Adam is playing Teen Titans and beat Donald Noland in a mirror match to make it here. David’s MK-KO deck took down Jason Tassitano’s Kang conglomeration to earn his place at the table. The players shuffled up quickly and got down to business. After six tied die rolls, David finally won choice of initiatives. “Teen Titans . . . I have to think about this matchup . . .”
Game 1
David opted for odds, and both players kept their openers as the game got underway. David’s turn 1 play was Mikado and Mosha, while Adam flipped an Optitron and discarded Koriand’r ◊ Starfire to fetch Terra. David got in for 1, and that was the turn. The second turn called for another Optitron activation from Adam, this time discarding Red Star to search up Roy Harper ◊ Speedy, Mercurial Marksman. Speedy was recruited in the front row and Adam passed the build. David had no play. Adam chose to attack, bringing the endurance totals to 49–48 in his opponent’s favor and ending the turn.
David kicked off the third turn with a Hounds of Ahab a turn too late. Adam brought out Beast Boy and used him to protect Roy. David sent the Hounds into Beast Boy. No Man Escapes the Manhunters assured the stun, but Adam first used Beast Boy to pump Roy and Roy to reinforce Beast Boy. David traded Mikado for Roy, and play moved on with the endurance totals at 46–44, still in David’s favor.
Turn 4 was Adam’s turn to lay down the beats, and he led off with the Terra he had searched for on turn 1. David recruited Yelena Belova ◊ Black Widow in the front row of the hidden area. Adam used USS Argus to dig into his deck a little bit, and then used Terra to take down Hounds of Ahab. Beast Boy got in directly, and Betrayal was used to stun Yelena Belova. Adam closed out this excellent turn with the endurance lead, 44–35.
David’s recruit for turn 5 was Daredevil, Matt Murdock. Adam flipped and used a USS Argus before playing his Garth ◊ Tempest. Garth was set up next to Terra in the back row, and Beast Boy protected Terra. David contemplated his attacks and eventually decided to send Daredevil into Beast Boy. Adam had nothing to stop the stun, and he took 6. David’s second attack was Yelena Belova into Terra. He went for the stun with a power-up, but Adam had the Tamaran. David flipped and used a Punisher’s Armory, proposing the mutual stun. Adam used Garth to return the Finishing Move that he had just flipped over with Tamaran and exhausted Garth to take out Yelena. The endurance totals were tied at 31–31.
On turn 6, Adam used Argus to dig a bit and then used Optitron to get Dove. He dropped (in succession) Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal, Sharpshooter, Pantha, and Dawn Granger ◊ Dove. David ditched a second Mikado and Mosha to stun Pantha, and Adam exhausted her to boost Roy. Adam set up all of his characters in the front row. David’s play was a boosted Moon Knight, and each of his characters was placed in the front row of the visible area. Adam declared a team-attack of Dawn, Terra, and Garth on Daredevil, but David used Daredevil’s ability to move him out of the way. The same attack was declared on Moon Knight, and the attack was legal. Adam made use of a Teen Titans Go! to ready his characters and exhausted them all to pump up Roy to a 12 ATK/3 DEF. Roy took down Daredevil. Still before the attack resolved, Adam used Garth to return the Teen Titans Go! and bring Roy up to 18 ATK. Moon Knight was taken down, and Adam’s three other characters readied. They were exhausted to pump Roy enough to take David out, and that was the first game.
Game 2
Once again, David chose the odd initiatives. David kept, while Adam tossed back his hand. A turn 1 Micro-Chip attacked into Adam’s empty board for the first endurance loss of the game. Adam had a turn 2 play in Tim Drake ◊ Robin, Young Detective, while David once again missed his Hounds. The endurance totals going into the next turn were 49–48, Adam’s lead.
David had an Elektra, Elektra Natchios for turn 3, revealing Luke Cage, Street Enforcer. Adam dropped Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal, Sharpshooter behind Tim. The players were very quiet and methodical in their play throughout this match, and David took some time to consider his attacks. He eventually opted to Flying Kick Micro-Chip and take down Roy Harper. Elektra was sent in to Tim Drake, and Adam had a power-up to achieve the double stun. Before recovery, David used Quick Kill to take out Roy, while David himself lost the somewhat less impressive Micro-Chip. The endurance totals stood at 44–40, now in David’s favor.
Adam began the fourth turn by flipping and using USS Argus. He brought out Terra behind Tim Drake, while David played Yelena Belova ◊ Black Widow. Adam exhausted both of his characters to attack David, and after endurance loss was marked, there was some conflict as to whether or not Adam’s attack was a team-attack. He did not explicitly state that he had declared a team-attack, although he had exhausted both of his characters at once. The table judge ruled that this qualified as a team-attack, and David appealed to the head judge. After a minute of quick discussion with the other judges, the ruling was made that Adam’s attack did indeed qualify as a team-attack. Both players received a warning for not being explicit about the game state. With this issue resolved, Adam played Teen Titans Go! to ready both of his characters. David declared an attack of Yelena Belova on Tim Drake, and the attack was legal. Terra was used to stun Elektra before David had a chance to attack with her, and the players recovered their characters. Adam had gained a slight endurance lead of 34–33.
It was David’s initiative on turn 5, and he began by using a Wild Ride to get Daredevil, Matt Murdock. Daredevil was recruited in the front row of the visible area. Adam recruited Red Star and discarded Koriand’r ◊ Starfire to a newly-flipped Optitron to get Garth ◊ Tempest. Adam set up with Red Star in the back row behind Terra, and Tim Drake next to Red Star. With no further recruits, play moved to David’s attack step. David quickly declared an attack of Elektra on Terra. Adam wasted no time in using Terra to stun Elektra before the attack was legal, playing around Sucker Punch. David’s next attack attempt was Yelena Belova on Terra. He used Punisher’s Armory to bring Yelena up to 7 ATK and played the signaled Sucker Punch to stop Yelena from stunning. Adam had Heroic Sacrifice to stun Tim Drake instead. David used Daredevil’s ability to give him flight, and his final attack brought Daredevil into Red Star. Adam had nothing fancy and no characters to attack back with. He maintained his single-point endurance lead—the scores were now 23–22—as the players moved to what might very well be the final turn.
Adam began turn 6 by discarding another Koriand’r to Optitron, this time getting Roy Harper. He recruited Roy and a replacement Tim Drake. Adam set up Red Star next to Terra in the back row, with Tim Drake in front of Red Star and Roy in front of Terra. David went into the tank for his recruit. He finally opted to play his second Wild Ride of the game, searching out Spider-Man, The Spectacular Spider-Man. At this point, David had taken a total of 11 points of endurance loss from his own Wild Rides. Spider-Man was played in the front row, and David awaited Adam’s attacks. Now it was Adam’s turn to think about his play. After much contemplation, Adam attacked Tim Drake, Roy, and Terra into Spider-Man. The attack was legal, and Adam played Teen Titans Go! from his hand. Tim and Terra were exhausted to make Roy 8 ATK/3 DEF, and a Savage Beatdown brought Roy to 13 ATK. Roy was exhausted to take down Spider-Man, and all of Adam’s characters readied. He attacked David directly for 7, then pumped Roy again and shot Daredevil. This represented lethal endurance loss, and Adam took the game and match.
Adam Prosak wins and advances to the finals!