Both Alex Brown and Neil Reeves have been near the top of the standings for the entire tournament. With both of them having solid Constructed and Sealed Pack records, the Top 8 has been well within their reach the whole time. Now, one final match stands between them and a Top 8 berth. Enough has said about both of these players this weekend, so to make it short, both are very good and both have shaved heads. On to the match.
Alex won the choice and took the evens. Both players hit on turn 1, with an Ogre from Neil and a Rick Jones from Alex. Alex lost 1 endurance from the attack. On the second turn, Alex had Kang, Kang Kong, which he elected to leave in play. Neil had a much more impressive Paul Ebersol ◊ Techno, Gadgeteer, which he placed in front of Ogre. Rick took out Paul with the help of Might Makes Right, then Kang took out Ogre. Neil lost Ogre during recovery, but looked to get him right back with Plant Man ◊ Blackheath. Alex, as is his style, played another awkward off-team character, Moonglow, prompting a “Nice deck!” from Neil. Techno took out Moonglow with the help of a Windstorm, and then Plant Man took down Kang, who was KO’d during recovery.
The fourth turn featured a Kang, Master of Time from Alex, while Neil continued the little beater plan with Marcus Daniel ◊ Blackout and Beetle ◊ Mach 1 after returning Ogre to play with Plant Man. Neil thought about his formation for a long time, trying to figure out a way to protect his bigger characters while forcing Alex to stun the smaller characters Neil could get back with Plant Man. Eventually, the formation he settled on was Beetle in front of Blackout, Ogre in front of Plant Man, and Techno in the back, unprotected next to Plant Man. Moonglow went after Techno, which Neil simply reinforced. Rick Jones traded stuns with Beetle, which Neil removed from the game to find Faces of Evil. Kang then went after Blackout, who was exhausted to Stolen Power Rick. Techno was lost during recovery.
On the fifth turn, Neil had a variety of characters to consider, eventually settling on Beetle, Armorsmith, discarding Mammomax to find Yellowjacket, who in turn found Melissa Gold ◊ Screaming Mimi. Alex’s turn was much more straightforward: Scarlet Witch, Mistress of Chaos Magic behind Moonglow. Neil then flipped over two copies of Faces of Evil and sent Beetle and Yellowjacket after Scarlet Witch with the help of Repulsor Ray, stunning the Witch and Beetle. Next, Blackout attacked Moonglow. Alex tried to stun back with Heroes in Reserve for two (revealing Wonder Man), but Neil discarded Techno to save Blackout. The rest of Neil’s team then got a direct team attack into Alex for 14, knocking Alex down to 14. Kang then got to pick off Ogre, who was KO’d during recovery along with Moonglow.
Alex had the initiative on the sixth turn, and one important question loomed: Could he recruit Wonder Man with enough reservists in the row to take out Screaming Mimi before Neil got a chance to use her? If so, it looked like Neil would be unable to finish Alex off. If not, Alex was going to have to have a very productive initiative to prevent Neil from winning on turn 7. Alex didn’t go for Wonder Man, though—he had a different plan of board control, featuring Quicksilver, Mutant Avenger; Thermite; and Kang, Rama Tut. Neil laid out Scorpion, Fatal Sting and Nathan Garrett ◊ Black Knight, then used Screaming Mimi for 8 points of endurance and Blackout to reinforce the team. Now came Neil’s formation. Minutes went by. Neil was trying to form in such a way to protect his three most relevant characters: Blackout, Screaming Mimi, and Plant Man. He eventually spaced the three of them out in the support row, with his less significant characters up front. Alex then went off, teaming up Kang and Avengers, and then playing Legendary Battles, looking to stun a lot of characters with Quicksilver. First, Quicksilver and the smaller Kang took out Yellowjacket. Then, Quicksilver and the bigger Kang did the same to Beetle. Next, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch smashed Blackout. Thermite, the lone character not teamed up, went after Screaming Mimi solo, forcing the trade. Lastly, Quicksilver attacked Scorpion and received a power-up from Kang, Rama Tut. Neil elected not to attack back and recovered Blackout over Screaming Mimi. With Neil ahead on endurance 23 to 5, he was just looking to take down one of Alex’s big guys and protect himself from the swing back. On the seventh turn, Neil did just that, recruiting Bulldozer and a boosted Yellowjacket, finding Radioactive Man, Chen Lu, and then dumped a point into Blackout. Alex had Kang, Lord of Limbo, but couldn’t prevent himself from falling below 0 endurance, giving the match to Neil.
Neil Reeves wins and advances to the Top 8!