Gabe Walls and Ryan Jones are two of the Vs. System's most respected pro-level players. Both were 8-2 for the day and were thus already Q'd for Day 2—this match was for personal pride.
Gabe won the coin toss and then had to stop and think. “So sad . . . Eleventh round of the PC and I don't know what initiative I want against the biggest deck. Uhh, evens. Even though you want that.” Walls, playing Titans, knew Jones was playing Curve Sentinels.
Jones recruited Boliver and grabbed
Hounds of Ahab immediately. “You son of a no good!” exclaimed Walls. “I kept it, didn't I?” Jones grinned. Walls flipped
Optitron and used his single resource point to grab a
Red Star, discarding his one copy of
Koriand'r Starfire to do so.
Red Star would protect the efficiency of Gabe's deck if Jones started flipping
Micro-Sentinels and Walls started using
Foiled to keep the game in the early stages. If Walls had nothing but
Red Star or was filling turns with lower drops,
Red Star's effect would ensure that resource points wouldn't go to waste.
Turn 2 saw Walls recruit
Roy Harper ◊ Speedy to KO Boliver and then use
Optitron again to grab
Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal for turn 3. Jones dropped Hounds and swung directly. He followed it up with a
Sentinel Mark II on turn 3, and Walls countered with
Dawn Granger ◊ Dove with boost to bring out Hawk. He flipped
USS Argus and spent over a minute and a half selecting the card he would take. He then formed up with Dove protecting Hawk and forced a double trade. Walls was left with Hawk, while Jones kept the Mark II.
Walls's
Red Star from turn 1 hit the field next, and Jones recruited
Sentinel Mark V. “Oh geeze. I see why we're 8-2,” said Walls with a grin. Hawk protected
Red Star, and the Mark V protected the Mark II. Walls team attacked into the Mark V, losing
Red Star, played
Teen Titans Go! to ready Hawk, and then swung with Hawk and a
Savage Beatdown. Jones came out smelling like a rose, though, responding with
Finishing Move to KO
Red Star. By the end of the turn, it was Mark V to Hawk. “I've gotcha good! Right where I wantcha.” Walls spoke in a comedic, lackadaisical way.
Jones missed
Nimrod but had a Mark II and a
Hounds of Ahab to fill out his points for the turn. “This is going to be my best turn ever,” remarked Walls, shaking his head as he looked at the field. His expression clearly betrayed his vocalized optimism and he seemed to be at a distinct disadvantage. After a couple minutes of consideration, he finally decided to sack a Garth to
Optitron in order to fetch a copy of
Terra; Walls was banking on
Terra's stun ability to present Jones with a very difficult to approach decision. Such was not the case as the Mark V cracked off a shot at
Terra immediately.
Terra powered up with
Tamaran, and Jones gave his Mark V a
Savage Beatdown. Seeing that this combat was basically over, Walls used
Terra's effect to stun the Mark II before going down and being reinforced.
Hounds of Ahab then exhausted before recovery to KO
Terra. “Geeeeezus!” exclaimed Walls. The endurance totals were 31 to 34.
“This game is rough,” stated Gabe. “Show me a Magneto?” Walls was offering the scoop.
“I've got options.” Jones tipped his hand and revealed both Magneto
and Juggernaut. “I won't lie to you; I drew the Mark V on turn 4 and the
Bastion on turn 6.”
Despite the luck of which he may profess to be the recipient, Ryan Jones certainly earned his Day 2 qualification. With spectacular wins over spectacular opponents, it's possible that Jones could wind up as the first competitor to win two Pro Circuits!