Two of the most active writers in the Vs. community, Tommy Ashton and Thomas Reeve, squared off in this round 2 feature match. Ashton, hailing from College Park, Maryland, is famous for his hilarious ramblings over on vsuniverse.com, while Reeve is one of metagame.com’s favorite sons. Both players lost their first round match, Ashton with a Brotherhood reservist build that’s practically legal for Avengers/X-Men Modern Age, and Reeve with his Checkmate utility deck.
Ashton won the choice for initiative and selected odds; both players then shipped back their first four. On turn 1, Ashton recruited Rem-Ram, which netted him another Rem-Ram, and screamed in disgust as he sent The New Brotherhood to the bottom of his deck. Reeve had nothing, and Tommy got in for 1. Reeve missed again on turn 2, while Tommy barely did better, recruiting Amelia Voght for the full amount. Tommy then sent his team, replacing Planet X into The New Brotherhood to get a pretty decent jump in the endurance race.
Tommy kept up the pressure with Joanna Cargill on turn 3, while Reeve finally got on the board with Ahmed Samsarra and suited him up with Cloak of Nabu. Tommy team attacked with Rem-Ram and Joanna, and Reeve fired a Meltdown out of his row for 2 endurance and used Ahmed to find Checkmate Safe House. The 3-drops traded, and Amelia got in directly. On the fourth turn, Reeve had Human Torch, The Invisible Man, while Tommy continued on his curve with Anne-Marie Cortez. Tommy revealed Spoor at the start of combat, which was relevant because Reeve had a Flame Trap down. Human Torch took down Amelia, and then Ahmed went after Joanna with a power up. Tommy used a Meltdown on the Cloak, but Reeve had another power up for Ahmed. Digging for an answer, Tommy used an Air Strike on Rem-Ram and replaced into Boot to the Head for the stun back. Anne-Marie then went after Human Torch, and Rem-Ram got in directly. Ashton kept Anne-Marie, while Reeve was forced to keep Ahmed.
Tommy went off curve for his fifth turn, recruiting Kleinstock Brothers, Spoor, and an alternate-cost Amelia Voght, choosing not to replace on one of the recruits to keep himself at four resources. Reeve had Annihilation Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot and flipped up his Flame Trap with Anne-Marie’s effect on the chain. Tommy sent Spoor after the Robot and used his power, which prompted Reeve to dig up a Worldeater Apparatus with Ahmed and exhaust his Robot to gain some endurance. Anne-Marie then went after Ahmed. Tommy kept his 4-drop during recovery, while Reeve was again forced to keep his King alive.
Reeve recruited Terrax, Harbinger of Ruin on turn 6, threatening to whittle down Tommy’s board with no direct stuns. Curiously, he decided not to use his power in respose to Tommy’s recruit of Rem-Ram—Tommy had a board of Spoor and Anne-Marie Cortez, which would have been much juicier food for Terrax. Tommy recruited another Rem-Ram to search for drops, then recruited Chrome and another Kleinstock Brothers. Terrax attacked Spoor and Ahmed attacked Rem-Ram, with Tommy using Boot to the Head during the second attack to force the stun back. Tommy then sent the remainder of his team after Terrax, and Reeve used Terrax (stunning the Brothers) and traded with Cortez.
Tommy went into turn 7 with Spoor and Chrome, while Reeve again had to keep Ahmed. On the seventh turn, with Reeve at 10 endurance, Tommy threatened to push through the win with Scanner. Reeve had other plans, using Enemy of My Enemy to find Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man, using Ahmed to find a Checkmate Safe House to team up, and finally using Brother I Satellite to get a character that would let Spider-Man exhaust Scanner. Unable to push through Spider-Man, Tommy fell on turn 8 to Reeve and his boosted Annihilation Protocol.
Reeve wins 1-0