Shane Wiggans and Ron McClintock are sitting in the final round of Swiss with a lot of pressure on their shoulders. The winner will get to sit down with seven other people at the final table, and the loser will go home. Ron has his work cut out for him facing off against the more experienced Wiggans.

Shane won the roll and chose odds, but Ron was the one who stepped into the driver’s seat, leading off the game on turns 1 and 2 with two copies of The Punishers, while all Shane could manage on the second turn was Elite Doom Guards. Turn 3 looked better for Wiggans, though, as he played Dr. Minerva and found Ruul Warrior from the top of his deck. After that, a priced-to-sell Captain Att-Lass joined the good doctor. Technarx joined Ron’s growing horde of Doom weenies before Shane sent his crew forward in a massive wave, leaving himself with the Doom Guards and Dr. Minerva and Ron with only Technarx.

The score was still close at 42-43 in Ron’s favor as the Brooklyn native led off turn 4 with Moloids and Silver Surfer, Skyrider of the Spaceways, but it wasn’t the strong turn he was hoping for in a game of this caliber. Shane pressed onward by returning Dr. Minerva to his hand with Penal Colony, then playing her again and following with a fresh copy of Captain Att-Lass, Ruul Warrior, and a free Nenora. Ron looked a little dissatisfied as he stunned Minerva with Technarx and Elite Doom Guards with Silver Surfer. The Surfer managed to survive the attack with the help of It’s Slobberin’ Time!, so it looked like Ron might be able to even the board up a little. Moloids stunned Ruul Warrior with a boost from Sworn Enemies before Ron passed to Shane, who opted not to attack with the board evened up at three characters apiece.

Before the draws on turn 5, Ron used Silver Surfer’s ability to find Red Shift, Rift Walker. Shane played Dr. Minerva (yes, another one), who found Captain Att-Lass. Penal Colony brought her back to Shane’s hand so he could play her again, finding Dr. Doom, Sorcerous Savant since Doom and Kree were teamed-up via Extended Family. Admiral Galen Kor followed the bouncing Minerva into play, and as expected, Ron played Red Shift before passing off to Shane for the attacks. Act of Defiance gave everyone on Shane’s team a little boost with Nenora’s Skrull affiliation, and Minerva was sent after Moloids. Silver Surfer suffered a similar fate at the hands of Nenora. Admiral Galen Kor attacked Technarx, but Ron got tricky with Doom Needs Only Doom, KO’ing his Moloids to stun the Admiral back. Ruul Warrior went after Ron directly before Red Shift came thundering after it, leaving the score at 15-20 in Ron’s favor.

Ron hoped to hold onto his lead with Dr. Doom, Sorcerous Savant as his play for turn 6, and Shane thought it would be a great choice too, so he went with the same play. Red Shift hopped over to a protected Admiral Galen Kor, who was reinforced by the neighboring Dr. Doom. Penal Colony returned Dr. Minerva, and Shane KO’d Att-Lass to flip Intergalactic Summit face down. Re-flipping Summit didn’t gain Wiggans any action, and Ron sealed the game by sending his Dr. Doom into Shane’s with the aid of Barbaric Brawl and a recycled It’s Slobberin’ Time! by KO’ing Red Shift to turn it down with Doom’s ability. McClintock took down Wiggans, hopefully giving him a Top 8 berth with a record of 8-3.