Kyle and Billy are squarely in the middle of the pack coming into the eighth round of this tournament. They both need at least two wins for a shot at making Top 8, and they’re both hoping to pick up one of those wins right now. Billy, who I covered in the draft, has a very solid Teen Titans deck, and he has predicted a 3-0. It’s anyone’s guess what Kyle is bringing to the table. Billy won the die roll and, predictably, took the odd initiatives.
Both players kept their opening hands, and neither had a 1-drop. Kyle had the first play of the game with a Saturn Queen, and Billy missed again on turn 2. He finally established a board presence with a third-turn Vic Stone ◊ Cyborg 2.0, Titans Tomorrow East. Kyle matched him with a boosted Emerald Empress, fetching Emerald Eye. Kyle used Saturn Queen on Vic Stone, then protecting the Eye with the Empress. Billy attacked and allowed the Queen’s lockdown to take effect. Kyle was ahead, 48-45.
Turn 4 was Kyle’s initiative, and he recruited Dark Martian in his hidden area, targeting Vic Stone. Kyle also played Ra’s Al Ghul ◊ Leland McCauley, discarding a Glorith. Billy recruited Connor Kent ◊ Superboy, Inspiration to the Legion behind Vic, and then passed. Still in the build, Kyle used Saturn Queen on Vic. In combat, he sent Dark Martian into Connor, teamed-up Darkseid and Future Foes with Generation Next, and passed. Both characters stunned. Kyle exhausted Ra’s Al Ghul in a bid to remove Connor from the game with Omega Effect; he succeeded. Emerald Empress attacked Vic, and this time, Billy chose to discard a card to negate Saturn Queen. The Empress was lost in recovery. Kyle still led, 42-36.
Billy began turn 5 by substituting in Beast Boy, Party Animal. He flipped and used Furnace of Apokolips, then recruited Vic Stone ◊ Cyborg, Titans Veteran behind Beast Boy. Kyle had Validus behind Emerald Eye, and once again used Saturn Queen, this time targeting Vic Stone. In combat, Billy sent Beast Boy after Validus with Busted Knee and Furious Assault. Kyle allowed it, and both characters stunned (Beast Boy immediately recovered). Vic plowed through Emerald Eye, and neither player had any further attacks. Kyle lost Emerald Eye in recovery and also took 2, bringing the endurance total to 33-26 in Billy’s favor.
On turn 6, Kyle played Bart Allen ◊ The Flash, Titans Tomorrow West and pushed his characters to the front. Billy went into the tank before eventually opting to flip and use Cosmic Tuning Fork. He picked up a Terra, Titans Tomorrow East, which he immediately discarded. He recruited Freddy Freeman ◊ Captain Marvel in front of Vic, moved Beast Boy to the support row, and passed back to Kyle. In combat, Kyle declared a team attack of Saturn Queen and Validus into Freddy. With the recovery ability on the chain, Kyle exhausted Ra’s for a second Omega Effect. Next, Dark Martian went after Vic Stone. Billy had the power-up, but Kyle had Dark Fury for +2 ATK. Billy attempted to reinforce, and Kyle returned Ra’s to his hand in a bid to negate the effect. Billy considered for a moment and then allowed it. For the final attack of the turn, Kyle sent Bart into Beast Boy, stunning the 3-drop and causing a fair amount of breakthrough. In recovery, Dark Martian and Beast Boy were lost. The endurance scores stood at 17-12 in Kyle’s favor.
Turn 7 was Billy’s initiative. He kicked things off with a Tuning Fork activation, yielding both Mia Dearden ◊ Speedy and Umbra. Next, he substituted Tim Drake ◊ Batman, Titans Tomorrow West and drew a card with his Furnace. Finally, Billy recruited Superboy ◊ Yellow Sun Armor and passed. Kyle had Shrinking Violet ◊ Emerald Empress and also replayed Ra’s. He kept both of his concealed characters in the front and set up with Validus behind Bart and next to the Empress in the support row. In combat, Billy sent Superboy into Validus. Kyle reinforced. Next, Billy sent Tim into Bart Allen with Substitute Heroes for +5 ATK. He passed to Kyle, who had no attacks of his own. He did, however, return Ra’s to his hand. In recovery, Billy had a tenuous 7-6 lead.
Kyle had the initiative on turn 8, almost certainly the final turn of the game. He recruited Ra’s Al Ghul, Engine of Change in front of Shrinking Violet, as well as Dominators. Billy used the Tuning Fork and got Cassie Sandsmark ◊ Wonder Woman, Titans Tomorrow West and Koriand’r ◊ Starfire, Tamaranian Princess. After discarding some duds, Billy went into the tank. He ended up recruiting both Koriand’r and Duela Dent ◊ Harlequin. He set Duela in front of Superboy, leaving Koriand’r in the support row, and passed. Now it was Kyle’s turn to go into the tank. He decided to send Shrinking Violet into Koriand’r. Billy had Order and Chaos, and Kyle attempted to use Ra’s Al Ghul’s free ability. Billy chose to discard. Kyle had Five Against One to attempt to force the stun, and Billy played Girls’ Night Out to attempt to stop any breakthrough that Violet would deal. Both 7-drops stunned. Ra’s took down Duela for 10, and Kyle passed. Billy’s Superboy smashed back into Terra for entirely too much, and that was the game.