Having just drafted a very strong deck, Charlotte Ashley was hoping to go 2-1 over the next three rounds to get into the Top 8. A native of Toronto who'd received some attention over the course of the weekend, she carries the distinction of being a Sealed PCQ winner and one of Canada's best Sealed Pack players.

 

Michael Dalton is a local, almost, from New Jersey. He, too, had drafted a powerful deck with multiple team-ups and strong drop balances.

 

Ashley decided to keep her opening hand, with a 1-drop, a 4-drop, and two 7-drops. Dalton opted to mulligan with control of the initiative on turn 1, and both players hit 1-drops: Arisia for Dalton, and The Shark for Charlotte.

 

“I have a very difficult decision to make,” said Charlotte, laboring over her 2-drop. She settled on Black Hand, while Dalton selected Major Disaster. Both 2-drops were formed up to protect the 1-drops. Force smacked Black Hand and Arisia smacked The Shark, who he hit the KO'd pile moments later.

 

Turn 3 began with Dalton recruiting Elasti-Man to his visible area, while Charlotte stared at her hand—she was seeing a ton of red. Both decks had been checked before the match, and out of the ten cards she'd seen thus far, only one wasn't a character. Ouch. Dalton ran her over, dropping her endurance total to 39.

 

Packing the initiative on turn 4, she attempted to surge back, recruiting Ch'p to Dalton's Myrwhydden. Dalton formed up intelligently, protecting Arisia with Myrwhydden and Disaster with Elasti-Man. He was making it very hard for Black Hand to do anything this turn. Ch'p soared over Elasti-Man to smack Major Disaster, prompting Dalton to flip No Evil Shall Escape Our Sight to team up GL and Emerald Enemies, and exhaust Disaster to play Damsel in Distress, targeting Ch'p. Arisia reinforced, and Disaster went down. Next, Myrwhydden smacked Ch'p. Ashley chained Fire Support, but a Light Armor dropped from Dalton's hand to ensure the KO. With the initiative for the next turn under Dalton's control, things were looking bad for Ashley.

 

Dalton missed his turn-drop but still had a copy of Abin Sur to play instead. Ashley hit Katma Tui, but she'd again see her board wiped if she didn't have some serious defensive tricks. Arisia, Disaster, and Abin Sur team-attacked Katma Tui, for a total of 16 ATK, and Ashley had nothing to do but exhaust for Katma's effect—Katma Tui and Major Disaster both went down. Myrwhydden pounded through Black Hand, and Elasti-Man attacked directly, leaving the endurance totals at 46 to 19.

 

Ashley hit her turn 6 pretty well, recruiting Kyle Rayner, Ion. Dalton hit his curve as well though, recruiting Sensei and immediately flipping another No Evil Shall Escape Our Sight to team him up. Ashley had a decision to make—she needed to take out the mid-level threats on Dalton's side of the table so that his bigger ones couldn't safely attack back. Ion took down Myrwhydden, and with the aid of Living Ink, Katma Tui smashed Abin Sur; Dalton KO'd him for his effect, searching out Krona. It worked! Dalton had no attacks.

 

Unfortunately, Dalton did have control of the initiative on turn 7. He recruited the Krona he retrieved with Abin Sur last turn and formed up with Myrwhydden protecting Disaster, Sensei protecting Krona, and Elasti-Man protecting Arisia. Krona sat between the other two back row characters.

 

Ashley used Book of Oa, then recruited Alan Scott with a Catcher's Mitt. Dalton used Krona's effect to bump Scott to the hidden area, though, stripping him of his fancy handwear. Disaster and Sensei attacked Ion, and Kyle and Katma Tui exhausted to give Ashley +5 endurance. Ion and Sensei both stunned. Ashley was at 18 endurance to Dalton's 32—with no 8-drop in her deck, things looked bleak even if she did survive this turn.

 

Krona smacked into Katma Tui, Alan Scott exhausted for her effect, and Katma went down. Elasti-Man attacked directly, and Arisia and Myrwhydden followed suit. At the end of the turn, it was 6 to 32 in Dalton's favor.

 

Ashley settled on recruiting Highmaster for turn 8. She had no 8-drop, but Dalton did, and Hal Jordan Spectre hit the field. Ashley laughed and stared at her row. “Maybe I could just . . . you know . . . not stun any of your characters!” She grinned, knowing it was over, but trying to fight it out anyways. Rain of Acorns then exhausted Krona and Sensei, and Highmaster swung into Myrwhydden. Arisia reinforced him, and that was the turn.

 

“Anti-Monitor!” a member of the peanut gallery joked, as Dalton tried to figure out his recruits for the turn. He settled on G'Nort, Tomar Re, and Guy Gardner, Strong Arm of the Corps with boost. “That's ok”, said Ashley, “I've got tricks.” She laughed again, having nothing. She recruited Manhunter Lantern, then flipped Birthing Chamber. “Now I'm gonna—no wait . . . Birthing Chamber is for suckers. I'm gonna recruit Olapet with boost.” She brought out G'Nort. “Now I'm gonna Birthing Chamber.” She took her cards and discarded a copy of Major Force.

 

G'Nort got smacked like a naughty puppy. Then, so did everybody else. Dalton and Ashley both laughed as Ashley finally scooped. “But I hung in there til turn nine!” she said with a grin. It was unfortunate that her character-heavy draws had hurt her so badly—it really had been a crush match. Still, though, both competitors had fair shots at getting into the Top 8. They wished each other luck for the rest of the day and parted ways. 

 

Michael Dalton wins!