Jason Hager, a member of the Hong Kong Cavaliers, didn’t test the deck that everyone else on his team is running, so he’s not playing the standard Cavalier Deck™.

Jason Green, who’s at the PC with fellow Team Misunderstood members Jeremy Grey and Mark Slack, also tweaked his deck a tad differently than the rest of his team.

And so we have the battle of the Jasons, each veering away from his team’s choice of deck, each with a history of success at the pro level.

Hager won the roll and chose to go first. He kept his hand, but Green decided to mulligan.

Turn 1

Hager had the initiative, and he recruited Shadow Creatures into his hidden area. Green missed his 1-drop, and one Shadow Attack!™ later, and it was Hager at 50 and Green at 49 endurance.

Turn 2

Green recruited Tomar Tu, while Hager played Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern, using his effect to search for Helping Hand. Green then sent Tomar Tu into Kyle Rayner for the double stun.

Next, Hager launched another Shadow Attack!™ The turn ended with the endurance totals at Hager with 47 and Green with 46.

Turn 3

Hager recruited Dr. Light, Master of Holograms and then played Hard-Traveling Heroes to team-up all three of his teams. Anti-Matter, Green Lantern, and Emerald Enemies were at peace with one another.

Green brought his own copy of Dr. Light into play. He grinned as he commented, “I was really hoping nobody else would be playing Dr. Light—I thought [Team Misunderstood] was the only one to figure out how good he was!”

When he passed, Hager exclaimed, “You ready to battle?” Green looked hurt, saying, “Battling is such a harsh term!”

Hager sent his Dr. Light into Green’s Tomar Tu, but he decided to hold back Kyle and Shadow Creatures. Green then sent his Dr. Light into Hager’s Dr. Light. Holograms were flying everywhere, blinding all involved. By the time the spots had cleared, Green had powered-up his Light, and Hager had flipped Qward, exhausting his Shadow Creatures and Kyle Rayner. Both Lights were out, and the endurance totals were at Hager with 40 and Green with 44.

Green discarded a copy of Dr. Light and two copies of Chopping Block from his hand to KO Hager’s Dr. Light. Green then recovered his Dr. Light, KO’ing Tomar Tu.

Turn 4

Green had the initiative, and he used Dr. Light’s ability to bring Tomar Tu back before recruiting Malvolio. He placed Tomar Tu in front of Dr. Light, with Malvolio in support. Hager recruited Kiman behind Shadow Creatures in his hidden area. He left Kyle in the front row of his visible area.

Green sent Malvolio into Kyle Rayner for the stun, and then he passed. Hager sent Kiman into Tomar Tu. The turn ended with the endurance totals at 40 to 31 in Hager’s favor. After Green used Malvolio during the recovery, it was on to . . .

Turn 5

Hager discarded a copy of Hard-Traveling Heroes for the draw effect. He then recruited a boosted Olapet, searched for Arisia, and spent his extra resource point recruiting her. Next, he recruited two more copies of Shadow Creatures in the front row of his hidden area. That was a vicious move—Hager had the initiative, and because of his team-up, Arisia could provide a massive ATK boost to every character on his team.

Green recruited Katma Tui with Light Armor. He put Tomar Tu in front of Malvolio and Katma Tui in front of Dr. Light.

Hager sent one of his Shadow Creatures into Tomar Tu, and both stunned. He then sent another copy of Shadow Creatures with Kyle Rayner into Green’s Dr. Light. Dr. Light stunned the Shadow Creatures in return.

Next, Hager sent Olapet into Malvolio with an Uppercut, but Green used Dimming of the Starheart to cut Olapet’s ATK by 10! Olapet stunned, and Malvolio laughed an evil laugh.

Hager had the last laugh though, as he team attacked Malvolio with Kiman, his third copy of Shadow Creatures, and Arisia. He used a power-up on Kiman and another one on Shadow Creatures. Green stunned Arisia back.

Finally, it was Green’s attack. He sent Katma Tui into Kyle Rayner, stunning him. The endurance totals were at 26 to 22 in Hager’s favor.

Hager recovered a copy of Shadow Creatures and KO’d Kyle, Olapet, Arisia, and another Shadow Creatures. Green recovered Malvolio, KO’ing Tomar Tu and Dr. Light.

Turn 6

Green played The Ring Has Chosen, getting Sinestro, Green Lantern of Korugar. Green whispered to me, “Put that as my secret tech—it’s Sinestro at 6! Nobody’s discovered him yet!”

Hager then recruited the same version of Sinestro, causing Green to moan, “My secret tech is so ruined!” Hager put Shadow Creatures in front of Kiman in the hidden area, with another copy of Shadow Creatures in front.

Green team attacked Hager’s Sinestro with Katma Tui and his own Sinestro. Hager stunned Green’s Sinestro, and then Green attacked directly with Malvolio, tying the endurance totals at 16.

Hager sent all three of his remaining characters into Malvolio. Green flipped Men of Steel, Hager powered-up one of his Shadow Creatures in response, and Green flipped Helping Hand. Only Kiman stunned in the end, as Malvolio once again flexed his manly muscles. The turn ended with Hager at 12 and Green at 16 endurance. Hager recovered Sinestro.

Turn 7

Hager had the initiative, and he recruited Krona behind Sinestro. Green missed his 7-drop. When he played Rot Lop Fan in his hidden area, he said, “I didn’t get the good-est draw this game . . .”

At the beginning of combat, Hager used Krona’s ability to move Katma Tui to Green’s hidden area, causing her to lose her Light Armor. Hager then sent Krona into Green’s Sinestro. Green used Katma Tui’s ability to exhaust Sinestro and gain 5 endurance before he was stunned.

Hager then sent his Sinestro into Malvolio. Green exhausted Rot Lop and Malvolio to gain another 5 endurance before Malvolio was stunned. Hager then sent forth a double Shadow Attack!™ to tie the game at 12 endurance each.

Green didn’t have the strength to take on Hager’s big drops, so he passed his attack and recovered Sinestro.

Turn 8

This was Green’s turn to win or lose, but he had no play—he still hadn’t drawn a 7-drop, and he didn’t have an 8-drop either. In his hidden area, he set Rot Lop Fan in front and Katma Tui in support, while Sinestro was in support in the visible area. He’d need some major tricks to pull a win off.

Hager used The Ring Has Chosen for Dr. Light. He recruited Light and Element Man, and then he used Light to bring Kyle into play from the KO’d pile, searching for Lanterns In Love. He placed Element Man behind a copy of Shadow Creatures in the hidden area, with another Shadow in front. Sinestro was in front of Krona in the visible area, with Light in front of Kyle. At the beginning of combat, he moved Sinestro to his hidden area behind his second Shadow.

Green paid 2 endurance for Rot Lop Fan’s ability so his Sinestro could attack Hager’s, but Hager used Helping Hand. Green was forced to concede. “I couldn’t win without that, and you had to go play it . . .”

After winning the match, Hager admitted that Green missing his 7- and 8-drops cost him the game. Hager said that his deck’s goal was “to disrupt my opponents on their initiative and use Sweeping Up (which I didn’t actually draw this game) on their guys.”

So, would Green have had a chance if he had hit his drops? “Dimming evened it out, and the game would have been really close if not for those misses. The 1-drop stung too, and I didn’t even see any 1-drops, so I don’t know if he was playing them.”