“There’s a copy of Monopoly in the player’s lounge,” remarked Fielder. “Do you know what that says about expected turnaround time? IT’S A FOUR-HOUR GAME!” Both players laughed as they took their seats and shuffled.
Fielder shipped his opening hand, while Justice stuck with his. Fielder opened with Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster in his support row, and Justice took a direct ping to go down to 49.
Next turn, Justice recruited Beetle, Armorsmith and discarded The Phantom Stranger, Wandering Hero to pull Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose. Fielder brought out Deadshot, Dead Aim, recruiting to his hidden area’s support row. Beetle flew at Mr. Mxyzptlk, who exhausted to pay for Mysterious Benefactor to grab Dr. Sivana for Fielder, and Mxyzptlk went down. Deadshot attacked Beetle, and the endurance totals stood at 46 to 45. Mxyzptlk was KO’d (the KO’d pile, of course, being the natural habitat of Mr. Mxyzptlk).
Fielder recruited Dr. Sivana, put him in the support row, and passed. Justice played and flipped Enemy of My Enemy, tossing Poison Ivy to grab Dr. Light, Master of Holograms, and recruited him. He activated Light, targeting the Ivy he discarded, but Fielder chained Slaughter Swamp and forced Ivy back into Justice’s hand to keep her off the field! Deadshot took out Beetle, and Sivana smacked Dr. Light, resulting in Beetle being KO’d during the recovery phase.
With a hand full of options, Justice needed to consider his moves for the following turn carefully. He started by activating Dr. Light to target his fallen Beetle, but Slaughter Swamp, with a discarded Deadshot, again bounced Justice’s intended target back to his hand. He recruited Poison Ivy and Hope, following up with Archangel, Angel, whom he activated to search for X-Corp: Amsterdam. Justice discarded The Phantom Stranger to pay for Archangel’s effect, and he exhausted characters to bounce the Stranger back to his hand. Hope, Light, and Archangel were all exhausted, with Archangel protecting Ivy and with Hope in front of Light.
Fielder activated Mxyzptlk’s effect, and Justice responded with UN Building. He used Poison Ivy’s ability, ditching Archangel to search for Phantom Zone. The Zone removed Mxyzptlk from the game, stymieing Fielder as he moved into combat.
Deadshot took aim at Poison Ivy, and both characters were stunned. Sivana took to the air with Flying Kick and came crashing down on Dr. Light, pressing through endurance loss and bringing the endurance totals to 32 to 41 in favor of Fielder!
Fielder recruited Darkseid, Heart of Darkness, placing him in front of Sivana. Justice laid a resource quickly, thought a moment, and then moved to the recruit step. He activated Dr. Light, targeting Poison Ivy, but Slaughter Swamp cut him off again (Fielder discarded a second Slaughter Swamp to pay for the effect). Beetle, Armorsmith came down yet again into Justice’s front row, and he discarded Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose for his effect, bringing another Hope to his hand. He flipped Justice League of Arkham, declaring Arkham Inmates and Masters of Evil. Fielder had three cards, and he discarded Ultrahumanite. X-Corp: Amsterdam had nabbed Justice a second Justice League of Arhkam, which he flipped, declaring Arkham Inmates and Emerald Enemies, forcing another discard. The League flipped down again thanks to Hope, then forced the discard of Fielder’s last in-hand card. Justice recruited another Hope, exhausted Hope and Beetle to bounce Phantom Stranger back to his hand, and KO’d the second Hope to turn down the Emerald Enemies League. He recruited Poison Ivy, hiding her behind Beetle and keeping Light next to her, and passed play to Fielder.
Fielder flipped Flying Kick on Darkseid and sent him over Beetle to crash into Poison Ivy. This made for a massive hit that cost Justice 12 endurance! Dr. Sivana then smashed Dr. Light, lowering Justice to 17 endurance. Finally, Deadshot wrecked Beetle, completing the board wipe of Justice’s field. He lost everything but Dr. Light, while Fielder kept Deadshot, Sivana, and Darkseid. It was 14 to 39, and Fielder needed to off Justice before the League of Arkham lock could take its toll.
Justice opened the next turn with Straight to the Grave, sending Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern to the KO’d pile. He activated Dr. Light, targeting Kyle, and Slaughter Swamp bumped Kyle to his hand, forcing Fielder to discard Sorcerer’s Treasure. He had just one card left in his hand, seeming to have already conceded his remaining hand to Justice League of Arkham.
Justice dropped another resource, brought down Kyle Rayner, and searched his deck for Hard Sound Construct with Kyle’s effect. He used it, targeting Beetle, and brought Beetle into play. He discarded The Phantom Stranger, pulled Poison Ivy, and recruited her. Justice League of Arkham flipped again, Fielder lost his last card, and Justice recruited Archangel. He exhausted Beetle and Rayner to return The Phantom Stranger to his hand. He used Slaughter Swamp to bring back Hope, discarding Phantom Stranger again, recruited Hope back into play, and visibly debated what he would protect her with, swapping characters around on the field. He ended up not choosing anything at all, leaving her open in the support row next to Archangel, who was protected by Dr. Light. Ivy sat on the other side of Archangel (protected by Rayner), and combat passed to Fielder.
Without another Flying Kick Fielder had few offensive options. He was leading in endurance—and massively so—but since Justice had the resource lock on him, things were headed south fast. Fielder knew he needed to end the game that turn, but there was no way he was going to get 14 endurance out of his attacks. He declared Dr. Sivana attacking Hope, and Justice mused over responses for a moment before declaring the attack legal. Just as he was about to turn Hope down for the stun, time was called, instantly changing the face of the game. Still, after a bit more consideration, there was nothing he could do. Hope took the hit, and Justice went to 10 endurance, way behind Fielder.
Deadshot attacked Dr. Light, and Fielder KO’d Dr. Sivana for Darkseid’s effect, softening up Dr. Light. Archangel activated to reinforce, and Justice went to 7. Darkseid attacked Kyle Rayner, but Justice pitched X-Corp: Amsterdam to bring out a third Justice League of Arkham and reinforced with Ivy to block the endurance loss. He lost Hope and Kyle Rayner, and the game moved to the final turn.
It was 37 to 5 as play passed to turn 7.
Justice activated Hard Sound Construct before dropping a resource and brought Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern to his front row. He grabbed another Hard Sound Construct with Kyle’s effect, and then used it to bring up Hope. He exhausted both Hope and Kyle to return Phantom Stranger to his hand, KO’d Hope to turn down the Justice League of Arkham aligned with Emerald Enemies, then flipped it back up to team with Enemies again and force the discard. Fielder ditched System Failure. Enemy of My Enemy fetched justice a copy of Coach, which he ditched for 2 endurance and then retrieved Slaughter Swamp! X-Corp: Amsterdam brought out a fourth Justice League of Arkham, and Fielder lost his last card. Justice laid a seventh resource, and he played Hard Sound Construct to return Kyle Rayner to the field, grabbing another Hard Sound. He activated it, brought out Beetle, discarded his Mr. Mxyzptlk, and searched his deck for another Beetle, Armorsmith. He recruited The Phantom Stranger, but then offered Fielder the handshake immediately. “I can’t catch you,” he admitted, conceding.
“I love that deck though,” said Fielder. “That deck is ridiculous.”
Justice mused, “I think I could get you on 8, but…” Fielder nodded, acknowledging that the match was won due in good part to time.
David Fielder dodges a bullet and escapes a vicious Justice League of Arkham lock to move on with an undefeated record!