The finals of this tournament is as classic a matchup as you can get—Curve Sentinels against Teen Titans. As the player shuffled up, Adam noted that he had defeated Matthew in the last round of Day 1. “I was your last loss of this tournament, right?” “Right.”

Game 1

Adam won the die roll and took the even initiatives for the first game.

Matthew opened up the game with Boliver Trask, who searched out Hounds of Ahab. “You’re gonna lock me . . . I feel the lock coming on,” said Adam. He flipped and used an Optitron, discarding Pantha to search out a Red Star. He took a point of endurance loss and play moved to turn 2, where Adam Optitroned again. This time he discarded Beast Boy to get Garth ◊ Tempest. He had no other play, and Matthew dropped his Hounds. Matthew attacked with his characters to bring the endurance totals to 50–46 in his favor.

Matthew wasted no time in playing a Sentinel Mark II on turn 3, protecting it with Boliver. Adam played Dawn Granger ◊ Dove with boost, fetching Hank Hall ◊ Hawk. Matthew sent his Mark II into Dove, and Adam had the Tamaran to stun the Sentinel back. Neither player had any other attacks, but Adam did have a Finishing Move for the robot. Matthew maintained an endurance lead of 47–44.

Adam led off turn 4 with the Red Star he had searched for on turn 1. He set up Red Star behind Hank, with Dove next to Hank in the front row. Matthew played the predictable Sentinel Mark V in front of Boliver Trask. Adam’s first attack was to send Dawn into the creator of the Sentinel program, an attack which Matthew could do nothing about. Adam’s next attack was a team-attack of Red Star and Hank into the Mark V. Matthew lost his Mark V, and the endurance score was now 42–41 in Adam’s favor.

The second Mark V of the game came out on Matthew’s side on turn 5; this one was boosted and played in front of the smaller robot. Adam played the Garth he had searched for on turn 2 and set him up in the back row next to Dove. Hawk protected Garth, and Red Star protected Dove. At the start of combat, Matthew sent his boosted Mark V into Red Star. Adam simply reinforced with Dove. Matthew’s next attack brought the smaller Mark V into Hawk. Adam reinforced again. Matthew once again decided not to send his Hounds into Dove. Adam had no attack and paid 3 endurance to return Finishing Move to his hand. He lost Hawk, and play moved on to turn 6. Matthew had the endurance lead, 41–33.

Adam had the initiative on the sixth turn and brought out Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal, Sharpshooter. He used Optitron to get Tim Drake ◊ Robin, Young Detective, discarding Beast Boy. He played Tim Drake in front of Red Star and set up Dove in front of Garth next to them. Roy was set up next to Garth in the back row. Matthew recruited Bastion in the support row next to his smaller Mark V and had the larger Mark V protect Bastion. Adam tried to declare an attack, but Matthew had Flame Trap. Adam could only exhaust Tim and Dove to pump Roy Harper. They stunned, as did Matthew’s Hounds of Ahab, and Adam took some time to rethink his plan for the turn. He finally chose to attack his three remaining characters into the larger Mark V, using Teen Titans Go! to ready his characters before anything stunned. He attempted to use Roy to stun the smaller Mark V, but Matthew used Bastion to attempt to counter his effect. Adam exhausted Garth to pump Roy again. Matthew chained Reconstruction Program, and in response, Adam exhausted Red Star to pump Roy again. He used Garth to recur his Teen Titans Go! and exhausted Garth to pump Roy once again.

With the Reconstruction Program still on the chain, Adam used Roy to attempt to take down Bastion. Matthew revealed another Reconstruction Program, bringing back the same three Sentinels that he had targeted before. This resolved, and Bastion received three pumps. Adam exhausted Red Star to pump Roy once again, and then used Tamaran to push his ATK just over the top. Matthew had yet another Reconstruction Program, though, bringing back three more Sentinels. Matthew pumped Bastion twice more, and Adam had nothing more. His newest activation of Roy (targeting Bastion) had no effect. Matthew’s first Reconstruction Program had no more legal targets, so it had no effect either. The very first Roy activation went off the chain, and the smaller Mark V stunned. Adam powered up his Garth to allow it to survive combat with the larger Mark V, and Roy went down. Bastion attacked back on Garth. The end result of this very complicated turn was that Matthew lost his Hounds of Ahab and smaller Mark V, Adam lost all of his characters except Garth and Red Star, and the endurance totals were now 31–11 in Matthew’s favor.

It was Matthew’s initiative on turn 7, and he began by cracking a Genosha to dig for a 7-drop. He was unsuccessful, and instead simply recruited Nimrod. Nimrod, Bastion, and the boosted Mark V were all left in the front row. Adam, down to five resources, began his build by using Optitron. He discarded Terra to get Tim Drake, who he did not play. Instead, Adam recruited Hawk with boost, fetching Dove, and used Red Star’s ability to knock 5 off of Matthew’s endurance total. Adam set up with Red Star next to Garth in the back row, and had Hawk protecting Red Star and Dove protecting Garth. As Matthew considered his attacks, Adam decided simply to concede. The third Reconstruction Program destroyed Adam, and he was not shy about expressing his discontent about his opponent’s luck.

Game 2

Adam once again opted for the even initiatives. Matthew mulliganed his opening hand, revealing Two-Face, Split Personality and keeping one card. After a bit of deliberation, Adam followed suit. Neither player had a play on turn 1. Adam started the action on turn 2 with Tim Drake ◊ Robin, while Matthew had his Hounds of Ahab.

Matthew had the initiative on turn 3 but had no play. Adam recruited Beast Boy and attacked for 6, bringing the endurance totals to 50–42 in his favor and granting him a significant early-game advantage.

Adam began turn 4 by flipping and immediately using USS Argus. He recruited Terra behind Beast Boy and left Tim Drake next to Beast Boy in the front row. Matthew hit his drop in the form of Sentinel Mark V. Adam quickly declared a team-attack of Terra and Beast Boy on the robot and redirected Matthew’s stun of Terra to Beast Boy instead. Adam exhausted Tim to Finishing Move the Mark V. Matthew had a Finishing Move of his own, taking out Beast Boy. The endurance totals were now 47–38 in Adam’s favor.

Matthew played a replacement Mark V on turn 5, this time with boost. Adam used Argus to dig for another card and recruited Garth ◊ Tempest behind Terra. Tim was left in the back row next to Garth. Matthew declared the Mark V into Terra, and Adam used her ability to replace his Argus and stun Matthew’s Hounds. Adam merely reinforced, and Terra was stunned. Before Adam could attack, Matthew played a Flame Trap to stun Tim. Adam responded with another Finishing Move, this time KO’ing Matthew’s Hounds. Adam paid 3 endurance with Garth to return Finishing Move to his hand, and play moved to the next turn. Adam maintained a slight endurance lead of 38–36.

Turn 6 was Adam’s initiative, and his first action was another Optitron activation. He discarded Beast Boy to search up another Tim Drake, which he played with boost. Leaving 1 resource point unspent, Adam passed the build to Matthew. A Reconstruction Program was played to return the previously KO’d Sentinel Mark V and Hounds of Ahab, and both were brought back into play. The smaller Mark V was left protecting the larger one. Adam inspected the endurance totals as he contemplated his attack, choosing to send all of his characters into the smaller Mark V. The Mark V was stunned, and Tim stopped any stuns on Adam’s side of the board. Adam played Teen Titans Go! from his hand and sent Garth and Terra into the larger Mark V. Tim was exhausted for Finishing Move, and Adam revealed another Teen Titans Go! from his resource row. Terra was used to stun Hounds of Ahab, and Garth was used to return Finishing Move. The other Mark V was Finished, and Matthew was left with a devastated board. The endurance score going into the seventh turn was 35–26.

Matthew recruited Magneto, Master of Magnetism for his turn 7 play. Adam used USS Argus to dig, then had Terra stun Hounds of Ahab. A Betrayal from Adam was countered by a Finishing Move from Matthew on his own Hounds. Adam dropped Red Star and Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal, Sharpshooter. As Matthew’s only character was exhausted, Adam was free to attack. It was all academic from there.

Game 3

Matthew had choice of initiatives for the first time this match and took evens. Both players mulliganed, and Adam had the ubiquitous Optitron to discard Tim Drake ◊ Robin, Young Detective to fetch Garth ◊ Tempest. Matthew had no play for turn 1, and that was the turn. Adam had another Tim for turn 2, and Matthew again had no play. Tim attacked with the help of Tamaran, and Adam took a 3 point endurance lead.

It was Adam’s initiative on turn 3, and he brought out a boosted Dawn Granger ◊ Dove. Hank Hall ◊ Hawk joined Dove and Tim in the front row. Matthew finally had a play in Sentinel Mark II. Adam sent Hawk and Tim into the Mark II in a team-attack, and the robot went down. Dove attacked directly with a Tamaran activation, and the endurance totals were now 48–41 in Adam’s favor.

Matthew had the predictable Sentinel Mark V on turn 4, and he was played protecting the Mark II. Adam dug with USS Argus and recruited Terra. Dove and Tim were left in the back. Hawk protected Dove, and Terra protected Tim. When Matthew declared an attack with his Mark II, Adam allowed the attack and then used Terra to stun the Sentinel. Matthew’s next attack brought the Mark V into Tim Drake, and this time Matthew had a Total Anarchy to take Tim down. Adam simply reinforced. Adam had no attacks, and the score was 46–48 going into turn 5.

Adam had the initiative on turn 5. He dropped Garth ◊ Tempest and left all of his characters in the front row. Matthew had Nimrod and left him behind the Mark V. His Mark II was set up beside Nimrod in the back row. Adam’s first attack was to send Garth and Terra into the Matthew’s Mark II. Matthew had a Nasty Surprise to try for the stun, but Adam powered up. Matthew powered up in turn, and Adam played Teen Titans Go! Terra was used to stun the Mark II, but her ability was countered. Garth brought back the Teen Titans Go!, and another Terra activation got the stun and the KO. Adam next sent Garth into Matthew’s Mark V. An Acrobatic Dodge and power-up were negated by a Tamaran activation and Savage Beatdown, respectively. The Mark V went down. Adam’s final attack sent his remaining characters into Nimrod, who lost his repair counter in exchange for a stun on Terra. The endurance totals going into turn 6 were 39–31 in Adam’ favor.

Matthew began the sixth turn by using Reconstruction Program to bring back a Mark V and two Mark IIs. Matthew played a boosted Mark V and made a colossal error by leaving Nimrod in the back row. Adam used Garth to bring back Koriand’r, played her, and used her to stun Nimrod. Matthew sent his larger Mark V into Terra. Adam had nothing to do about that, and Matthew sent his smaller Mark V into Garth with a Savage Beatdown. Neither player had any more attacks, and play proceeded to what looked to be the final turn of this tournament. The endurance scores were tied at 22.

Adam once again began by using Optitron, this time discarding Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal, Sharpshooter to get Beast Boy. He recruited another Roy, as well as Beast Boy, and set up his six characters in a block formation. Matthew went into the tank and finally came out with two Sentinel Mark IIs. They were played in the back row, while the Mark Vs (boosted and unboosted) were left up front. Adam’s first attack sent Koriand’r into the larger of the two Mark Vs. Matthew had nothing to prevent this and took 4. Adam’s next move was to send Garth and Dove in a team-attack on the remaining Mark V. Again, Matthew had nothing, and his Mark V traded stuns with Dove. Dove was KO’d due to Total Anarchy. Adam’s third attack was another team-attack of Beast and Hank into a Mark II. Both Hank and the Mark II were KO’d. Teen Titans Go! readied Garth and Beast Boy, and Garth went into Mark II alone. Roy Harper attacked directly with the help of a Savage Beatdown, and that was the tournament.

Congratulations to Adam Prosak, winner of $10K Atlanta!