I sat down and began to look for a feature match to cover and decided on the match between Joshua Wiitanen and Reinhard Blech. Blech seemed to have trouble finding his fortieth card, and this triggered a deck check request from Josh, which in turn made me move over to another match. So jumping in mid-game, I now bring you the exciting match between Tim Batow and Andre Muller.

Just as I sat down and started typing, Tim Batow’s Ape X bashed into Muller’s Radioactive Man, Chen Lu. Tim then used a Repulsor Ray from hand to help his smaller Black Knight, Nathaniel Garrett, trade with Muller’s larger Black Knight, Dane Whitman.  This play was incredibly aggressive, and I could only assume that it was intended to support an empty hand strategy later in the game.

Muller 45, Batow 46

Turn 3

Muller recruited Tiger Shark equipped with a V-Wing, and Batow recruited Marcus Daniels ◊ Blackout. Nathan got some retribution on his fellow Black Knight, and then Tiger Shark traded with Daniels. 

Muller 42, Batow 41

Turn 4

Heinrich Zemo ◊ Baron Zemo joined Blackout on Batow’s side. Mr. Hyde, Engine of Destruction snatched up the V-Wing from Tiger Shark after taking up a position behind Dane Whitman. Tiger Shark aggressively took a spot in the front row.

Batow’s attack with Blackout into Black Knight went south when Muller used Heroes in Reserve (revealing three characters) to force the trade. Zemo, backed up by a Shrink, was able to take out Tiger Shark safely, even with the extra ATK from the V-Wing.

Things had been reasonably even up until this point of the game, and then Muller flipped his bomb card—Pym Laboratories—and saved his characters for the next turn.

Muller 34, Batow 38

Turn 5

Muller recruited an 8 ATK/7 DEF Black Panther and a Falcon. Batow, clearly in trouble, recruited Albert Gains ◊ Nuke, protecting Baron Zemo. Putting Nuke into play turned Mr. Hyde into a 9 ATK/9 DEF, allowing him to swing into Nuke, which he promptly did.

Batow had another Nuke, a Heroes in Reserve, and an Airskimmer in hand. Batow chose not to burn these cards at this time and allowed Nuke to go down. This is somewhat surprising given how far behind he was in the match and how aggressively he had played his hand earlier.

Black Panther then traded with a reinforced Baron Zemo, and Tiger Shark traded with Blackout, leaving the way open for Black Knight and Falcon to team attack Batow directly. Ahead in both endurance and board position (thanks again to the Pym Labs), Muller looked in control.

Muller 24, Batow 19

Turn 6

There are many things that happened this turn, but only one really mattered. Tim Batow had the initiative and recruited The Wrecker, putting him behind Nuke. I’ll give you a minute to think about that.

See the problem? Nuke was able to attack profitably, but The Wrecker had to just sit there and watch as a counterattack into Nuke brought his master closer to defeat. 

Muller 17, Batow 14

Turn 7

Muller recruited Lady Punisher and Scorpion, Fatal Sting, bringing him to a whopping six reservists in play with three still revealed in the resource row.

Batow recruited Hawkeye, Leader by Example and made The Wrecker invulnerable with Crime Spree. His board now contained three characters of three different team affiliations. Nuke took up a position behind The Wrecker, adjacent to Hawkeye.

Black Panther, Black Knight, and the Falcon all team attacked into Nuke once again, trading 3 for 5 endurance.

Muller 14, Batow 9

Muller then sent his own Wrecker (recruited last turn) into Hawkeye. Batow used Heroes in Reserve for +3 ATK, which was enough to stun back, but not enough to close the endurance gap after Muller played two Wrecking Crews to knock Batow to -4 endurance.

Batow’s Wrecker was finally in a position to attack, but Muller slow rolled Prismatic Shield, making the attack meaningless.