David won the die roll and chose to take the odd initiatives. The players wished each other luck as they drew their opening hands. Both players mulliganed their openers, and then David kicked the game off with Courtney Ross. “Optimal,” said David. Doug recruited Ape X, fetching Blackbird Blue. David attacked in, and that was the turn. Doug led off turn 2 with Viper in the concealed area, while David had Sage, Tessa in the hidden area. Doug attacked directly for 2, and David attacked back with his team. David chose not to use Sage, and the turn ended with David ahead 46-45.

On turn 3, David led off with a Sage activation. He recruited Mastermind in the visible area and passed. Doug recruited Archangel, Angel, discarding Marcus Daniels ◊ Blackout to fetch an X-Corp: Amsterdam. Next, Doug recruited Dallas Riordan in the visible area and immediately used her. His final recruit of the turn was Gargantua, putting all five of his team affiliations into play. Doug set up with Archangel protecting Gargantua and Ape X protecting Dallas, and then passed. David sent Mastermind into Archangel. Doug flipped Brave New World naming X-Men, Masters of Evil, and Physical, then reinforced. David’s next attack sent Sage into Gargantua; they traded. Neither player had further attacks, and Doug lost Archangel in recovery. The turn closed with David ahead 44-41.

Before recruiting on turn 4, Doug exhausted Dallas to draw a card. He recruited Shocker, Vibro-Shock Villain, along with Paul Ebersol ◊ Fixer and another Archangel. He discarded Hard Sound Construct to the Archangel to get another X-Corp, and then moved to formation. Doug set up with Ape X protecting Dallas, Archangel protecting Shocker in the next row, and Gargantua protecting Paul in the next row. He passed to David, who played Join the Club to get Madelyne Pryor, which he recruited in the hidden area. It was Doug’s initiative in combat, but before declaring any attackers, Doug used an X-Corp to get Faces of Evil. He attacked Archangel into Mastermind, and David attempted to brick-wall with Shaw Industries. Doug revealed two more X-Corps for two more Faces. David had Army of One, though, and the attack failed. Doug’s next attack sent Paul into Mastermind. This attempt was foiled by a System Failure. For his third try, Doug sent Gargantua in. This time, Mastermind stunned. David used his power to hide Mastermind and bring Sage into the hidden area. Ape X traded with Sage, and then Viper and Shocker attacked directly. David KO’d Sage to Madeline and then attacked Courtney into Shocker. The characters traded. For the final attack of the turn, Madeline smashed into Dallas. At the end of the turn, David has Mastermind and Madeline, while Doug had Viper, Paul, and Dallas. The endurance totals were tied at 27 apiece.

On turn 5, David had his Shinobi Shaw and he recruited him in the visible area before passing to Doug. Before choosing his recruits, Doug exhausted Dallas to draw a card. He recruited Blackbird Blue to Dallas. “It’s only on attack, right?” asked David. Doug confirmed. Doug had no further recruits, and set up with Dallas in front of Paul. David quickly took down Dallas with Madeline. Paul reinforced and Dallas went down. Next, Shinobi took down Paul. Doug searched out X-Men United and reinforced. Neither player had additional attacks. In recovery, David had a devastating Mutant Massacre to remove Dallas from the game. David had now established a lead of 27-25.

For turn 6, Doug recruited Yellowjacket; Beetle, Armorsmith; and Melissa Gold ◊ Screaming Mimi in quick succession. He burned David for 5 with Melissa, and then passed. David had Donald Pierce in the hidden area. Still in the build phase, Doug played Hard Sound Construct] to return a Cannonball from his KO’d pile to play. It was Doug’s turn to attack, and he went after Shinobi with Cannonball and Beetle. The attack was successful, and Shinobi traded stuns with Beetle. Doug attempted to attack directly with Viper, but David had Absolute Power, exhausting Donald, to recover Shinobi. A team attack of Doug’s remaining visible characters was successful in taking down Donald, and then Viper attacked directly. David attacked back, taking down Cannonball and Yellowjacket. At the end of the turn, Doug was left with only Paul, Melissa, and Viper. David lost no characters. The endurance total and the end of the turn was 10-7 in David’s favor.

David had his turn 7 Sebastian Shaw, and Doug conceded. David Spears wins!