Michael Pittman. We saw him take out Sealed Pack as the only undefeated player with 7-0 on day 1, and we've had an inside view on his drafting strategies this morning. For a guy who's ordinarily a tournament organizer, but has participated in very few tournaments himself, he's taken everyone at Adelaide $10K by storm — and surprise — by taking down the big names and the favorites. He's looking to make his first $10K Top 8 today, only requiring one victory in the next three rounds to take him through. The question of Round 8 still remains. Will $10K Adelaide's underdog remain undefeated?
Facing off against Pittman, we have Anthony "Migga" Macali. Creator of 'Migga City', the Arkham Inmates deck that took Alex Antonios to Brisbane $10K fame, Migga is a well-respected player who hails from Melbourne. Finishing 5th yesterday, Migga is without doubt a formidable contender. Can he cut short Pittman's winning streak? Let's find out.
The boys start with a very unusual challenge for odd vs. evens: Taking a ballpoint pen, Pittman hides it under the table and clicks it up and down, asking Migga to select "in" or "out" (referring to the position of the nib).
Macali won the "die roll" and takes evens.
Turn 1
Both players passed and moved onto 2.
Endurance
Michael: 50
Migga: 50
Turn 2
Migga had to pass on recruit while Michael's Brother I Satellite was proving to pay for itself already. He searched out the incredible Sasha Bordeaux, Knight 2-drop (discarding Harbinger) and then took things to a ridiculous level when he flipped Dr. Fate’s Tower to search for the Amulet of Nabu.
The 2-drop Checkmate vixen does what she does best (i.e. becoming a 3-drop!) and then swung in for 5 endurance. BAM!
Endurance
Michael: 50
Migga: 45
Turn 3
Michael had a solid drop in Graziella Reza, while a slightly underpowered Dr. Light, Furious Flashpoint came out for Migga.
Graziella attacked the good doctor and then Michael flipped his third location of the match in Rann. He exhausted Fate’s Tower and Brother I to bring her ATK to 6 and passed. Without a way to trade, Migga was forced to take the stun and take the breakthrough. Sasha swung in for another 5 in slick style, and both players moved onto turn 3.
Endurance
Michael: 50
Migga: 34
Turn 4
Kilowog, Drill Sergeant came out with an Amulet of Nabu for Anthony, while Michael recruited his Richard Tyler ◊ Hourman, Man of the Hour. He used Fate’s Tower to transfer his Amulet to Hourman, and moved on to combat phase.
Dr. Light attacked Sasha, and Rann tried to force a trade. Anthony had a Dr. Light pump, but Michael had his own pump in the form of Sasha Bordeaux, Autonomous Prototype, and was able to make both characters trade. Kilowog attacked Richard Tyler, and Grand Gesture (via Dr. Light) made Tyler a miniscule 3 ATK/3 DEF. With no way to force a trade and clearly not wanting Migga to gain life, Michael elected to simply take the 10 and moved to recovery — leaving his Graziella Reza still readied in the back row. Sasha Bordeaux was sent to the KO’d pile, and Richard Tyler was recovered by Michael.
Endurance
Michael: 37
Migga: 31
Turn 5
Helm of Nabu recruited onto Richard Tyler meant that Michael was able to dig into his deck and find an incredibly splashable drop in Black Adam, Teth-Adam. Mr. Freeze, Brutal Blizzard come out in fine form for Migga, and Richard Tyler received Magical Lobotomy. At the start of combat, Migga flipped the Lobotomy back down, paying the 4 endurance, and passed over to Michael's attack phase.
Black Adam attacked Freeze and both characters simply traded. Mr. Freeze made sure that Black Adam would still be frozen solid next turn, and Black Adam turned Kilowog into a much less impressive 6 ATK/5 DEF. Richard Tyler then attacked Kilowog and paid the Free ability to become an enormous 12 ATK/10 DEF. With no real options, Migga couldn’t trade stuns, and was forced to take the massive 11 endurance loss. Graziella swung in directly once more. Rann was activated in the process, and Fate’s Tower / Brother I were exhausted to bring her to a sizeable 7 ATK.
Endurance
Michael: 32
Migga: 7
Turn 6
A rather underwhelming Dr. Psycho, Twisted Telepath came out for Migga, while Michael recruited Power Girl, Earth 2 and gave her some shiny Fate Artifacts using the Tower. Michael lost 9 via Dr. Psycho, while Migga lost 6, and both players moved to combat.
Mr. Freeze swung into Hourman, and, not wanting Migga to gain life, Michael elected not to pay the free cost, simply reinforcing via Graziella. Psycho attacked Graziella and Magical Labotomy, Burning Gaze and Grand Gesture tried to force through damage (with Graziella becoming a 1 ATK/1 DEF). Realizing that he only had to attack back to win, Michael didn’t take the bait. He simply took the massive 16 endurance loss — not reinforcing with Power Girl. When Michael's 17 ATK/14 DEF Power Girl then swung into Freeze, Migga offered the handshake — admitting that the early attacks from Sasha and Graziella were just too powerful for him to deal with and wished Michael luck for the rest of the day.
Michael Pittman carves up the field further with a fantastic 8-0 record!