This match pitted a player who is undisputedly the best player of Vs. System in the world against a player who, until this event, had never made money at a Pro Circuit. But don’t underestimate Ed Colleran, who was in the Top 10 of the standings for nearly the entire duration of the event. Ed chose to play an unusual Shadowpact/Checkmate deck built by his “Sinister Six” teammate William Postlethwait, while Vidi chose the path more traveled with the FTN build of Checkmate/Villains. With this event, Vidi becomes the first player to reach over $100,000 in Pro Circuit prize money, averaging a whopping $15,000 per Circuit event!
Vidi won the coin toss and chose the first initiative, but Ed was the first out of the gates with a turn 1 Connie Webb. Ed followed that up with Madame Xanadu, but Vidi stopped any thought of attacking by playing Sarge Steel.
The third turn is where the game really got started, with Vidi flipping Brother I Satellite and searching for Ahmed Samsarra, White King] He then KO’d his Satellite to fetch a Dr. Fate’s Tower, which he flipped to search for Cloak of Nabu to ensure that his King and gameplan were totally safe. Vidi’s instinct proved right, as Ed flipped Chimp Detective Agency, revealed a June Moon ◊ Enchantress, Good Witch, and then proceeded to get her out even faster by playing Conjuration and gaining an extra resource point. Now that June Moon couldn’t stun Ahmed, a relatively pedestrian combat exchange left Ed at a reasonable (for Shadowpact, anyway) 26 endurance, and Vidi on a still very healthy 42.
Ed’s fourth turn initiative was still very productive as he continued to use the Agency to fill his hand, this time with a The Phantom Stranger, Fallen Angel. Connie Webb (after a Checkmate Safe House was used to crossover Shadowpact and Checkmate) searched out the now 9 ATK/9 DEF Dr. Occult. Vidi showed me all the Brother I Satellites he had drawn, then used one to search for Elimination Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot and recruit it.
June Moon then attacked Sarge Steel, who stunned, and Ed’s second attack involved his Dr. Occult attacking into the back row OMAC Robot. Vidi then used Ahmed to search for a Safe House of his own and played a Knightmare Scenario to try to brickwall this attack. Ed would have none of it and used his Xanadu to find The Conclave, negating the plot twist. Vidi actually had another Knightmare Scenario in hand, but decided there was a better spot for it and just took the stun, which left the endurance totals at 19 and 31 in Vidi’s favor.
Vidi flipped his third Brother I Satellite of the game to search for Annihilation Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, and Ed had the less impressive play of playing Connie Webb and searching for the smaller Elimination Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot. Vidi’s 4-drop robot then attacked Ed’s man with a Ph.D and backed it up with a +5 ATK pump from a freshly flipped Brother Eye. Both characters went down, but Vidi wasn’t through yet. The 5-drop Annihilation Protocol attacked Ed’s Elimination Protocol, but Ed tried to get the stunback with Magical Lobotomy. Vidi’s patience with his Knightmare Scenario the turn before paid off, and he used the plot twist to get a safe attack. Annihilation Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot finished the job with the help of Ahmed, who exhausted to KO Dr. Occult].
The game was all but over, with Vidi muttering how lucky he was by drawing a Huntress, Reluctant Queen. Even though Ed had a Dr. Fate, Hector Hall, it wasn’t enough, and Vidi took the first game.
Vidi 1 – Ed 0
Game 2 started with the reverse initiatives, and both players came off the blocks with Connie Webb. Ed didn’t have a follow up, but Vidi had a few options, even asking me which thing he should do. I shrugged, so he decided to play a Talia, Beloved Betrayer.
The game proceeded quickly to the third turn, and Vidi used Connie’s power to search for an Ahmed Samsarra, which was predictably on the top of his deck. Ed was a little more afraid and chose to use his Connie to search for the less impressive Arthur Kendrick, fearing that he couldn’t effectively protect his King. Vidi made sure his King was safe by flipping a Dr. Fate’s Tower and setting up a Star Trek–like Cloaking device on Ahmed. Nothing particular exciting happened in the following attack step, and the game quickly moved onto the fourth turn.
Ed’s fears proved correct, with Vidi having the Fatality that justified his choice of Arthur Kendrick the previous turn. Ed played a somewhat slower June Moon this game, and with Ahmed wearing a Cloak of Nabu, she was generally relegated to being a mere 7 ATK / 7 DEF. Ahmed searched for a Satellite HQ, and Fatality, Flawless Victory searched for Arthur Kendrick in the hidden area. Arthur went down quickly to the KO’d pile, and June Moon extracted some vengeance by returning the favor on Talia.
The fifth turn saw an Annihilation Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot come down on Ed’s side, and a Mr. Freeze, Brutal Blizzard on the side of the five-time PC final day competitor. An Amulet of Nabu made Fatality an impressive 9 ATK / 9 DEF, which enticed Ed to attack it with his robot, causing a mutual stun. June Moon then attacked the icy villain, using Brother Eye to make her 12 ATK, which was exactly enough once Vidi had used his Checkmate Safe House. Vidi upped the ante with a Knightmare Scenario, but Ed played a Magical Lobotomy. Vidi used Ahmed to search for another Checkmate Safe House. Ed winced and said “I got greedy,” flipping his last resource, a Brother I Satellite, to fetch a power-up. He could have avoided that by just flipping it before the Brother Eye, but tried to give himself the most options possible. “At least you are winning on endurance!” Vidi remarked.
The sixth turn went remarkably quickly, with an Alexander Luthor, Diabolical Double for Vidianto and a Huntress, Reluctant Queen for Ed. Two simple attacks later, Ed was on the ropes, as both of his characters we stunned. With Vidi recruiting a Sasha Bordeaux, Autonomous Prototype on 7, and Ed only managing to recruit an Elimination Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot and an Ahmed Samsarra, it was all but academic, and Ed extended the hand, vaulting the FTN member to his third Top 4 finish in as many Pro Circuits.