Popular VSRealms stalwart Gabe “profparm” Schmidt showed no outward signs of nerves as he ambled into the feature match area for the first time in his life. The Topeka, Kansas native was all smiles as he shook the hand of charismatic Nashville, Tennessee resident Donald “Donnie” Noland, though he betrayed the fact that this was his first PC when he gestured toward the electronic endurance scorepad (the joy of spectators and the bane of butterfingered feature match players) and inquired as to its purpose.
“You played a PC before?” Gabe asked as he shuffled.
“Uh, yeah, a few times,” understated Noland, runner-up in the $10K event at last year’s Pro Circuit: Indianapolis.
“How about testing, you practice much for this event?”
“Maybe a thousand games or so.”
The scene was set for a baptism of fire.
Noland won the die roll and conceded the even initiatives to his opponent. Gabe took one look at his hand and shipped it to the bottom of his deck, while Donnie glanced at his opening four and indicated that he was satisfied.
Gabe dropped his first resource and swiftly passed, while Donnie played Sue Dibny, Charismatic Coordinator and fetched Connor Hawke ◊ Green Arrow, Son of the Archer for next turn, tipping Gabe off as to the deck he was facing. Sue pinged for 1 damage to Gabe’s empty field.
End of turn 1: Gabe 49 endurance, Donnie 50 endurance.
Noland seemed happy with the quality of his draw as he dropped Connor Hawke alongside Sue Dibny and flipped a World’s Greatest Heroes from his row, teaming up Earth’s two Justice Leagues.
Schmidt fired back with Kelex, which Noland paused to read, before discarding Mr. Freeze, Brutal Blizzard and Count Vertigo to grab the ubiquitous Slaughter Swamp from his deck. Donnie sent Connor Hawke into Kelex, and there was a mutual stun before Sue Dibny once again went for Schmidt’s face with her coffee cup.
End of turn 2: Gabe 46, Donnie 48.
Gabe took the initiative back in style, playing Straight to the Grave to put Dr. Polaris, Force of Nature into his KO’d pile and then discarding Black Adam, Teth-Adam to his newly-revealed Slaughter Swamp to return the villainous Dr. to his hand, and then straight to play.
Donnie, unfazed, continued to curve out with Shayera Thal ◊ Hawkwoman, dropping an Amulet of Nabu and Helm of Nabu on her for an almost fully-suited (if makeshift) Dr. Fate. He formed up with Shayera Thal in front of Connor Hawke, who was next to Sue Dibny in the back row.
Gabe entered the combat phase and flipped Coercion, showing Floronic Man, Jason Woodrue to team up Secret Society and Villains United. He played Glass Jaw on Shayera Thal before attacking with Dr. Polaris and exhausting her.
Donnie pondered passing momentarily, but ultimately decided to use Magnificent Seven to power-up and trigger Hawkwoman’s ally ability, fetching him an Nth Metal. Thanks to Shayera’s somewhat brittle beak, there was a mutual stun.
Donnie responded to Dr. Polaris’s trigger with Removed from Continuity, exhausting Sue Dibny to remove him from the game. He discarded a card to ensure the Dr. did not return, though the main attraction was clearly to check Gabe’s unfamiliar deck out and insure that he would be prepared for whatever was to come.
Gabe himself flipped a Removed from Continuity and exhausted his Kelex to erase Hawkwoman, discarding a card to match Donnie, though he seemed less interested in the contents of Donnie’s familiar Good Guys deck than in ensuring Shayera Thal did not return.
End of turn 3: Gabe 43, Donnie 45.
Donnie dropped Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman, Eternal Hero on turn 4, seemingly puzzled as to where his avian lover had disappeared to. He was equipped with an Nth Metal and took his place alongside Sue Dibny in the front row, with Connor behind her. Gabe used his Slaughter Swamp to retrieve Floronic Man from his KO’d pile and underdropped him before passing to Donnie.
Connor Hawke chose to fire into Gabe’s Kelex, with a Magnificent Seven triggering Katar Hol’s text as well as his own, turning the 2-drop into a 5 ATK/4 DEF. Kelex had no reply and was stunned, and then Katar Hol launched into Floronic Man and stunned him with breakthrough. Sue Dibny added insult to considerable injury by pinging Gabe in the face once again.
End of turn 4: Gabe 29, Donnie 45.
Gabe began his turn by discarding the now-surplus Henry King ◊ Brainwave that he needed last turn to Slaughter Swamp, returning Mr. Freeze from his KO’d pile and into play behind Floronic Man.
Donnie used the Hero’s Welcome that he had been sitting on all game to fetch John Henry Irons ◊ Steel, Steel-Drivin’ Man and return the High-Tech Flare Gun he had just discarded from his KO’ed pile to play, equipping Steel to make him a powerful 11 ATK / 11 DEF. He put Sue Dibny and Katar Hol in the front line, with Steel and Connor Hawke respectively backing them up.
Gabe attacked Sue with Floronic Man and flipped Gorilla City, losing a Straight to the Grave from his deck. Donnie, comfortably ahead in endurance, took the loss of 6 and the stun on his 1-drop. Gabe frowned and passed, with no optimal attacks left.
Donnie sent Steel into Mr. Freeze, exhausting the character and passing. Gabe showed him Join Us or Die, which prompted a ruling question from Donnie to judge Dave Humphreys on whether he could respond while Mr. Freeze was stunned, with an eye to the Removed from Continuity in his resource row. He was told that he could not do that; Freeze stunned and recovered, ending the combat but locking Steel down before he could ready.
Taken somewhat aback by this turn of events, Donnie contemplated his options before sending Katar Hol into Floronic Man. Gabe KO’d Floronic Man to his ability to return Join Us or Die from his KO’d pile, then immediately used it on Mr. Freeze again to lock down Katar Hol as well. With nothing left, Donnie passed.
End of turn 5: Gabe 19, Donnie 39.
Donnie thought about his turn 6 play for a while, mulling over the cards he had seen in Gabe’s deck. “You draw the Grodd? That would be awkward.” Gabe rested his hands behind his head and exuded confidence, giving a noncommittal reply. Eventually Donnie burned his Kooey Kooey Kooey to make a play of Fire with an Nth Metal. Gabe replied by returning the Black Adam 5-drop from his KO’d pile and underdropping for the second time in the game. He left both Adam and Freeze in his back row, conscious of his waning endurance total.
Donnie sent Fire into Mr. Freeze, triggering 2 burn from her ability with the Nth Metal. He passed. Gabe flipped yet another Join Us or Die to stun Mr. Freeze, locking down Fire but doing Noland’s work for him by lowering his own endurance total. Donnie now had his three biggest characters locked down, with only Connor Hawke and Sue Dibny left. He sent the 2-drop into Black Adam, played Trial By Fire, and KO’d Steel’s Flare Gun to power-up, giving Connor 9 ATK total and burning for 2 with Fire. Gabe took the stun, and Donnie flipped his second Removed from Continuity to finish Black Adam, opting not to discard the last card in his hand—a copy of Sue Dibny. Gabe duly confirmed that there was only one such card in his deck.
End of turn 6: Gabe 4, Donnie 37.
With such lopsided endurance totals, both players knew turn 7 would be the final round of combat. Gabe could only use Slaughter Swamp to return his Henry King 4-drop, however, while Donnie engaged in a little “awkward” monologue as he played Sue Dibny and found no other 2-drops. It was not to prove important, however. Donnie made some rudimentary attacks and burned all his equipment to power-up and burn with Fire to take Gabe below the point of no return. Gabe smiled in futility after his three under-drops and shook Donnie’s hand.
Donald Noland wins!