No, that’s not a typo. These two got paired up two rounds in a row. I know you probably don’t want to see any more matches from either of these guys, but hey, you’re gonna live with it. I’m the reporter, and I’ll pick my feature matches. So there.
The reason I want to cover these two gentlemen in particular, again, is that they’re two of the best players in the Top 24. In addition, David Leader tossed away the game in round 9 by neglecting to use his Sinister Citadel, so this is a rematch of sorts—a chance for David to redeem himself.
Bulk won the die roll and chose to take the odd initiatives. Both players kept their opening hands, and neither had a first turn play. David had the initiative on the second turn. “Considering options,” said Leader. It’s like his catchphrase. He eventually chose to recruit Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee in the visible area, and equipped her with Justice League Signal Device. Bulk had Fatality, Emerald Assassin. David missed with his Device, and the characters traded for some stun endurance loss.
Turn 3 was Bulk’s initiative, and he under-dropped with Funky Flashman in front of Fatality. He equipped Fatality with Atlantean Trident and passed. Before recruiting a character, David played Secret Files to fetch Lex Luthor, Nefarious Philanthropist. Bulk searched out a power-up for Fatality. David recruited Lex in front of Zazzala, and in response, Bulk played With Prejudice on Funky. He hit for +1 ATK and played Rallying Cry! on Funky. Lex came into play. David forgot to transfer the Device and then missed with it. Bulk attacked Lex with Fatality, and then took down Zazzala with Funky.
At the beginning of turn 4, Bulk drew two additional cards from Lex, and David considered his options. How do I know this? “Considering options,” he said. He played a resource, thought for a bit longer, then recruited Shadow-Thief in the hidden area. When it entered play, he fetched a copy of Infernal Minions, which also entered play in the hidden area. Finally, David had Insectoid Troopers behind Lex. He passed, and Bulk recruited Poison Ivy, Kiss of Death in front of Fatality. Poison Ivy got equipped with Nth Metal, and Bulk passed. Before declaring any attackers, David flipped Gang-Up to team up Injustice Gang and Revenge Squad. David’s first attack brought his Troopers into Fatality. All Too Easy made the Troopers huge, but Bulk powered up in response to lessen the blow. Both characters were stunned. David next declared his remaining characters into Poison Ivy. Bulk used her ability to steal the stunned Troopers and then let her stun. At the end of the turn, Bulk lost his Fatality. David had the endurance lead, 38-36.
Turn 5 was Bulk’s initiative, and he took a while to figure out what he should do. He certainly had a lot of choices, considering that he currently had nine cards in his hand from all of David’s card-drawing effects. Bulk had Kelex, discarding two cards to fetch a location. He failed to find one, relieving the pressure on his hand somewhat. Next, he recruited Floronic Man, Jason Woodrue. He set up with all of his characters in the front row, with the exception of his new Troopers, who hid behind Ivy. David had Scarecrow, Psycho Psychologist in front of Lex. Bulk’s first attack sent Poison Ivy and Floronic Man into Scarecrow. David used Scarecrow’s ability and then he traded stuns with Ivy. “I messed up,” said Bulk. He used Death Trap to get rid of Scarecrow and attacked Insectoid Troopers into Lex to get it off the board. David attacked Kelex with Shadow Thief, and that was the turn. David led, 30-23.
On turn 6, David re-played his Scarecrow, this time with boost. Bulk drew the last two cards in his deck and shook his head as he tried to figure out how he would get out of this one. He recruited Remoni-Notra ◊ Star Sapphire, Zamoran Champion behind Ivy, and equipped her with Mobius Chair. Floronic Man was left alone in the front row. Before combat, Bulk played With Prejudice to get a card out of his hand. As combat began, David used Scarecrow to hit Bulk for another six. David’s first attack sent Scarecrow into Poison Ivy. “Can I do anything about that?” Bulk asked to himself. The answer was a resounding “no.” He powered-up from hand to lose another card, then flipped and used Slaughter Swamp to repeat the process. This caused him to take a little less breakthrough, but his character still stunned. David’s next attack sent his Infernal Minions to die, and he gave Lex a counter. Lex attacked Floronic Man, and Bulk KO’d him to return a Wonder Woman, Princess Diana from his KO’d pile to his hand. David had no further attacks, so Bulk attacked back on Lex with Remoni. At the end of the turn, no characters were lost, and David still led 17-11.
At the beginning of Turn 7, Bulk used Slaughter Swamp to trade an irrelevant character for a copy of Poison Ivy. He recruited Ultra-Humanite, readying his Swamp, then passed. David recruited Evan McCulloch ◊ Mirror Master in the hidden area, then added a fresh copy of Illusionary Warriors, also in the hidden area. Scarecrow was equipped with a High-Tech Flare Gun, and David let his last resource point go unused. Scarecrow was set behind Lex, and David passed. At the beginning of combat, David paid 3 endurance to Scarecrow to hit Bulk for 3. “I think that’s the best deal you’re going to give me,” he said. “I’ll just play it safe,” said Bulk. He attacked Lex with Ivy, and powered up. David simply reinforced. Next, Bulk attacked Scarecrow with Remoni-Notra. David powered up Scarecrow, and used Illusionary Warrior’s Ally ability to give Remoni -2 ATK. He activated Evan McCulloch’s payment power to return Scarecrow to his hand, and powered up again. This successfully brick-walled Bulk, and he conceded.
David Leader wins!