This round pits Team AttaQC, the French Canadian team featuring Benoit Chaurette, Maximilien Bouchard, and Mathieu Brochu, against Team Hector Hammond FTW, a group from St. Louis and Ohio composed of Kent Kershenski, Chris Green, and Heath Scheiman. All these players are regulars on the Pro Circuit, with Team AttaQC regularly posting good finishes in Pro Circuits and $10Ks (two members recently made the Top 8 of $10K Boston).

I sat down at table B next to Benoit and Kent, and the first thing Benoit told me was that he wouldn’t be a good match to cover due to how bad his deck was. Max leaned over and agreed, saying that they had received a horrible pool. Both players were happy with their opening hands, but neither player had a play until turn 2, when Kent dropped a Weather Wizard, which was outmatched by Ben’s Ragman, Patchmonger.

With the initiative on turn 3, Ben played Zatanna, Magical Manipulator and passed to Kent, who brought out Ibis, Prince Amentep. Zatanna was sent after Ibis with the help of a Burning Gaze, only to be stopped by a power-up on Ibis. Ben was then forced to waste a Watch the Birdie! on Ibis just to keep his character from stunning. Ibis returned the attack on Zatanna, stunning her, and Weather Wizard received a Burning Gaze of his own to stun Ragman, sending Ben down a character and down in the endurance totals, 48-44.

Kent played out a Ragdoll, which was met by an Animal Man from Ben. Kent sent his 4-drop after Ben’s, giving Animal Man a counter and discarding a card to Ragdoll’s vengeance trigger as both characters stunned. Weather Wizard ran into Zatanna and stunned, giving Ibis +1 ATK/+1 DEF, and Ibis then attacked Zatanna. He was met by an Abjuration, forcing Kent to return the stunned Wizard to his hand with Grand Gesture to earn the stun.

Benoit led off turn 5 with another Ragman, but this time it was Ragman, Redeemer of Souls. Cheshire came out to play for Kent’s team before Animal Man jumped into Ibis, stunning in the process of getting another counter. Ragman went after Ragdoll, with both characters stunning in a flurry of cloth. Ragdoll’s vengeance power triggered again, earning Kent some board advantage. (Across the table, Max took his game with Chris after only about 10 minutes, sending the Canadians off to a quick lead.)

Turn 6 began with Kent down, 32-28, when he played Power Girl, Earth 2. Ben had no 6-drop, instead playing Blue Devil, Dan Cassidy, Huntress, Earth 2, and an Amulet of Nabu on Ragman, hoping to stop the coming onslaught from Kent’s board, which had been growing due to Ragdoll’s free recovery the previous two turns. Power Girl attacked Ragman, and Kent played Watch the Birdie!, only to have it negated by The Conclave. This meant the 6-drop was still going to be stunned, and Ragman added some counters at the expense of Kent’s KO’d pile. Ibis attacked Huntress, only to be brickwalled by an Advance Warning. Cheshire and Ragdoll team attacked Animal Man, who exhausted with Blue Devil to Revitalize Ragman. An Epic Battle from Ben meant that he would stun Cheshire, completely stealing the initiative from Kent, who returned Cheshire to his hand to No Mercy Animal Man before they went into the next turn, with the endurance totals at 19-15 in Kent’s favor. (Mathieu fell to Keith, bringing him over to see if Ben was going to hold onto the game and chalk up a win for the team.)

Ben played Shazam with the initiative on turn 7, which looked to be the card that was going to seal the game. Kent played Alexander Luthor, Diabolical Double boosted, putting a Dr. Polaris, Force of Nature into play for free. Shazam stunned Alexander, but not before he exhausted to burn Ben for 7 with Return Fire!. Blue Devil and Ragman team attacked Power Girl, earning the stun, with Ragman being stunned back in the exchange. Huntress was sent in for the win on Dr. Polaris, only to see him disappear through a Baddest of the Bad to find Count Vertigo. This kept Kent alive for one more turn, but behind in the endurance totals 7-1.

He used his new lease on life to play Count Vertigo, along with Mr. Freeze, Brutal Blizzard, and flip Thanagarian Invasion, paying a resource point to give Mr. Freeze an additional +3 ATK. Ben played The Joker, Permanent Vacation, hoping to hold on to a game that had looked to be in his grasp. He sat and looked at the board, trying to decide how to form up, but saw that he couldn’t do it and scooped his cards, giving Team Hector Hammond FTW the win in a nail-biting deciding game.

Team Hector Hammond FTW wins!