make her attacks. Kim attacked with Olapet into Ant’s Dr. Light. With a little help from Trial By Sword, Olapet became big enough to stun the good doctor. A timely Helping Hands, though, kept Dr. Light alive. Salaak then jumped in on Arisia and, with a Shock Troops, took her down. This turn ended with Ant down 43–47.

Antonino started off turn 5 with a Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern to snag a Helping Hands from his deck. He then activated his Dr. Light to return a G’Nort from his KO’d pile to his hand and recruited a Black Hand and another Shadow Creatures. Kim followed this up with Rot Lop Fan and an encore appearance by Roy Harper ◊ Speedy. Ant began the attack by announcing one of his ninjas into Kim’s Speedy. She activated him and sent Ant’s G’nort packing. Ant then sent his Shadow Creatures in at Kim’s G’Nort and pumped it out of the stun-back range.

Antonino then sent Black Hand and Shadow Creatures at Olapet, Arisia and Kyle Rayner at Dr. Light, and Kiman at Salaak. Kim paid 2 to allow her Rot Lop Fan to attack hidden characters and sent him in at Ant’s Shadow Creatures. Ant ended up losing his Arisia and one of his ninjas. Kim had to let go of her Salaak, G’Nort, and Olapet.

Kim started turn 6 by activating Dr. Light to get back Olapet and replaying Speedy. She also played The Ring Has Chosen to get Remoni-Notra ◊ Star Sapphire. Ant dropped a fantastically dressed Evil Star to lead his team. Still in his own build, Ant KO’d Kim’s Olapet by sacrificing his Kyle Rayner and a Shadow Creatures. He then used Dr. Light to get back his Kyle Rayner, which fetched another Helping Hands. So good.

Kim started her attack by sending Rot Lop Fan into Kyle Rayner. Antonino decided to reinforce. Remoni-Notra ◊ Star Sapphire then bashed into Black Hand. Ant burned two Helping Hands to save 4 endurance. Kim then ran her Speedy into Dr. Light to get the potential liability off of the table. Ant got to bash back and sent his Kiman in against Kim’s Dr. Light. A Trial By Fire from Kim ended up stunning Kiman back. The turn ended with Antonino behind a little in the endurance race with the totals at 22–26.

Turn 7 saw Antonino recruit Krona. Kim followed this with a Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern to go get a Helping Hands. She also recruited Kreon and then Dr. Lighted back an Olapet. At the beginning of combat, Ant chose to have Krona ship Kim’s Kreon to the hidden zone. Kiman started the attacks by calling out Kim’s Olapet. Kim spent her Helping Hands to try to keep Olapet alive. Ant decided to search out a power-up for his Kiman and force the issue. A second Helping Hands from Kim, though, quickly ended the altercation. Ant’s Dr. Light then got in the mood to attack for once and smashed into Kim’s Kyle Rayner. Remoni-Notra was next to go as Krona sent his hulking frame into her. After Ant declared his next attack, Kim scooped.