Garrett sat and shuffled his deck while Wiitanen took off his shoes to stretch. “I understand this might help!”

“Josh, put on your shoes and play,” chided head judge Matt Tabak.

Wiitanen took the even initiative and after some careful consideration, opted to mulligan. Neither player had a 1-drop, but on turn 2, Tim Drake swung directly for 2 endurance loss straight past a Hounds of Ahab.

Turn 3 saw Arsenal hit the field on Wiitanen’s side, while Garrett recruited a Sentinel Mark II. It swung in on Roy Harper and Tim Drake pinged for another two. Both players were curving quite well.

Wiitanen activated USS Argus, but announced that Garrett would be happy with this turn. “No Terra?”

“Well . . . no 4-drop, actually,” Wiitanen smiled grimly and recruited Dove with boost. He formed up with everyone in the front except Arsenal. Meanwhile, Garrett recruited Sentinel Mark V. All the Titans team attacked Mark V, and Teen Titans Go! readied the remaining Hawk, Tim Drake, and Roy. Hawk then attacked the Mark II. Tim Drake Finishing Moved the Mark V. Hounds of Ahab swung into Tim Drake, and the Hounds were powered up. Wiitanen powered up Tim, Garrett flipped Savage Beatdown, and Wiitanen smiled gleefully as he Overloaded the Hounds. “That’s a board sweep!”

Wiitanen recruited Garth ◊ Tempest on turn 5 and was matched by Nimrod. Nimrod attacked into him with a power up, and after giving up on saving Garth, Wiitanen used his effect to return Finishing Move to his hand. The Mark II then attacked Tim Drake. Wiitanen reinforced, and that was the turn—he lost Tim and that was the only change to board presence.

Armed with the intiative, Wiitanen was feeling the impact of a USS Argus he’d flipped earlier, as his hand presence was quite diminished. He made a tough decision, flipping a second Argus to blow the last one. He netted himself another Tim Drake and played him with boost. “This is where I lose my whole board, huh?” Garrettt asked.

“Hopefully,” replied Wiitanen. Wiitanen wouldn’t have it easy, though, as Bastion came down as the frontpiece of an L formation on Garrett’s side. The whole team attacked Bastion. Teen Titans Go! readied Wiitanen’s field. “We’re good,” said Garrett as he scooped his cards.

Jack Garrett 0, Josh Wiitanen 1

Game Two

Garrett opted to take the even initiative, and both players mulliganed.

Boliver Trask brought Garrett a Mark V on turn 1, and though Wiitanen played Tim Drake on turn two Garrett had an answer. He flipped Total Anarchy, sent Bastion after Tim, and then used the Nasty Surprise and Overload combo to wipe him off the board.

Next turn Wiitanen recruited Hawk with boost, while Garrett recruited a Mark II. Dove attacked Boliver but was met with another Nasty Surprise – both characters were KO’d. Hawk swung in on the Mark II but a power up sent him to the KO’d pile.

Garrett recruited a Mark V on turn 4, and Wiitanen was forced to recruit with boost, this time recruiting Dove. He was wiped off the field entirely, and turn 5 didn’t go much better. Though Wiitanen did recruit Cassie Sandsmark ◊ Wonder Girl and had the initiative, Garrett recruited another Mark II and a Hounds of Ahab. A Nasty Surprise and a power-up later, Cassie was stunned. Wordlessly, Josh scooped his cards.

Jack Garrett 1, Josh Wiitanen 1

Game Three

“Please see a 4-drop, deck!” pleaded Wiitanen comically.

Neither player laid a 1- or a 2-drop. On turn 3, Garrett recruited a Sentinel Mark II, while Wiitanen recruited Hawk with boost. He placed both characters in the front row. The Mark II took out Dove, and thanks to Total Anarchy she stayed down, not a good development for Wiitanen.

He recruited Red Star on the following turn, and Garrett recruited a Mark V. Red Star went after the new arrival and a power up from hand saved him from being stunned back. Garrett attempted to Cover Fire, but a Savage Beatdown sealed the deal. Finishing Move wiped the Mark V off the table, and the Mark II then attacked into Hawk. The only character left by the end of the turn was Red Star.

Garrett missed Nimrod on turn 5, but recruited a Mark V with boost. Wiitanen used USS Argus and recruited Terra. He spent his extra resource point to burn Garrett with Red Star for 5 endurance. The Mark V attacked straight for Red Star, and that was combat for the turn.

Though he had the initiative Wiitanen didn’t have a 6-drop or even a Garth. He recruited Dove with boost and Tim Drake, and burned for another five with Red Star’s effect. Garrett was in a similar boat. He activated Genosha to try and make his drop, but ended up settling for Nimrod, who he used to protect the Mark V. Wiitanen was formed up with ranged characters in the back and everyone else up front, so he had some serious options. After some brief consideration, he team attacked with Red Star and Dove into Nimrod. A power-up kept Red Star safe and Nimrod was stripped of his counter. Terra, Hank Hall, and Tim then all team attacked Nimrod. Terra and Nimrod were both stunned. Teen Titans Go! readied Wiitanen’s ranks and a final team attack, with a redirected stun to the invincible Red Star, finished wiping Garrett’s board. Wiitanen lost nothing while Garrett lost his Nimrod.

He’d get it back quickly though, as Garrett again could not draw into a Bastion. Reconstruction Program brought back Nimrod and he recruited it into the same formation he used last turn. Wiitanen seemed to see his chance. He used Optitron for Koriand’r, recruited her to stun the Mark V, and formed up. Koriand’r, Tim Drake, and Hank Hall provided the first line of defense. Behind each, respectively, were Terra, Dove, and Red Star. Nimrod took out Tim Drake, who was KO’d by Total Anarchy, and the rest of the team attacked Nimrod. Wiitanen reached over and promptly ate the piece of paper serving as Nimrod’s counter.

Wiitanen recruited Garth. Garrett fingered a down Genosha and before activating it quipped, “You know, I’d really like to draw a Bastion and a Cover Fire, but I don’t think it would be enough anyway.” He recruited another Mark V with boost. Koriand’r activated to stun last turn’s Mark V immediately, and Wiitanen turned his attention to what appeared to be the final combat phase of the tournament.

“How many cards do you have,” he asked Garrett.

“Eleven . . . but not a Bastion, if that makes you feel better.” Terra and Red Star team attacked the Mark V, but were met with a pair of Cover Fires and a power up. Garth brought back Savage Beatdown, and Red Star got +5 ATK. “I do have Savage/Overload,” remarked Garrett, as he dropped the combo to the table and Red Star exploded. Terra found herself without a partner in the team attack and was stunned as well.
Garth, Dove, and Hawk then team attacked the Mark V—Garth went down. Wiitanen had no Heroic Sacrifice, and Nimrod swung straight through Dove. He was left with Hawk, Red Star, and Koriand’r, while Garrett kept his Mark V and Nimrod.

Garrett still couldn’t get a Bastion! He recruited a Mark V with boost and a Boliver Trask instead, searching out another Mark V with Boliver’s effect. With no cards in hand due to Argus, things looked grim for Wiitanen.

He activated Argus, and selected his card: Garth. He then used the Garth to fuel Optitron, searching for Connor Kent. He recruited Connor and formed up with the two 6-drops protecting Hawk and Red Star. The endurance totals were 12 to 2—one way or another, the game and the tournament was going to end this turn.

Boliver and one of the Mark V’s team attacked Koriand’r, dropping Wiitanen to –4 endurance. Nimrod and the Mark V then went after Connor Kent, and Wiitanen scooped.

Jack Garrett wins $10K LA!