In this first round of the Top 24, we once again have two Pro Circuit winners paired against each other. Both Adam and Ryan are 7-1, so it’s likely that they each need only one more win to guarantee a spot in the Top 8. Ryan passed to Adam in the draft; you can read about Adam’s draft on the main coverage page.
Adam won the die roll and chose the odd initiatives. He mulliganed and led off with Ted Kord ◊ Blue Beetle to Ryan’s nothing. On turn 2, Ryan had Kelex, while Adam recruited Booster Gold. Kelex traded with Booster, Ted attacked directly, and that was the turn. It was Adam’s initiative on the third turn, but he missed his recruit completely. Ryan, on the other hand, had Floronic Man, Jason Woodrue in the front row beside Kelex. Adam attacked Booster into Kelex and then used Glass Jaw to allow Ted to trade with Floronic Man. At the end of the turn, Adam led in endurance 44–38.
Ryan began turn 4 with a Membership Drive, then recruited Maxwell Lord and Captain Boomerang, “Digger”. Floronic Man was set in front of the Captain and next to Maxwell. Ryan passed to Adam, who recruited Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman in front of Booster Gold. Before declaring attackers, Ryan used Justice League of Arkham to team up JLI and Secret Society. His first attack sent Floronic Man into Katar. With Prejudice hit three Secret Society characters and gave Floronic Man 8 ATK. Adam teamed up with Gang-Up and used Shake it Off to try to brickwall. However, Ryan retrieved a newly-milled Floronic Man, Alien Hybrid with a newly-flipped Slaughter Swamp and powered-up to force the stun. Ryan’s other characters ran over Adam’s board, and Adam lost Booster Gold at the end of the turn. Ryan now had a 35–33 lead.
On turn 5, Adam recruited Firestorm in front of Katar. Ryan had Tasmanian Devil in front of Maxwell, with Floronic Man in front of Boomerang. Adam’s first attack brought Firestorm into Floronic Man; Boomerang reinforced. Next, Katar attacked Maxwell, who went down without a problem. Both players passed on any further attacks, and Maxwell went down at the end of the turn. The endurance score as 33–27 in Adam’s favor.
Ryan had a chance to lead off on turn 6 and did so with Gorilla Grodd, which took Maxwell’s place in his formation. Adam recruited Captain Atom in front of Firestorm and set Katar next to Firestorm in the support row. Ryan’s first attack sent Tasmanian Devil into Captain Atom. Adam had Bulletproof, but a Trial by Fire from Ryan forced the stun. Next, Ryan attacked Katar with Floronic Man. Rallying Cry! took Katar down. Finally, Grodd ran over Firestorm, and Boomerang exhausted to play Death Trap on Captain Atom. At the end of the turn, Adam was left with only Firestorm, while Ryan had only lost Floronic Man. Ryan led the endurance race, 19–13.
Turn 7 was Adam’s initiative, but things weren’t looking good. He replayed Captain Atom with boost in front of Firestorm. Ryan had Mark Desmond ◊ Blockbuster in front of Grodd and set his Tasmanian Devil in front of Boomerang. Adam went into the tank to figure out how he might win this game. Ryan just used Grodd to steal Captain Atom, though, and that was the game.
Ryan Jones wins!