Round 6 was riddled with some interesting surprise plays. A bit of luck and a lot of awesome tech delivered a few of the tournament’s more impressive turns of events.
Dusty Hostutler vs. David Bauer
David Bauer won against yet another Teen Titans deck, and again felt that he owed the win to his extreme tech. One chain allowed him to demonstrate most of the deck’s new tricks:
Hostutler activated Titans Tower on Garth ◊ Tempest in response to one of Bauer’s attacks. Hostutler passed priority, hoping for the stun-back, but Bauer chained Nasty Surprise targeting Garth. As it resolved and came off the chain, he Overloaded to stun Garth and ready Bauer’s attacker. That one move, combined with domination from Total Anarchy, earned the win for Bauer on turn 6.
Michael Jacob vs. Gabe Walls
Michael Jacob took the game after a spectacular series of early-game topdecks. Playing a Mutant Nation variant against Walls’s Teen Titans, a devastating third turn featuring Avalon Space Station and multiple Lost City pumps set the stage for Walls’s downfall. “I couldn’t really do much . . . I attacked into him and he flipped Avalon Space Station and Lost City and dropped a bunch of pumps. I didn’t have any Overload or anything. On turn 3, there’s nothing I can do about that.”
Roy St. Clair vs. Alex Tennet
Roy St. Clair was playing Gamma Doom against Alex Tennet’s Brave and the Bold deck. It was yet another match that was decided by an enormous and impressive chain. What began as a mundane pair of activations (Mirage and then Terra, both controlled by Tennet) grew larger and larger:
Alex maintained priority to go for a stun with Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal, targeting St. Clair’s Dr. Doom. In response, St. Clair chained Robot Destroyer’s effect to take out Terra, and negated Mirage’s effect with a Utility Belt. He then went for a Gamma Bomb, but Tennet Fizzled. St. Clair Bombed again, and Tennet Fizzled a second time. Pulling out all the stops, St. Clair activated a third Gamma Bomb, and thanks to Garth, Tennet dug for a third Fizzle. The game was soon called on time, and with St. Clair unable to resolve a single Gamma Bomb, Alex Tennet took the win.
The level of play seen at the Columbus $10K has been amazing. Chains were longer than expected, tactics were inventive and creative, and a generous smattering of innovative tech led to some impressive and beguiling plays.