Derek is from New Hampshire, and Stephen hails from Philadelphia. I have a habit of featuring Stephen at these events, and he keeps telling me that he hates being featured, so this is probably the last you’ll see of him today. Derek won the die roll and selected the even initiatives.

Stephen passed on the first turn, while Derek recruited and attacked with Salakk. After playing his second resource, Derek flipped The Ring Has Chosen, searching up Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern. Hawkeye, Clinton Barton was discarded. The 2-drop was recruited and searched up a Construct of Derek’s choice—in this case, Catcher’s Mitt. Stephen had a 2-drop of his own in the form of Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose. She was team attacked, and the new recruits traded stuns to close out the turn.

Stephen had the initiative on 3 and he began with an Enemy of My Enemy for Mad Hatter, Jervis Tetch, discarding Blob, Fred Dukes. He also played Straight to the Grave for Harley Quinn. Stephen flipped Slaughter Swamp face up, and then had a change of heart. Avalon Space Station was flipped, and Stephen used it to trade a Slaughter Swamp in hand for the 1-drop in his KO’d pile. He recruited Mad Hatter, revealing Harley for the additional cost, and immediately paid a resource point to steal Salakk. With all of these shenanigans concluded, Stephen passed back to Derek, who had another Ring Has Chosen. This one fetched Olapet at the price of a G’Nort. Olapet was boosted, yielding Derek a G’Nort in play to match the one in his KO’d pile. Derek set up with Kyle protecting G’Nort, and then passed. Stephen sent Salakk into G’Nort, and the 1-drop stunned. Next, Ivy went after Olapet. Derek played Lanterns in Love to recover G’Nort, but Stephen had Mikado and Mosha to stun him again. Olapet was stunned when the attack concluded. Finally, Mad Hatter attacked Kyle Rayner with a Harley Quinn power-up. With Derek’s entire board stunned, Stephen KO’d the stolen Salakk to trade an Enemy for a Checkmate Safe House. In recovery, Derek was left with only Olapet. The endurance score was 47-42 in Stephen’s favor.

For turn 4, Derek simply recruited Malvolio. Stephen played another Straight to the Grave for Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster. The 1-drop came back to Stephen’s hand at the start of recruit. He brought out Anne-Marie Cortez, set up with Ivy protecting Mad Hatter, and passed. Derek attempted to attack Mad Hatter with Olapet, and Stephen KO’d it to replace Straight to the Grave with a Lost City. Derek passed on remaining attacks. Ivy took down Olapet; Derek teamed-up and reinforced. Some Swamp and Avalon hijinks ensued, and Stephen took down Malvolio by powering-up Anne-Marie. Olapet was lost in recovery. Stephen had widened his lead to 47-35

On turn 5, Mxyzptlk was returned, and Stephen recruited Quicksilver, Speed Demon. Derek had Katma Tui in front of Malvolio. Stephen team attacked the 5-drop with Anne-Marie and Poison Ivy. Derek had Cover Fire, but Stephen recurred Harley Quinn and powered-up again. Ivy and Katma traded stuns. Harley was recurred again, and Quicksilver took down Malvolio with another power-up before attacking directly for 8. In recovery, the score was 45-17 and the game seemed all but over.

Derek under-dropped on 6 with Dr. Light, Master of Holograms. He attempted to use the Doctor to recur Olapet, but Stephen made the target illegal by returning Olapet to Derek’s hand with his Slaughter Swamp. Derek played the Olapet with boost, fetching and recruiting Arisia. Katma Tui got a Catcher’s Mitt. Derek set up with Katma protecting Arisia and Light protecting Olapet, then passed. After recurring Mxyzptlk, Stephen played Straight to the Grave from his resource row to get Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff. He brought back the 5-drop and Mikado with his Space Station, and Scarlet Witch came into play. Interestingly, Mxyzptlk also joined the fray. Stephen set up with Quicksilver protecting Scarlet Witch and Anne-Marie protecting Mxyzptlk, leaving Ivy alone. At the start of combat, Stephen used Mikado and Mosha to stun Arisia. In response, Katma and Arisia were exhausted to Katma’s ability. Derek passed on any attacks, and Stephen began his attack step with an Ivy activation. Mxyzptlk was KO’d to trade his exhausted Space Station for a fresh one. He returned Harley and Blob, then declared an attack of Anne and Quicksilver into Katma Tui. Derek gained 5 by exhausting Olapet before allowing the stun. Stephen discarded the Blob to ready Quicksilver, and the 5-drop stunned Dr. Light. Ivy stunned Olapet, and Scarlet Witch attacked directly with a power-up for exactly enough.

Stephen Silverman wins!