Phimus Pan hails from Phoenix, AZ and is a teammate of the man he’s sitting down across from, Brian Gates. Gates is someone we all know from his Top 8 in Pro Circuit Atlanta earlier this year. Today, he’s hoping to prove his Modern Age prowess once again with his Rock deck.

Brian led the game off with a Surveillance Pawn on turn 1. Phimus had nothing, but Talia, Beloved Betrayer came out for him on the following turn. It was answered with a Black Thorn on Brian’s side. Everything seemed to be going fine for both players until Brian was unable to play anything on turn 3, allowing Phimus to seize the opportunity with an Ahmed Samsarra. A searched out Checkmate Safe House allowed Phimus team-up and get a Bizarro, ME AM BIZARRO #1 with his Brother I Satellite.

Bizarro came down for Phimus, while Brian played a Charles McNider ◊ Dr. Mid-Nite and exhausted him to move himself to the visible area, soaking up some of the damage from Bizarro. Talia then went into Brian directly with the help of Brother Eye to bring the totals to 29-40 in Phimus’s favor. Brian sent Black Thorn into Talia for a mutual stun, and then attacked Phimus directly with Surveillance Pawn and a Brother Eye of his own, putting Phimus at 34.

Turn 5 looked even worse for Brian, as he was forced to under-drop with Atom Smasher and Adrian Chase ◊ Vigilante. Phimus used Ahmed to find a Dr. Fate’s Tower, getting Amulet of Nabu. The Amulet came down with a freshly recruited Mr. Freeze, Brutal Blizzard, but fortunately for Brian, no other pieces of the Fate set followed it. Dr. Mid-Nite attacked Bizarro, and Vigilante went into Mr. Freeze, both with a boost from Surveillance Pawn for the turn. Mr. Freeze locked down Vigilante, causing Brian to recover Dr. Mid-Nite in the recovery phase instead.

Turn 6 began with Phimus at 25 to Brian’s 23 as he used Ahmed to search out another Brother I Satellite, which then allowed him to search out Huntress, Reluctant Queen. Phimus also added a Helm of Nabu to Mr. Freeze. Brian brought out a Huntress of his own and gave her a Cloak of Nabu before exhausting Surveillance Pawn to give his team +1 ATK. Phimus used Dr. Fate’s Tower to move the Fate Artifacts from Mr. Freeze to Huntress. Charles McNider was stunned by an attack from Mr. Freeze, but not before being reinforced with Atom Smasher and moving the Smasher to his hidden area with McNider’s ability, hiding the 1-drop from a back-breaking attack by Huntress. Phimus sent his 15 ATK / 13 DEF Huntress into Brian’s 13 ATK / 13 DEF. Huntress After a flurry of combat pumps from both players, Phimus was left with a 31 ATK / 16 DEF Huntress to Brian’s 21 ATK / 19 DEF Huntress, putting Brian at exactly 1 endurance to Phimus’s 14.

Brian used his turn 7 initiative to play a late Ahmed Samsarra of his own along with a new Charles McNider ◊ Dr. Mid-Nite. Phimus was able to play his third Brother I Satellite of the game to find Alexander Luthor, Diabolical Double, which he boosted into play. With the boost, he was able to place a second Ahmed Samsarra into his hidden area. Before the combat phase, Brian exhausted his Ahmed to search out The Rock of Eternity; returned The Phantom Stranger, Wandering Hero to his hand; and used the Pawn to give his team +1 ATK. Then he readied his team with The Rock’s ability when combat began. A team attack took down Luthor, who was now wearing the Fate Artifacts, but it still wasn’t enough, and Brian offered the hand to Phimus. Phimus Pan was now sitting strong at 4-0, but with Brian at 3-1, there is  a strong possibility that the teammates will see each other in the Top 8.