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The Sentry™
Card# MTU-017

While his stats aren’t much bigger than those of the average 7-drop, Sentry’s “Pay ATK” power can drastically hinder an opponent’s attacking options in the late game.
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Risk Vs. Reward: Much Happier Endings

Rian Fike

September 03, 2006

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Even though my own personal Pro Circuit story ended in tragedy last week, the other results of the tournament were a cause for great celebration. Why do I continue to love Vs. System competition at the highest level after it broke my heart? Let me count the ways:

I have a rebellious nature. The status quo and the reigning authority are my sworn enemies. That makes me root for the underdog. Whether I am compensating for some nameless persecution in a past life or simply identifying with the common (1-cost Army) man, I live to see David conquer Goliath.

In sports, the better players and teams are considered the “favorites” to win. We have three heavy favorites when it comes to Vs. System and the Pro Circuit. The Donkey Club, FTN, and Team Alternate Win Condition are our proven performers. Pro Circuit Indianapolis 2006 showed us that the rest of the field is gaining ground fast. Anthony Calabrese and Josh Hensley of Team Sixty One owned Day 3 with their Secret Society special. They took home the championship when it was all over. Combined with Ian Vincent’s Pro Circuit San Francisco coronation, that makes two in a row for the long shots.

Our newest Pro Circuit Champion, however, had a solid track record at Indy. It was Ed Colleran who actually scored the weekend’s biggest underdog victory. I have known Ed since he defeated me to qualify for the first time at a PCQ in Orlando way back in January of 2005, when I was playing Firepits of Apokolips. Now he is bonded. With Billy Postlethwait, Joey Carey, David DiMichele, Julius Heyward, and Donnie Noland helping him form the Secret Six team, Ed Colleran has became a force that cannot be denied. They are the classiest bunch of competitors that you will ever face on the Pro Circuit and they will always need to be accounted for in future events.

Ed’s Day 2 masterpiece at Indy was truly astonishing. Sitting at the top tables didn’t faze him at all. He knocked down Donkeys and tore up a TAWC-er. With Infinite Crisis providing the best set for Draft ever, the Sunshine State delivered an unshakable force that stayed steady and solid all day long. No one outside of Florida had ever heard of Edwin Colleran before, but now that he has rolled through the top pros in the game as if they were bowling pins . . . they will never forget.

Edwin Colleran

6th place

Pro Circuit Indianapolis 2006

Characters

4 Connie Webb, Knight

4 Madame Xanadu, Cartomancer

4 Ahmed Samsarra, White King

2 Detective Chimp, Shoeless Gumshoe

1 Arthur Kendrick, Knight

4 June Moon ◊ Enchantress, Good Witch

2 Dr. Occult, Richard Occult

1 Elimination Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, Army

1 Dr. Fate, Hector Hall

1 Huntress, Reluctant Queen

1 Sasha Bordeaux, Autonomous Prototype

2 The Phantom Stranger, Fallen Angel

1 Shazam, The Sorcerer

1 Annihilation Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, Army

Plot Twists

1 Spectral Slaughter

3 Multiverse Power Battery

Locations
1 Leslie Thompkins’s Clinic

1 The Oblivion Bar

4 Checkmate Safe House

3 Dr. Fate’s Tower

4 Brother I Satellite

3 Chimp Detective Agency

Equipment

Kevin Lorson is from Kansas, and Pro Circuit Indianapolis 2006 watched him follow the yellow brick road all the way to a $3,700 pot of gold. I roomed with Team Shocker and the Kansas crew for the weekend, and Kevin’s performance was incredible. He earned three times as much as his last year’s part-time salary at a local grocery store . . . in only three days of top-level trading card game play. One of his secrets was a radioactive green Mountain Dew shirt, but he also displayed nerves of steel that are rarely found in an eighteen-year-old.

Kevin won his 10 PC points way back when Marvel Modern Age included Spider-Friends and Marvel Knights. Team Shocker practiced two or three times a week and he switched to his Good Guys pump deck just days before the Pro Circuit began. After starting Day 2 with a pair of disappointing 1-2 pods, this player showed his mettle. He finished with a shocking 3-0 table and won his last match against reigning Day 3 finalist Kim Caton. Unknown and from the middle of nowhere, Kevin Lorson finished Day 1 by downing a Donkey. Then, with simple confidence and quality play skill, he tore up TAWC twice and then flayed FTN for a fancy finish. Unbelievable. His surprising success salved my wounds from the day before and continues to give me mad hope for the future.

Kevin Lorson

17th place

Pro Circuit Indianapolis 2006

Characters

3 Booster Gold, Michael Jon Carter

1 Connor Hawke ◊ Green Arrow, Son of the Archer

1 Crimson Fox, Vivian and Constance D’Aramis

2 Fire, Beatriz DaCosta

2 John Henry Irons ◊ Steel, Steel-Drivin’ Man

1 Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman, Eternal Hero

4 Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman, Thanagarian Enforcer

1 Maxwell Lord, Financier

2 Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster

4 Shayera Thal ◊ Hawkwoman, Thanagarian Enforcer

4 Sue Dibny, Charismatic Coordinator

4 Ted Kord ◊ Blue Beetle, Heir of the Scarab

Plot Twists

1 Removed from Continuity

4 Trial by Fire

4 World’s Greatest Heroes

Locations

4 Kooey Kooey Kooey

Duncan Tang is perhaps the brightest light on the Pro Circuit. His hugs are legendary. He travels all the way from Scotland to fill the hall with his ferocious friendliness, and he never ceases to amaze me. Duncan is good at this game, too; he finished 38th at Pro Circuit Amsterdam. I had the great good fortune to find the man himself playtesting on Thursday night. We practiced our Fastball Special, and he told me that he was playing Libra on Friday. I couldn’t stop grinning. After barely missing Day 2, Duncan joined forces with Team Stupid and wrecked the Team $10K the next day.

Robert “whydoesithurt” Paasch and Jason “dietseto” Dishong needed a third wheel for their ride. Duncan’s Libra lunacy had left him two wins short of Day 2, so he was free. Team Stupid received a remix. A better team for fun could not have been scripted. They were hilarious to watch and insanely satisfying to cheer for. On Day 1 of the Team $10K, Jason could not win a game to save his life. The team steamed on. We joked (a lot) about how dietseto was the good luck charm and that he should never win a single match. At one point, he was 1-7 . . . while the team was 7-1! We started calling him The Anchor, as Team Stupid just continued reeling them in. They finished in third place, and I have not stopped laughing yet.

Duncan Tang
193rd place
Pro Circuit Indianapolis 2006

I know, I know; Doug Tice is a Donkey. He is also proof that some guys are good enough to smash the stigma. My demonizing of the big dogs is destroyed instantly by any man with the guts to play this in a PC. The deck is irrefutable evidence that this year’s DC Modern Age metagame was the healthiest environment Vs. System has ever seen. Favorite or not, I was secretly cheering as hard as I could for Tice to Top 8 with this. Too bad he fell just short.

Doug Tice
22nd place
Pro Circuit Indianapolis 2006

Those are the feel-good tales of this season’s PC: Indy. Not only did they buoy my blues, but they also bumped me straight back into the saddle for my local Heralds of Galactus Sneak Preview tournament, where I made Top 8 and got the goodies. I’ll tell you all about that next week. It is just so easy to brush yourself off and move on with Vs. System. I hope the story never ends.

Rian Fike is also known as stubarnes and the pirate is actually Brian “Mr. Zarbon” Ewell. Send your own happy endings to rianfike@hattch.com.

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