These players are friends from Ottawa. But one of them goes home today; the winner will make Top 8, and the loser will not.
Jayden won the die roll and selected the odd initiatives. He mulliganed, and Mike kept his opening hand. Jayden led off with Joystick, which he equipped with an Amulet of Nabu. Mike had no play, and Joystick attacked directly. Mike had the initiative on the second turn and began by playing Straight to the Grave from his resource row for Captain Boomerang, George Harkness. He flipped Slaughter Swamp and discarded Psycho-Pirate to recur it, then recruited it in his front row. Jayden recruited Shape in front of Joystick. In combat, Boomerang was used to bounce Joystick, and Shape attacked directly. Jayden led 50-45.
Turn 3 was Jayden’s initiative, and he recruited Lady Lark, Linda Lewis behind Shape. Jayden flipped Dr. Fate’s Tower, discarding Joystick to search for Cloak of Nabu. Lady Lark got the equipment, and Jayden passed. Another Straight to the Grave from Mike fetched Captain Cold, which he recruited. Jayden attacked with a power-up, but Mike had With Prejudice for a single point to stun back. Shape attacked directly, and that was the turn—Jayden’s lead widened to 45-36.
On turn 4, Mike began by returning Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster to his hand (it was put there by With Prejudice). He recruited Hawkeye, Clinton Barton and used Slaughter Swamp to return Joystick to Jayden’s hand. Jayden recruited Helm of Nabu onto Lady Lark, drawing and then discarding two cards. He recruited Golden Archer and set up with Shape protecting Lady Lark. Mike sent Captain Cold into Shape. Jayden played Answer the Call for no effect, forcing the stunback. Hawkeye attacked Lady Lark, and Jayden powered-up. The characters traded. Golden Archer attacked into an empty board to conclude combat. In recovery, Jayden had Panacea Potion for Lady Lark. He still led, 39-21.
Jayden kicked off turn 5 with Enemy of My Enemy. He discarded Ted Kord ◊ Blue Beetle for Firestar. The 5-drop was immediately recruited, and Jayden passed. Mike returned Mxyzptlk, put Ted back into Jayden’s hand, and recruited Scarecrow, Fearmonger behind Hawkeye. Jayden sent Firestar into Hawkeye, and Mike exhausted Hawkeye to stun Shape before flipping Mosaic World to allow for reinforcement. Both characters stunned, and Firestar was KO’d. For the final attack of the turn, Jayden team attacked Golden Archer and Lady Lark into Scarecrow. After the stuns, the endurance score was 28-7 in Jayden’s favor. Shape and Hawkeye were lost in recovery.
Mike had Gorilla Grodd behind Scarecrow for turn 6. Jayden recruited a Hawkeye of his own, as well as the recurred Ted Kord. He immediately used Ted to search for his missing Amulet of Nabu, which he recruited to Lady Lark. Fate’s Tower moved the Artifacts to Golden Archer, and Jayden passed. At the beginning of combat, Scarecrow moved Lady Lark’s counter to Grodd. Scarecrow ran over Hawkeye, and Grodd attacked into the Archer. In response to Jayden’s activation, Mike returned Shape to Jayden’s hand with Slaughter Swamp. Jayden couldn’t attack and lost Hawkeye in recovery. His lead was now a tenuous 10-2.
On turn 7, Jayden began by re-recruiting his shape. He used Ted to discard his last card for a Flamethrower, which he equipped to Shape. Jayden passed to Mike, who began by recurring Mxyzptlk. He played a third Straight to the Grave, depositing another Grodd and an Absolute Dominance into his KO’d pile. Mike recruited Mark Desmond ◊ Blockbuster and passed. In combat, Golden Archer was sent into Scarecrow with an Other-Earth. Mike allowed the attack and flipped Sinister Citadel. He then flipped his fourth Straight to the Grave, getting a Scarecrow into his KO’d pile. He returned it to his hand with his Swamp. He powered-up, then used the Citadel to move Grodd’s counter to Scarecrow. Next, he flipped another Citadel and KO’d Mark Desmond to put a counter on Grodd. He exhausted this new Citadel to move the counter to Scarecrow, who was now too big for the Archer to stun. Jayden made a futile team attack, and Mike sealed the game with an attack back with Grodd.