Dave Spears has been a very popular man as of late. He’s spent the last couple of rounds here in the feature match area and doesn’t seem to want to leave. He’s sitting at 10-1 coming into this round, so why would he? His opponent, Anthony Shaheen is also on quite a tear, coming in at 10-1. Only one of the two worthy combatants will come away with that coveted match win, though.
Freddie Crespo Jr. leaned over toward Anthony before the match and pumped the fist. “Yeah, let's get ’em!” Then members of the Dave Spears Fan Club leaned over the railing to yell, “We’ve got your back, Spears!” Startled by the audience response, all Anthony could muster was an, “Oh man, that’s not what I want to hear.”
Blinded as I was by the shine coming from the glorious sleeves that Spears chose for his deck, I’d barely noticed the match had begun. Spears won the initiative and led off with a turn 1 Shadow Creatures. Anthony went to town on his turn and activated Willworld, snagging a random character with willpower. He then discarded a Roy Harper ◊ Speedy, which elicited a sigh of relief from Spears. However, you don’t get to 9-1 by discarding your trump card in a matchup without having another. Ladies and gentlemen, Speedy has entered the building.
Turn 2 started off with a repeat Speedy and a G’Nort from Anthony. Spears, much to the chagrin of his throng of onlookers, had nothing for turn 2. On to turn 3. Spears once again had the initiative and took advantage of it by playing a Kreon. “That’s it? That’s your big finish?” Anthony ran a boosted Olapet into play, snagging himself an Arisia. Kreon bashed into G‘Nort “Aw, you have sector stupid stupid stupid stupid. Arrgh!”
On turn 4, Anthony’s Willworld actually came through and delivered him a Dr. Light, Master of Holograms. He then teamed up GL and EE with Hard-Traveling Heroes and used Dr. Light to get a Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern. Kyle brought a Helping Hands with him to the party. All Spears had as an answer was two lonely Shadow Creatures. Olapet decided to get big and, with the help of an Ole!, managed to bash through Kreon. Then, Anthony used his Speedy to KO Spears’s Shadow Creatures, which Spears used to activate Qward targeting G’Nort. At the end of the turn, endurance totals stood at 44-36 in favor of Anthony.
Turn 5 brought the mystical and magical Element Man to Spears’s side of the board. Anthony matched Dave’s large hidden man with a Rot Lop Fan. He then used Dr. Light to grab a G’Nort from his bin and used Speedy to munch on another Shadow Creatures. Before he let his ninja die, though, Dave used it to power a Qward activation aimed right at G’Nort. Kreon then waltzed over to beat on G’Nort. Element Man followed suit and crushed Arisia. The little Lanterns weren’t easily discouraged, though. Rot Lop Fan ran blindly into Kreon, arms swinging. After Kreon fell, Element Man moved out into the real world to help protect Dave. All of Anthony’s remaining characters ganged up on the man of elements. A Shock Troops and an Ole! later, and Element Man bit the proverbial dust. This put Anthony up 35-26.
Anthony continued his onslaught by boosting a Guy Gardner, Strong Arm of the Corps. He then activated Dr. Light to get back Arisia and the beat seminar was ready to begin. Spears still had a little kick left in him, though, and he started his recruit off with everyone’s favorite ninja, the Shadow Creatures. He then played The Ring Has Chosen to get a Kiman from his deck. Kiman slid into the shadows and out of the line of fire. Rot Lop Fan, master of the ancient art of blind fighting, was more than up to the task of finding and putting an end to the Kiman menace. Once Kiman had been taken care of, Olapet and The SharkÔ teamed up on Element Man. Element Man used his ability to move Dave’s two Shadow Creatures out of hiding in a desperate attempt to find a way to stop the impending beating. When nothing arrived, Spears packed it up.