Howard Mak is a long time TCG player, whose love of comics has brought him to this game. He has some experience on the national stage, having made the top 8 of a Magic: The Gathering Nationals. He has chosen to play his own unique brand of Fantastic Four beatdown without any equipment, which has been given the nickname “Thing, Where’s my (Fantasti)Car?” Tobye Ryan’s deck doesn’t really have a nickname, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been successful at Vs. System. He’s been able to capture two PCQ victories (both in Constructed) in the game’s short lifespan, making him a favourite for this weekend. Mak hails from Sydney, and Ryan is from the southern city of Melbourne.

The early turns passed with much fanfare, with them matching She-Thing and Donna Troy ◊ Wonder Girl on turn two. After an Acrobatic Dodge on Donna, Ryan missed his drop on turn 3, but Mak recruited Thing, Ben Grimm, which forced Tobye to pass his attack. She-Thing attempted to attack the Wonder Girl again, but another Dodge forced Mak to use up an It’s Clobberin’ Time! on She-Thing to ensure a stun. Thing went to Tobye’s dome, bringing his endurance total to 43.

Mak used his recruit step to bring out Invisible Woman, Sue Storm. Tobye continued to be behind the curve, revealing Optitron and using it (searching for Connor Kent ◊ Superboy) and deploying Beast Boy. Thing attacked Beast Boy, and they traded after Tobye revealed a Titans Tower, discarding a Roy Harper. After the dust had settled, Sue and Sharon visited Tobye’s face for a prearranged rearrangement, bringing Tobye down to 31 with no significant board to speak of.

Tobye finally had a full turn, recruiting Pantha and Terra. Howard kept the curve going with Ghost Rider. Ryan had his entire team propose an attack on the Ghost Rider, to which Mak responded with a Ka-Boom! on the Titans Tower. After that the attack was allowed, to which Teen Titans Go! was played, Tobye then KO’ed his Optitron via Terra’s ability to stun Thing. Mak chose to stun Beast Boy, while Ghost Rider went down in an ironic ball of flames. Pantha decided a catfight was in order, picking a fight with Sue Storm. Savage Beatdown made the attack more legitimate, and both girls went down. Howard chose to recover Ghost Rider, and Tobye did the same for Beast Boy.

With the Ka-Boom! setting both players back a turn, Mak had the perfect play of drawing Thing, Heavy Hitter, and placed all his characters in the front. Tobye matched Thing with Garth ◊ Tempest. Thing attempted to take down Garth, which caused Tobye to bring back an Acrobatic Dodge, which in turn forced Mak to power up Thing. This in turn made Tobye play Heroic Sacrifice targeting Garth, making Thing’s larger size useless, and stunning his own Beast Boy in the process. Howard then attempted a Flying Kick on Ghost Rider, which was stopped by Ryan’s Not So Fast. Ghost Rider was determined to take someone down, so he attacked Garth, and with an It’s Clobberin’ Time!, took down the Atlantean Sorcerer. After She-Thing took Terra down with the help of a Savage Beatdown, with no locations in sight for Terra, Things looked Grimm (pun intended).

Turn 7 had the earlier searched-for Connor Kent ◊ Superboy recruited for Ryan, and all Mak had was Luke Cage, Hero for Hire. But after Superboy’s attack on the Heavy Hitter was met with a Nasty Surprise, Ryan conceded the game, lamenting his horrible opening turns.

Howard Mak wins!