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The Sentry™
Card# MTU-017
While his stats aren’t much bigger than those of the average 7-drop, Sentry’s “Pay ATK” power can drastically hinder an opponent’s attacking options in the late game.
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| Semifinals: Quang Nguyen vs. Alex Elzel |
| Omeed Dariani |
| July 25, 2004 |
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Quang’s deck was the surprise of the tournament: a Mutant Nation deck full of interesting cards, including Nightcrawler, Fuzzy Elf. His strategy is to maximize drops, as the X-Men do a great job filling out the Brotherhood’s curve, and use Lost City and Avalon Space Station in the usual way. Alex was playing a Medium Brotherhood deck, combining elements of the aggressive New Brotherhood deck with cards associated with Big Brotherhood. The overall effect is a deck that wants to slam large amounts of damage through.
 Game 1
The game began slowly, with nothing played until Quang recruited a turn 2 Pyro. Turn 3, both players brought out Quicksilver, Pietro Maximoff. Alex’s New Brotherhood punched through the mirror match, and turn 4 brought matching Sabretooth, Feral Rages.
Quang Savage Landed up his Quicksilver and broke through on Sabretooth. Quang’s Sabretooth was more than a match for Quicksilver, and Quang ended the turn with a decided advantage, 43–22.
The players continued mirroring each other, both dropping Quicksilver, Speed Demons. Alex Genosha’d and dropped a gigantic pump of three Savage Beatdowns and a Flying Kick on Quicksilver, making him a 28 ATK/8 DEF (with New Brotherhood). He smashed Pyro for 28, then readied to attack Quang’s Quicksilver. Alex flipped Avalon Space Station to recover power-ups.
Quang attempted to Relocation it, but Alex flipped a second one, KO’ing his first. Quang flipped Lost City and discarded a Quicksilver to give his Speed Demon +3 ATK/+3 DEF. this was crucial, as it ended the turn 13-3 Alex.
Quang dropped another Quicksilver, using his own Space Station to find it, and Alex used the same trick to re-recruit Sabretooth, leaving the board identical, except that Quang had a Lost City and Savage Land, along with the initiative. The Quicksilvers traded with the Savage Land, and the two Sabretooths essentially bounced off of each other, leaving Quang too low on endurance to come back.
Alex Elzel 1 –, Quang Nguyen 0
Game 2
Nightcrawler, Kurt Wagner was the first drop of the game on turn 2, and was quickly rebuffed by Rogue, Anna Raven, as Quang missed his turn three drop, stunning Rogue with a powered-up Nightcrawler.
Turn 4, both players tossed out Sabretooth, Feral Rages. Alex flipped a New Brotherhood, making both of his guys more powerful. Rogue and Nightcrawler traded, with Quang taking a little damage on the side. The same held true for Sabretooth. The scores at the end of the turn stood 37–33 Alex.
Both players dropped Quicksilver, Speed Demon on turn 5. The characters smashed into their clones, but Quang had the edge, flipping Lost City and powering Quicksilver up, leaving him primed for a second attack against the characterless Alex. Unfortunately, Quang didn’t have a character to discard, and so lost his opportunity to inflict some direct damage. Alex lost Sabretooth, and the game went to turn 6.
Alex, without a large threat, posted Rogue and Pyro. Quang flipped Cerebro, finding a Wolverine, Logan that was quickly discarded. He played out Nightcrawler, Fuzzy Elf. Alex attacked Pyro into Sabretooth, adding a Savage Beatdown. He then flipped Avalon and discarded Destiny to return Rogue and Sabretooth to his hand. He then flipped a second one. Quang immediately played Relocation, forcing Alex to use the Station. Rogue attacked Quicksilver, and Alex flipped Lost City and a third Space Station to power Rogue up twice, making her a 12 ATK/10 DEF. Quang played Reconstruction Program to grab a power-up for Quicksilver, and both characters were stunned. Alex’s Quicksilver ran into the Fuzzy Elf, who was powered-up, leaving the board in carnage and the scores 15–11 Quang, with Quang holding the initiative for the final turn.
Quang dropped Wolverine, Berserker Rage. Looking over the board, Alex scooped, realizing he had nothing to combat the 15 ATK/13 DEF monster.
Alex Elzel 1 – Quang Nguyen 1
Game 3
Both players commiserated about their missing drops—especially turns 1 and 2. Quang complained that he was missing his X-Men in particular. His games have looked like New Brotherhood games, mirroring Alex’s draws almost exactly and failing to play a single Mutant Nation.
Quang mulliganed into a high-drop hand, while Alex came out quickly with New Brotherhood and Destiny. Quang drew up a Cerebro, which helped him find a Nightcrawler, Kurt Wagner to match Alex’s Toad.
Alex continued hitting drops, with Rogue, Anna Raven. Quang countered with Wolverine, Logan (who was targeted by Destiny). A pair of power-ups canceled each other out. Quang Reconstruction Programmed up Wolverine. Alex responded with Avalon Space Station to get his Rogue back, but Quang negated that with Global Domination. Rogue went down and Nightcrawler flew over Toad to take out Destiny. His attack a total backfire, Alex prepared to face down a turn 4 Sabretooth, Feral Rage. Quang finally flipped a Mutant Nation, turning on the ongoing effect of Global Domination.
48–42 Quang
Nightcrawler went after Toad, who promptly returned to Alex’s hand. Sabretooth attacked Rogue, who powered up. Quang flipped Lost City and powered-up Sabretooth. The swing was palpable – and Alex felt the pressure mounting as he looked for a gigantic turn five with his Quicksilver, Speed Demon. Unfortunately for him, Quang matched him, staying in a commanding board position, despite Alex’s initiative. Quicksilver received a Flying Kick and went after the hidden Nightcrawler. Of course, the Flying Kick would be doubly useful, as its bonus carries over. Alex popped Genosha to renew his The New Brotherhood and dropped second and third Flying Kicks, and flipped another The New Brotherhood, making Quicksilver a 21 ATK/8 DEF, clearly trying to force through as much damage as possible. The attack resolved, leaving the scores 27–23 Quang. Rogue attacked into Sabretooth, stunning the pair, and Alex dropped a Toad to ready the still-heavily-pumped Quicksilver. Quicksilver smashed into Wolverine, who was powered up, but Alex Ka-Boom!ed the Lost City, making it a simple +1 ATK/+1 DEF pump. Quang, out of options, simply hit Alex with his Quicksilver for 8.
The final turn began with the score 8–7 Quang, as he used Cerebro to search. Alex dropped his own Sabretooth, Feral Rage, creating a mirror board clearly favoring Quang, the player with initiative. Without any defensive tricks, Alex lost to the sheer math of the situation.
Final Result: Quang Nguyen defeats Alex Elzel, 2–1
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