Jacob was playing an utterly incredible Faces of Evil deck. Grant wasn’t as confident in his deck, despite it being a very solid Masters of Evil/Avengers mix. He was well-armed for the rush matchup, unbeknownst to Jacob.

Both players opted to keep their opening hands, and Grant began the game with Radioactive Man, Chen Lu. Jacob dropped Ogre. When Radioactive Man attacked, each player took 1 endurance loss before readying.

Jacob recruited Shocker on turn 2, and was met by Natasha Romanoff ◊ Black Widow, Super Spy. Shocker decimated Radioactive Man and Ogre took down Natasha. A Combat Maneuvers kept Ogre around, and Jacob started controlling the board by knocking out Radioactive Man.

Grant recruited Beetle, Armorsmith and used his effect to dig for Beast, Furry Blue Scientist. Beast was recruited, Grant formed up with Beetle and Beast in front, and the build phase passed to Jacob. He immediately stunned Beast with Shocker’s effect, then recruited Shape to protect him. Ogre was left in the front row all by his lonesome.

A Day Unlike Any Other teamed up Masters of Evil and Avengers for Grant, and Beetle and Natasha attacked Shape for the stun. Widow cracked off a shot at Ogre for the stun and then the KO, but Jacob had flipped Faces of Evil in response to the attack. Grant now had slightly more board presence than Jacob, and the endurance totals were 41 to 44.

Lady Lark and then Joystick joined the fight on Jacob’s side. He formed up with Shape protecting Shocker and Lark protecting Joystick. Grant recruited Iron Man, Tony Stark, and braced for attack by sending Beetle out to protect him. Beast acted as a fuzzy blue meat shield for Black Widow, and Jacob started formulating attacks.

Shape rushed at Beetle. “I am currently a 4 ATK.”

“Oh, I know,” replied Grant, opting to reinforce with Iron Man. Lady Lark then went after Beast, and Black Widow reinforced him as he hit the ground. Shocker attacked Iron Man (in a shocking turn of events, ha ha!) and Combat Maneuvers threatened to bring Iron Man to the ground. Sonic Disruption slowed Shocker down, but The Wrecking Crew let him dish out a little bit more pain. It was a decimating turn—Jacob kept all four of his characters while Grant lost two.

Klaw looked to even the odds for Grant, and hit the field on turn 5. Jacob recruited Mammomax and Melissa Gold ◊ Screaming Mimi, though, seeming only slightly perturbed by the recruit. He formed up with Shape, Shocker, and Mimi protecting Lady Lark, Mammomax, and Joystick respectively. Just as Grant had done the turn before, Jacob was using the “meat shield” strategy to keep his more important characters on the board while minimizing damage.

Beetle and Black Widow team attacked Screaming Mimi, and Grant flipped Playroom to deal some additional damage. Mimi went down, and though Black Widow was stunned back, she cracked off a stunning shot at Lady Lark. Klaw then smashed into Joystick, and Mammomax could not reinforce.

Shape attacked Beetle, but Prismatic Shield reinforced him. Grant lost him to the KO’d pile, while Jacob let Lady Lark and Screaming Mimi fade into unconsciousness.

The endurance totals were still tight—27 to 29, with Jacob at the disadvantage. Though Jacob was putting forth a strong offense, he had flipped almost all of his resources, and his recruitment for turn 6 ate the remainder of his hand. Beetle ◊ Mach 1 and Heinrich Zemo ◊ Baron Zemo, Baron of Zeulniz hit the field. While Grant could still curve, Jacob could not, and even two characters a turn didn’t seem as if it would be enough to earn a win. Grant recruited Wonder Man and used his effect to reveal two reservists, stunning Joystick. This took a good deal of the wind out of Jacob’s offensive sails.

Jacob shook his head slightly while he surveyed the field, taking off his toque.

Grant laughed a little. “I find it amusing that, when you’re playing against a deck that has this much stuff against you, it’s still disturbingly close. And I suspect you’re only looking dubious because you can’t get the win this turn.” Jacob smiled back, but looked to be honestly concerned.

Mammomax attacked Klaw and took him down in a double stun—24 to 23. “Unbelievably lucky,” he muttered, seeing possibilities that seemingly only he was privy to. “SO lucky!” He team attacked with Zemo and Shocker against Wonder Man, stunning Zemo and Wonder Man. Shape then smacked down Black Widow, and Beetle exhausted for Stolen Power to KO Wonder Man. The endurance stood at 11 to 19, and Grant now had nothing but Klaw remaining.

He recruited Mr. Hyde, Engine of Destruction, and a smaller character that was blown away by Shocker so fast that it was impossible to identify. Jacob had nothing to recruit. He formed up with Shape protecting Beetle and Shocker protecting Baron Zemo, and passed.

Mr. Hyde attacked Shocker, and Zemo reinforced. It was 17 to 11 in Jacob’s favor. “Shape is an 8? Man . . . Klaw on Shape.” Jacob examined his face-down resource and his one-card hand, and then took the stun. Play moved to turn 8, and the Shocker-blasted face-down recovered, revealed to be Speed Demon, Second Chance Speedster.

Armed with control over the initiative, Jacob recruited Melter—it was all he had. Grant recruited Hawkeye. “Best player on the planet,” remarked Jacob. Grant then recruited Black Knight and paid a resource point for his effect. Klaw hopped into a shiny new Thunder Jet and Jacob seemed very perturbed—he’d left only Melter in the back row, and with Hawkeye protecting Klaw, there was no way Klaw was going to fail in dishing out massive breakthrough. “You are amazing.” Jacob seemed sincere, though perturbed.

Melter attacked Mr. Hyde, and another Faces of Evil forced the trade: Grant was at 3, while Jacob was at 10. Beetle then rushed Black Knight with a 7 ATK: endurance totals were now 0 to 9. Zemo attacked Speed Demon/ The Wrecking Crew and Repulsor Ray rendered him an 11 ATK, but United We Stand on Klaw beefed up Speed Demon for the stun back. It didn’t matter, though—Klaw needed to swing for 16, and just couldn’t do it.

Michael Jacob escapes a pitfall-laden match with a daring win . . . narrowly, just barely, eking out Grant!