Gray won the coin flip and started with initiative. He didn’t recruit a character, and Edbury recruited Boris. Neither player recruited on turn 2, so Boris attacked for 1. That lamp hurts.

Puppet Master hit the field on turn 3 and was met by a She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters from Edbury. She-Hulk attacked Puppet Master to cause some damage. Edbury followed it up with Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius on turn four, but Gray recruited Rogue, Power Absorption, giving him enough exhaustions to prevent all but one of Edbury’s characters from attacking. Edbury Flame Trapped, but Puppet Master activated in response to exhaust Boris. Flipping Latveria, Edbury attacked Rogue with Dr. Doom and then attacked directly with She-Hulk for 4 endurance loss. Gray recovered Puppet Master and took initiative for turn 5.

Gray made an interesting play before recruiting—he activated Puppet Master and then chained Flame Trap. Edbury responded by chaining Boris, and Gray responded to that with Swift Escape on Puppet Master. The end result was only She-Hulk and Dr. Doom on the board, one of which was exhausted (She-Hulk). Puppet Master was then recruited and activated again, leaving Edbury with nothing ready on the field.

Edbury then recruited She-Thing and Darkoth. With the amount of Burn Rubber in the tournament, it was a good play. Gray flipped Pleasant Distraction to exhaust Darkoth, and She-Thing attacked Puppet Master.

Turn 6 began with Edbury recruiting Boris and Robot Destroyer.

”That is entirely too many guys,” Gray protested.

“That’s the plan!” Edbury replied.

Gray recruited Mr. Freeze and protected Puppet Master, bracing for the inevitable wave of attackers. Robot Destroyer was the first, attacking Mr. Freeze with two It’s Clobberin’ Time!s for a total of 15 ATK against Freeze’s 13 DEF. Gray used Swift Escape in response to save Mr. Freeze, forcing the Robot Destroyer to stay exhausted. She-Thing attacked Puppet Master who activated in response. Gray chained Flame Trap, and Edbury responded with Boris to get him out of harm’s way, taking a copy of It’s Clobberin’ Time! in the process. When Puppet Master’s effect resolved, She-Hulk exhausted from Puppet Master’s effect, and Dr. Doom and Darkoth attacked directly.

Kicking off turn 7, Gray recruited Magneto, Master of Magnetism while Edbury recruited Thing, The Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing. Puppet Master activated in response and was then returned to Gray’s hand. Gray announced his intent to attack Darkoth, but Edbury used Mystical Paralysis to exhaust him. She-Hulk and Thing then team-attacked Magneto. Darkoth attacked, his effect and It’s Clobberin’ Time! were activated, and that was the end of game 1.

Game Two

Edbury mulliganed, but Gray kept his opening hand. Edbury evidently mulliganed into a Boris, as he recruited one and then had him attack Gray directly.

Turn 2 saw Puppet Master and She-Thing hit play, with She-Thing pounding through a bit of damage against Puppet Master.

“Medusa hates playing against Common Enemy—she hides,” explained Gray, making no 3-drop and then taking a significant pounding from She-Thing and a freshly recruited Darkoth.

His luck changed on turn 4, though, as he recruited Rogue, Power Absorption. He activated Puppet Master and chained Flame Trap. Edbury attempted to activate Boris but realized he could not—no Doomstadt. Boris, She-Thing, and Puppet Master all stunned, and Darkoth exhausted when Puppet Master’s effect finally resolved. Edbury recruited another Boris, KO’ing his previous one, and passed to Gray, who attacked Boris with Rogue. Edbury took a while to respond, laughing a bit while seeing his lack of options. “That Flame Trap is really good against me!” He opted to take the damage.

“Oh! We’re past the 47-mark! I’m beating my record from last game!” Gray exclaimed, causing both Gray and Edbury to laugh a bit. Edbury recovered She-Thing in order to recruit Thing, Heavy Hitter on turn 5, which Gray matched with Blackfire, making Rogue even more of a threat. Edbury used Flame Trap, and Gray responded with his Puppet Master / Flame Trap combo again, activating Puppet Master and then chaining Flame Trap. He exhausted Rogue to Entangle Darkoth, and everything was resolved, leaving nothing ready on Edbury’s side. Blackfire then attacked Darkoth, causing a loss of 7 endurance and making Edbury lose She-Thing.

Gray had initiative for turn 6 and recruited Mr. Freeze, met by Dr. Doom, Victor Von Doom. Edbury put all his characters in the back row so as to protect them from Blackfire. Freeze attempted to attack but was stopped by a Mystical Paralysis. Blackfire attacked Darkoth, who was reinforced by Thing.

“Rogue doesn’t want to take on Dr. Doom, so I’ll pass,” Gray stated. Edbury had nothing to attack with, so the turn was concluded.

Edbury couldn’t recruit anything on turn 7, and Gray recruited nothing as well. Thing attacked Blackfire, and Gray responded with an activation of Puppet Master and an activation of Rogue, who was doing her best Puppet Master imitation. Edbury responded with Mystical Paralysis on Mr. Freeze, and everything on the board was exhausted save Blackfire and Thing. Blackfire stunned, and that was the end of combat for that turn.

Both players then recruited copies of Apocalypse—bad news for both, but especially bad news for Gray. Edbury formed up all his characters in the support row to protect them from Blackfire. Both Apocalypses resolved, but Edbury used one of his soon-to-be-destroyed resources, a Faces of Doom, to search for Dr. Doom, Lord of Latveria. Puppet Master and Rogue exhausted Darkoth and Thing, and Blackfire attacked Darkoth, causing 7 endurance loss overall. Mr. Freeze attacked Thing, who powered up to avoid being stunned and was prevented from readying for the rest of the turn. Gray’s Apocalypse then attacked Dr. Doom, hitting through for 10 endurance loss and leaving Edbury with 11 endurance and a ready Apocalypse. Edbury’s Apocalypse attacked Blackfire and Gray responded with Fast Getaway, preventing the potential 10 breakthrough endurance loss. The score at that point was 22 to 11, in Gray’s favor. Edbury recovered Dr. Doom, losing Darkoth.

Edbury recruited another Darkoth and a She-Hulk on turn 9, playing a resource to place himself back at seven. Gray refused to play a resource—he Entangled Darkoth with Blackfire, activated Puppet Master to exhaust She-Hulk, recruited another Puppet Master, and announced the end of his phase. He then copied Puppet Master’s ability with Rogue and activated her to exhaust, chaining Flame Trap and then chaining Puppet Master. Edbury then scooped, seeing that he would not win the game.

Game Three

Edbury announced that he would take the even initiative, and mulliganed.

Neither player recruited a character, prompting a happy “Oh! No Boris-beats!” from Gray.

On turn 2, She-Thing and Puppet Master were recruited by Edbury and Gray respectively. Both players passed. Gray again didn’t recruit a Medusa. Darkoth hit Puppet Master for a bit of breakthrough endurance loss, and turn 4 began.

Edbury flipped up Doomstadt and Faces of Doom, searching for and recruiting a Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius, then flipped Faces of Doom back down. Gray activated Puppet Master, exhausting She-Thing, and then Swift Escaped Puppet Master, recruiting and activating him again to exhaust Darkoth. He again did not recruit a character, and passed play to Edbury. Edbury used Reign of Terror on Puppet Master and attacked directly for 7 endurance loss.

Turn 5 began with Gray again recruiting and exhausting Puppet Master to exhaust She-Thing, then using Swift Escape to bounce and recruit Puppet Master again, exhausting Darkoth. Edbury recruited Robot Destroyer, but by the time combat rolled around Robot Destroyer got hit with a Pleasant Distraction. Dr. Doom attacked Puppet Master, but was met by Burn Rubber.

On turn 6, Gray finally flipped Common Enemy. He Signal Flared for Hulk and recruited him. It was Puppet Master versus Hulk, She-Thing, Dr. Doom, Darkoth, and Robot Destroyer.

Gray opened his build by playing Flame Trap as a resource. He then activated Puppet Master and chained Flame Trap. Puppet Master and She-Thing were both stunned and Darkoth was exhausted. Gray then recruited Scarecrow, boosting him for 1, to no effect. Hulk attacked Scarecrow, and Gray exhausted him in response to Entangle Dr. Doom. Robot Destroyer then attacked with It’s Clobberin’ Time! for 12 endurance loss, leaving Gray at just 11 endurance.

Gray drew and grimaced. “All the members of the ‘Turn Too Late Club.’” He recruited Magneto, Master of Magnetism and left both Magneto and Scarecrow in the front row. Edbury however, Signal Flared for Thing, The Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing, and recruited it. After thinking a bit, Gray smiled and offered a handshake, conceding the final game.

Match Win to Rich Edbury