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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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| Quarterfinals: Sammy Gilly vs. Steven Politowski |
| Jason Grabher-Meyer |
| May 15, 2005 |
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Sammy Gilly was first seed after day one of PC: LA and Top 8’d $10K Chicago. Of $10K Detroit’s seven Gamma Doom players, Gilly was the only one to qualify for Day two.
Steven took 18th at $10K Chicago. He’s a relative unknown who shocked the field yesterday with his 8-2 finishing League of Assassins deck.
 Gilly won the opening flip and chose to take initiative on the even turns. “I’m gonna throw this back,” announced Politowski. Gilly did the same. Politowski didn’t betray the quality of his hand, but Gilly looked pleased. Neither player had a 1-drop, and on turn 2, a very cheery looking Puppet Master came down on Gilly’s side.
Politowski recruited Kyle Abbot on turn 3. Gilly exhausted it with Puppet Master and recruited a Robot Sentry, and play moved to turn 4. Gilly then recruited Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius. “I think I’m just going to recruit this guy and Reign your guy back to your hand.” Kyle Abbot bounced back to Politowski’s hand and Merlyn took his place.
A team attack from the Sentry and Doom ripped into Merlyn and bore him to the ground. Doomstadt kept Dr. Doom around. “Put down the robot.” Politowski’s statement was a formality.
Armed with the initiative, Politowski needed to make a move this turn and start controlling the board—the late game would be an unpredictable place in this matchup, and if he could take an advantage against Gilly early, he’d mitigate a number of factors that could hurt him. He recruited Bane, Ubu, and after thumbing through his hand in a perturbed fashion, Gilly used Faces of Doom to grab another Genius. He flipped Mystical Paralysis, exhausted his on-deck Doom to pay its cost, and exhausted Bane. He then recruited the second copy, flipped the Mystical down, and used it again to shut down Politowski’s turn. Before the end, though, Politowski flipped and used Clocktower, ditching a useless Tower of Babel for another resource. One had to wonder how poor his resource options were if he was setting cards he knew were dead.
Gilly again had no recruit for turn 6, and that was good news for Politowski as he slapped down a copy of Ra’s Al Ghul, Master Swordsman. Puppet Master activated to exhaust Merlyn, but Gilly shuffled his hand a bit nervously, eying the board-wrecking team of Bane and Ra’s. Doom went to the center spot in an L formation, hiding behind the Sentry, and Pleasant Distraction held off Ra’s. Bane swung in on the vulnerable Puppet Master, and Swift Escape brought him back to Gilly’s hand before he could be KO’d. Politowski continued Clocktowering away inopportune resources.
 Politowski went on to recruit Lady Shiva on turn 7, which was a strong play given his control of the initiative. Gilly recruited one Puppet Master, exhausted Merlyn, recruited a second, exhausted Bane, and then gave Doom a Power Compressor. He formed up smarter this time, protecting Puppet Master. It potentially left him open to an attack from Ra’s on Doom to allow Lady Shiva’s effect to work, circumventing Power Compressor, but at least it didn’t leave Puppet Master open to huge hits. If Politowski wanted to swing on Puppet Master, he’d need to punch through the Sentry first, abandoning an attack on Doom.
That’s exactly what happened, and by the end of the turn, the endurance totals were 27 to 46. Ouch.
Gilly recruited Apocalypse on turn 8. Playing smart, Politowski opted to Clock away a resource before playing another. He had no 8-drop Ra’s, though (or he opted not to use one), instead recruiting Hassim, Kyle Abbot, and Ubu. He was either diversifying to stymie the potential attacks Gilly could dish out, or he was desperate.
At the start of combat, Apocalypse smashed Politowski’s resource row, taking out a Savage Beatdown and a Lazarus Pit. Gilly had made the smart decision to take out some of Politowski’s earlier resources. His formation had left Kyle Abbot without support, dishing out almost 20 endurance loss total. Gilly then flipped Latveria, played Gamma Bomb, and chained Swift Escape to Apocalypse. Politowski responded by Lazarus Pitting the stunned Kyle Abbot—not an amazing advantage, but still a great play.
Turn 9 opened with Politowski flipping Avalon Space Station and Pit of Madness. Politowski then used Avalon to discard Assassin Initiate for Bane, recruited Bane with boost, pushed both his characters to the front row, and passed. Gilly needed to take some time to consider his move, eventually opting for Apocalypse. He smacked Avalon Space Station and Clocktower; if he could survive this turn he’d have a commanding lead, as Politowski’s turn 10 would be his second turn 6.
Politowski team attacked. It was legal. “An eight for five trade? I don’t think I like that.” Gilly flipped another copy of Gamma Bomb and then silently looked at Politowski, inviting responses. He had them. “Beatdown, on Kyle Abbot. Overload him. They resolve?” Gilly nodded. “Flip Lazarus Pit, use it on Kyle.” Clever. Play moved to the next turn.
Kyle wouldn’t be sticking around, though, as Gilly recruited Dr. Doom, Lord of Latveria and Boris, and Reign of Terror booted Kyle back to Politowski’s hand. He used The Demon’s Head to search for Latverian Embassy. He recruited Assassin Initiate and tried to eat Boris with it, forcing Boris to run off into the deck (he nabbed a Reconstruction Program on his way). Politowski recruited Ubu, but Gilly used Doom’s effect to double-Reign away both characters and attack directly. It was 27 to 9 in his favor.
Next turn, Politowski recruited the same board position: Ubu and Kyle Abbot up front. The game was beyond over. Gilly sealed the deal, though, dropping Puppet Master to exhaust Ubu and then Recon’ing for Apocalypse. Before it even hit the table, Politowski scooped. Game one goes to Sammy Gilly!
Neither player had a 1-drop for game two. Though he controlled the initiative for turn 2, Gilly had no drop for that turn, either, so he got pinged by an Assassin Initiate, a great early-drop for Politowski. He followed it up with Ubu on turn 3, who dealt an utter whupping to Gilly’s turn 3 Robot Sentry.
“I’m trying something different!” Gilly announced with a smile, passing his build on turn 4 without recruiting. “Ahh yes! The ‘not hit a Doom’ strategy!” Politowski grinned and both laughed. Mountain Stronghold fetched him a Merlyn, which he quickly recruited. He formed into a reverse L, with Ubu protecting the archer. The Sentry exhausted the Assassin, but that was fine with Politowski; he used The Demon’s Head to grab a Flying Fortress. The Assassin took down the Sentry. Politowski flipped Flying Fortress and LexCorp, used Merlyn to KO the Sentry, and let Ubu swing direct!
 Bane hit the field on Politowski’s side on turn 5, and with the initiative driving hopes for a promising offense, he shuffled his feet in anticipation beneath the table. Gilly finally hit his Doom and recruited Diabolic Genius. He flipped and used Mystical Paralysis to exhaust Bane, and in response, Politowski grabbed Clocktower with another copy of The Demon’s Head before Doom flipped the Paralysis face down again. Clocktower flipped and replaced an Overload, and the Assassin and Ubu team attacked into Bane. “That’s 7, right?” Politowski confirmed, and Doomstadt bounced the attack. Flying Fortress bumped up Ubu’s ATK, but a Reign of Terror took him out of the attack and the Assassin Initiate went down! Politowski had gotten greedy and was now paying for it. He played Have a Blast! on Doomstadt and sent Merlyn after Doom. Gilly grinned.
“I got lucky.” He flipped a second Doomstadt, and Merlyn went down. It was a brilliant turn for Gilly.
He went on to play another Genius next turn, first exhausting his previous one to exhaust Bane. His second Doom flipped the Paralysis down yet again. Ra’s Al Ghul, Master Swordsman hit the field on Politowski’s side, replacing three resources, and LexCorp replaced another. Mystical Paralysis exhausted Ra’s, but Merlyn flew over him in the Fortress and smashed into Doom. Both characters stunned, and it was 38 to 28. Bane tried to KO Doom, but Swift Escape saved him.
Politowski recruited Lady Shiva again on turn 7. Gilly appeared to have nothing and re-recruited Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius, flipping down Paralysis once more. He recruited Beast, and at the start of combat, he flipped Latveria and then dropped Gamma Bomb from his hand. That was it for the turn.
Faces of Doom fetched a Lord of Latveria on turn 8, and Gilly quickly brought it down. Politowski recruited Ra’s Al Ghul, Immortal Villain and Merlyn, flipping down Latveria and Doomstadt. “That’s gonna make my Hulk bigger,” jested Gilly. “Aw, darn!” Politowski grinned.
Doom flew into Merlyn, Gilly grabbed back Gamma Bomb, Ra’s reinforced, and Gilly found out the hard way that he couldn’t Gamma Bomb. “Hmmm . . . I guess we go to the next turn.”
“Yup! We go to the next turn.” Politowski seemed in high spirits.
He recruited Ra’s Al Ghul, The Demon’s Head on the next turn. “I can flip locations now?” asked Gilly hopefully. “You can!”
“Hmm . . . guess I’m done.” Gilly passed his build.
Ra’s and Merlyn swung into Doom, but Gilly Bombed, and that was enough for Politowski to scoop. “Argh . . . I was dreading this matchup!” He smiled and shook Gilly’s hand. |
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