Kakarot hails from Adelaide and is one of the most consistent Vs. System players in the country. He is on a variety of deckbuilding teams and is one of the players who, when they talk decks, people listen. This city seems to bring out the best in him, considering that it was here that he was runner up in $10K Sydney in January. Today he is bringing Lost in Space to the table, a deck complicated enough to make it a natural choice for him to play.

Jason is also from Adelaide, and being just 15, had to rely on Kakarot to check him into his hostel Friday because he was too young to get in by himself. This is a move Kakarot may regret in a few moments time. Jason has made Top 8 in a $10K before — his hometown $10K in July. He brings with him Villains United-Kree, which he thinks has a strong chance against Lost In Space.

Kakarot had enough PC points coming into this event to sponsor a small African Village into PC Sydney in March '07, accrued from PCQs, $10Ks and a PC. Jason's PC point bank is a little more modest, but the 10 points he picks up here goes nicely with the 10 he had in the bank before the weekend started. Both are planning to play the PC.

They flip a coin, Jason wins and takes evens.

Jason swaps decks while Kakarot isn't looking, and has a laughing fit as Kakarot starts playing Jason's hand for him.

Kakarot then asks super-judge Paul Ross for a retoss(???). Both players keep their hands . . .

GAME 1

Turn 1

Kakarot plays and passes, Jason pitches The Calculator, Noah Kuttler for a Coercion, lays a resource and passes.

Kakarot: 50

Jason: 50

Turn 2

Jason lays a resource and passes. Even Kakarot is pleasantly surprised. He then plays Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose, then Frankie Raye ◊ Nova, Optimistic Youth for free, pitching another Frankie and Terrax, The Tamer for the goodness. He then bashes Jason for 4. Ivy then KOs Frankie for a Slaughter Swamp, which then gets used to bring Terrax back to the hand.

Kakarot: 50

Jason: 46

Turn 3

Kakarot plays Dr. Light, Master of Holograms who then very kindly helps Franklin Richards, Creator of Counter-Earth, bringing him back to the hidden area. He then plays Frankie Raye for free, pitching The Phantom Stranger, Wandering Hero, then brings it back to pitch for the free draw. Jason plays Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive and passes.

Kakarot bashes for 3 to the dome and passes. Zazzala declares on Frankie Raye. Ivy gets that babe out of the way, and in response Kakarot plays Enemy of My Enemy, pitching Terrax for Mephisto, Soulstealer. Zazzala burns Kakarot for 2 in the process. Kakarot gets the Dr. Fate's Tower and lets Jason have his way. Zazzala bashes Ivy. Finally, Jason flips Coercion for the Villains United-Kree team-up, and Kakarot uses Slaughter Swamp for Frankie Raye, pitching Dr. Light.

Kakarot: 44

Jason: 43

Turn 4

Jason is on the initiative and hits the tank. He plays Enemy, ditching Frankie Raye for Dr. Minerva. The Doctor comes down but misses with the flop. Captain Att-Lass, Starforce comes down next, followed by The Calculator, Evil Oracle in the hidden area.

Kakarot goes into the tank. He checks his KO’d pile, then plays Frankie Raye for free, pitching a Poison Ivy. He exhausts Frankie Raye and the Deadly Rose on the board to grab a Phantom Stranger back, then plays Ronan the Accuser, Starforce, politely waiting for JZ to respond. Jason flips The Science Spire then goes quiet, courteously allowing Kakarot to think. He flips The Ring Has Chosen pitching Deadshot, Floyd Lawton, then uses Light to bring Deadshot back. Frankie Raye then gets chopped to Ivy and Kakarot grabs UN Building. Deadshot and Franklin Richards exhaust to bring Phantom Stranger back. A Dr. Fate's Tower is flipped, netting Ronan an Amulet of Nabu, then a Helm of Nabu. Kakarot goes into damage protection mode putting the 11 ATK/9 DEF Ronan in front, protecting Ivy. Dr. Light and Deadshot are exhausted and flying in the breeze, just waiting for some loving . . .

JZ declares his board into Ronan. Franklin removes a counter to bring the Accuser into the shadows. Zazzala declares into Dr. Light, and Jason passes. Deadshot tries to KO her, but the Spire saves her black and yellow bacon. Kakarot takes 4 burn for his trouble. JZ pitches Frankie Raye, Commander Dylon Cir and The Calculator, Evil Oracle. Captain Att-Lass bashes Ivy and both pass and trade. Dr. Minerva attacks into Dr. Light, bouncing The Captain to The Calculator to pump Minerva up. The Calculator then beats for 5 and Kakarot goes to 30.

Kakarot charges Ronan into Minerva. The Doctor looks worried, and JZ doesn't look much better. He stuns, JZ takes 8 and goes to 33.

During recovery Kakarot uses Swamp for Frankie Raye, pitching an Enemy.

Kakarot: 30

Jason: 33

Turn 5

Kakarot has initiative. He plays Frankie Raye for free, pitching Dr. Light, then exhausts Frankie and Franklin to bring The Phantom Stranger back. JZ starts suggesting plays to Kakarot, which he ignores. He KOs Frankie to Ivy to grab another Dr. Fate's Tower. He flops it, ditching The Phantom Stranger, and grabs a Cloak of Nabu. Kakarot terraforms Soul World. Kakarot then plays Mephisto into the hidden area, which makes JZ a little concerned. Kakarot has 12 goobers in the bin, Jason 5. He then drops the Cloak on Ronan, puts Ivy in front, and passes.

JZ plays Minerva and grabs another Minerva. Captain Att-Lass then lands, followed by Mar-Vell ◊ Captain Marvel, Soldier of the Empire. Admiral Galen Kor joins the party and JZ is all systems go.

Kakarot uses Tower to move the trinkets from Ronan to Mephisto.

Ivy swings at Captain Att-Lass and Kakarot passes. Both pass and they trade 3-2 in KK's favor. Ronan swings towards Dr. Minerva and passes. Kakarot passes, JZ reinforces with Galen and they pass. Kakarot uses UN Building to team-up Kree, Underworld, and Arkham Inmates, and not X-Men, to warm applause. Kakarot then swings Mephisto into Mar-Vell, revealing an Ivy, and removes five guys in JZ's KO’d pile from the game. Mephisto is clearly unhappy with anything living — mainly JZ, and the 14 ATK/ 8 DEF dude bashes, JZ takes 13 and goes to 15 endurance. Kakarot passes.

Jason has The Calculator ready. He uses Spire on Dr. Minerva to bring her back to hand, dumping Enemy and Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive. The Calculator swings into Kakarot’s dome. Kakarot likes his dome the way it is, so Franklin loses a counter to move Ronan into the way. The Calculator swings into The Accuser, JZ bounces a dude to make him 7 ATK/ 5 DEF, and both players pass and trade, taking Kakarot to 24. JZ then plays Baddest of the Bad bouncing Mar-Vell to find Ultimus, Starforce.

Recovery comes around, Franklin gets a counter, and Kakarot uses Straight to the Grave for Gorilla Grodd.

Kakarot: 24

Jason: 12

Turn 6

Jason has initiative, and Kakarot’s foot on his leg, which he is uncomfortable with — understandably so. He plays Dr. Minerva, who again misses the flop, and plays Lieutenant Kona Lor. Ultimus and Bron Char hit the table, and JZ goes to formation.

Kakarot plays Blackheart, Son of Mephisto. In response JZ pitches Att-Lass to put Frankie Raye in Kakarot’s row.

Kakarot points out that Jason has Bron Char in the support row on his initiative, does a little dance, JZ tries to chew his own foot off in frustration, fails, scoops and goes to Game 2.

Kakarot wins game 1.

GAME 2

Jason chooses odds to mix things up. Both players keep.

Turn 1

JZ plays a resource and passes. Kakarot plays Frankie, pitches Grodd, and beats for 1.

Kakarot: 50

Jason: 49

Turn 2

Kakarot plays another Frankie for free, pitching Amulet and Blackheart to draw. Deadshot, Floyd Lawton hits the board and he passes. JZ plays Att-Lass.

Kakarot launches Deadshot into Att-Lass, Frankie into JZ, and passes.

Kakarot: 48

Jason: 45

Turn 3

JZ pitches The Calculator, Noah Kuttler for Coercion. The tempo of this game has definitely picked up from the last game. JZ plays The Calculator, Evil Oracle and passes.

Kakarot drops Dr. Light, Master of Holograms. He changes the tempo significantly before going Straight to the Grave for Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose. Dr. Light smooches Ivy and brings her to life, and Frankie starts looking nervous, with good reason. She lasts all of 21 seconds before she is back in the bin, her sacrifice getting Kakarot Dr. Fate’s Tower. The Tower is flipped and Kakarot grabs out a Helm of Nabu, which ends up on Ivy's dressing table, along with an Amulet. Kakarot looks composed with just two cards in hand, then terraforms Soul World. He passes and it’s up to Jason to do the beats.

The Calculator swings into Dr. Light. Deadshot doesn't like it, and tries to KO Calculator. Jason plays Baddest of the Bad, bouncing The Calculator, Evil Oracle, grabbing Dr. Minerva, and passes.

Ivy then swings into Att-Lass and the 6 ATK/ 5 DEF Inmate makes the Captain's face look like pizza. Kakarot then flops Soul World, bringing back Frankie, and passes.

Kakarot: 44

Jason: 39

Turn 4

Kakarot plays Ronan the Accuser, Starforce, and asks Jason if he has a response. He doesn't, and both players agree Jason is up mud creek with just his hands to use for locomotion. Light brings Frankie back and Kakarot draws a couple of extra cards. He then uses The Tower to moves the Artifacts from Ivy to Ronan. Frankie gets KO’d to Ivy, and gets Kakarot another Fate’s Tower, which is flipped; a Ronan is discarded and Ronan gets the Cloak of Nabu to complete his ensemble. Kakarot forms up and passes. Jason starts paddling. He plays Minerva and finally gets a hit — Mar-Vell. Mar-Vell comes down to support the troops and he passes.

Ivy swings into Att-Lass and they pass, trading a couple of endurance each. Ronin starts salivating at Mar-Vell at the back, and decides that now is as good a time as any to go the tonk. It’s legal and Kakarot passes. JZ takes 11 and goes into his attack step. He passes saying he is screwed and they go to recovery.

Kakarot plays Enemy of My Enemy for Mephisto, Soulstealer, uses Straight to the Grave to find Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster and we go to Turn 5.

Kakarot: 38

Jason: 25

Turn 5

Jason looks at his hand, smiles and scoops, knowing that Kakarot has the board, the hand, the KO’d pile, the contacts, the photographic evidence, and the wardrobe to take the semi out, and he concedes.

Kakarot, using Lost in Space (Arkham Version) is through to the finals, 2-0!