This round 1 feature match included two of the best players in the game right now. Nick Little is one of the top players in any realm of the Vs. System. He’s been on a tear this last year, and was Gary Wise’s pick for unofficial player of the year. Bulk Lao is one of the top Sealed Pack players in the world and has a $10K Top 8 credit to his name, as well as an interesting story about his weekend thus far. Apparently, his flight into Chicago from California had a layover in Atlanta, Georgia. I’m no geography buff, but that seems a little out of the way to me. Upon arriving in Chicago, Lao found out that his hotel reservation, which he had secured online, was never received by the hotel. So, he arrived late and without a room. Thanks to knowing the right people, all was not lost, and he got himself a room so he could at least rest a little before today. Rough beat.
Nick won a little odd/even battle and choose evens. Lao shipped a sub-par hand of cards back, and seemed a little less than pleased with its replacement. Turn 2 saw the first action of the game as Nick started off with a She-Thing, which prompted a gasp from Bulk. Lao passed his turn and Little got to bash in unopposed. When Lao’s turn 3 ended up with nothing but Boliver Trask for Hounds of Ahab, Nick pumped his fist and dropped on his curve with She-Hulk. Trask headed in to smash She-Thing with a little help from No Man Escapes the Manhunters. Lao used Finishing Move to get She-Thing out of there, and Micro-Sentinels showed up on Lao’s side to start disassembling She-Hulk.
Turn 4 saw the usual plays of Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius and Sentinel Mark V for Little and Lao, respectively. Dr. Doom and company managed to end the turn ahead, with Lao having two guys stun and being forced to KO his Boliver Trask. On the next turn, Lao really began to turn up the heat by recruiting the all-powerful Nimrod. After seeing this, Nick went into the tank. He finally opted for a Signal Flare for Mr. Personality himself, Thing, Heavy Hitter. Unfortunately, having missed a couple of crucial turns earlier, Lao could only stun Dr. Doom and Thing, but he got to flip up another Micro-Sentinels to add double the counters to Little’s men.
On turn 6, Little was left with only a Robot Destroyer to play, which was sadly no match for the Bastion that came down on Lao’s side. With such an apparent disadvantage, Little thought long and hard about how to dig his way out. Ultimately, Thing went into Nimrod. Bastion’s utter brokenness came out, though, as he pumped Nimrod to force Little to break out a Savage Beatdown to finish the job. Robot Destroyer was next on the hit list, with his fists aimed squarely at Bastion. Two Beatdowns and a flurry of Bastion pumps later, the big guy went down. Nick passed his turn with Dr. Doom to hold down the fort, and Lao decided to finish the job Nick had started. The remainder of his team went into the good Doctor, who just had enough strength left to use a Finishing Move on Bastion.
Turn 7 saw Lao throw the unstoppable Juggernaut into his front lines. Little dropped a Mr. Fantastic, Leader—yes, you did read that right—which he had apparently drawn that turn. Voices from the peanut gallery chimed in with “I hate you so much, you utter lucksack,” to which Nick replied “You lie. You love a Nick Little.” Honestly, who doesn’t? Nimrod started the smashing by running into the Robot Destroyer, who was promptly destroyed. Then, Juggernaut earned his name by trampling over the fearless leader Mr. Fantastic. Mr. Fantastic made his presence felt, though, with a Finishing Move on Nimrod. Both players were at precariously low endurance totals now, with Little at 4 and Lao at 9. Nick’s next turn would seal the deal.
With one of the most impressive and powerful windmill slams I’ve ever seen, Apocalypse found his way onto Nick’s side. I’m not sure what motivation he had to join the team, but if Steinbrenner can do it, I don’t see why Mr. Fantastic can’t. It’s all about the Benjamins, baby. With this initiative going to Apocalypse and the boys, Lao did the math and scooped.
Nick Little wins!