Game 1

Another all-Donkey Club finals! Doug won the die roll and took odds. Both players mulliganed their openers. Doug recruited a hidden Yellowjacket, and Kyle missed his 1-drop completely. Kyle had Shape for the second turn, while Doug hit Melissa Gold ◊ Songbird, Sonic Carapace. Kyle attacked in with a discarded Airskimmer, stunning both characters, and took a point when Yellowjacket attacked back. At the end of the second turn, Doug led 47-46.

Doug had the initiative on the third turn and played an impressive Cannonball and Joystick. Kyle recruited a Melissa of his own, along with an Ape X. The Ape searched out Thunder Jet, which was equipped to Ape X. Kyle set up with Melissa protecting Shape, and Ape in the support row. In combat, Doug sent Yellowjacket to take down Ape. Both characters stunned. Melissa went after Shape, and again, both characters went down. Cannonball attacked Kyle’s Melissa, and she went down without a problem. Finally, Joystick attacked directly. In recovery, Doug lost Joystick, while Kyle was left with only Shape. The score was 44-37 in Doug’s favor.

Kyle led off turn 4 with Golden Archer behind Shape. Doug re-played a Yellowjacket, visible, with boost. He searched out Beetle, Armorsmith, which he immediately recruited. Beetle yielded Archangel, Angel, which in turn yielded X-Corp: Amsterdam. Doug set up with Beetle protecting Joystick, Archangel protecting Melissa in the next column, and Yellowjacket protecting Cannonball in the column adjacent to that. Kyle led off with a discarded Airskimmer to Shape, sending him to take down Joystick. She stunned without issue. Next, a Windstorm on Golden Archer allowed him to run over Cannonball. Doug declined to attack and lost Joystick in recovery. The score stood at 37-34, now in favor of Kyle.

Turn 5 was Doug’s initiative. He didn’t have the optimal Blackbird Blue combo; rather, he recruited Plant Man ◊ Blackheath and Melter before passing. Kyle recruited Albert Gaines ◊ Nuke. He set up with Archer protecting Nuke, and Shape adjacent to Nuke in the support row. Before declaring attacks, Doug flipped Faces of Evil. He sent Cannonball and Archangel into Golden Archer, stunning it after taking 5 from his payment power. Doug’s next attack brought both Yellowjacket and Beetle into Shape. Beetle stunned and took Shape down with it. Attack number three was Plant Man and Melissa into Albert; Plant Man traded with the 5-drop. Doug was left with a ready Melter, and he considered whether or not to attempt an attack with it. In the end, he declined, choosing to keep it up to play around Panacea Potion. Kyle lost Archer and Shape, while Doug lost Archangel and Beetle. Kyle maintained a 26-23 lead.

The sixth turn was Kyle’s initiative, and he went into the tank before recruiting. He came out with Whizzer, and then played Answer the Call for another Ape X. The Ape got another Thunder Jet, which was immediately equipped to it. In Doug’s portion of the build phase, he used an X-Corp: Amsterdam to retrieve Stormfront-1. He flipped it to draw a card, teaming-up X-Men and Thunderbolts in the process. This allowed him to return Archangel to play with Plant Man, netting him another X-Corp. Next, Doug played Dallas Riordan, Mayoral Aide and immediately exhausted her to draw a card. He played Mystic Summons to get Marcus Daniels ◊ Blackout, and recruited him. His final resource point was used to give all of his characters reinforcement for the turn. Doug set up with Yellowjacket protecting Plant Man, Archangel protecting Melissa in the next row, Radioactive Man protecting Blackout in the row adjacent to that, Dallas protecting Melter in the row adjacent to that, and Cannonball alone next to Dallas in the front row. In combat, Kyle took down Melter with Ape X. Next, Nuke ran over Plant Man, Whizzer took down Cannonball and then readied to stun Archangel. Doug declined to attack back and lost Melter, Archangel, and Cannonball at the end of the turn. Kyle still had the lead, 23-15.

Doug had the initiative on turn 7. At the start of his recruit step, he returned Archangel to play with Plant Man, getting another X-Corp. He then recruited a duplicate Yellowjacket from his resource row, replacing it with the new X-Corp. He used two X-Corps to get two additional copies of Faces, and began to resolve Yellowjacket’s boost effect. He came out with Shocker, Vibro-Shock Villain, which he immediately recruited, along with another Beetle from the hand. Beetle got Ape X, which got Blackbird Blue. Kyle surveyed Doug’s formidable board, frowned, and picked up his cards.

Game 2

Kyle had the initiative on the first turn and led off with Image Inducer on a Joystick. Doug matched with Archangel, Angel, discarding Viper for an X-Corp: Amsterdam. He took his beats and led off with Melissa Gold ◊ Songbird, Sonic Carapace behind Archangel. Kyle had Shape with a Thunder Jet in front of Joystick. Melissa attacked Shape, and then both players passed. At the end of the turn, Kyle led 47-45.

Kyle had the initiative on the third turn and played a Melissa of his own and an Ape X. The Ape searched out and was equipped by an Image Inducer. Kyle passed to Doug, who cracked his X-Corp to get Stormfront-1. He teamed-up X-Men and Thunderbolts, drawing a card. Doug recruited Beetle, Armorsmith, searching out Yellowjacket, then recruited Ape X, searching out Blackbird Blue. He set up with Archangel protecting Beetle and Ape protecting Melissa. Shape attacked Beetle; Doug flipped Faces of Evil and reinforced. Next, Joystick took down Archangel. Ape X traded for his duplicate, and likewise for Melissa Gold. Doug gave his Melissa +1 DEF to mitigate a point. At the end of the turn, Doug was left with only Melissa. The endurance score was 44-30 in Kyle’s favor.

Turn 5 was Doug’s initiative. He boosted Yellowjacket, retrieving Joystick, which he recruited. He also brought out Gargantua and equipped Blackbird Blue to the Joystick. Kyle had Lady Lark, and equipped an Airskimmer to it. Kyle set up with Shape protecting Lady Lark and Joystick protecting Melissa. Before entering combat, Doug flipped a second Faces of Evil and then searched out a third. He surveyed the board for a few moments, and eventually sent Yellowjacket into Lady Lark for the mutual stun. Gargantua went after Melissa Gold, resulting in another trade. For his third attack, Doug declared Melissa into Shape. Kyle had Panacea Potion for Lady Lark to re-enable Airskimmer and save himself a point. Doug’s final attack sent Joystick into Joystick for another mutual stun. In recovery, Kyle had another Panacea Potion for his Shape, followed by Answer the Call for Whizzer. Doug played Mystic Summons for Marcus Daniels ◊ Blackout. Kyle lost only Melissa Gold, while Doug kept only Joystick. The score was tied at 25 apiece as the players moved to the next turn.

Kyle had the initiative; he simply recruited his very threatening Whizzer and passed. Doug, looking to be in dire straits, began his recruit with Hard Sound Construct on Beetle. He searched out Yellowjacket, which he played with boost, getting another Yellowjacket for his hand. With his final 4 resource points, Doug recruited Marcus Daniels and paid a point to give all of his characters reinforcement. Kyle sent Joystick into Joystick and powered-up to empty his hand. Doug’s Joystick stunned. Shape rolled over Beetle, Lady Lark crushed Yellowjacket, and Whizzer stunned Markus. Whizzer readied to hit Doug for 9 directly. Doug was again left with only his Joystick, and the score stood at 23-8 in Kyle’s favor.

Turn 7 was certainly Doug’s last chance to win the game. He went into the tank, and came out with an Archangel for an X-Corp. He recruited Yellowjacket from his resource row, replacing it with the X-Corp, which he immediately activated to get his fourth copy of Faces of Evil. When the boost effect came off the chain, Doug brought out Nathan Garrett ◊ Black Knight. With his final three resource points, Doug recruited Speed Demon, Second Chance Speedster. He passed to Kyle, who had Golden Archer and another Airskimmer for Whizzer. Kyle set up with Whizzer in front of Shape, Golden Archer in front of Lady Lark, and Joystick next to Lady Lark in the support row. Doug wasted no time in declaring his attacks—first, he sent Yellowjacket into Lady Lark, stunning both. Next, Speed Demon went after Whizzer. Doug paid 1 endurance, readying Speed Demon. Kyle attempted to reinforce, but Doug discarded his last card to Nathan Garrett. Doug’s third attack traded Archangel for Shape. Nathan went after the Archer, Kyle burned Doug for 6, and both characters stunned. Speed Demon went after Joystick, and Doug attacked directly with Joystick for 11 and the win.

Congratulations to Doug Tice, $10K Austin Champion!