Steve Horowitz’s performance has been impressive on the Pro Circuit thus far. He has a PC Top 8 credit to his name as well as a few $10K leaderboard appearances since then. He has been a solid performer since the beginning of the game, and is consistently called for feature matches. His opponent this round is Masami Ibamoto, who has had a large amount of attention this weekend as well as being the leader of the contingent of Japanese players that made the trip to the US. He told me yesterday that the Japanese know how to draft, and his 3-0 performance in the first pod goes a long way towards proving that point.

The game began with Gypsy from Steve. Masami matched it with Chomin. Players attacked, endurance was lost, and turns were ended. Masami was up first on turn 2 with an IQ, and Steve followed that with Professor Ivo for Rama Khan. Neither player felt like attacking, so that did it for the turn. Steve had the initiative on turn 3 and recruited Shayera Thal ◊ Hawkwoman which, if he had Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman in his deck, could be very powerful. Masami played Dr. Sivana during his build and passed the turn to Steve. Steve sent his Gypsy and Hawkwoman into Dr. Sivana. The good Doctor took a turn for the worst. Steve also had Professor Ivo attack IQ, and Plasma Blast from Steve put the scientist battle to a decided end. Masami ended up keeping the larger Dr. Sivana, while Steve got to keep his whole team.

Turn 4 was Masami's, and he recruited Henry King ◊ Brainwave, which got Quadromobile the second it came into play. Steve had the incredibly big Oliver Queen ◊ Green Arrow, Emerald Archer as his turn 4 play. Masami played Air Strike on his Dr. Sivana, and sent the flying Doctor at the Archer. The Archer sent some very green arrows at Chomin, and the Archer and Doctor both stunned. Next, Masami sent his Brainwave at Steve's Professor Ivo. A pump from Gorilla City forced Steve to evade his Professor Ivo out of the way. Masami then chose to send his Brainwave at the last of Steve's visible characters, Hawkwoman. When Steve used Reform the League to force the mutual stun, Masami used Brainwave's ability to KO his Sivana and hit Steve for three. Steve got to go straight to Masami's head with the Gypsy hiding in the hidden area, and the players were finished with the turn.

Steve took the reins on turn 5 and recruited Darkseid, Heart of Darkness, which Masami mirrored. Steve used Funky's Big Rat Code to team-up Secret Society and Green Lantern and, most importantly, get a few of his cards into his KO'd Pile. Steve thought for a while before attacking, and eventually decided on sending his Archer at Masami's Brainwave. Steve then sent in his Darkseid at his evil twin and used Lead by Example to get over the stun. Masami wasn't new to the game, though, and KO'd his stunned Brainwave to bring the attacking Darkseid back down to size. "So bad," Steve said as he put his head in his hands. The turn ended with Steve down 13-18.

Turn 6 was Masami's and he brought out the seemingly everywhere Charaxes, Killer Moth. Steve played Gorilla Grodd on his turn, which was a bit neutered since Masami had only a 5- and 6- drop in play. If he could get to next turn, though, the monkey would prove his worth. Masami had the honors of the first attack this turn and sent his Darkseid into Steve's Professor Ivo. Steve decided to use his Darkseid to KO his Ivo and shrink Masami's Darkseid down a bit. Masami merely readied his character and pondered his next attack. After some thought, he came to the conclusion that he should send his Charaxes into Steve's Darkseid. Steve chose to reinforce, and took 5 endurance loss, dropping him to 8. Masami then attacked with his Darkseid and KO'd his stunned Charaxes to shrink Steve's defender. Steve conceded.