Michael Lou cranked yesterday. His homemade, bad beating, multi-teamed Skrull deck belted absolutely everything (except Andrew Morris playing Lost in Space!) and finished top of the charts. Michael is also one of the only people in history who not only had the mangoes to play X-Men curve in $10Ks, he went 7-3 at the Sydney $10K in January, and he didn't even have to dress up to do it!
Chris Darmadi has long been top of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG tree. He regularly wins weekly events and Regionals, and made Top 8 in the Nationals in June this year. Not only does he win, he does it in a quiet, unassuming way. Since picking up a Teen Titans deck 18 months ago, he has taken to Vs System with equal gusto, and is always playing home-tweaked versions of top-line decks. Today he brings Inhumans/Heralds Beats to the table.
Michael had 8 PC points coming into this tournament, Chris had 5. This weekend has cemented an invite to PC Sydney for both these players. It’s always great to see fresh, new pros coming to unseat the experienced stock.
This is the furthest either player has progressed in a $10K. Both are top players and nice guys and deserve to be here.
Chris wins the roll and takes odds
GAME 1
Turn 1
Both players spend the first 60 seconds taking out the trash, then Chris plays Lockjaw, Inhuman’s Best Friend, dumping a Worldship to search out San.
Michael plays Nenora. Both swing.
Michael: 48
Chris: 48
Turn 2
Michael flips Act of Defiance, teaming Kree and Skrull, then flops The Great Refuge, picks out Franklin Richards, Creator of Counter-Earth, plays him and passes. Chris plays Frankie Raye ◊ Nova, Optimistic Youth for free, pitching Meltdown and Attilan to draw, then drops San, searching out his own Great Refuge.
Franklin Richards bashes into Frankie Raye, showing that while the kid may create worlds, he is surely no gentleman. Frankie falls like a sack of mud and Nenora drops the elbow into Darmadi's solar plexus for 2.
Chris then plays No Man Escapes the Manhunters on Franklin Richards. Michael plays Extended Family and puts a Cosmic counter on Frankin to move him back into the hidden area. Chris just beats The Loumeister for 4
Michael:44
Chris:44
Turn 3
Chris plays a Flying Kick on San then flips another Great Refuge grabbing Tonaja. He plays her into the hidden area and passes. Lou flips Mutopia, teaming Kree, Skrull, Inhumans, and Fantastic Four. Captain America, Skrull Impostor then lands to establish world peace.
San tries to swing into The Captain, but Franklin moves him to hidden, so Darmadi contents himself with bashing The Louman's face for 12. Michael then goes to town on Darmadis backside, stunning Frankie and bashing to the melon with the rest.
Michael: 32
Chris: 35
Turn 4
Michael drops Ethan Edwards and passes. Chris looks a little concerned; maybe I should ask him to play poker with me. He then plays Dr. Doom, Richards’s Rival, grabbing out a No Man Escapes the Manhunters. He forms with the Doctor protecting Frankie, plays Null Time Zone naming Blinding Rage, plays another naming Call to Arms, then passes.
The Loumeister plays Act of Defiance, making it 6 affiliations teamed up. Ethan declares into Frankie, who is KO’d to Doom. Nenora and Franklin team attack Richards’s Rival and swing, achieving their objective. Ethan and The Captain then bash Chris to 14, leaving Chris looking for a first aid kit.
Chris has the swing back, and Tonaja bashes Ethan. Both pass and trade. Darmadi then uses No Man Escapes the Manhunters on Franklin, but the pesky Franklin uses his counter to slink away. Chris then bashes Lockjaw and San into Michael’s face, dropping him to 23 and revelling in the sickening thud the guys made as they connected with his jawbone.
Michael: 23
Chris: 11
Turn 5
Chris draws and says something I didn't think an 18 year old should know, which I guess is a fine reflection on our education system, particularly the personal development course. He then plays Scarecrow, Fearmonger, and the crowd erupts into rapturous applause. Lou plays Paibok, and Franklin does his thing to move Ethan into the dark.
The Crow steals Paibok’s counter, makes a face, then BAMM!!! Hits that chump the only the way an Arkham guy can hit. Dr. Doom bashes Michael to the dome, as do Lockjaw and San. Michael drops to 7 but doesn't seem worried . . . Ethan declares into Doom and passes. Chris sacks Lockjaw to Doom in response, then Doom takes a bath. Franklin and The Captain team attack the Crow running in at 12 ATK. The Crow can't prop up the other chumps by himself and flops, as does Darmadi, and with that, Michael takes a 1-0 lead.
GAME 2
Chris decides to mix things up and takes evens
Turn 1
Both keep. The Loumeister passes, and it’s business as usual for Chris, as he plays Lockjaw, grabbing a San, and bashes for 2.
Michael 48
Chris: 50
Turn 2
Chris plays San and tutors out a Worldship. Michael plays Franklin Richards and passes.
Darmadi teams to the dome for 4, Franklin swings back for 2, and we pass.
Michael: 44
Chris: 48
Turn 3
Michael plays Captain America, Skrull Impostor and passes. Darmadi makes a face and Flying Kicks San, flips two of The Great Refuge, grabs two Tonajas with them and passes.
The Loumeister beats to the face, which would upset Darmardi's mum if she was here, then moves The Captain into the shadows. Chris then goes the biff with the table open, swinging for 11. Franklin cosmic counter surges and we're through to Turn 4.
Michael:33
Chris: 41
Turn 4
Chris goes into the tank, and plays and flips Worldship. Terrax, The Tamer hits the table and he passes. Michael flips Act of Defiance, then Mutopia, giving him more teams than the English Premier League. He then drops his own Lockjaw, grabbing Crystal, Elementelle, then drops Crystal and Nenora (for free). He forms up with his board in the dark and passes.
Tonaja beats for 9 (with a power up). Chris is still in the tank, even though the board is open to him. He then does it the scientific way, and beats everyone into Loubaby for 10.
Michael then sets about evening the score, sending Crystal into Terrax, and they trade. Michael then bad-beats to the face for 11, and the score goes to . . .
Michael: 14
Chris: 23
Turn 5
Michael is humming "I Will Survive" while dropping Paibok. He thinks about going into Gloria Gaynor’s routine, but then passes to Chris. Chris is maturing as we speak by going back into then tank before flopping The Great Refuge out for Karnak, The Shatterer. He prepares to receive . . .
Michael flips Act of Defiance, making it 2856 teams on the board on his side.
Darmadi uses Null Time Zone for Interstellar Offensive and passes. They go to combat and The Skrullkeeper (that’s Michael) swings Nenora, Lockjaw and Franklin into Terrax. Mikado and Mosha biffs Nenora, but the attack goes through. Chris goes into the tank (he has pot plants in there now), wishes Terrax had a cosmic counter, wishes Captain America didn't, gets a ruling, waters his plants, wishes he had Scarecrow, then plays Extended Family teaming-up Heralds and Inhumans, putting a cosmic counter on Karnak, and then takes the hit. He goes to 19. Michael thinks about one of the great temptations — GREED. He starts writing on a note pad that looks to be a note to his stockbroker, then swings his guys to the face, playing Call to Arms and three Blinding Rage on the guys to bring Chris' to -16. Chris' mum would be very concerned if she saw that, and Darmadi's $10K life depends on what happens in the next few minutes.
Chris sighs, then removes Karnak’s counter, targeting Paibok. Franklin moves him out of the way, and then Chris bashes for . . . not enough!
A top game Michael and his funky Thrulls win 2-0!