Standing astride the top tables like a miniature colossus is TAWC’s Tim Batow, sporting a 7-0 record. Facing him in round 8 is The Donkey Club’s controversial, behatted star Michael Jacob. Though the utter dominance that many had predicted today for Good Guys and Checkmate/Villains decks has not quite come to pass, this match nevertheless sees them square off at the top table in the hands of two of Vs. System’s best players.
The players shuffled up and rolled off, with Tim winning the right to choose the initiative and selecting odds.
Jacob’s opening hand contained Connie Webb, Checkmate Safe House, Mr. Freeze, Brutal Blizzard and Knightmare Scenario. He shuffled it thoughtfully several times, knowing he had his search card for the crucial Ahmed Samsarra, but decided to ship it back and draw anew. Batow was happy with his draw, and play commenced.
Turn 1 saw Batow repeat the feat of his earlier feature match and drop Ted Kord ◊ Blue Beetle with a discard of the recurring Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster. The outstanding combo netted him an Nth Metal, and Jacob was characteristically vocal in expressing his view of Batow’s good fortune.
End of turn 1: Tim Batow 50 endurance, Michael Jacob 50 endurance.
Jacob peeled Connie Webb from the top of his deck on turn 2 and thought carefully about his play, as he still had no Ahmed Samsarra or method of fetching him from his deck. His options were Talia, Beloved Betrayer or his newly-gleaned 1-drop. In the end, he plumped for his 2-drop, having a character (of sorts) for turn 3 already in hand in the form of Christopher Smith ◊ Peacemaker. He kitted his Talia out with a Cloak of Nabu and Amulet of Nabu before passing to Batow, who simply dropped Booster Gold and Nth Metal.
Michael methodically exhausted his Talia and indicated he would attack Ted Kord. Tim exhausted him and fetched another Nth Metal before reinforcing with Booster Gold. Michael then flipped Dr. Fate’s Tower and discarded a card to find the final piece of the Fate puzzle: Helm of Nabu.
End of turn 2: Tim Batow 49, Michael Jacob 50.
Tim continued his perfect curve on turn 3 with Shayera Thal ◊ Hawkwoman and Nth Metal, flipping World’s Greatest Heroes to team-up and draw a card. Jacob played the Helm he had fetched last turn and drew three cards. He mulled over his draw with a resigned sigh. “About what I expected.” He dropped Christopher Smith into the hidden area and silently indicated that he was finished. Batow glanced at the Peacemaker and nodded with a mixture of happiness and sympathy.
Tim began his attacks by sending Shayera Thal into Talia, discarding Mr. Mxyzptlk to find himself more equipment. Talia was no small 2-drop now, however, being a 7 ATK / 7 DEF, and Batow was forced to burn a Blinding Rage to get through. Jacob flipped a Checkmate Safe House and exhausted it to give his makeshift Dr. Fate +1 DEF to save some endurance loss. There was mutual stun, and Booster Gold attacked straight to the face.
Jacob returned for Ted Kord with his war-making Peacemaker, and Batow made one final use of his stellar 1-drop to find the last Nth Metal in his deck before Blue Beetle left the building.
End of turn 3: Tim Batow 41, Michael Jacob 42.
Bizarro, ME AM BIZARRO #1 arrived in Jacob’s support row on turn 4, setting up behind Talia. Batow played Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman, Thanagarian Enforcer and dropped an Nth Metal on him. He set up Hawkwoman behind her Hawkman and left Booster Gold in the support row next to her. With all three of his characters equipped with Nth Metal, Batow’s board was enviable.
Jacob exhausted Dr. Fate’s Tower to transfer the Fate suit to Bizarro, but Batow responded with Magical Lobotomy on the 4-drop to sneak a -1 DEF under the radar. Jacob exhausted Peacemaker and targeted Bizarro with his ability, attempting to ensure stuns on Batow’s two largest characters this turn.
At the start of the combat phase, Batow paid 4 endurance to flip Magical Lobotomy face down. Jacob sent Bizarro and Talia into a team attack against Katar Hol. Batow powered-up to ensure the stun against Bizarro, to which Jacob had no reply. Katar Hol and Bizarro stunned, and Peacemaker’s backup power triggered, allowing Jacob to stun Shayera Thal.
Tim used his attack step to run Booster Gold into Talia, stunning her, though she would remain on the board thanks to her vengeance power.
End of turn 4: Tim Batow 34, Michael Jacob 34.
Tim sifted through a little of his deck with two copies of World’s Greatest Heroes at the start of the fifth turn, prompting an ironic, “Did you find what you need yet?” from Michael, who had not quite found what he needed this game. Batow smiled and laid a Hero’s Welcome on the table, fetching two copies of Fire. He played the character and his final copy of Nth Metal before passing to Jacob, who tossed Mr. Freeze, Brutal Blizzard onto the table without a care in the world. After exhausting Fate’s Tower to transfer Bizarro’s suit to Mr. Freeze, Jacob passed, and Batow flipped his Magical Lobotomy back down.
The first attack came as Tim targeted Bizarro with his re-flipped Magical Lobotomy and sent Booster Gold into the would-be Superman of Bizarro World. He demonstrated the power of the Good Guys deck at full blast, as Booster’s one Nth Metal triggered three ally effects, giving him a total of +3 ATK / +2 DEF and burning Jacob for 2 endurance. This gave him just enough ATK to stun the Lobotomized Bizarro, but Jacob exhausted his Checkmate Safe House to add +1 DEF, forcing Batow to drop a Blinding Rage into his KO’d pile to get the stun. Jacob reinforced with Mr. Freeze.
In the penultimate attack of the game, Batow swung with Katar Hol into the suited Mr. Freeze. What followed was a display of raw ally power, as he triggered Nth Metal, played a Magnificent Seven from his resource row, KO’d a Kooey Kooey Kooey to get another Magnificent Seven, then played Hero’s Welcome to fetch two more copies of Katar Hol and played them both. Katar Hol was now a 23 ATK and Fire had burned Jacob for 10 endurance on this attack alone. Jacob flipped a second Checkmate Safe House to take his Mr. Freeze to a 16 DEF, but it wasn’t enough. Batow attacked with Fire straight to Jacob’s face and flashed a power-up, but Jacob was already scooping up his cards.
Tim Batow wins and advances to 8-0!