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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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| Finals: Loren Nolen vs. Chris Vanderginst |
| Jason Grabher-Meyer |
| May 15, 2005 |
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A tournament of 140 players came down to this, a Curve Sentinels mirror match with both players running Juggernaut and Micro-Sentinels!
Nolen opened with control of the initiative on game one, but had no turn 1 play. Vanderginst did, and used Boliver Trask to hunt down a Hounds of Ahab. On turn 2, he recruited the Hounds and got to swing directly with both characters because Nolen had nothing to recruit.
 That would change on turn 3 as each player brought down a Sentinel Mark II. Nolen sent his Mark II into Vanderginst’s, gave his opponent’s Mark II a Nasty Surprise, and then used Overload. Things were starting to look a bit more even. The Mark II cleaned Boliver’s clock, but before the end of the turn, Vanderginst flipped Micro-Sentinels to add a counter to Nolen’s Mark II.
Turn 4 saw both players hit Sentinel Mark V, and both used their turn-drop to protect their Mark II. Vanderginst fingered a Savage Beatdown set in his row, but eventually just opted to send his Mark V into Nolen’s without effect. A power-up on Nolen’s side forced him to power up in response, and a second forced that Savage out of Vanderginst’s row. Mark II clashed with Mark II, but Nolen had an Acrobatic Dodge to stymie Vanderginst. A Savage Beatdown wouldn’t help because Nolen would Overload Vanderginst’s Mark II and then swing directly. Nolen had won himself some board advantage, but it would be short-lived given the Micro-Sentinels multiplying inside his Mark II.
Still, he had the initiative, and the improved board presence gave him an advantage as Vanderginst matched his Nimrod. Both players were drawing exceptionally well. Nimrod attacked into Vanderginst’s Mark V and dropped it like a sack of bolts. The Mark V and Mark II then team-attacked Nimrod, and Vanderginst had no answer. Nimrod stunned back the Mark V and lost his token, setting the endurance totals at 28 to 38 in favor of Nolen.
Nolen finally missed a drop. While Vanderginst recruited Bastion, Nolen was forced to make do with a boosted Mark V. Both players chose L formations and both protected their un-boosted Mark Vs with Nimrod. Vanderginst sent his Nimrod into his opponent’s boosted Mark V with a Bastion pump, and Nolen responded with Reconstruction Program to power-up. Another Bastioning allowed Nimrod to win out, though, and the Mark V ate dirt.
Vanderginst’s Mark V attacked into his unboosted counterpart with a Bastion bonus, and Nolen had no answer. Next, Bastion smashed into Nimrod and stole his token. Nolen recovered his boosted Mark V, and play moved to turn 7.
Nolen recruited Magneto, while Vanderginst recruited Juggernaut. Nimrod and the boosted Mark V team attacked into Juggernaut for a total of 18 ATK. Vanderginst had a hard decision to make; he could either start piling resources into Juggernaut in an effort to defend him and win this turn, or let him go down but stun back Magneto later on to make sure he survived. It was a huge gamble, but he decided to go for it immediately. It was a bad decision. Two Bastionings were met by a Nimrod power-up on Nolen’s side, and Vanderginst was forced to Reconstruction for more fodder. He Bastioned once more, but Nolen was able to Genosha for a Savage Beatdown. Nimrod and Juggernaut both went down. He still had a chance, and if he could take down Magneto, Juggernaut could recover and would likely win the game on turn 8. If he couldn’t, though, game one was in the bag for Nolen.
Magneto swooped down on Nimrod, and after confirming that he would take 12, Vanderginst let it go. He then sent Bastion, the Hounds, and Mark V into Magneto for a total of 21 ATK. Nolen had nothing, and Bastion went down. Vanderginst had saved himself for a turn, but the endurance totals were 3 to 15 for Nolen. He recovered Bastion, seemingly giving up on the Juggernaut dream.
But he hadn’t! He recruited another on turn 8, and with control of the initiative he seemed to stand a chance. However, Nolen recruited Bastion and put everyone up front; it would be virtually impossible for Vanderginst to fight his way to a sufficient advantage unless he had one of his two Betrayals. He’d need one of those, or a whole lot of luck and offensive pumps, to come out of this one in the lead. With a bunch of card advantage on his side, including several unused Overloads, things looked good for Nolen.
Juggernaut attacked Bastion, and Nolen shuffled his hand, pondering his next move. He used a Nasty Surprise from his hand to draw his ATK dead even with Juggernaut’s DEF. Just in case, he dropped four and then five cards from his hand to Bastion Magneto. Reconstruction Program then brought back three Mark Vs and he ditched them all to bump up Vanderginst’s Mark V. Vanderginst then ditched one card to save Juggernaut, but Nolen had another Nasty Surprise. “That’s 22?” Nolen confirmed. Three Bastion bonuses from Vanderginst made Bastion prone to Overload, and he had the Overload to follow up! But Nolen had the tech, and Acrobatic Dodge brought his attack back down to a manageable level. Vanderginst scooped game one, and play moved to game two.
Vanderginst opened with Boliver Trask and grabbed a Hounds. So did Nolen. Both players recruited their Hounds on turn 2, and Nolen, bearing the initiative, sent his Boliver into Vanderginst’s. Both Hounds ate the other player’s Boliver. It was an eerily perfect mirror.
That trend continued as both players recruited Mark IIs on turn 3, and Vanderginst sent his into Nolen’s. Both went down, and the Hounds again ate the stunned characters. Double Hounds-lock?
Nolen had nothing on turn 4, but Vanderginst had a Mark V. He swung directly and took a commanding lead of ten endurance, 35 to 45.
Both players hit their curve on turn 5, recruiting Nimrod. Vanderginst sent both his Nimrod and his Hounds into Nolen’s Nimrod, and after some powering up and an Acrobatic Dodge, Nolen’s survived and slammed the Hounds.
Nolen sent his Nimrod into the Mark V, and Vanderginst used Nasty Surprise. That was fine by Nolen, who gave him another Nasty Surprise and Overloaded him, readying Nimrod. Both Nimrods then traded off, smashing each other’s counters before the turn’s end.
Vanderginst nailed Bastion on turn 6, but Nolen missed his, again filling his missed 6-drop with a boosted Mark V. Hounds and the boosted Mark V team-attacked Nimrod, and though Vanderginst popped a Cover Fire, Nolen had a Savage Beatdown. A second Cover Fire forced a second Savage Beatdown out of Nolen. Vanderginst let it go, and Nimrod and the Mark V went down. The endurance totals were 31 to 34 in Vanderginst’s favor.
Bastion destroyed Nolen’s Nimrod in vengeance, dropping him to 23. Then his Mark V swung directly to bring Nolen to 16, giving him a lead of 18 endurance.
Juggernaut crashed onto the field for Vanderginst, and it was again met by Magneto. If Vanderginst had the Betrayal, he could easily take the game. He made a mistake, though; he meant to announce a team attack of Nimrod and Bastion on Magneto, but pointed instead to the Mark V behind Magneto. He asked to take it back but was denied. Juggernaut then attacked into Magneto, and Nolen powered him up twice. Vanderginst Bastioned to save him, and Nolen used an Acrobatic Dodge. Vanderginst had a Savage Beatdown, though, and Nolen was forced to blow a Genosha. He caught a fistful of nothing and scooped. Despite his massive mistake, Vanderginst narrowly saved the match.
“Not missing Bastion would be nice,” reflected Nolen, a bit annoyed. “I’ll go first,” he announced.
Neither player had a 1-drop this time, but both had Hounds and were happy to ping each other with them. Nolen missed his 3-drop, and because of that, he recruited a second Hounds—a very rare play. Vanderginst had a Mark II and attacked directly, flipping Micro-Sentinels. Nolen had no attack, but he also had a Micro-Sentinels, and all the Hounds were wiped off the field while the Mark II sat with three counters.
Vanderginst had no turn 4 play, so he Reconstruction Programmed for a Hounds and recruited it. Nolen had a Mark V, and Vanderginst attacked with his Mark II, giving it a Savage Beatdown, but it was immediately Overloaded. The Mark V then swung back with a power-up. “For luck,” Nolen explained. The Mark II ate it to the Micros and was KO’d.
Nolen missed Nimrod but recruited a Mark V with boost. No Nimrod for Vanderginst either, so he recruited Boliver Trask, searched for a Mark V, and recruited it. Nolen wiped him, though, and he lost Boliver.
Hesitantly, Nolen drew his cards one by one for turn 6. He winced at the first, and then exploded at the second. “I was gonna miss him again!” He’d finally managed to hit a turn 6 Bastion. Vanderginst did, as well, but Nolen seemed confident in his control of the game.
 Vanderginst’s Mark V attacked Nolen’s boosted one, and a Bastion bump and a Nasty Surprise allowed him to Overload it. Bastion then took on his evil twin, and though Nolen gave him +1 ATK/+1 DEF, Vanderginst had a Savage Beatdown at the ready. Giving up on Bastion, Nolen gave +1/+1 to his remaining Mark V, flipped Reconstruction Program, and gave him a second pump. Vanderginst gave his Mark V one, and Nolen gave his one more. Both Bastions went down, and the endurance totals were 28 to 20 in Nolen’s favor.
The Hounds and Mark V then team-attacked Nolen’s Mark V. He pumped, stunned back the Mark V, and then swung back massively. The endurance totals were now 28 to 6!
Nolen recruited Magneto, while Vanderginst again recruited Juggernaut. Bastion protected the lone Mark V. Magneto swung into Bastion, dropping Vanderginst to -4. Bastion and the Mark V then team attacked into Juggernaut, and though Vanderginst had the Betrayal, all it hit was Magneto. His turn was shut down, Juggernaut hit the ground, and that was the game!
Loren Nolen wins $10K Detroit! |
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