Neil Reeves, or J.T. Money, as he’s known in gaming circles, is 5-1 entering this round. He’s playing Common Enemy, a throwback to his Top 4 deck at the very first PC. His opponent this round is Alex Jebailey, a Vs. player from Orlando, Florida with a couple of solid finishes under his belt. Alex is running one of the super-fast Squadron Supreme decks.
Alex won the roll and selected odds. Both players kept their opening four, and Alex led off with the signature Ape X, fetching and equipping a Dual Sidearms. Neil played Boris and lost 3 endurance on the attack.
Neil had nothing on turn 2, while Alex had Melissa Gold ◊ Screaming Mimi and a Dual Sidearms to go with her. Neil passed his attack, and Alex got in for 11 with his two characters. Alex recruited Joystick and kept up with the equipment theme with a Flamethrower. Neil had She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters and set up with Boris behind She-Hulk. Alex attacked Boris with Screaming Mimi and powered up to try to reduce his hand size, but Neil flipped Doomstadt and used Boris to fetch a Reign of Terror, signaling the arrival of the Diabolic Genius the next turn. Alex then attacked She-Hulk with Screaming Mimi, taking 5 endurance from Neil and 2 from Alex. Alex then got to attack directly with his Ape X and Joystick.
After the draw on the fourth turn, Neil used Signal Flare with the intent of turning it back down with Screaming Mimi’s effect. He searched for Thing, Heavy Hitter, turned his Signal Flare back down, and then turned it up again, this time finding Hulk, New Fantastic Four. He recruited Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius and turned the Signal Flare back down again. If Alex had had Golden Archer, he could have ended the game right there, but instead, he had to settle for Tom Thumb. Neil played two Reign of Terrors to send Alex’s team back to his hand, but not before Alex was able to shoot Neil for 5 with the Flamethrower. Neil then attacked Alex directly with Doom and She-Hulk for 11.
On the fifth turn, Alex attempted to rebuild his board a little bit with Albert Gaines ◊ Nuke, while Neil recruited Thing, Heavy Hitter. Neil set all of his characters in the support row, trying to stave off damage. Neil wasn’t teamed up, so Alex’s best attack was at Doctor Doom with a Mega-Blast thrown in. Neil didn’t have the team-up, but he could power-up, forcing the stun back and falling to 2 endurance. Neil then used a Finishing Move to KO Nuke.
Although Neil had complete control of the board heading into the sixth turn, he was behind on endurance 30 to 2, so the game was still very much in the air. Neil recruited Human Torch, Hotshot and Boris on his turn, while Alex recruited Joystick, Screaming Mimi, and Ape X, finding a Flamethrower to try to finish Neil off. When Alex went to equip the Flamethrower, Neil responded by using Boris to find Flame Trap, stunning Alex’s entire board and sealing the match.
Neil Reeves wins.