Hoeh took the initiative to begin the game, but did not recruit any characters. Klein recruited Roy Harper ◊ Speedy and attacked.

Turn 2 saw Hoeh recruit Sentinel Mark III, and both characters were stunned in an attack by Speedy, thanks to a power-up. Turn 3 saw another Mark III hit the table and Klein hit his first real drop, recruiting Beast Boy. One Mark III went after Speedy, pounding home a stun and taking one back, again thanks to Tamaran.  Beast Boy then attacked the remaining Mark III, stunning it and costing Hoeh one of his Sentinels.

Klein recruited Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal on turn 4, KO'ing Speedy with a bit of a laugh. Hoeh then recruited a Sentinel Mark V and used it to protect the Mark III. Beast Boy attacked into the Mark III, thanks to flight, and pushed through some damage. The attack was followed up by one from Roy Harper with a Tamaran-based power up and a Savage Beatdown, but Hoeh countered with an Overload. Each player lost a character as a result of the turn, Klein keeping Beast Boy and Hoeh keeping the Mark V.

Turn 5 saw Terra hit the board on Klein’s side, and a Mark III and Mark II get recruited by Hoeh. The Mark V went after Terra who pumped via Tamaran and an in-hand powerup.  Determined to make the stun stick though, he flipped a Savage Beatdown. The Mark II attacked into Beast Boy and after he received his counter, Hoeh activated Overload. The Mark II readied and both Sentinels attacked directly. It was Beast Boy against three Sentinels.

Klein had Tamaran’d away a Garth ◊ Tempest last turn, and his luck wasn’t going very well. All he had to show for his 6 resource points was another Terra.  Hoeh managed to draw into Bastion and recruited him. Beast Boy attacked into the Mark II but Hoeh chained a Cover Fire. In response, Klein chained Terra’s effect, trying to blow away the defender.  Hoeh discarded a card to activate the Mark II’s negation effect, but the chain continued as Klein added a Savage Beatdown. Bastion smacked into Terra with another Savage. A third allowed the Mark V to attack for a game-winning blow. Smiling, Klein flipped over his down cards—a handful of redundant locations and three Teen Titans Go! that he never got a chance to play.

Game Win: Hans Joachim Hoeh

Game Two

Klein opted to mulligan away his first hand, and based on the crowd’s reaction behind him it was either very good or very, very unfortunate. He took the initiative and did not recruit anything, but Hoeh recruited Boliver Trask and searched out a Sentinel Mark II before smacking with Boliver for 1 endurance. He recruited a Sentinel Mark III on turn 2 and attacked directly again, as Klein missed his 2-drop. 

Klein’s luck would change once again as he recruited Beast Boy on turn 3: not quite enough to pull himself out of the fire yet, but it was a turn-drop and a lot better than nothing.  Hoeh continued to curve perfectly and recruited Sentinel Mark II, which ended up reinforcing as Beast Boy swooped down on the Mark III.

Hoeh’s curve-hitting luck ran dry as he was forced to play a second Mark III instead of a Mark V on turn 4. Klein hit his curve though, recruiting Terra into his support row. Hoeh took some time to carefully consider his next move. He attacked with Boliver and the two Mark III’s into Beast Boy with a merry grin, knowing it was a bit excessive, but then Overloading Beast Boy as he got his fourth token. Terra responded with her effect to stun a Sentinel and Beast Boy exploded in a glorious shower of cranium and green fuzz. Boliver and the remaining Mark III readied when Beast Boy stunned, so Hoeh attacked with the Mark II and gave it a Savage Beatdown to make the stun on Terra. Boliver and the Mark II then swung directly.  Klein lost Beast Boy and Hoeh lost one Mark III.

Klein managed to Argus and grab a Garth, so he recruited it as his turn five play.  Hoeh matched it with Nimrod, formed up with his Sentinels supporting Boliver and Nimrod, and passed the phase to Klein. Garth stunned Boliver Trask (who was quickly reinforced by the Mark III), and Terra attacked the Mark III. Nimrod and Sentinel Mark II team attacked Terra. Titans Tower landed her a +6 bonus to her ATK and Klein did a little jig as he thought he could not be Overloaded. One Nasty Surprise later though, and Terra exploded. A final attack stunned Garth, and Klein lost Terra while Hoeh lost Boliver.

Klein continued to miss his curve, but made the acceptable play of Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal and Beast Boy. Unfortunately for him, Hoeh recruited Bastion. He pushed everything to his front row, despite them all having flight and range, seemingly just to send the message that he was going all out.

Nimrod attacked Beast Boy, and with a gleam in his eye Klein gave it to two Savage Beatdowns and Overloaded it. Everyone erupted into laughter. “Screw card advantage! Card advantage is for losers!” said Klein, kidding. Hoeh was determined to stun Beastboy, so Bastion charged at him.  Klein opted not to reinforce with Roy Harper to block the breakthrough.  Hoeh attacked Roy Harper with the Mark III and gave it a power up, and wordlessly Klein flipped another Overload to stun it. The last Sentinel attacked Roy Harper, but Klein flipped Titans Tower and had Roy take aim at the attacker. Hoeh gave the Mark II +1 ATK/+1 DEF in response with Bastion’s effect, and then flipped up a Reconstruction Program. He powered-up again to keep the Sentinel from being stunned, and both players felt the impact of the double-stun that resulted. Hoeh kept Bastion and Nimrod, while Klein recovered Beast Boy.

By the time combat rolled around on turn 7, Klein had nothing but Garth, Beast Boy, and a lone Speedy. Hoeh recruited Magneto and Klein piled everything he had into it.  Hoeh flipped a Cover Fire and Genosha’d, but Klein gave Speedy a Savage Beatdown. “SPEEDY, SPEEDY!” chanted the crowd, eating up every moment of it.  Hoeh added another Cover Fire to the chain, but a flurry of Teen Titans Go! allowed each of the Titans to pump Speedy twice. Not even another Acrobatic Dodge could save Magneto, and the Master of Magnetism went down. The remaining Titans then team attacked Bastion, stunning him as well. But it came down to an exhausted Speedy  versus a ready Nimrod, and that was all he wrote.

The little Speedy that could met his untimely demise, and Hans Joachim Hoeh took home the title of Hannover $10K Champion!

Tournament Win: Hans Joachim Hoeh