The might of the Brotherhood weenies took on yet more purple robots in the Semifinals of the Melbourne $10K.
Sydney’s Luke Bartter with The New Brotherhood took on Queensland’s Early Nguyen and his Curve Sentinels.
Neither player recruited a character on turn 1, with the first character hitting play on turn two in the form of a Boliver Trask for Early. He swung in for one.
Luke played Rogue, Anna Raven on turn 3, while Early produced a shiny Sentinel Mark II. Rogue flew into Boliver, who was reinforced by the bot.
Turn 4 saw Luke recruit Sauron and Early brought out Sentinel Mark V. Early hit Sauron with Mark V, and then Mark II went in to hit Rogue. Luke flipped Lost City and gave Rogue a super power-up, but Early had a Savage Beatdown. Luke powered up again, and so did Early. Luke flipped Avalon Space Station and activated to get both Rogues back, then and powered up through Lost City once more. Finally, Early played Overload on Rogue, which meant his robot attacker readied.
Early’s Mark II and Boliver then went past Luke’s empty board for direct attacks. The life totals were now 36 to 45 in Early’s favour.
Luke played Magneto, Eric Lehnsherr on turn 5, flipping Genosha and KO'ing it for the four cards. Early played his metagamed Scarlet Witch, which was exhausted by Magneto. Sauron attacked the Mark II, and Luke revealed The New Brotherhood. Magneto then attacked Boliver to bring the endurance totals to 27 and 25 in Luke’s favor. Early chose not to recover Boliver.
Early played the powerful Bastion on turn 6, while Luke played a resource followed by Quicksilver, Speed Demon, and finally cracked another Genosha for the cards.
Early’s Witch attacked Sauron, and then Bastion attacked Quicksilver. Luke used Lost City and Avalon repeatedly, but Bastion’s tricks were better. Early then used Finishing Move to rid himself of Quicksilver permanently. Luke had the opportunity to attack back with Magneto into Mark II, leaving Early with 9 endurance and Luke on 15.
On turn 7, Luke played Sabretooth, Feral Rage and Early brought out Magneto, Master of Magnetism. Sabretooth attacked Bastion and achieved the stun with the help of Lost City. Magneto and Sauron then attacked Early’s bigger Magneto.
In the end Luke was on 1 endurance, but Early was on -13.
Luke Bartter wins game 1.
Early chose odd initiatives for game 2. He played a Trask on turn 1 and a Sentinel Mark III on turn 2, while Luke played nothing.
On turn 3, Luke finally recruited a Pyro, and Early missed his drop this time. Mark III easily dealt with the mutant menace, but not before Luke activated for the 3 burn. Early then played Finishing Move on Pyro.
Luke had a Sauron on turn four, while Early recruited a Mark V. Sauron attacked the Mark III, but Early was once again able to clear Luke’s board with an attack followed up by Finishing Move.
Early boosted out a Mark V on turn 5 and Luke brought Sabretooth into the game. The upgraded Mark V attacked Sabretooth, who had a Lost City power-up from Luke. Early then played a Savage Beatdown, which was met with an Avalon activation and another big power-up. In the end, Sabretooth still became stunned.
Finally the other Mark V went in directly. Luke was now on 12 and Early on 34. Luke recruited Magneto on turn 6 and Early kept hitting the curve with Bastion. To pull a little further ahead, Luke cracked a Genosha for another four cards.
At this point, Early’s board was just too strong, and Luke couldn’t punch through enough damage. Early still had 19 endurance, and Luke conceded the next turn when Early played Magneto, Master of Magnetism.
Early Nguyen wins game 2.
Luke chose odd initiative for game 3, but didn’t play a character until Rogue came out on turn 3. Early, meanwhile, hit his early curve with Trask, Mark II and Mark III on the appropriate turns.
Rogue attacked Mark III for the stun and was then attacked in turn by the Mark II- Boliver exhausted for Finishing Move on Rogue. The endurance totals were 43 each.
On turn 4, Early produced a Mark V to join his Boliver and Mark II. Luke then recruited Sabretooth, Feral Rage. Mark V and Mark II combined to attack Sabretooth, so Luke flipped and used Lost City, then did the same with Avalon and finally Lost City again to make the mutant a 17 ATK/13 DEF. Early then played Savage Beatdown. Finally, Early attacked with Boliver to get one ahead on endurance with 39.
Turn 5 saw the arrival of Quicksilver for Luke and Scarlet Witch for Early. Luke used Genosha to draw two cards. Sabretooth ravaged the Mark V with a Lost City power-up, and then Quicksliver took a Flying Kick at the Mark II. Quicksilver was so fast he could also attack Trask, reducing Early to 13 endurance.
Early hit Bastion on turn 6 to add to his Mark V and Scarlet Witch, while Luke recruited Pyro and Rogue to join his Sabretooth and Quicksilver. Luke once again used a Genosha for two cards, and fished a Rogue and Quicksilver out of his KO'd pile with Avalon Space Station
Early sent Mark V into Rogue for a stun, and then Bastion into Quicksilver. Luke powered up twice through Lost City to make Pietro a 14 ATK/14 DEF, but Early was able to use Bastion’s ability to bring him up to 15/15- Luke then flipped The New Brotherhood. Early pumped Bastion twice more, and then Luke flipped a second TNB. Bastion was doomed, so Early pumped his Witch once before the Sentinel traded the stun.
Wanda attacked Sabretooth, who was pumped for +3 ATK/+3 DEF. This stun brought Early to two endurance, where Pyro finished him.
Luke Bartter wins game 3 and the match.