Kyle is a Kansas City native and one of the two players running the new TDC Stall deck. Ben took down his teammate, Michael Jacob, in the Swiss. This rematch of brand new decks should be an interesting one.

Game 1

Ben won the die roll and chose to take the odd initiatives. Ben mulliganed, while Kyle kept his opening four. Neither had a first turn play, and Kyle kicked off the game with a second turn Straight to the Grave for Puppet Master. Slaughter Swamp allowed it to be brought into play, where it got to exhaust Natasha Romanoff ◊ Black Widow, Super Spy.

Ben had the initiative on the second turn; he played both Quicksilver, Mutant Avenger and Rick Jones, A Hero’s Best Friend. Kyle exhausted Ben in response. Kyle recruited Dr. Light, Master of Holograms and Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose, and then passed. Quicksilver’s triggered ability allowed Ben to take down both Ivy and Puppet Master; Ivy was lost at the end of the turn.

Turn 4 was Kyle’s initiative. He recruited Rogue, Power Absorption and followed it up with a Dr. Light activation on Poison Ivy. He played Straight to the Grave to get Mimic into the KO’d pile, then used Puppet Master to exhaust Rick. Puppet Master was KO’d to Ivy to get UN Building, and Kyle teamed-up. He flipped and used Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters to ready Light and return Puppet Master to play. Ben recruited Oliver Queen ◊ Green Arrow, Emerald Archer and set up with Quicksilver protecting Natasha. In combat, Kyle attacked Quicksilver with Rogue. Kyle played a 3-point Heroes in Reserve, Kyle had the power-up, and Ben had another Heroes to seal the stunback. Kyle traded Poison Ivy for Natasha, and Puppet Master exhausted Oliver to close out combat. In recovery, Kyle flipped and used Birthing Chamber. The 2-drops were lost, and the turn ended with Ben ahead 40-38.

Ben had the initiative on turn 5. He played Enemy of My Enemy, discarding Magneto, Master of Magnetism to get an Avengers character that he discarded to another Enemy to get Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff. Kyle had no responses to the recruit and simply played a Sunfire, Shiro Yoshida. He drew a card with Birthing Chamber, then set up with Sunfire protecting Dr. Light and Rogue protecting Puppet Master. In combat, Ben sent Scarlet Witch into Sunfire. Before the attack concluded, Kyle discarded Mikado and Mosha to stun Rick Jones. He activated Sunfire to stun Quicksilver, and then activated Puppet Master to exhaust Oliver Queen. Dr. Light reinforced, and that was combat. Rick Jones was lost in recovery. Ben still led, 36-23.

Turn 6 was Kyle’s initiative, and he kicked things off by drawing a card. His play for the turn was simply a front-row Mimic, and he passed without altering his formation. Ben recruited Harry Delgado in front of Scarlet Witch. He kept Quicksilver in front of Oliver Queen, and passed. In combat, Kyle attacked Scarlet Witch with Mimic. Ben allowed the attack. Next, Rogue took down Quicksilver without issue. Sunfire traded for Oliver Queen, and Puppet Master exhausted Kyle’s remaining character to close things out. Ben’s 4- and 3-drops were lost, and the endurance scores had evened to 18 apiece.

Ben wasted no time in recruiting a turn 7 Magneto, Master of Magnetism. “Playing Brotherhood now,” he said. Kyle drew a card before recruiting Two-Face, Split Personality. At the start of combat, both Mimic and Rogue copied Puppet Master. Ben replaced a reservist to have Mimic lose reinforcement, but Kyle simply took the 15 points necessary to exhaust Ben’s entire team. He chose not to attack back, and in recovery, he played Straight to the Grave for a second Jean Grey, Phoenix Force and recurred it. At the end of the turn, Ben led 18-3.

Turn 8 was Kyle’s initiative, and as usual, he began it by drawing a card. He recruited his Jean Grey and moved all seven of his characters to the front row. Ben recruited Wonder Man and targeted Dr. Light for the stun. Ben had no responses, and the Doctor was stunned. Ben set up with Harry and Wonder Man protecting Scarlet Witch and Magneto, respectively. Kyle, now at 0, went into the tank. He named odds with Two-Face and copied Jean Grey with both Rogue and Mimic. His first attack sent Mimic into Scarlet Witch. Ben allowed the attack, and Scarlet Witch went down. Two-Face attacked Wonder Man, and this time, Ben had Heroes in Reserve. Kyle had X-Corp: Amsterdam, though, for a devastating +1 DEF. Ben conceded the first game.

Game 2

Ben again had his choice of initiatives, and again chose to take the odds. This time, it was Kyle who mulliganed his opener. Both players missed their 1-drops, and the game started off with a turn 2 Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose facing off against Natasha Romanoff ◊ Black Widow, Super Spy. The characters traded, and a recovery-step Worthington Industries activation got Jean Grey, Phoenix Force into the KO’d pile.

Ben missed on turn 3, while Kyle had Cardiac. The 3-drop activated to stun Natasha, and Ben’s Worthington put Professor X, World’s Most Powerful Telepath into the bin. Avalon Space Station, used with Mimic, allowed Kyle to recur both of his characters, and he gained 4 endurance by discarding Jean Grey to a fresh X-Corporation.

Kyle hit Rogue, Power Absorption on 4, while Ben under-dropped with Dane Whitman ◊ Black Knight. Ben’s board got stunned, and he lost Dane. Kyle led 52-30.

Ben had the initiative on turn 5, and he played Enemy of My Enemy to get Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff. Kyle used Cardiac to stun Natasha in response. He played an Enemy of his own to get Sunfire, which he recruited. Kyle set up with Cardiac and Poison Ivy up front. In combat, Scarlet Witch attacked Cardiac. Kyle popped X-Corp: Amsterdam to get a UN Building; he teamed-up and reinforced. That was the end of combat, but Kyle continued recurring characters and gaining endurance in recovery. At the end of the turn, Kyle led 53-28.

Kyle had his turn 6 Mimic, but Ben under-dropped again with Sub-Mariner. Mimic attacked Scarlet Witch and was stunned back with Avengers Mansion, but it hardly mattered at this point. Cardiac exhausted to stun Natasha, and Ivy and Sunfire team attacked to take down Submariner. Rogue attacked directly for 7—not a good thing for Ben. Kyle gained some more endurance and lost Sunfire in recovery. Ben was left with only Scarlet Witch. Kyle led 46-7.

Ben had a turn 7 Magneto, Master of Magnetism. Kyle played Professor X, exhausted it, and that was the game.

Kyle Dembinski wins and advances to the semifinals!