One last step remains for the last eight players traveling the road to the final four. In a Top 8 featuring six home-state players and just as many archetypes, few knew what to expect. Here’s how the matches played out.
Quarterfinal: Milton Figueroa (The Brave and The Bold) vs. Andrew Macht (Fantastic Four)
Game one saw Figueroa finding himself amidst a perfect draw. He didn’t miss the curve on a single turn, and filled out his curve with Bat-Signal, Dynamic Duo and Teen Titans Go! Andrew could barely keep the pace, missing two drops. Ultimately, that was too many, and the game ended on turn 7.
Quarterfinal: Donald Nolan (Medium Brotherhood) vs. Dave Bauer (Curve Sentinels)
All through playtesting, all through yesterday and all through last night, David Bauer’s friends told him “Don’t attack into Insignificant Threat.” It makes sense, then, that his turn 5 team attack on Magneto, Eric Lehnsherr resulted in disaster. Fortunately for Bauer, he had the power of Curve Sentinels to keep him in the game long enough to force a mental error from three-time Top 8 finisher Nolan, who by his own admission completely forgot to activate Magneto. The error cost him the first game on turn 7.
Game two saw Donald in trouble early as Curve Sentinels had another consistent draw. Things got desperate enough for Donald that he was forced to activate two Genoshas in an attempt to find mid-cost characters. Somehow, the eight cards helped him draw out of his problems, with a turn 6 Mystique, Shape-Changing Assassin taking Bauer out on turn 7.
Game three was anti-climactic. Donald missed his plays on turns 3, 4, and 6 while David was busy topdecking Overload from Genosha. Magneto, Master of Magnetism came to play on turn 7. There was no turn 8.
Quarterfinal: Antonino DeRosa (X-Stall) vs. Jacob Hershberger (Curve Sentinels)
There’s nothing that the event staff fears more than the dreaded X-Stall deck making the Top 8, and the length of game one provided a perfect example as to why that’s the case. Jacob did some damage early, but Antonino’s mutants were able to keep the machines mostly in check, allowing Jean Grey, Phoenix Force to effectively restart the game on turn 8. After that, DeRosa had all the answers, responding to a ninth turn Bastion with Puppet Master and answering each threat in kind. Professor X, World’s Most Powerful Telepath made an appearance, prompting Antonino to tease, “You’re being attacked by a guy in a wheelchair!” Finally, on turn 13, after another Jean Grey came and went, Antonino finally found the missing Onslaught to lock up the game.
“Isn’t this game tough?” marveled the Italian, as he and Hershberg had been engaged in laidback banter throughout the match. The two agreed that Vs. System was about as complex as any game they’d played.
Game two saw a reversal of fortune, with the Sentinels coming out full force. DeRosa tried to stem the tide, but the machines kept on coming. On turn 6, staring at {Professor X, World’s Most Powerful Telepath], he realized he had no characters upon whom the Professor’s loyalty could rely. Rather than waiting out a slow death, he admitted it was time for the third game.
The tiebreaker again saw Curve Sentinels curve, and the results were expected. Jacob’s constant press was unyielding, and DeRosa’s defense started to fail. Before Jean could come out to play, Hershberger managed to cause lethal endurance loss, finishing the job on turn 7. Able only to shake his head, Antonino extended his hand.
Quarterfinals: Julius Heywood (X-Stall) vs. David DeMichele (Teen Titans)
As long as we knew DeRosa’s match would be, this was the one we all feared. Heywood doesn’t play X-Stall as fast as Antonino, while David De Michele was believed to be the slowest player in yesterday’s Swiss rounds. Almost half the rounds saw him playing in the last remaining match.
Game one was an hour-long marathon. The Titans attacked, the mutants repelled, with a back and forth battle seeing Julius reduced to 1 endurance on turn 8. Two Pleasant Distractions kept him alive long enough to get De Michele to zero endurance on turn 9. That was just barely enough.
Game two saw the Titans come out more aggressively, with both players keeping an eye on the clock. A series of Titans team attacks helped De Michele take advantage. On turn 6 with Julius at 15 endurance, David activated Red Star, taking Heywood to 10 endurance, then played another Red Star . Julius, knowing he was in big trouble, considered his options for a moment, then asked head judge Matt Tabak how much time was left. When informed it was thirty-two minutes, knowing his was the slower deck of the two, Julius decided it would be best to fight another day and conceded the game.
The other quarterfinal matches had all finished before game two was ten minutes old, so now the spectators surrounded these last two players. David came out of the gates quickly, but on turn 4, a team attack failed when X-Corporation saved Rogue, Power Absorption. Time was definitely a factor, with the twenty, fifteen, and ten minute periods passing without much activity. As time ran low, David was winning the endurance race, but with the initiative on turn 7 and no play to make, he could only use four resource points. At this point, time was called, with Tabak informing the players there would be one more turn after this one. Julius played Professor X, World’s Most Powerful Telepath, and followed that with Jean Grey coming out the next turn. David could only look at the scores, see he was about to get smashed, and concede the game.