Nick Little is a well respected pro competitor, and with a 4th place finish at Indy, a 26th place finish at LA, and a 27th place finish in Amsterdam, he's got an impressive track record. Armed with a teched out Common Enemy deck, he seemed well prepared for a complicated metagame.

 

Rob Leander is the Vs. System's first double-header with two $10K wins under his belt. Missing in action since $10K Florida, Leander has reappeared and is looking to make the biggest comeback the game has ever seen.

 

“I guarantee this whole match will be decided by a roll,” mentioned Little matter-of-factly. He and Leander both shuffled up and then rolled off. “Roll to see who wins?” Little rolled and hit a 12. “Yaus!”

 

“Good game,” joked Leander.

 

“I will take odd initiative,” Little grinned, “'cause I've played this matchup with you having odds way too often.”

 

Little mulliganed right off the bat, while Leander took a moment to decide before ditching a Sentinel Mark II, Nimrod, Overload, and Micro-Sentinels. He nailed Boliver on turn 1, earning himself a Hounds and a cry of dismay from Little. His resource? A Mojoverse, so Boliver poked Little for 2.

 

Leander brought down the Hounds on the next turn while Little recruited She-Thing. She was quickly team attacked, and the 2-drops traded off. Turn 3 was a bit more exciting as Little started to build an odd setup: his recruits were Boris and Luke Cage. “I seem to be getting the bad draws out of my system right now,” announced Leander, finding himself without a recruit. “I'm gonna frown like I mean it, but, ya know, inside I'm really kinda happy.” Little grinned.

 

“I was gonna slow-roll it, but I'll go for it,” Little announced, flipping Common Enemy and then sending Luke Cage, Hero for Hire into Boliver before attacking directly. The Hounds smacked Boris in revenge, backed by Mojoverse.

 

“These are really some stellar draws, here,” remarked Leander as he played the Mark II that was so needed last turn instead of a Mark V. Little gave some sympathy before dropping Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius behind She-Thing and scooting Boris behind Cage. The Hounds swung into Luke Cage, and in response, Little flipped the previous turn's Common Enemy before giving Cage a pump in the form of She-Thing. “I had it, I had the guy. What can I say?” If Leander didn't pull out some Overload combos this turn, he was going to have serious issues.

 

Five seconds later, that's exactly what hit—Nasty Surprise and Overload, blowing Luke Cage clean out of his little yellow gi. Boliver then smacked Boris, and in response, Little used Mystical Paralysis to exhaust Sentinel Mark II. Boris ran off to fetch a copy of Reign of Terror, and the Hounds and Boliver then team attacked She-Thing. The Hounds bounced. It was the obviously inevitable move from Little, but Leander had to force that Reign out in a controlled (and more importantly, early game) environment to prevent it from causing problems later.

 

Next turn saw Little recruit Robot Destroyer, while Leander nabbed a potential reprieve in the form of Nimrod. He chose an L with Nimrod protecting Boliver and passed. “How many cards do you have in your hand?” queried Little. “Seven,” replied Leander.

 

“And one's a Hounds . . . ” Little noted that on a slip of paper before sending Luke Cage into the Mark II. Leander gave it a power-up, but after a moment's consideration, Little dropped a Savage Beatdown from his hand. He needed to keep the pressure on Leander at this point, as Leander entering the late game was his best chance to recover and take the win.

 

Little's Robot Destroyer then took a shot at Nimrod, and Leander powered it up. “That's not what I wanted to see,” mentioned Little before announcing “It's Clobberin' Time!, I pass.” Nimrod's token bumped off, and the Destroyer was left unstunned. She-Thing and Doom then teamed into Nimrod, and it was enough to take him down. In the recovery phase, Leander flipped Micro-Sentinels, giving She-Thing, Doom, and Robot Destroyer counters. The Mark II and Luke Cage took their hard-earned dirt naps.

 

Leander shuffled his hand a bit, prompting a curious look from Little. “You're not gonna miss Bastion, too, are you?”

 

“Just trying to figure out what to set in my resource row.” He set a card, and then flipped Genosha. “Whoa! You are thinking of missing Bastion.” Leander managed to pull it out—he topdecked straight into Bastion. Little recruited Ghost Rider, New Fantastic Four. “That's pretty good,” remarked Leander. “For you!” Little grinned, and Nimrod shot at Doom. Little flipped Doomstadt and then used Mystical Paralysis on Bastion. “I don't think I've ever had a Dr. Doom with counters on it before.” Doom went down.

 

“Bring it, big guy!” Little made a “just bring it” motion with his hand, eying Boliver. Sure enough, Boliver swung into Robot Destroyer. “Aww god! I so didn't think you were gonna see that!” Leander had shut down Little's potential attacks. He even went so far as to KO him in the recovery phase, despite the ability to recover him. Little was chagrinned, but loving the match.

 

Next turn, he recruited Thing, The Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Thing and started singing randomly as he formed up with his rangers in the back. Leander eyed his hand, and Little showed him an in-hand Silver Surfer, looking for a scoop. Leander nodded at it, but then recruited Boliver to grab a Mark V that he then recruited with boost. He hid Boliver behind Bastion and the Mark V behind Nimrod.

 

Thing slammed a mighty stone fist into Nimrod, and the Mark V reinforced. “Teamsies!” Little sent Robot Destroyer and Ghost Rider into Bastion, proclaiming, “I've got a backup plan if this doesn't work!” Leander grinned before activating another Genosha.

 

“You know, I have a Betrayal, but you have the Mojoverse—you can go ahead and play that Magneto some time.” Leander gave Bastion four +1/+1 counters and Bastion Acrobatically Dodged, smacking back Ghost Rider. Mystical Paralysis pinned him down, though, and play moved to turn 8.

 

“I'll play this guy with boost,” announced Leander, recruiting another Mark V, “while I wonder where he was four turns ago.” Little then recruited Silver Surfer.

 

“Well . . . Maybe I don't want to go to combat.” Leander grinned and shifted his eyes back and forth. “Can I play Magneto?”

 

“Sure, if you don't play that.” Little pointed to the Mojoverse in Leander's Row.

 

“Can I activate this?” Leander showed another Mojoverse from his hand. Both laughed, but this was truly a brutal match for Leander. Surfer stole the initiative, and Leander shuffled his hand—Nimrod, Overload, Magneto, Mojoverse. Overload, Nimrod, Mojoverse, Magneto. He had nothing. “Ooookay, Genosha!” He popped yet another.

 

Leander looked at the two cards he drew: “Eeeah, good game.” There was nothing he could've done. “But I almost killed Doom!” Little laughed, and the two competitors shook hands. It was a definite disappointment for Leander, whose road back to the top just got a few miles longer.