Jason Dawson is one of Team FTN’s most successful members. Maik Stich is one of Germany’s finest players, and he’s possibly one of the best deckbuilders around. Plagued by a string of lackluster performances, he’s finally scored a 4-0 record in a PC.
“I actually got the idea for this deck from you,” said Stich, taking a seat at the table.
“Yeah, my teammates are paranoid about keeping things secret. I’m not, really. If you beat me, maybe I’ll rethink my theory.” Dawson smiled as he sat and began shuffling.
Jason won the roll and took the odd initiatives. Both players decided to keep their opening hands, and both came out swinging—Dawson with The Shark and Stich with Shadow Creatures. Dawson passed combat, but Stich attacked with Shadow Creatures for the stun. He then flipped Sector 2814 and gained in endurance, setting the totals at 50 to 49 in his favor.
Next turn, Stich dropped two more Shadow Creatures, while Dawson used Willworld. Dawson recruited Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern and searched for Light Armor. He tapped it a few times with his finger before revealing it and finalizing his decision. Rayner suited up in the Armor and then swung directly into Stich. The Shark followed suit for 6 endurance loss total. Stich gained 3 endurance with Sector 2814, and play moved to turn 3. The Shadow Creatures brooded in their comforting darkness.
Dawson flipped and announced The Ring Has Chosen, but then he took the move back, which was OK with Stich. Dawson recruited Dr. Light, Master of Holograms, and then he activated The Ring Has Chosen, discarding G’Nort. Dr. Light brought up G’Nort, and Dawson passed.
Stich played a resource, flipped Birthing Chamber, recruited another copy of Shadow Creatures, and activated the Chamber. He passed to Dawson, who attacked with G’Nort, The Shark, and Kyle Rayner. The turn ended with endurance totals at 49 to 42 for Dawson.
On turn 4, Stich flipped The Ring Has Chosen after meticulously playing his resource. He took a copy of Kiman and recruited it, arranging his concealed formation to protect Kiman with one of the Shadow Creatures. Two copies were in the back row, signaling that he was prepared for Rot Lop Fan should Dawson have him.
Dawson used Willworld yet again, and sure enough, by hand or by grace, he had a Rot Lop Fan to recruit. Dr. Light activated to bring up Hector Hammond, and Dawson formed up with everything in the back row.
One of the Shadow Creatures attacked G’Nort. Stich powered-up the attacker, and Dawson looked perturbed. He eventually passed, clearly not liking the situation. Stich then passed combat, opting not to attack the vulnerable Kyle Rayner with Kiman—Kyle was sandwiched between the exhausted Dr. Light and the stunned G’Nort.
Rot Lop Fan flew into the Shadow Creature adjacent to Kiman in the support row, and Stich reinforced with the other Shadow Creature. Kyle Rayner then attacked Kiman, armed with Trial By Sword. In response, Stich exhausted Kiman and the last copy of Shadow Creatures for Recharging the Ring, replacing two resources instead of one by mistake (Kiman does not have willpower 1 or greater). Dawson called for a judge to handle the issue. Judge Paul Ross enforced the proper ruling, correcting the mistake and returning the cards to the top of Stich’s deck before allowing Recharging the Ring to resolve. Because the characters only exhaust at resolution, not as a cost, Kiman was not exhausted. One resource was replaced (which of the two cards was used as the replacement was determined randomly), and combat continued. Kiman and Kyle both went down, while Stich took breakthrough.
Dawson then attempted to pay 2 endurance to make Hector Hammond capable of attacking hidden characters. It was a misplay, since Hector is not a Green Lantern character. After another judge was called, Dawson didn’t have to pay the 2 endurance (he could have targeted Rot Lop Fan). Hector swung directly, and the endurance totals were 33 to 41, with Dawson leading.
Bolstered by a significant advantage in endurance, Dawson used Willworld. After some hesitation and careful thought, he recruited Olapet with boost. Olapet’s tendrils slinked through Dawson’s deck and plucked out Arisia. With no Qward in sight and no board control tricks at all thus far in the game, things were looking bad for Stich. Dawson played The Ring Has Chosen to fetch Speedy, and then he recruited the miniscule archer as well as Salakk and Arisia. Time was called, and Stich recruited two more copies of Shadow Creatures before activating Birthing Chamber. He activated The Ring Has Chosen, took Malvolio, and passed combat to Dawson, who was staring at a ripe and unblocked field.
Rot Lop Fan rang his F-Sharp Bell for Olapet, who swung at a copy of Shadow Creatures. Stich used Men of Steel, but Roy Harper KO’d the Shadow Creatures to end the attack and ready Olapet. Rot Lop then leapt into the shadows after another one of the Shadow Creatures, and Stich took 8 breakthrough. The bell was struck yet again, this time for Kyle Rayner, and Salakk was quickly given the same favor. Salakk took out the copy of Shadow Creatures in front of Kiman, but a Helping Hand kept the character around. It was 33 to 25, and Olapet again ventured into the darkness, this time with her grasping vines aimed at Kiman. Kiman and Olapet both went down after Kiman activated, and Kyle then smashed the back row copy of Shadow Creatures. Two more copies remained, and neither one could be reinforced. The Shark attacked directly for 5, and then more damage came from Hector. Arisia benefited from the bell next. She took down one of the Shadow Creatures, and that was game!