By the time the final round of Day 1 rolled around there were two beaten and jet lagged competitors seated for what amounted to an elimination match. Both players had picked up five losses over the course of the day, and one more would send them straight in the direction of tomorrow’s $10K tournament. Both players were so weary by this point that magical thinking had taken hold and they were looking for anything to change their fortunes, even the presence of a feature match reporter.
As I walked into the feature match arena Anand Khare shouted me over, “BDM . . . cover me for luck!” John Rich just smiled, as he had asked me to cover his match for good luck before the round began. Luck certainly seemed to be on John’s side as he peeled back his second cad of the turn to find a 1-drop waiting for him.
The bedraggled Khare could only state the obvious in lieu of witty banter. “That’s a Dagger.”
“That’s a top deck,” corrected Rich.
Anand played Hounds of Ahab on turn 2, while Rich played the other hidden 2-drop: Iron Fist. The Hounds attacked Dagger, and the two players traded endurance loss. During his build step John activated Dagger and fetched Midnight Sons. He played the 3-drop Spider-Man and flipped up the team-up.
“So . . . teaming up MK and Syndicate?” Anand asked as he went to play his 3-drop Elektra. He had no character to reveal, though, so it went back to his hand with a sad, sad shake of his head. “Not good.”
Anand took 7 and then cracked back with Hounds and Crushing Blowed the Spidey. Quick Kill finished it off, but Anand was still shaking his head as they moved to turn 4. “I will play something this turn . . . probably.” He managed Yelena Belova ◊ Black Widow, while John had Will o’ the Wisp.
Black Widow came gunning for the Wisp with Punisher’s Armory, and John Rich went on a Wild Ride for a power-up. Anand shrugged and paid 3 endurance to activate the Armory again. Hounds came smashing through with nothing to get in its way and KO’d the Wisp.
John’s turn 5 was Punisher, Executioner. Anand was still frowning at his hand. “I have had better turns.”
“Dude, you are doing really well so far.”
Anand went on a Wild Ride for Midnight Sons after a trip to Dagger’s place first. Two more Hounds of Ahab joined the kennel in the hidden area, and it was John‘s turn for consternation. John attacked with all his might (which only amounted to a power-up) to drop Anand to 10 endurance. Anand flipped up his Midnight Sons and turned Black Widow into an X-Man and KO’d the Punisher with a little help from a Crushing Blow and a Bamf!. The Hounds got in for six more and the score was 25 to 10 in favor of John Rich with the sixth—and likely final—turn looming.
Anand played Asmodeus on turn six and passed the initiative with four hidden guys and one visible 6-drop. Meanwhile John Rich had to choose between Mattie Franklin Spider-Woman and Spider-Man, Spectacular Spider-Man. He went with Mattie and braced for an attack from Yelena.
“You have a trigger,” announced Anand.
John replaced two resources and made Mattie into a 13 ATK/13 DEF. Anand used Punisher’s Armory twice, going to 7, and flipped up another and activated that one as well. Crime and Punishment put the Widow right at 13ATK. John looked at a Wild Ride tucked away in his resource row and began to do some sums. Anand was slack in his chair, “I just want to have a nice fat steak and go to bed.”
John was still thinking about his Wild Ride, while Anand pleaded for the round to end. “Do something . . . this turn has taken well over five minutes.”
John finally capitulated and flipped up the Wild Ride and paid 6 endurance to go down to 19 for a power-up—paying twice the going rate of Anand’s Armory action. Anand began packing up his cards and shrugged, “Congratulations . . . you win.”
The TOGIT crowd that was watching from along the rail erupted in horror. “Anand!!!!” shouted Osyp Lebedowicz, “What are you doing? You win that game!!!”
Anand began to work out the math which involved him activating his Armory and getting in with his other guys and slowly came to a horrifying conclusion, “Did I just give away a game I had won?”
John looked back and forth between Anand and the table judge for confirmation that the win was already his, “You did concede right?” John did get the win but he also took his share of guff from his Realmworx teammates. Ryan Jones was especially perturbed at his new teammate’s approach to the final turn.
“Why in the world did you use the Wild Ride?”
“I realized that he could take me to 1, and if he had a power-up, I would lose.”
Ryan rolled his eyes, “But if you use Wild Ride, you only win if he concedes for no reason.”
Result: John Rich defeats Anand Khare