Scott comes to the table with his massive experience in Sealed Pack, and just back from Pro Circuit San Francisco. His reputation in Sealed and Draft precedes him, and he's without doubt a favorite for day 2 tomorrow. Kakarot is the local hero, and today's underdog. The question to be answered here is whether Kakarot's consistency will see him triumph over a long-standing victor.
Kakarot won the coin toss and chose to take odds, hinting that he was probably playing a straight curve deck.
Turn 1
Neither player saw a turn 1 character and play simply moved on to turn 2.
Endurance
Kakarot: 50
Scott: 50
Turn 2
Scott recruited Ragman, Patchmonger while Ishmael Gregor ◊ Sabbac, Malevolent Marvel came out for Kakarot.
Scott's Ragman swung into the Villains United character and, with no tricks, both players passed. The result was simply 3 endurance lost by both players and play moved on to the next turn.
Endurance
Kakarot: 47
Scott: 47
Turn 3
An under-drop came out for Kakarot in the form of Dr Psycho, Twisted Telepath whilst Scott had a more formidable character in the form of Rex Tyler ◊ Hourman, Inventor of Miraclo. This caused Kakarot to comment "Damn . . . and I was hoping for a 3-drop that didn’t have 5 DEF . . ."
Realizing the Hourman's potential to brick-wall him, Kakarot was forced to pass on attack. Scott swung Rex into the Doctor and used his free ability before passing. Both players passed and Kakarot took 8 (gaining 3 in the process) when Psycho was stunned. With Ragman in the back row Scott had no other attacks and both players moved to recovery.
Endurance
Kakarot: 42
Scott: 47
Turn 4
Dr. Occult was recruited on Scott's side of the board while Deathstroke the Terminator, Lethal Weapon came out for Kakarot. Kakarot put all his characters in the back row and passed, hoping to leave his reinforcement channels wide open.
Ragman attacked Psycho and, with no real options, Kakarot simply reinforced using Ishmael and passed. Both characters traded stuns, and Scott declared his next attack of Dr. Occult into Deathstroke. Thanagar was activated by Scott to try and avoid trading but Kakarot had the necessary Rann and was able to force a stun back on the Shadowpact character.
Rex then swung into Ishmael, happily, and Scott used the free ability once more to force through damage.
Endurance
Kakarot: 31
Scott: 34
Turn 5
Kakarot had a very impressive 5-drop in the form of Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal, Knight with Knight Armor. The Checkmate character came out to his front row causing Scott to deliberate for some time. He decided on Blue Devil, Big Blue commenting that he doesn't really like the 5-drop too much, causing Kakarot to retort "Heh . . . he's the guy who never leaves the table."
Rex Tyler was attacked by Deathstroke and Rann was used to force through more damage. Scott used the Hourman's free ability (also helping him to soak up some damage) and both players traded stuns. Roy then swung into Blue Devil and flipped Dr. Fate's Tower. He opted not to discard, but all became apparent when he used Brother Eye for an additional 3 endurance loss. Scott simply reinforced with Dr. Occult and, with no way to trade stuns, had to simply let his Blue Devil stun.
Endurance
Kakarot: 30
Scott: 17
Turn 6
Scott recruited Zatanna, Showstopper in his back row while Kakarot had a copy of Huntress, Reluctant Queen. He made her more formidable when Fate's Tower transferred the Knight Armor to his fresh drop. Deathstroke was pushed into the front row (to force Scott to lose damage via the 4-drop's vengeance ability) in front of Huntress and Roy was put in the back row next to her to keep reinforcement channels open.
Blue Devil attacked Roy Harper and Scott passed priority. Kakarot flipped Checkmate Safe House to team up Villains United and Checkmate and then Roy became 10 defense when the Safe House was activated. This was followed up by Rann in an attempt to trade stuns. With both characters sitting at 10/10 Scott used his always valuable copy of Thanagar and was able to avoid the trade.
As a 9ATK/9DEF Dr Occult was able to swing into Deathstroke and dodge a stun-back. Kakarot simply passed and Scott took 4 endurance loss in the transaction. Zatanna was faced against Huntress, but the Knight Armor was proving problematic. With no great options, Scott paid 3 endurance to draw a card via Zatanna. Clearly seeing the card that he needed, Scott sent Zatanna into Huntress. Forbidden Loyalties was flipped and Huntress became a 13ATK/14DEF.
He then used a copy of the Phantom Stranger to net himself +2ATK/+2DEF, bringing his 6-drop to an impressive 15ATK/16DEF. Kakarot was forced to pass and take the stun.
During recovery, Kakarot kept Huntress whilst Scott had managed to retain his entire board, commenting, "You can't have a much better turn than that!"
Endurance
Kakarot:12
Scott:10
Turn 7
The Calculator, Crime Broker came out for Kakarot and was equipped with a Cloak of Nabu, Fate Artifact. Scott chose not to respond to the Cloak and play moved to Scott's recruit. He recruited his own The Calculator, Crime Broker in the concealed area and moved on to combat.
Huntress attacked Dr. Occult and Scott elected not to reinforce with Zatanna (clearly realizing that he needed the opportunity to swing back later). The Calculator attacked Zatanna, and Kakarot tried to force through some final damage in the form of Rann and Brother Eye. Sitting at an impressive 19ATK/17 DEF Scott chose not to reinforce again and simply took the 10 endurance loss. Thanagar was used to reduce defense, but Scott was sitting on a very dangerous -7 endurance. When Scott's Calculator declared an attack into Huntress, an activation of Checkmate Safe House brought her to 15DEF and Scott was forced to offer the handshake.
Kakarot Turker and his Checkmate deck take a fantastic round 2 win!