Tony “The Shark” Tsai is the owner of ttsaiscards, an online eBay cardstore. He is also a longtime pro and part of the legendary Neutral Ground crew that ruled TCGs in the early days. Thus far he has piloted his Fantastic Four deck to only one loss in the $10K, a feat that has ensured he will win a substantial amount of money this weekend. His opponent is Paul Sottosanti, also known as “Future” to his friends. Paul could be considered something of a Vs. System savant, as he picked up the game Friday night for the very first time, borrowed a deck from a friend, and then proceeded to run the table, going 8-0 during the swiss rounds, and then earning a free win when his opponent’s car broke down on the way to this morning’s Top 8, making him more than an hour late. Paul’s luck at successfully using Longshot has been nothing less than spectacular so far, as he seems to pluck extra Wild Sentinels and Sentinel Mark IVs like he was born to do it.

Game 1

A first turn Longshot was exactly the start Future was looking for, while The Shark had no recruits until a She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters on turn 3, taking some beats from Wild Sentinels in the meantime. Shark also brought his own form of jinx to the game to counteract Future’s Longshots that had served him so well during the tournament in the form of a John Fiorillo-drawn Penguin sketch. Every time Future missed with Longshot, Penguin would make a trip across the board making “Wah, Wah, Wah” noises.

Invisible Woman, Sue Storm joined Tsai’s team on turn 4, while Future could only recruit a lonely Sentinel Mark IV. Sue Storm attacked the Sentinel, but Cover Fire saved the Sentinel, making what looked to be a trade rather one-sided. She-Hulk attacked a Wild Sentinel that was reinforced, and then She-Hulk was stunned by the Mark IV on the return attack. Future 47, Tsai 28. A Mark IV plus two Underground Sentinel Bases added three Mark IVs to his robotic army, cackling madly all the while. For his part, The Shark was non-plussed, recruiting Mr. Fantastic, Stretch and equipping him with a Personal Force Field.

A Mark IV and Sue Storm traded, and then a Mark IV plus Combat Protocols took out Mr. Fantastic, putting Future up a game.

Longshot went 50/50 that game, hitting 3 and missing 3.

Paul Sottosanti 1, Tony Tsai 0

Game 2

Sottosanti mulliganed his first hand into a hand containing Longshot (all he ever wants in his opening hand), and played the pesky X-Man on turn 1 once again. Tsai was a turn faster with his action this game, playing a She-Thing on turn 2 to stem the tide of beatings. Thing, Ben Grimm added another substantial booty to Tsai’s team, while Future continued to add to his weenie army. Thing attacked a 2 ATK/1 DEF Wild Sentinel. When Future used three Wild Sentinels to pump the defender, Tsai asked, “What time is it?” before flipping over It’s Clobberin’ Time. Paul then pumped another three times to force a trade. Wow, Longshot is amazing when he hits. She-Thing stunned Longshot, but a team attack stunned her back, sending two Wild Sentinels to Future’s KO’d pile, and She-Thing to Tsai’s.

Turn 4 brought a Mark IV from Future, and She-Hulk plus Twin Firearms for The Thing. The Mark IV attacked She-Hulk, stunning the jolly green giantess, but not before she exhausted to use Tech Upgrade to fetch Fantasticar. Future then paused for a bit, considering his next attack. “The Thing’s ability is mattering way too much,” was Paul’s complaint

“He only has guns equipped to him,” taunted Tsai. “It’s not like he’s going to throw cars at you.”

Future chose to pass without attacking, so Thing smashed back, making the endurance totals Shark 32, Future 42. Invisible Woman, Sue Storm was Tsai’s fresh recruit, as Shark played a Fantasticar on Thing after using the Firearms to take down a Wild Sentinel before Paul’s recruit step. Future recruited a Mark IV, and then put a second one into play via Underground Sentinel Base, before forming all of his men into the back row. She-Hulk attacked a Wild Sentinel in the middle of the formation, then Sue Storm attacked it’ neighbor, but ran into Cover Fire. Thing threw Fantasticar at the Wild in response, and readied Invisible Woman. Thing attacked another Wild, and Sue Storm smashed Longshot, before Tsai passed the attack to Future saying, “Do your worst.”

Mark IVs smashed Tsai’s whole team, sending She-Hulk and Ben Grimm to The Shark’s KO pile and three Wild Sentinels to Paul’s. Tsai 17, Sottosanti 28.

Future added another Mark IV and a Wild Sentinel to his team, as Tony recruited Hulk, but was unimpressed with the probable result. A Mark IV stunned Sue Storm, and a Wild Sentinel plus another Mark IV attacked Hulk. Power-ups were made on both sides, but after drawing an incredible eighteen cards off of Longshot (Future went 5 for 5 in game 2), Paul had more than enough gas to stun Hulk and swing for the win, ensuring his place in the finals.

Paul Sottosanti 2, Tony Tsai 0