Both of these players are playing to win their first pod, which would give them a great position going into the first of two
Marvel Knights drafts.
Adam won the die roll and elected to take the odd initiative. Both players kept their opening hands, and while Fears had no recruit, Knott had
G'Nort, who swung in for a cheeky 1.
Tomar Tu came out for Knott on turn 2, while the Alabama native had no recruits once more, taking another 5.
Turn 3 brought nothing from Adam, while Knott continued his assault with
Governor Tozad, who beat in with the rest of the German's side.
“I might recruit a guy this turn,” said Fears before his draw on turn 4, clearly unhappy with his luck.
Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern was his recruit, which was not too hot in the face of a full board from Knott. His
Ch'p had already hit play and quickly attacked Adam's character. More beatings ensued.
On turn 5,
John Stewart came out for Adam, while Christian showed his first sign of a less than perfect draw with
Myrwhydden, which fell a full point below curve.
“Underdropping is really good sometimes. This time, it is not intentional,” remarked the German with a smirk.
Kyle Rayner flew over into
G'Nort, and then John Stuart went for the now un-reinforceable Myrwhydden. Fears still had some work to do, but the tide was slowly turning.
When Christian made
Sinestro, Lantern in Exile on turn 6, the potential for Fears to stave off the beatings on the other side of the board looked limited. He pondered his hand carefully and made a Sinestro, Lantern in Exile of his own that he used to protect Kyle Rayner. With the endurance totals 24 to 40 in favor of the German, Fears had to be careful. Neither player had played a plot twist thus far, so the likelihood of tricks was high in this potentially pivotal combat step.
“I've got a stupid plan. Maybe the most stupid plan I've ever had,” remarked Christian with a chuckle.
He recruited two copies of
Manhunter Protector—not your typical turn 7 recruit, but it did rather limit the amount of damage that Fear's powerful flyers could do.
No Evil Shall Escape Our Sight was flipped for Christian, and the first Manhunter was reinforced by Myrwhydden when Sinestro attacked it.
Fears played
Lanterns Light on his opponent's still-hidden Sinestro. An activation moved
Ultraman to the hidden area in a neat little exchange, but all of a sudden, Fears had a target to attack. Ultraman flew into Sinestro with a
Jackhammer and beat him up savagely, KO'ing him in the process. The endurance totals ended at 13-11 in favor of the German.
Christian's turn 8 recruit was impressive.
Alan Scott came out with three
Sleeper Agents to back him up. Fears, meanwhile, elected to boost out a hidden
Power Ring and spend his final point on
Brik.
All three of the
Sleeper Agents bundled into
Sinestro, Lantern in Exile. Sinestro sent Alan Scott to the hidden area and was duly stunned.
Ch'P then went for Brik, causing a full 6 endurance loss. Alan Scott then attacked into John Stewart, causing a further 10 endurance loss for Fears. Myrwhydden went to the face for a total of 7 with the help of his ability, and Fears had some work to do. Ultraman attacked a Sleeper Agent, and
Power Ring attacked another. Between them, they managed to break through for just enough to make it -21 endurance apiece. Both players were dead . . . they just hadn't stopped moving yet, and it went to another turn.
On turn 9, Fear's had a full set of resources to his opponent's five, and he capitalized with
Boodikka and
Jade. For Christian, it was just a
Manhunter Giant. The two
Manhunter Protectors stood in the front row, along with a Sleeper Agent, waiting to face some scary looking attacks. Jade exhausted Alan Scott using
Rain of Acorns, and then Power Ring attacked Manhunter Protector.
It was clear that there were too many big attackers for the German to finish on higher endurance, and he scooped it up.
Adam Fears wins.