The matchup was “Mexican Hardware Store,” the FTN burn deck, against “Deep Green,” Vincent’s Checkmate / League of Assassins / Villains United deck featuring a whole host of nifty locations.

Ian had the odd initiative but no recruits for turn 1, while Vidi played Joystick with an Image Inducer and swung in to take Ian down to 47. For turn 2, Vidi had Shape—also with an Image Inducer—while Ian had Sarge Steel. The attacks from Wijaya made it 37-48 in his favor, but regardless of this early lead, Vidi knocked hard on his deck with every draw, hoping to draw well each turn.

For turn 3, Ian had Brother I Satellite, discarding Asmodeus, Duke of Hell in order to fetch Ahmed Samsarra, White King. He had a little think to work out where to put his big 3-drop and eventually decided that the hidden area was the best place for him. Vidi played Ape X, who fetched and wielded a Flamethrower. As Vidi did his search for equips, he noted that he would have drawn Golden Archer on turn 4.

“Man!” said a disappointed Vidi. It seemed that Wijaya, in his second Pro Circuit final in a row, felt a little down on his luck.

Sarge Steel attacked the freshly recruited Ape, who shot Ian for 4 before exploding due to being stunned while holding a Flamethrower. Ahmed then beat up on Joystick with some help from Brother Eye, taking Vidi to 39 to Ian’s 30. Swings back made it 24-39 in Vidi’s favor, and the Englishman frowned. He would need to stop the bleeding very soon.

For turn 4, Vidi played Enemy of My Enemy, discarding Deathstroke the Terminator, Lethal Weapon to find Golden Archer, who was recruited and given Joystick’s Image Inducer. Ian simply played Merlyn, Deadly Archer and used Ahmed Samsarra, White King to find Checkmate Safe House in order to team-up.

Rook Control from Vincent moved his Archer to the hidden area, and then he played a Knight Armor on his King.

“Man! That’s a bad beat,” remarked Vidi, looking at the way the board had panned out. Golden Archer smashed through Sarge Steel to take Ian down to 16, and then Vidi team attacked Ahmed. The total attack of Shape and Joystick was not quite enough, though, when Ian had his Safe House, a Pit of Madness, and a Knightmare Scenario to brickwall with. In his attack step, Ian simply KO’d Shape with Merlyn and passed for turn 5.

Ian had the initiative and something of a board advantage, which he tried to maintain by using Ahmed to fetch a Brother I Satellite, which in turn found Talia, Daughter of Madness.

For Vidi, who was looking to do the last 16 points, John Henry Irons ◊ Steel, Steel-Drivin’ Man was a pretty good recruit, especially with the Flamethrower he plucked from Vidi’s KO’d pile to wield.

At the start of combat, Merlyn shot Golden Archer, who in turn shot Ian. When all the shooting was done, Ian was on 11, and all Vidi had was a Joystick and his 5-drop. His 5-drop looked very strong, but still, things could have been better.

Talia attacked Steel—with help from Brother Eye—for a Savage Beatdown of sorts. Vidi burned Ian for 5 with his Steel’s Flamethrower and KO’d the equipment, but he still had his 5-drop stunned. Ian was on 6 to Vidi’s 30, but he was crawling back.

For turn 6, all Vidi had was Jester, while Ian recruited Huntress, Reluctant Queen.

“I am not winning this one,” remarked a concerned Wijaya. He looked at his resource row and shook his head.

Joystick attacked Sarge Steel, which took Ian down to just 3. There were to be no team attacks for Wijaya though, and his regular attacks looked to need a little help against Vincent’s board. The Pit of Madness appeared to be key in thwarting most attacks at this point, and that was before any cards in Vincent’s hand (or that were fetched by Ahmed) got considered.

Steel went for Talia with some help from a Flying Kick. This put his ATK at 11, forcing Ian to use both his Pit of Madness and his Checkmate Safe House to pump out of range. Vidi used a Trial by Fire for an extra +2 ATK, but Ian went and fetched a team-up for Villains United and Checkmate and used Science Spire to return Sarge Steel to his hand. He then discarded Sarge Steel and a UN Building. Sarge came right back into play in front of Talia and got stunned in the 5-drop’s stead.

Vidi then tried to get in on Ahmed with Jester but was brickwalled by a power-up from Vincent. On his attack step, Ian KO’d Steel, and Vidi revealed a row full of characters and conceded the game.

Ian wins game 1 of this best of 5 match.

Again Ian had the odd initiative, and this time he took a mulligan, while Vidi was happy. Neither player had a first turn recruit, which met with a slightly funny look from Ian’s side of the table, not as much of glee as surprise.

For turn 2, Vidi had Melissa Gold ◊ Songbird, Sonic Carapace. Seeing that he could merrily flip locations early, Ian made the most and flipped up a Brother I Satellite to fetch Sarge Steel. The 2-drops traded and it was on to turn 3.

Ian got his Satellite back, and for turn 3 he had a concealed Ahmed Samsarra, White King. He then flipped Leslie Thompson’s Clinic, ensuring that his king was a little safer and that he would gain a tiny amount of endurance. Given that he had won the previous game on 1, it seemed like a good idea.

Vidi was less protective of his endurance total, using Wild Ride to fetch Black Panther, King of Wakanda, who went in the hidden area with a Laser Watch. For the second turn, 2-drops traded, then Ian passed on making further attacks, simply taking 6 from Black Panther and using Ahmed to replace a character in his resource row with Rook Control, all ready to do some nifty moves the following turn with Merlyn, Deadly Archer.

At the start of the recovery phase, Ian gained 1 endurance to go to 38, compared with Vidi’s 43. Each player then recovered his 2-drop, and it was on to turn 4.

At the start of the turn, Ian used his Brother I Satellite to fetch Huntress, Reluctant Queen so that he could get more uses out of it thanks to Melissa Gold. With the initiative, Vidi played Enemy of My Enemy, discarding Sage, Xavier’s Secret Weapon (who by now had done her job for both players in the final, in getting them there) to fetch Deathstroke the Terminator, Lethal Weapon, who got played behind Melissa Gold.

Ian set his resource and used his Brother I Satellite again in order to fetch Annihilation Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, then used Ahmed to fetch a Checkmate Safe House. He recruited Merlyn, Deadly Archer and teamed-up before using Rook Control to switch his king into the visible area, while the archer got hidden. Ahmed received a Knight Armor, and Ian was about set.

Black Panther attacked Sarge Steel, who got a defensive boost from Checkmate Safe House but still succumbed to the equipped 3-drop. Melissa Gold then went for Ahmed with help from Trial by Fire to get the stun. A direct attack to the face took Ian to 23, while Vidi was at 41. Merlyn KO’d Black Panther after Ian flipped Coast City. Ian gained 1 from his Clinic, and it was on to turn 5.

For turn 5, Ian didn’t need Melissa’s ability to help him out; he simply played a resource and played his Annihilation Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot. Vidi had Steel again for turn 5, but this time the best toy he could get his hands on was a Laser Watch.

At the start of the combat step, Ian used Merlyn to KO Deathstroke, remarking, “Don’t you just love vengeance abilities?”

OMAC Robots then did their thing against Steel (with help from Brother Eye) to take Vidi down to 32, while Ian was on 19. Melissa then got beaten up by Ahmed to make the endurance totals at the end of turn (after Ian gained 1) 27-20 in Vidi’s favor.

Wijaya drew for turn 6 with a sigh. His dream of winning back-to-back Pro Circuits felt like it was slipping away in the face of an Englishman playing Robin Hood with his board. Civil servant and games designer Vincent clearly appeared to have game here, and he was not offering Wijaya many outs at this stage. Vidi played Moon Knight, Electric Eve, and Joystick, giving the last of these an Image Inducer to play with.

Ian simply played a big Huntress, Reluctant Queen and set up, ready for the assault. Moon Knight and Joystick went in on Huntress, forcing Vincent to use Enemy of My Enemy to find Mikado and Mosha to break things up a little. Vidi used a Flying Kick to keep the attack alive, and indeed got the stun. Ian went to 13, and Vidi looked at his options. He sent Steel into Ian’s OMAC Robot, with 10 ATK to the robot’s 8 DEF. He used his Checkmate Safe House for +1 DEF, then fetched a Brother I Satellite in order to fetch a power-up, which quickly turned into two power-ups thanks to Brother Eye. Vidi KO’d Joystick’s Image Inducer for a power-up of his own, then flipped a Flying Kick. The attack worked, and the endurance went to 17 for Vidi, just 5 for Ian. It would have been 2 but for his clinic.

That was the end of Vidi’s attack step, and Ian simply used Merlyn to KO Steel. Electric Eve evaded to effectively negate Ian’s Clinic for the turn, and each player recovered. For turn 7, Ian played Spiderman, The Amazing Spiderman. Vidi had Golden Archer and Joystick.

For his attacks, Ian started with Huntress into Moon Knight, happy that Vidi had no reinforces. Wijaya looked at the relative boards and scooped it up.

Ian Vincent wins game two, needing only one more win to gain the title of Pro Circuit Champion.

Vidi took a mulligan on his opening four, while Ian had a little think before doing the same.

Ian had no recruits for the first turn, while Vidi played Mikado and Mosha with a Laser Watch and rumbled on through for first blood. When Vidi had Melissa Gold ◊ Songbird, Sonic Carapace for the second turn, Ian saw this as a clear signal to fetch Sarge Steel with his Brother I Satellite. 2-drops traded in combat, then Ian used Mikado and Mosha on his opponent’s Mikado and Mosha to get the little ninjas out of play where they belonged.

For turn 3, Ian flipped his Brother I Satellite back face down and played Ahmed Samsarra, White King in the hidden area. Vidi had Shape with an Image Inducer and Electric Eve. He had one card left in hand.

After a little thought, Ian sent Ahmed into Shape, who was reinforced by Vidi. Sarge Steel tried to get Electric Eve, who evaded, allowing Sarge instead to go for Melissa with a +2 ATK pump from Brother Eye, which got flipped up alongside Slaughter Swamp.

In recovery, Ian predictably lost Sarge Steel, and Melissa Gold bit the bullet for Vidi. Vidi was on 40 to Ian’s 36.

For turn 4, Vidi drew and laughed. All he had was Sage, Xavier’s Secret Weapon. As it happens, her ability was borderline relevant, stopping some of Ian’s locations from being flipped, but a 3-drop on turn 4 didn’t really look good enough to win a Pro Circuit.

Ian’s Merlyn, Deadly Archer seemed a lot more solid on 4, and he used Brother I Satellite to fetch Annihilation Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot. He then used Ahmed to fetch Rook Control, which could not be flipped while Sage was around. Merlyn looked to be in a little trouble out in the open and got attacked by Shape, who conveniently had exactly 7 ATK. Ian teamed-up with Checkmate Safe House in order to use it to keep in the fight, but a Trial by Fire was enough to stop that plan. With the way clear, Vidi attacked to the face with Sage and Electric Eve, using a second Trial by Fire and an Electric Eve evade to take Ian down to 17.

Without Merlyn’s counter, things looked a little tougher for Vincent, and he recruited his Annihilation Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot in the back row, frowning a little at the position he’d ended up in. Vidi used Enemy of My Enemy to find Golden Archer and played him in the back row.

Ian attacked Sage with Merlyn, then went for Golden Archer with his OMAC Robot, using Knightmare Scenario to make it a one-sided stun after Golden Archer burned Ian to 12. Ahmed then went into Shape with some help from Brother Eye, and Electric Eve evaded. The endurance was 20 to 11 in Vidi’s favor going into turn 6, and Vidi had a Golden Archer and Electric Eve to battle with. This team didn’t get a whole lot bigger, with just Melissa Gold, who took Golden Archer’s Image Inducer.

Ian had a little think about his recruits. He shook his head and used Slaughter Swamp, discarding Enemy of My Enemy to get back Asmodeus, Duke of Hell. He then played a Knight Armor on Merlyn and passed.

Vidi had a look at his row. 11 points left to do. He looked a little uneasy in his chair. It would be very close. Electric Eve and Melissa Gold went into Asmodeus, with a power-up for Electric Eve. A Knightmare Scenario for just +1 ATK / +1 DEF was thwarted by a Flying Kick. Ahmed fetched a Checkmate Safe House to team-up Checkmate and Underworld; he used both team-ups and a second Knightmare Scenario to force a second Flying Kick from Vidi.

Ian was down to 5, but Vidi had had to use more pumps than he would have liked. Merlyn attacked Golden Archer, who burned Ian down to -1. He had a second Brother Eye to get +5 ATK and a Pit of Madness for a further +2. The attack got Vidi down to exactly -2. Ian was on -1. That was the game.

Ian Vincent wins 3-0 to become Pro Circuit San Francisco Champion!