The two competitors for this match certainly thought they were funny—they immediately asked for a time extension. Head judge Matt Tabak looked at them and laughed. As they had two hours of game time ahead of them, no extension was needed.

Game 1

Wiitanen won the die roll and tossed back his first four. He had taken the odd initiative, but he had no 1-drop. On turn 2, he dropped Mirage and made it a Gotham Knights character. Hank Hall ◊ Hawk hit the table on turn 2 for Adam, and it slammed into Mirage.

Josh got the initiative back on turn 3 and he played a boosted Hawk, getting Hawk’s lover onto the table, as well. All three of his characters went into the front row.

Adam announced the flipping of USS Argus by saying “boink” as he turned the card. He then played his 3-drop, Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal, putting it in front of Hank. Dawn and Mirage then team attacked Adam’s Hank Hall, and Adam elected to stun Mirage.

“Go to recovery,” Josh announced. He flipped Metropolis to team up GK and the Titans before sending Mirage to his discard pile.

Turn 4 started off with Adam playing Terra, putting her behind Roy Harper. Josh only had a Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal of his own to play on turn 4, and he set up his guys in an L formation. Adam used Terra’s ability to stun Roy, but Josh had a Fizzle for the Finishing Move.

Josh had Batman, Caped Crusader on turn 5. When he hit the table, the spectators all started up with theme music. There’s no doubt that Josh is a popular player, sitting in the semifinals of a major tournament in his hometown.

Adam had Garth ◊ Tempest as his 5-drop, and he placed his guys in an L formation. Josh wanted to send his team at Roy Harper, but Adam made the attack illegal by stunning Roy with Terra. Roy stunned, so Josh changed the target of his attack, sending Batman and the lovers at Terra, instead.

Josh flipped up Dynamic Duo, meaning that his characters wouldn’t be stunned while team attacking this turn. He then used a Teen Titans Go! to ready all of his guys again.

“You’re a champion,” Adam quipped as Josh played the powerful plot twist. Josh sent Batman into Roy Harper, causing 6 stun damage and some breakthrough. When he sent the lovers into Garth a moment later, however, Adam tossed two more copies of Garth to pump him up and keep him from stunning.

Turn 6 started with the endurance totals at 31 to 27 in Josh’s favor. Josh had the lovers on the table with the Caped Crusader, while Adam had Garth and Terra.

Adam added a little to his board, hoping to take advantage of the initiative with a boosted Tim Drake ◊ Robin.

Josh got Garth out of his deck with Bat-Signal and played him.

“I don’t know Garth’s theme song,” Josh remarked. The line quickly became a joke when he finished it with, “It’s probably ‘It’s Raining Men!’” Everyone around the table was still laughing as Adam sent his entire team into Garth. Josh played Heroic Sacrifice to stun Dawn Granger instead.

Adam abused the Teen Titans Go! engine for the rest of the turn, playing two copies of the powerful plot twist to stun Josh’s entire board.

“Wasn’t a very good turn for me,” Josh observed. Josh’s entire team had been stunned by Adam’s, and Adam hadn’t lost a single character. Josh decided to keep Garth around so that he could get anything else he might need, but the board was completely in Adam’s favor.

For turn 7, all Josh could muster up was Batman, Caped Crusader, who he got back by using Garth’s ability. Adam was able to find himself a Koriand’r ◊ Starfire to play, and when he used her to stun Garth, Josh scooped up his cards.

Adam Prosak 1, Josh Wiitanen 0

Game Two

“I want to sideboard,” Adam remarked as he shuffled.

“Me too,” Josh agreed. Josh took the odd initiative again, hoping to see his results improve a little. He must have gotten cold feet, though, as he excused himself to the bathroom¾with a judge in tow.

“I need to go to the bathroom, and I need a chaperone,” Josh quipped. It’s not that the judges don’t trust him; they’d do this with everyone.

Josh mulliganed away his opening four, and both players played Dawn on turn 1. Josh didn’t attack, but Adam did, and both copies of Dawn stunned.

On turn 2, both players played Hank Hall, and when Adam swung his Hank into Josh’s, he tossed away his second copy to avoid the double stun. Adam swung his Dove into Josh’s, but Josh was the one with the power-up this time, and Adam’s Dove stunned.

On turn 3, the humor drained from the match as Josh played Jason Todd ◊ Robin and Adam played Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal. Todd attacked Harper, and they both stunned. Hank Hall attacked Dove, and Adam stared at a table covered with stunned characters. Character advantage had gone to Josh.

Adam had the turn 4 initiative and played Red Star. Josh answered with Terra. He put the lovers up front and hid Terra and Jason Todd behind them. Adam pushed all three of his characters up front.

Roy swung into Hank for Adam, and Josh responded by activating Terra, turning Hank face down, as well. Red Star attacked Terra, but Jason Todd bit the bullet for her.

“I get to draw two cards this turn,” Josh exclaimed. He had tossed USS Argus to stun Hank last turn. He played Bat-Signal and used it to get Garth. Adam had a Garth of his own, too. Josh put Garth and Jason Todd ◊ Robin up front and Terra and Dawn in the back. Adam put his guys in an L, with Garth up front, Red Star behind him, and Roy to the left.

Josh swung Jason Todd and Garth into Adam’s Garth. Garth stunned on both sides, and Josh was in good shape again. He had four characters to Adam’s one.

“I haven’t seen Alfred any of these games,” Josh complained. “Where is my deck?” Josh did draw and play Argus, using it to look at the next four cards. Seeing two copies of Mirage in those four cards didn’t make him happy. He decided to take a second Garth instead of Mirage.

Josh used the Garth he had on the table to get back Bat-Signal. He used Bat-Signal to get Huntress from his deck, then played Huntress and Roy Harper. Adam responded to Huntress being played by stunning Terra with Koriand’r.

Josh stuck Garth, Dawn, Roy, and Huntress in the front row before passing the turn back over to Adam.

“Garth into Garth,” Adam announced. Josh used Jason Todd to prevent Garth from stunning.

“You only get to recover one of those,” Adam said as Josh flipped Jason Todd and Terra back over. Josh decided to keep Terra. He would have the initiative for turn 7, and wanted the aggressive character on the table.

Josh flipped over USS Argus and used it to look at the next four cards. He had a difficult time deciding between Fizzle and Red Star, but went with Fizzle after a long deliberation. Adam stunned Roy with Terra, and Roy returned the favor.

“You’re the luckiest Terra-er ever,” Josh complained. He had just watched Adam flip over yet another USS Argus. Adam used Argus and then played a Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal of his own. The combat step hadn’t even started yet and Adam’s entire board was exhausted, while most of Josh’s board was stunned. He had three characters face down and only two face-up.

At the recovery step, following no attacks, Josh kept Roy Harper. Adam had character advantage on the table and increased his lead when he played a boosted Hank Hall on the next turn. He followed that up with a boosted [Tim Drake ◊ Robin]. He had the initiative, and it looked like all the pieces were on the table for him to end the game in a big way.

Josh played a resource and looked at the table before playing Mirage. In response, Adam tried to kill Roy Harper with Terra. Josh tried to get his Roy Harper to kill Adam’s Roy Harper, but Adam had plenty of guys to pump him up with. Roy stayed out of reach of, well, himself, and the match appeared to be over.

Josh played Alfred Pennyworth for the first time in the match, and then scooped up his cards.

 “I made so many errors,” Josh said.

Josh didn’t have a character to play on turn 7, and didn’t get one back with Garth’s ability. With Terra stuck in the back row and Koriand’r repeatedly able to kill her, it didn’t take very long for Adam to finish Josh.

Even after the loss, Josh will leave here as a member of a very select group of players—one of the few who has played in the Top 8 at three different $10K events.

Adam moves on to the finals, looking for his first $10K victory.