Kenta Ogata was part of the original group of Japanese players who originally made the trek to an American Pro Circuit; he, Masami Ibamoto, and Ko Okada first made their way onto the scene at PC: Los Angeles 2006. His opponent, Kunihiko Kishishita, won the first $10K Tokyo, so this should be a good match. Kunihiko is playing a Mental deck with a twist, and Kenta is playing X-Faces.
Kunihiko won the roll, taking odds and leading off with Electric Eve. Kenta answered with Gargantua. Eve took the heat to Gargantua, causing a mutual stun. Next turn, Kenta hit his drop with Beetle, Armorsmith, which he used to search out Cannonball. Kunihiko earned a surprise when he played Sage, Tessa, an unlikely follow-up to Electric Eve. Gargantua took down Electric Eve and Beetle went right at Kunihiko directly, who opted not to attack with Sage, putting the totals at 44-45 in Kenta’s favor.
Turn 3 was a miss for Kunihiko, who could only muster an Artie and then pass to Kenta, who played a Cannonball and Dallas Riordan. Artie stunned Dallas, then evaded, reducing Gargantua’s ATK so that Sage could safely attack without fear of stunning. Kenta flipped up Faces of Evil and played a Mob Mentality on Beetle, sending him in for a direct attack of 7 that put Kunihiko at 36 to his own 38.
Kenta had a pretty uneventful turn 4, playing only Archangel, Angel; searching out X-Corp: Amsterdam; and using Hard Sound Construct to get back Dallas Riordan from his KO’d Pile. Kunihiko responded with Unuscione and used her ability to exhaust Cannonball and draw a card. He also flipped Psi-Link to team-up the Mental and Energy traits. Kenta sent Archangel into Electric Eve, who was reinforced by Artie. Artie then evaded to reduce Beetle’s ATK, convincing Kenta to pass. They moved on to the next turn after Kunihiko also opted not to attack.
After using Sage, Kunihiko was able to find Emma Frost, Friend or Foe. Kenta played a boosted Yellowjacket, getting Joystick, which was followed by Speed Demon, Second Chance Speedster. Emma Frost went after Speed Demon, causing Kenta to use X-Corp: Amsterdam to go find X-Men United, reinforcing Speed Demon. Unuscione stunned Beetle, Electric Eve stunned Cannonball, and Artie was exhausted to play Mutant Massacre on Beetle. The tides were now starting to turn with Kenta at 25 to Kunihiko’s 32.
A Mystic Summons at the start of turn 6 found Marcus Daniels ◊ Blackout for Kenta, which he played along with Melter. He then used Blackout’s ability. Kunihiko used Sage and then Enemy of My Enemy to find Jean Grey, Red. Unuscione exhausted Speed Demon, and Emma Frost exhausted to play Magnetic Force to lock down Blackout. Kenta readied Speed Demon, then thought for a moment on how he might get out of the mire he was getting into. Yellowjacket and Joystick tried to team attack Emma Frost, but Kunihiko responded by using Emma’s ability to turn Magnetic Force face down. He then re-used it on Joystick, exhausting Sage to do so. Speed Demon attacked Emma with the help of a Mob Mentality, earning a mutual stun. Kunihiko evaded Electric Eve and Artie, reducing Yellowjacket’s ATK and leaving Kenta with no option but to KO Emma Frost. Jean Grey rounded out the turn by stunning Blackout, dropping Kenta to 17.
Turn 7 found Kunihiko playing Professor X, Headmaster and Healer, earning a scoop from Kenta, who was stuck with nothing but an unplayable Beetle in his hand. Kunihiko Kishishita chalks up another win!