First things first

And all that jazz.

A brand new champion,

The Pro Circuit has.

On the back of a demon

Our fresh king rode.

The shiny glass trophy

Won in hellish abode.

With Mephisto, Soulstealer

Sleeved and itching to own,

Adam Prosak swung mightily.

His name’s etched in stone.

But the crazy thing was,

In the deck of the Champ

Sat another dark beauty,

And this one, a vamp.

The original Witch,

From the first Vs. set!

Wanda Maximoff smolders.

As good as it gets.

There was also a robot,

The 5-slot was choice.

But I must tell this story.

To be worthy of voice.

Once long ago,

(In a marvelous myth)

Mephisto himself

Caused a curious shift.

He dealt back to life

An actor now dead.

Master Pandemonium

Was created instead.

And now Adam Prosak

Has embodied this beast!

His quest is now ended.

From famine, to feast.

Adam Prosak is our tenth Pro Circuit Champion. The Devil’s Due deck he piloted to victory contained both Mephisto, Soulstealer and Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff. I swear I did not know that he would be playing Mephisto on Day 3 when I predicted it the week before the PC. Not only did I have the winner and one of his key cards in my picks, but my crystal ball also saw the runner-up and foretold the appearance of Jonesy with Garth ◊ Tempest. For those of you keeping score at home, that makes $64,000 in deadly accurate prognostication. I was out of the loop for this PC, and I honestly didn’t know anything about either deck before I guessed. I simply looked at their PC Top 8 decks from two years ago and picked a card. Sometimes I scare myself.

Whether my seemingly psychic powers were a matter of dumb luck, sheer chance, or the broken clock being correct twice a day, I will take the devilish possibility—especially when there is a major Marvel Comics myth ready to explain everything.

I am going to present this story in a different format. You thought the poetry was painful? Check out what Mephisto did to Wanda in the comic books. Those are actually her twin babies on Master Pandemonium’s arms, and these are the salient details.

1. Mephisto brokered a deal with a rich and famous actor named Martin Preston after a deadly car crash sent the careless human to the Underworld.
2. The actor became Master Pandemonium. The accident destroyed one of his arms, so Mephisto replaced it with the soul of a demon. Since the symmetry was awkward, Mephisto ripped off the other arm and added a second demon.
3. The five-pointed star in Master Pandemonium’s abdomen is an empty hole. Each point is a specific lost soul that must be recovered to release the actor from Mephisto’s bondage.
4. Elsewhere, Scarlet Witch was in love with an android. Babies were out of the question. So she hijacked a huge group ritual and used its power to impregnate herself with twins.
5. Mephisto snuck into the workings of the witch’s hysterical pregnancy and caused Wanda to incubate in her womb two of the prize souls that Master Pandemonium needed to patch his shirt.
6. After much conflict, Master Pandemonium replaced his old demon arms with Scarlet Witch’s twins and began to heal his tortured soul.

Although they haven’t been quite that horrific, Adam Prosak has been through similar good times and bad times on the Vs. System Pro Circuit. When he finally made it back to Day 3, he made sure to fill that empty space in the center of his being. The deck that gave him the ultimate glory is amazing. It has card drawing potential that boggles the mind. It has Dr. Doom and Boris to send opposing characters wherever they need to go. It abuses the spectacular synergy between Mutant of the Year and Devil’s Due. Best of all, it can finish with Mephisto.

The deck is the brainchild of Brian Gates and Adam Prosak. In their first Pro Circuit as an organized entity, Team MxyBack took home the crown. They were one Niles Rowland win away from having two players in Day 3 after placing three different players at table 2 after Day 1. They have the combined genius of the future Frayers and the incomparable intensity of Jerry Whaley and Alex Gellerman. They have Phimus Pan. Those are mad skills, and once they really get warmed up, they may be the best team in the game.

It was Brian Gates who stood by Mephisto through thick and thin. Adam was debating a switch all the way up to the last weekend of testing. He was worried that the additional Underworld character needed to pay for Mephisto’s effect would be dead weight. The devil made him do it, and the Soulstealer stayed. Thank God.

Tim Rivera finished in ninth place on Day 1 with virtually the same deck. He is a Team MxyBack member from Nevada who has quietly become an undeniable force on the Pro Circuit. Tim matched his twelve wins from Pro Circuit Indianapolis 2006. He finished in 30th place, and pushed his career winnings over five figures. He will always need to be accounted for.

I am privileged and honored to step aside now and let Tim Rivera himself walk you through a day on the Pro Circuit with Mephisto, Soulstealer. His version is one card different than Adam’s. Tim added Black Cat, Master Thief in place of the second copy of Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius. I’ll meet you on the other side of the Underworld and sign off when he’s through.

Mephisto FTW

Tim Rivera

30th place

PC: LA 2006

Characters

4 Frankie Raye ◊ Nova, Optimistic Youth

1 Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster

1 Boris, Personal Servant of Dr. Doom

1 Roy Harper ◊ Speedy

4 Haywire, Suicidal Lover

4 Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose

2 Deadshot, Floyd Lawton

1 Black Cat, Master Thief

1 Mikado and Mosha

4 Dr. Light, Master of Holograms

1 Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius

1 Dr. Doom, Richards’s Rival

1 Robot Destroyer

1 Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff

1 Mephisto, Soulstealer

1 Asmodeus

4 The Phantom Stranger, Wandering Hero

Plot Twists

4 Devil’s Due

4 Reign of Terror

4 Straight to the Grave

4 Enemy of My Enemy

3 The Ring Has Chosen

1 Flame Trap

1 Mutant of the Year

1 Political Pressure

Locations

2 Slaughter Swamp

1 Avalon Space Station

1 Soul World

1 Secret Sanctuary

 

Round 1: Anthony Shaheen

Sitting down to round 1, I already knew what I was going to play against. While walking up to the event site, Anthony had asked me and a group of friends if we had any of The Royal Guard for trade. Our team had talked about the Quicksilver deck, and the plan was to get a 3-drop Doom on turn 3 padded with enough counters from Devil’s Due to get the stunback on Quicksilver. That would to save us a lot of damage.

In the game, I was able to get Dr. Doom, Richards’s Rival out but was only in position to get three counters onto him. With the help of The Royal Guard, I took a ton of direct breakthrough. At the end of turn 4, I was down to my last 2 endurance points. I found myself facing a board of Ape X with Flamethrower; Quicksilver, Inhuman by Marriage with all the Fate Artifacts; Human Torch, Sparky; and Lockjaw, Inhuman’s Best Friend. Anthony recruited Moon Knight and passed, and I placed Mutant of the Year in the resource row. Anthony went for the win with Flamethrower, but the X-Statix spotlight on Doom saved the day. Devil’s Due allowed me to cut down to one character and forced him to pass his attacks. On the next turn, I was able to Flame Trap his board and swing for the win, still at 2 endurance.

1-0

Round 2: Ethan Danberry

Ethan was playing the Crisis on Doomed Earth deck. Everything was going perfectly until turn 6, when he recruited Supermanhunter. I promptly lost. He brickwalled a couple of attacks and that was it. After the Supermanhunter beats, I talked to my teammates and they explained the plan for playing against the FTN deck. In this round I recruited Asmodeus instead of Mephisto, which was a huge mistake.

1-1

Round 3: Tony Tran

Tony was playing The Brave and the Bold. I won the roll and took evens. I have to say that this was the easiest matchup of the day, just because our deck can draw eight to ten cards a turn. At the end of my recruits on turn 4, I had a 10 ATK / 9 DEF 4-drop Doom alongside Dr. Light, Deadshot, Poison Ivy, Frankie Raye, and Haywire. My team was facing his board of nothing, thanks to a double Reign of Terror. Mephisto, Soulstealer came down on turn 5 for the win.

2-1

Round 4: Michael Robinson

Michael was playing Curve Sentinels. He hit an early Total Anarchy, and I was stuck with nothing going into turn 3. Michael had a Hounds of Ahab on the board, but he missed his recruit completely. I recruited Dr Light, brought back Deadshot, and alternately recruited Frankie Raye. Then I saw a nightmare. Michael used Search and Destroy to stun Dr. Light and remove three more copies from my hand. I stabilized and emptied his KO’d pile to take it with Mephisto on turn 8.

3-1

Round 5: Michael Bean

This was the Brotherhood reservist deck. I really didn’t know what to expect from it, but the matchup never seemed out of hand. He didn’t have a chance to gain board advantage because I was able to Reign of Terror and Deadshot his first three recruits on turn 4. Every other turn, I was able to get double stuns on all of his bigger drops. Turn 5 was scary when he used Scanner with a couple of tricks to get me down to 10 endurance. The game ended on turn 6 with a huge Mephisto, followed by a deviled Doom swinging in to finish things.

4-1

Round 6: John Hammond

John was playing the Brotherhood / Arkham Inmates power-up deck. This round was tough. He had Lost City and was always able to stun my characters easily. The point where I lost the game was when I let him stun my Dr. Light before using The Ring Has Chosen. I didn’t realize that his willpower would be 0, and I was unable to get Boris to search for Enemy of My Enemy the following turn. I finally got Mephisto out, but John had Sabretooth, Savage Killer to attack him in the hidden area. I was almost able to swing back for enough endurance, but I lost in a close game.

4-2

Round 7: Neil Reeves

This round, I played against Neil Reeves and the TDC stall deck. I got a great draw against Neil, and he missed his 2-drop. When he recruited Dr. Light, he had nothing to bring into play. Neil’s draw sputtered the rest of the game, while I recruited Scarlet Witch. She ate up enough endurance for another victory. The match ended when time ran out with me ahead 27-8.

This matchup seemed favorable for our deck because we’re able to get Haywire and Frankie Raye out for Puppet Master to exhaust. We decided to leave Dr. Light ready all the time against Neil and the other TDC stall decks. Between his flight and a Doom with counters, we were able to get multiple stuns per turn to keep characters off their side of the board. This is also a matchup where Robot Destroyer shines, as it provides an answer to Merlyn before combat.

5-2

Round 8: Adam Fears

Adam was playing the same TDC deck. The early game went a little better for Adam, but I got to draw a ton of cards. On turn 4, I used Reign of Terror on a bunch of characters. Mephisto swung for the win on turn 6.

6-2

Round 9: Michael Wilkes

Michael was playing a Heralds of Galactus deck. Michael gained a lot of endurance early with Galan, but I was able to clear his board on my turn 4 recruit step with Reign of Terror. On turn 4, Michael placed his resource, but then was visibly upset with himself. He did not place Kindred Spirits in his row and was unable to play it thanks to Doom. He was only able to recruit Galan and Air-Walker, Gabriel Lan again instead of his 4-drop. I Reigned his Air-Walker during the combat phase, and things were looking good until he recruited [Red Shift]. Michael was able to shift out Doom and all of his counters. Thanks to Galan, Michael was still rather high in endurance. On turn 6, I dropped Michael low but was unable to finish him off. On turn 7, I recruited The Phantom Stranger, who got shifted out by [Red Shift]. My Dr. Doom got Terraxed, and I was hit in the face for a ton directly. But then Mephisto worked his magic and attacked for just enough. I won by 2 endurance.

7-2

Round 10: Tillman Bragg

TDC stall again. This game I couldn’t find a search card until turn 6, and then I wasted it. I got Robot Destroyer with Enemy of My Enemy. I recruited Mr. Mxyzptlk. My intention was to recruit Robot Destroyer next, after I played Frankie Raye by discarding him and Slaughter Swamping him back. Instead, I played Frankie and drew my two cards. When I went to recruit Robot Destroyer, Tillman pointed out that I did not discard to pay the alternate cost on Frankie. I was 1 resource point short. Time was called on turn 6, and things were not looking good since that huge mistake. On turn 7, he recruited Galactus, The Maker. This seemed like enough to win the game; I was only at 28 to his 23. I recruited a couple of characters and passed. He activated his Galactus. In response, I flipped Mutant of the Year and used Devil’s Due to feed all my characters to Dr. Doom. This left Tillman with no attacks, and I won on endurance totals.

8-2

In the end, that made five wins for our man Mephisto, Soulstealer and two wins for Mutant of the Year. Even though Scarlet Witch wasn’t talked about as much, she was our plan for turn 5 against the TDC stall deck and she beat Neil Reeves. Mephisto was easily the best character for me all day, as nearly every deck seemed to revolve around the KO’d pile.

 

Day 2 was fairly uneventful. I punted at least three games, but I was happy I didn’t go 0-3 at one of the toughest Draft tables in the history of the Pro Circuit. In all, I had a lot of fun and was very happy that Adam Prosak won. I thought that I had played the deck well throughout Day 1, but after watching Adam in the Top 8, I realized that it could be played even better. He is truly a machine at this game.

Tim Rivera thinks Adam Prosak is a machine. I think he is an infernal demon in search of the lost pieces of his soul. Either way, he will forever be the man who gave Mephisto a Championship. The party in Hell has just begun. . .

Rian Fike is also known as stubarnes and he is going ice skating tonight in a very hot place. If you would like a souvenir postcard, send your information to rianfike@hattch.com.