Vince Turner, 25, works for the British Ministry of Defense, and is the top-ranked Sealed Pack player in the UK. He was playing MK/Underworld. David Rizzi, 19, is Italian and a student. He was running Curve Sentinels with some new twists, some popular and some a bit more avant garde.

“Stupid euro, this thing doesn’t have a heads!” Turner laughed and tossed away the first coin, digging for another. Rizzi won the flip and took the odd initiative.

Both players opted to keep their first hands. Rizzi had nothing for turn 1, but in response to his laying of a resource, Turner ditched Dagger, Child of Light to fetch a Midnight Sons. He put it into his resource row and recruited another Dagger, who poked Rizzi for 1.

Turner had a full curve for drops 2 through 7 except for the integral turn 5 Blade—he had several turns to draw into it, though, He bounced Dagger to his hand, took a second Midnight Sons, and played it as a resource. He recruited Steel Wind, and Rizzi promptly dropped a resource and Hounds of Ahab. Steel Wind activated to send Wild Ride off the top of Turner’s deck to the KO’d pile. Rizzi opted not to attack.

Rizzi kicked off turn 3 by recruiting Sentinel Mark II. Turner eyed it, seeming to see it as a possible obstacle. Turner recruited Brother Voodoo and set him up front, then flipped Midnight Sons to team up Marvel Knights and Underworld. “Yup, ok, that formation’s good for me.” He passed play to Rizzi.

Rizzi needed some time. “I don’t know your deck . . . so I don’t exactly know what to do. Cards in hand?” he asked. “Five,” replied Turner. “Pass.”

Turner activated Steel Wind, flipping and discarding another Steel Wind, and then activated Voodoo’s second effect, discarding Daredevil to do so—he was really digging for that Blade, The Daywalker.

Turner opened turn 4 with the same thing, discarding a single Brother Voodoo. He’d be doing more, but the Mark II’s effect was keeping him from risking too much. Sure enough, Rizzi activated the Mark II’s effect, discarding a Bastion. “Hmm . . . you must have another one,” remarked Turner. He recruited Moon Knight and passed. Rizzi used Reconstruction Program for another Sentinel Mark II and passed. Moon Knight swung into the front row Mark II with a Mist Form. The Sentinel went down like a box of rocks, and Turner passed. The back row Mark II then swung into Steel Wind, and Rizzi flipped Total Anarchy. Steel Wind was activated in response, hitting Evil Awakens, and Turner lost 2. Hounds then attacked with a Savage Beatdown to take out Brother Voodoo, stunning and KO’ing itself in the process. The score was 43 to 37.

Nimrod hit the field on Rizzi’s side, and Mephisto was recruited by Turner. He removed Hounds of Ahab and Bastion from Rizzi’s KO’d pile—that hurt. Nimrod stomped on Moon Knight, and Turner had no answer—Moon Knight went down. The two Mark IIs swung directly, but Rizzi knew the Mephisto was a problem: “I’m waiting to take your Mephisto in the face.” Turner would give him just that, flipping Midnight Sons and teaming Underworld with Brotherhood. Mephisto charged at Nimrod, was powered up with a Lost City, but was briefly repelled by Cover Fire. Turner gave him another +3 thanks to his own effect, making him a 13/11. Nimrod lost his counter.

Turner went on to recruit Luke Cage, Power Man on turn 6. He voiced his surprise when he saw Rizzi’s turn 6-drop – Luke Cage, Power Man! Rizzi thought long and hard about his formation, eventually deciding to put everything in the back row.

“He flies!” Rizzo said in defense of his formation, looking at Mephisto. “That’s pretty rich coming from a Sentinels player,” replied Turner, grinning.

Moon Knight attacked Nimrod; it was legal and resulted in a double stun. Mephisto swung into one of the Mark IIs to isolate the other, and Power Man hammered a massive attack through the newly-alienated one. The result? A nice 14 endurance loss and a KO, thanks to Total Anarchy. Rizzi sent his own Luke Cage after Turner’s, giving it a Mega-Blast to allow the attack. Turner left the turn with Mephisto and Luke Cage, while Rizzi kept nothing but his own Luke.
 
Rizzi recruited Magneto on turn 7 and immediately popped a Genosha. Wild Ride brought out a Varnae for Turner, putting him at 5 endurance to Rizzi’s 4. Turner spent some time deciding how to form up. It wasn’t an easy decision, but he settled on Varnae behind Luke Cage. Magneto attacked Luke Cage and was powered up. In response, Turner put Wake the Dead on the chain to find another copy of Luke with which to power-up. That was it—Cage stunned, and Magneto went down, too, thanks to Lost City. Rizzi did not attack with his Luke Cage, so Turner was up. He started going over some figures in his head, trying to figure out what could hurt him from Rizzi’s side of the table. “Ok, I pass . . . we’re both at -3, so we move into the next turn.” Luke Cage and Magneto recovered.

“I’ll play a resource and recruit a boosted Dr. Strange.” Rizzi blinked. “That means all your guys are going to take a trip, at least once we hit the combat phase.” The line was delivered with more friendliness than it likely reads as having. Rizzi recruited the Bastion that would have been so excellent two turns ago and formed up in an L, defending Magneto with Power Man. Rizzi passed, and everything got swept into the shadows. Luke Cage and Varnae swung directly, and Mephisto swung for a total ATK of 10. Rizzi looked at Bastion. “Well, I say 11,” he ditched a card, “and I say Overload.” Mephisto promptly exploded.

Dr. Strange then attacked directly, putting Rizzi at 47. “Knock yourself out,” invited Turner, passing control of the phase. Rizzi tried to find an answer, but offered the handshake after a few moments of thought.

Match Win: Vince Turner