The Realmworx team took an early hit as the first round of PC Los Angeles shone the spotlight on what could be the match of the day in the Feature Match area.

Rob Leander and Dave Spears sat down to a Wizard World Texas $10K finals rematch, although this time, neither was playing their vaunted Curve Sentinels deck. Rob, the winner at Wizard World Texas, was playing a straight Teen Titans build, the same type of deck that he brought with him to PC Indy on a courtesy invite, and which helped to propel him into the limelight as one of the Top 10 players in the world. He was quick to be humble, however, exclaiming, “It all happened so fast!”

Dave Spears, owner of Mind Games in Florence, Alabama, where he essentially plays Vs. System day in and day out with the kids at the store, was playing a New Brotherhood deck with a twist—he used A Death in the Family to dispose of threatening characters.

Very close friends, Rob and Dave were devastated to be paired up in the first round—they were expecting to run into each other on Sunday in the Top 8, not this early. They both cried “Conspiracy!” and Dave lamented that “the problem is that I have too many friends here, so I’ll be playing them all afternoon—I’m gonna to have to stop liking people so much . . . ”

Dave won the roll for initiative and decided to play first. Trying to keep the atmosphere light with some banter, he asked me to “make sure to write that I’m single and on the lookout!”

On turn 1, Dave quickly dropped Destiny. Rob didn’t have a drop, so Dave flipped The New Brotherhood, and Destiny proved that she still had some pep in her old bones, clipping Rob for 2 endurance loss. Dave 50, Rob 48.

Turn 2 began with Rob again missing his drop. Dave dropped Thornn, and Rob lost another 5 endurance. Dave 50, Rob 43.

Turn 3, and this time it was Dave’s turn to miss. “Pretty exciting game so far—we’re both missing our drops!” Dave played a Surprise Attack to drop Rob to 38 and passed his recruit. Rob played a boosted Hank Hall ◊ Hawk and brought Dawn Granger ◊ Dove out. Dave sent the old crone, Destiny, back onto the battlefield, attacking Dove. Rob played his trump card, flipping Foiled to KO Dave’s The New Brotherhood. Dave sent Destiny to the air with a Flying Kick, but Rob powered up Dove and then flipped and used a Tamaran to power her up again. Net result: Destiny hit the dirt, Dove stayed fit, and Dave’s endurance dropped by 1 to 49.

Dave passed, and it was Rob’s turn to attack. He sent Hawk into Thornn, dropping her, and then sent Dove directly at Dave. Thornn hit the KO’d pile, and turn 3 ended at Dave 43, Rob 38.

Turn 4 saw Rob recruiting Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal. Dave responded with Quicksilver, Pietro Maximoff. Destiny predicted that Arsenal would fall, and the war was on again. Hank Hall charged the aged seer, Dave reinforced her with Pietro. Then Arsenal took aim at Pietro, stunning him just long enough to be disposed of by Dove and a Finishing Move. Pietro’s revenge was proving Destiny’s clairvoyance correct, as Rob took an extra 4 endurance. Dave responded to Pietro’s demise with A Death in the Family, KO’ing that pesky Arsenal, and the game was tied at 31 endurance.

Turn 5, and it was starting to get tense. Dave recruited Sabretooth, Feral Rage, discarding Sauron to pay for him. Rob played Terra and moved Hawk behind Dove in support. Destiny this time prophesized Terra’s downfall, and Sabretooth attacked to once again make her sight become truth. Rob used Tamaran to power up Terra and take down Sabretooth in return. Dave flipped another A Death in the Family to KO Terra, and it was Rob 23, Dave 18.

Rob flipped and activated USS Argus to begin turn 6, recruiting Garth ◊ Tempest. Dave responded with Magneto, Eric Lehnsherr, and Destiny saw stunning Garth in the cards. Garth launched an attack on Magneto, with Tamaran powering Garth up. Dave flipped Genosha, using it to try and find a solution. As fate would have it, Genosha found another Magneto, and after the power-up, the totals were Rob 14, Dave 13. Hawk and Dove then showed why they’ve been a team for so long, plowing into Sabretooth. One Savage Beatdown later, and it was Rob 12, Dave 9. Dave stunned Hawk in return, and Rob played Teen Titans Go! to ready Dove and attack Destiny, dropping Dave to 8 endurance. Dave recovered Magneto, and Rob recovered Garth.

Turn 7, and it was all or nothing. Dave chose a swarm assault, recruiting Pyro, Phantazia, Lorelei, and Mastermind. Phantazia supported Pyro, while everyone else was in the front ranks.

Rob activated USS Argus. He paused for awhile, exclaiming, “I don’t know what to do!” Dave responded, “I think you’re okay . . . ” and Rob recruited Terra and Tim Drake ◊ Robin, Young Detective.

Magneto’s presence would have been enough to exhaust Terra before combat began, but Terra’s last gasp destroyed USS Argus, sinking Pyro with it—but not before he released a flame blast of his own! Combat hadn’t even begun yet, and it was Rob 9, Dave 6.

Magneto, enraged at his ability’s failure, took it out on Garth. Tamaran powered up Garth, but Phantazia countered to drop Garth’s DEF by 2. Rob, however, showed Magneto why rage never wins battles, pumping Magneto up with a Savage Beatdown, using Garth to fetch it back, and then pumping Mags again, before the strain was too much and Magneto hit Overload. Rob 6, Dave 1.

Dave then sent Lorelei into Tim Drake, with a Flying Kick for good measure. Dave’s endurance hit 0, but Rob was down to 3. Mastermind craftily ran into Garth with his own Savage Beatdown, and drew upon the power of the Savage Land to further boost him. His power may simply be an illusion, but illusion or not, an 11 ATK Mastermind is hard to ignore!

Rob sat, thinking, while Dave said, “I hope this is the closest game I have all day!” Rob replied, “It’s gonna be, ’cause you just won by 1.” He reinforced Garth with Dove, and the final standings were Dave -2, Rob -1.

Result: Rob Leander defeats Dave Spears