Semifinals Match report and betting pool update!

The semifinals proved to feature some really fun and exiting plays, but in the end, there could only be 2 winners:

Match 4AC

Burial Grounds entered this round, far and away the underdog favorite. It even seemed to have an early advantage until Steph chained a double Liberation Day to a Triskelion activation to ensure she'd be using those Trisks for the next few turns. On a defensive turn 6, Dr. light stopped a potentially fatal amount of attack pumps before Thor coupled with some favorable trades, sealed the game.

Secret Six Burial Grounds -> -18    Ultimate Fear -> 22

Match 4AD

 With its remarkable access to KO effects Thunderworld was easily favored to take the win, however with a fortunate coin toss, Horse managed to secure odd initiatives and proceeded to... curve out. Dealing some heavy damage with its direct attacks throught the early game, Thunderworld was forced to rely on some... unique interactions to stay above 0 endurance but in the end, Horse managed to pull out the win.

...and the Horse you Rode in on -> 10    Thunderworld -> -8 

With that, here are our updated betting pool leaders:

JSeb De L'aigle

-26pts

Luca Invernizz

-23pts

Joseph Clark

-22pts

Robert Snyder

-20pts

Vern Le

-18pts

Hesed Ramos

-16pts

John Viola

-15pts
Brian Foley

-15pts

Peter Hoettels

-13pts
Daniel Lanier

-13pts

Luke Johnson

-12pts

David Clement

- 9pts

Joseph Sanchez

- 6pts

DJ Foley

- 5pts

Glen D Preston

- 3pts

Jerry Donahue

- 1pts
John Hornung

- 1pts

So the finals will be:

 Ultimate Fear   VS  ...and the Horse you rode in on

The finals will be a best of 3 event. Naturally this opens some new variables for the betting options which will be explained later as we get closer to  playing the games out. (we intend to record them with subtitled play-by-plays)

SEMFINALS - Match 4AC - Secret Six Burial Grounds VS Ultimate Fear

Secret Six Burial Grounds
- Mark
VS
Ultimate Fear
- Steph



Steph wins the flip and elects to take odd initiatives.

mark Keeps. Steph mulligans.

        TURN 1 (Steph Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

Steph sets a resource and passes her build.

Mark sets a resource and recruits Dr. Polaris in the hidden area.

    COMBAT PHASE

Steph has no characters and passes combat.

Mark swings direct for 1.

    RECOVERY PHASE

    Secret Six Burial Grounds -> 50    Ultimate Fear -> 49



        TURN 2 (Mark Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

Mark sets a resource and recruits Chemo in the hidden area.

Steph sets a resource and recruits Wasp. activating her effect to burn Mark for 3 (Removing 2x Clint Barton, quicksilver, Dr. Sivana and Liberation Day)

    COMBAT PHASE

Mark swings direct with chemo and polaris for 2.

Steph passes.

    RECOVERY PHASE

    Secret Six Burial Grounds -> 47    Ultimate Fear -> 47



        TURN 3 (Steph Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

Steph sets a resource and recruits Dr. Sivana in the visible area.

Mark sets a resource and flips up Master Plan from his row, discarding Deadshot for Master Plan's effect before electing to recruit poison Ivy from his hand rather than recruit from his KO pile. he then exhausts Ivy to place Deadshot into his hidden area.

    COMBAT PHASE

Steph swings Dr Sivana into Poison ivy, passing Once legal. Mark responds powering up Ivy. Steph responds flipping up triskelion, and chaining the Underworld star (Discarding Shimmer) mark immediately activates Chemo's effect, KOing it to replace Triskelion. Steph responds playing Liberation day from her Row (Removing from play Clint Barton) and then chains another another Liberation day from her hand (Removing Thor) before finally chaining Triskelion's effect (Removing Cover Fire). The substantial chain resolves:
Triskelion grabs Clint Barton, Lib day grabs a Triskelion (It has the version Ultimates!) the other Lib day, grabs another Triskelion, placing it into her hand. Chemo's effect resolves, replacing Triskelion, and finally Underworld Star resolves, placing Dr. Sivana into her hand. where she powers up her attacker.
Mark has no follow-up and Ivy stuns.

Steph plays Clint from her hand, removing it from play and exhausting Wasp to remove Ivy from play. Mark passes.

    RECOVERY PHASE

    Secret Six Burial Grounds -> 44    Ultimate Fear -> 49



        TURN 4 (Mark Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

Mark sets a resource and flips Hidden HQ, activating it (Sending Ragdoll to the KO pile) before playing his recently set Forced Conscription from his row (Sending Slaughter Swamp, Dr. Sivana and straight to the grave, returning Poison Ivy to his hand and recruiting her in teh visible front row.

Steph sets a resource, reservist recruiting Blade from her row into the hidden area protecting Wasp replacing the resource with one from her hand.

    COMBAT PHASE

Ivy puts Chemo into the hidden front row.

Mark attacks with Deadshot into Dr. Sivana, playing path of destruction from his hand. Steph passes and the both stun. Then he sends Polaris and Chemo direct for 2, before attacking direct with Ivy for 4.

Steph responds sending Blade into Chemo for an easy stun. playing Clint barton's effect from the hand, to remove Chemo from the game.

    RECOVERY PHASE

Mark recovers Deadshot.
Steph recovers Dr. Sivana

    Secret Six Burial Grounds -> 38    Ultimate Fear -> 40



        TURN 5 (Steph Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
Steph chains Wasp's burn effect to the draw,(removing iron Man, Lady Deathstrike, The Underworld Star, Forbidden Loyalties and Quicksliver) then chaining Triskelion (Removing Blade from play) placing Forbidden Loyalties into her hand.

Mark responds with HIdden HQ before the draw. (Sending Hidden HQ to the Ko pile)
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

Steph sets and flips Forbidden Loyalties (Opting not to discard) teaming up S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fearsome Five. recruiting Shimmer protecting Dr. Sivana, and Nick Fury adjacent to Sivana inteh support row.

Mark sets a resource, flipping up Straight to the Grave (sending Black Manta and Path of Destruction to his KO pile.) And then plays a second one from his hand (Sending Chemo and Path of Destruction to the KO pile.) before discarding Chemo to Master Plan's effect, recruiting Black Manta from the KO pile. Forming it behind Poison Ivy.

    COMBAT PHASE

Ivy places Chemo into play in the hidden area.

Steph activates Shimmer, exhausting all five of mark's characters, he KO's Chemo spitefully replacing Triskelion. and declares Nick Fury into Poison Ivy. Once legal, using his effect (removing Forbidden Loyalties, 2x wasp, sleeper cells, and iron Man) to be unstunnable this attack. Stunning Ivy easily. Then Blade and Sivana Team attack Black Manta. Mark uses Black Manta's effect to place a Path of Destruction into his hand before stunning back Blade.

    RECOVERY PHASE

Steph recovers Blade.
Mark recovers Black Manta, KOing Poison Ivy.

    Secret Six Burial Grounds -> 23    Ultimate Fear -> 37



        TURN 6 (Mark Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
Mark chains Hidden HQ to the draw (sending Dr. Polaris to the KO pile)
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

Mark sets a resource and recruits Poison Ivy protecting Black Manta, he discards Deadshot to Master Plan's effect, recruiting Chemo into his hidden front row protecting Deadshot.

Steph sets a resource, playing The Underworld Star from her row. (Discarding Bullseye) She then flips and chains Triskelion's effect (removing 0 cards) to place Sleeper Cells into her hand before resolving her search placing Dr. Light into her hand and recruiting him protecting Nick Fury.

    COMBAT PHASE

Poison Ivy places Chemo into Mark's hidden front row protecting Dr. Polaris.

Mark declares Dr. Polaris into Dr. Sivana. once legal, playing path of destruction from his resource row, chaining Chemo's effect KOing chemo to replace it for a +8ATK pump. Steph reinforces with Nick Fury and allows the mutual stun. Next Deadshot declares into Dr. Light. Once Legal, mark plays his final Path of destruction from his row, chaining Chemo #2 to replace it for a +10ATK pump. Steph thinks for a while before finally activating Dr. Light, targetting Black Manta. Black Manta responds, to fetch a path of destruction, and Steph plays Sleeper Cells exhausting Blade, Wasp and Shimmer to ready Dr. Light, activating him a second time to stun Deadshot out of the attack. Mark then sends Poison Ivy into Shimmer playing Path for +8.

    RECOVERY PHASE

Mark recovers Black Manta, KOing Deadshot and Dr. Polaris.
Steph recovers Shimmer, KOing Dr. Sivana.

    Secret Six Burial Grounds -> 14    Ultimate Fear -> 22



        TURN 7 (Steph Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
Steph chains Triskelion to the draw (Removing 0 cards) to place Thor into her hand.
Mark chains Hidden HQ to the draw. (sending Deadshot to the KO pile)
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

Steph sets a resource and recruits Thor Behind Shimmer and passes.

Mark sets a resource and recruits Ragdoll and Catman. Exhausting Ivy to place deadshot into play from his effect.

    COMBAT PHASE

Ivy places Chemo into play in the hidden front row.

Steph activates Shimmer, exhausting Mark's Board and activates Thor, with 22 cards left in her deck and 20 cards removed from the game, Mark selects the RFP pile and burns for 20. Dr. Light activates to stun Black Manta. Nick Fury attacks Poison Ivy, Once legal, using his effect to be unstunnable. (Removing Iron Man, Wasp, Forbidden Loyalties, Lady Deathstrike and Dr. Light) stunning Ivy. Wasp then activates for 3 burn. (Removing The Underworld Star, Life Model decoy, Psimon, Bullseye, and Shimmer)

It's all over!

    RECOVERY PHASE

    Secret Six Burial Grounds -> -18    Ultimate Fear -> 22


        Ultimate Fear advances to the finals!


        POSTGAME THOUGHTS

Mark Thoughts:
"Being stuck playing evens, all I could hope for was Starving her from Triskelions, and hoping to see her missing Dr. Light on 6. It didn't happen though, and what could have been 28 ATK worth of Path of Destructions became 8. Funny story though, missing my teamups really didn't affect anything I wanted to do this game! Haha! Using the Liberation days to load up on Triskelion's was a pretty shnazzy way to play around Chemo."

Steph Thoughts:
"Normally I have fun playing this deck, but this game made my head hurt. I felt like the entire game was a chain and keeping that straight can be rough."

SEMIFINALS - Match 4AD - ...and the horse you rode in on VS Thunderworld

...and the Horse you Rode in on
- Josh
VS
Thunderworld
- Lee


Josh wins the flip and selects Odd initiatives.

Both players Mulligan.

        TURN 1 (Josh Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

Josh sets a resource, revealing War Skrull, KOing it and placing an Act of Defiance face down in his row. He then recruits Hope in the front row.

Lee sets a resource and passes.

    COMBAT PHASE

Hope swings direct for 2.

    RECOVERY PHASE

    ...and the Horse you Rode in on -> 50    Thunderworld -> 48



        TURN 2 (Lee Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

Lee sets a resource and flips up The Dark Dimension (Sending The Dwarf, Radioactive Man and Queen Lilith to the KO pile, returning Queen Lilith to his hand. He then recruits The Dwarf in the hidden area and Discards a second Dwarf to fetch Ritual Sacrifice, and place it into his hand before passing his build.

Josh sets a resource and recruits War Skrull into his front row, flipping up Act of defiance to team up Skrull and Revenge Squad. then flipping another to team up skrull and Underworld.

    COMBAT PHASE

Lee sends The Dwarf into Hope for a mutual stun.
Josh sends Warskrull direct for 3.

    RECOVERY PHASE

Josh recovers Hope.

    ...and the Horse you Rode in on -> 49    Thunderworld -> 46



        TURN 3 (Josh Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

Josh sets a resource and recruits Professor Emil Hamiltion <> Ruin in the front row

Lee sets a resource and recruits Lilith in the hidden front row adjacent to The Dwarf.

    COMBAT PHASE

Josh attacks direct with everything.

Lee sends Queen Lilith into Warskrull. Once legal, looking at the top 3 cards, placing one on top of his deck and then sending Blackheart and Queen Lilith to the KO pile. warskrull stuns. Then He sends The Dwarf into Hope for a mutual stun.

    RECOVERY PHASE

Josh recovers Warskrull, KOing Hope.
Lee recovers The Dwarf.

    ...and the Horse you Rode in on -> 43    Thunderworld -> 36



        TURN 4 (Lee Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

Lee sets a resource and recruits Blackheart in the hidden area protected by Queen Lilith.

Josh sets a resource and recruits Maxima, protected by War Skrull, leaving Ruin in the unprotected front row.

    COMBAT PHASE

Lee activates Blackheart, (Moving Queen Lilith, Rad man, and a Dwarf to the bottom of his deck) to KO Ruin. Lilith attacks Warskrull. Once legal, using her effect to look at the top 3, place a card on top of his deck and send Strange Love and Green Goblin to the KO pile, stunning warskrull before passing.

Josh swings direct with Maxima, once legal, playing Mob mentality on her from the row for 12 direct. (1 resource still face down)

    RECOVERY PHASE

Josh recovers War Skrull.

    ...and the Horse you Rode in on -> 38    Thunderworld -> 24



        TURN 5 (Josh Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

Josh sets a resource, revealing War Skrull, KOing it and placing an Act of Defiance face down in his row. Flipping it up and teaming up Skrull and Hellfire CLub (From Blackheart). He then recruits Paibok forming warskrull in front of it, with Maxima unprotected in the support row.

Lee sets a resource and recruits Green Goblin in the hidden area and recruiting Lady Deathstrike visible. He then flips up Ritual Sacrifice, teaming up Underworld and Thunderbolts before flipping up Dark Dimension (Sending Death's Embrace, Shathra and Ritual Sacrifice to the KO pile.) Opting to return The Dwarf to his hand, immediately discardingit to place Ritual Sacrifice into hishand from his deck.

    COMBAT PHASE

Josh swings War Skrull into Lady Deathstrike. Lee activates Blackheart, (moving Shathra, Blackheart, and Green Goblin to the bottom of his deck) KOing WarSkrull.
Undanted, Josh sends Maxima into Lady Deathstrike, with +4 ATk from his face up ongoings and an extra +2 ATK from Paibok, Lee decides to stem the damage, powering up Lady Deathstrike before passing on the mutual stun. Josh then swings Paibok direct for 9.

Already in the red zone, Lee uses Ritual Sacrifice's effect (Moving Lady Deathstrike to the bottom of his deck) to gain 1 endurance. With no way to stun Paibox with 7 total attack on the field, Lee flips up two New Identity, having each one target Blackheart.

    RECOVERY PHASE

Blackheart gains two +1/+1 counters from the new Identities.

Josh recovers Maxima.
Lee recovers Lady Deathstrike.

    ...and the Horse you Rode in on -> 34    Thunderworld -> 7



        TURN 6 (Lee Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

Lee sets a resource and recruits Madelyne Pryor in the hidden area.

Josh sets a resource and plays Mobilize from his hand (Discarding Black Bolt) to search for Super Skrull, noble sacrifice and recruits it protecting paibok. he then forms Maxima in the front row.

    COMBAT PHASE

Lee surveys the field. Some heavy atk values there for sure. he opts to team swing Blackheart and The Dwarf into Super Skrull (invulnerable from his cosmic effect.) Super Skrull exchanges stuns with Blackheart. Then Madelyn Pryor attacks Paibok, Paibok exhausts to play Death of Superman from Josh's row to KO Blackheart before allowing the one-sided stun. Lee then activates Lady Deathstrike, returning her to his hand to ready the Goblyn queen. He then sends Queen Lilith into Maxima. Once legal she checks the top three cards, places one on the top of Lee's deck and sends The Dwarf and Rad Man to the KO pile. He activates Green Goblin, stunning it to place a +1/+1 counter on Lilith and powers her up for 7 Atk onto the 7 DEF Maxima...

Josh powers Maxima up. Uh-Oh.

Lee sighs, and plays Death's Embrace from his hand, (Discarding Speedball is Dead) and chains Ritual Sacrifice (placing a Queen Lilith to the bottom of his deck) and resolves the search, sending a Lilith to the KO pile and placing one into his hand, then after resolving the search, gaining 1 endurance. and powering up Lilith. Landing the clutch mutual stun.
Finally, Madelyne Pryor swings direct for 12 and detonates her cosmic counter. Moving her visible and KOing all stunned characters in play. Leaving only Her and The dwarf in play, wiping Josh's field.

Lee then flips up a second Ritual Sacrifice, (sending Shathra to the bottom of his deck) to gain one endurance with a laugh.

    RECOVERY PHASE

    ...and the Horse you Rode in on -> 10    Thunderworld -> 1



        TURN 7 (Josh Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

Josh sets a resource, flipping up Executive Privelege, and using its effect (Discarding Hope) to reveal Brainiac 13 and Mob Mentality. placing them both into his hand. He then recruits Brainiac, Terra-Man, and Captain America, forming them all into his front row.

Lee sets a resource and recruits Lady Deathstrike and Rad Man, forming Rad Man, protected by Deathstrike, and leaving Madelyne inthe unprotected support row.

At the end of the build phase, Josh flips up Battle for Metropolis (7 face-up ongoings) and activates Brainiac's backup effect targeting Madelyne. Making her a 12/6.

    COMBAT PHASE

Josh sends Captain America into Madelyne for the stun. Lee opts to not reinforce with Rad man and takes 9. Then Josh sends Terra-man into Rad Man, playing Mob Mentality from his hand for a 16 ATK 2 drop. Lee plays Strange Love from his hand, (Discarding Noble Kale) to recover Madelyne, then activates Lady Deathstrike's effect returning her to Lee's hand to ready Madelyne and reinforce Radioactive Man. Stopping 13 Breakthrough. He then flips a third Ritual sacrifice and activates all 3 (Sending Kale, Lilith and Blackheart) to gain 3 endurance But it isn't enough.

    RECOVERY PHASE

    ...and the Horse you Rode in on -> 10    Thunderworld -> -8


        Horse advances to the finals!


        POSTGAME THOUGHTS

Lee Thoughts:
"The thing about having a 4 drop KOing 3 drops and under is that you are also sacrificing the 4 drop attack. I wasnt expecting to face a solid curve, that Super Skrull on 6 suprised the hell out of me. While I felt like a good turn 7 Shuma Gorath or defensive blackheart could have saved me, being forced into the search to stay alive on 6 was a hard pill to swallow. Considering Shadowpact seems to enjoy the brink of endurance more, I have to say, Underworld can do it pretty good too!"

Josh Thoughts:
"All game long, I was sitting on that damn Cap, thinking I'd never have a shot to play it. Glad I didn't ditch him for that turn 6 mobilize!"

Semifinals Match Breakdowns!

Welcome to the Semifinals Match previews! 

Firstly, today we feature a real David and Goliath match-up where on one side, we have a deck toting the largest winning average of the event matches so far, squaring off against the "Better Lucky than Good" titan-slaying Secret Society Hybrid.

Where do we even begin? Lets start!

Match 4AC:
Secret Six Burial Grounds VS  Ultimate Fear

The Favorite:
Averaging 35½ MORE points per game than its opponent, Ultimate Fear has a-lot going for it here. To secure the win, it's going to have to really put a focus into stopping Poison Ivy by getting her off the field with Clint Barton's effect. But even without Clint, playing Blade on 3 will put pressure into the underdog's hidden area in a way it hasn't been exposed to before, while even something as simple as securing odd initiatives can stretch the game to a favorable defensive turn 6 with Dr. Light hopefully securing one or two key stuns before the game can be closed out.

The Underdog :
It really seems, that the more difficult the match-up, the better Burial Grounds seems to do, be it luck, planning, piloting, or divine providence, it always seems to manage to push back just a little harder than its opponent. So what does it have to do to help its chances at making the finals?
-Firstly, Dr. Polaris needs to come out by mid-game. As the only character in the deck with flight he is going to be crucial to Burial Grounds' ability to ignore formations and get to that protected Iron Man.
-Chemo needs to snipe Triskelion. Ultimate Fear secures its late game with Triskelion activations to fish what it wants. Who knows? he might get lucky and bury a clutch drop.
-Lastly, it is going to need luck. Both builds enjoy loading up the hidden area and while Burial Grounds can whip out a repeatable +10 ATK Pump, Ultimate Fear can dig for a substantial DEF pump in cover fire as well.

While much of this game may be dictated largely to initiative results, down is not out in either of these builds. Watch for some clutch plays on turn 5-6 regardless of who's initiative it is.


However the decks aren't the ONLY thing affecting the game outcome! For this round Pilots were asked to choose the deck they wished to play. (with the exception of Aaron and JS who will pilot the final 2 decks in a best of three showdown) For this round, Mark really wanted to pilot Burial Grounds, while Steph had so much fun with Ultimate Fear last round, she wanted to run it again!

Here are your lines for this match!

Secret Six Burial Grounds
Pilot - Mark
VS
Ultimate Fear (Favored to Win by 35½)
Pilot - Steph

Match 4AD:
...and the Horse you Rode in on  VS Thunderworld

With the unexpected defeat of HULK LOVE MAGIC, Thunderworld is striding into the finals as heavy favorites over the deck affectionately referred to as "Horse" for short. Lets take a closer look at:

The Favorite:
 Thunderworlds heavy attrition towards  all characters with a cost of 3 or less leaves it in an extremely favorable position in this matchup. The key will be in Thunderworld's ability to keep its KO pile fueled for Blackheart to keep on ruining Horse's day. If benefitting from a turn 5 initiative Thanos may become the final nail in the coffin for the underdropping competitor.

The Underdog:
Being forced to climb such a steep hill to remain effective, Horse does have an out, in that it has the ability to curve to 6, and that Thunderworld has no resource manipulation it can bring to bear. it absolutely NEEDS odd initiatives while curving out, specifically hitting Lex to finally lockdown Blackheart and Bullseye, and taking full advantage of Brainiac on 6 to KO problematic characters.

Lee had first pick when it came to the 4 available decks and he picked Thunderworld. That is saying quite a bit considering his lackluster win ratios. He certainly wants to prove himself and hammer home a win!

Once again Josh finds himself piloting Horse, and it is just as well as once more, he is playing the underdog. Does he have what it takes?

Here are your Lines for this match!

...and the Horse you Rode in on
Pilot - Josh
VS
Thunderworld (Favored to win by 8½)
Pilot - Lee

Round 3 Report!

WELL HOLY JUMPIN SNOTBALLS!

What a week this was!

This week was full of upsets and solid play from some our underdog builds! So lets get into it shall we?

Match 3Y

Admiral Wolverine Lightning-bolt was a nearly unanimous favorite to take down our favorite little underdog contender in the top 8, but alas! Even the Admiral gets a bad draw. And Secret 6 and friends were ready to step up in a BIG way mustering themselves a HUGE upset win and moving on to the top 4! Absolutely INSANE work for the little deck that could! Is there a ceiling to this deck's good fortune?

Admiral Wolverine Lightning-bolt  -9   - Secret Six Burial Grounds  6

Match 3Z

With easy access to Batman's disruption it certainly seemed like League of Doom had all the right tools to take care of Ultimate Fear, but a timely Clint Barton seemed to turn the game around enabling Shimmer's stall tactics. Thor managed to activate 4 times in a row on turn 7 for 84 endurance loss, sealing the deal for the win.

League of Doom  -75   - Ultimate Fear  -23

Match 3AA

Prey on the weak went all-in on turn 5 hoping to  close the deal on a solid counter-swing on turn 6, but even the infamous triple Savage Land activation wasn't enough to mitigate a fantastic turn 6 play by Josh as the Horse managed to advance again.

Prey on the Weak   -40   - ...and the Horse you Rode in on  -28

Match 3AB

 With only 4 games this week, you would think that there would only be ONE underdog blowout. But nobody could have predicted the fall of the Hulk from this little contest! An 8 drop Hulk unable to detonate stood idly by as Noble Kale swung direct twice for the win!

 Thunderworld  -4   - HULK LOVE MAGIC  -27

Stay tuned for match breakdowns of our top 4 decks, Listed Faves to win, and thoughts regarding key cards and strategies of what each build needs to do to pull out the win and get to the finals!

Match 3Y - Admiral Wolverine Lightning-bolt VS Secret Six Burial Grounds

Admiral Wolverine Lightning-bolt
- JS
VS
Secret Six Burial Grounds
- Aaron


Aaron wins the flip and selects odd initiatives

JS Mulligans. Aaron Keeps.

        TURN 1 (Aaron Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

Aaron sets a resource and recruits Chemo hidden.

JS sets a resource and recruits Anti-Green Lantern hidden.

    COMBAT PHASE

Aaron swings for 1.

JS swings for 4

    RECOVERY PHASE

AGL KO's from its effect.

    Admiral Wolverine Lightning-bolt -> 49    Secret Six Burial Grounds -> 46



        TURN 2 (JS Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

JS sets a resource and recruits two AGL's.

Aaron sets a resource and recruits Dr. Sivana in the hidden front row.

    COMBAT PHASE

JS attacks with everything direct for 8.

Aaron attacks with Chemo and activates Sivana drawing a card, (Discarding Poison Ivy, Intoxicating)

    RECOVERY PHASE

JS sighs as both his AGL's KO.

    Admiral Wolverine Lightning-bolt -> 48    Secret Six Burial Grounds -> 38



        TURN 3 (Aaron Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

Aaron activates Sivana, drawing a card (Discarding Deadshot) then sets a resource, recruiting Poison Ivy and immediately exhausting her to place Deadshot into the hidden area Behid Chemo from his effect. Aaron then flips up A Day Unlike Any Other, teaming up Secret Six and Secret Society.

JS sets a resource, thinks for some time and ultimately decides to flip up two Negative Zone, seat of annihilation, (Discarding two AGLs) He then recruits Xallarap hidden.

    COMBAT PHASE

Aaron declares a direct attack with Chemo, playing a path of destruction from his hand for 3 direct. Then Goes direct with Deadshot, playing Path of destruction from the row and chaining Chemo's effect to KO it for a total of 9 direct. Aaron then flips the replaced resource, activating Hidden HQ (Sending Black Manta to the KO pile.

JS responds with Xallarap swinging over Poison Ivy for 8.

    RECOVERY PHASE

Xallarap KOs to his effect
Both of JS' negative ZOne's each trigger a draw.

Aaron recovers Poison Ivy

    Admiral Wolverine Lightning-bolt -> 36    Secret Six Burial Grounds -> 30



        TURN 4 (JS Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

JS sets a resource and recruits Xallarap.

Aaron sets a resource and activates Dr. Sivana drawing a card (Discarding Ragdoll) he then activates Hidden HQ (Sending Poison Ivy to the KO pile) before playing Forced COnscription from his hand (Sending Chemo, Catman, and Dr. Sivana to the KO pile) and returning Catman to his hand.
Aaron then recruits Catman and Dr. Polaris in the hidden area with catman protecting Polaris.

    COMBAT PHASE

Poison Ivy places Chemo into the hidden area.

JS swings Xallarap into Ivy, playing thunderous Onslaught from his row to move the 9/9 attacker into the visible support row and grant it +2ATK. before playing Megablast from the row, another from his hand, followed with a flying Kick. for huge damage.

Aaron is forced to ponder... Attack and stun it while sending the rest through? or pass and watch it KO? Aaron eventually opts for board control and passes combat

    RECOVERY PHASE

Xallarap KOs to his effect.
Both of JS' negative ZOne's each trigger a draw.

Aaron Recovers Poison Ivy.

    Admiral Wolverine Lightning-bolt -> 36    Secret Six Burial Grounds -> 9



        TURN 5 (Aaron Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
Aaron chains HIdden HQ to his draw. (Sending A Day Unlike any Other to the KO pile)
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

Aaron sets a resource and recruits Black Manta behind Poison Ivy.

JS sets a resource and recruits Slipstream in the hidden area and an AGL hidden as well, lamenting his lack of Chomins this game.

before moving to combat, Aaron activates Dr. Sivana, Drawing a card.(Discarding a slaughter Swamp) and then plays Straight to the Grave. (Sending Dr. Polaris and Path of Destruction to the KO pile)

    COMBAT PHASE

Poison Ivy places a second Dr. Polaris into the hidden area.

Aaron team attacks Chemo, Polaris, Polaris, Deadshot Catman, and Ivy direct for 14. then KOs both his Dr. Polaris to exhaust JS' two hidden characters.
He then attacks direct with Black Manta, playing Path of Destruction from his row, chaining Chemo's effect to replace it. granting a +10 ATK pump and once resolving the pump, pays Black Manta's effect to place another Path of destruction into his hand playing it for an additional +8 ATK before finally playing an acceptable Loss from his row, KOing Deadshot for an additional +4 ATK.

    RECOVERY PHASE

    Admiral Wolverine Lightning-bolt -> -9    Secret Six Burial Grounds -> 6


        UNBELIEVABLE! Secret Six Burial Grounds advances to the top 4!


        POSTGAME THOUGHTS

JS Thoughts:
"When I saw him sitting on the first Polaris, I realized there was a very real chance he'd double up POlarises and nerf my attacks on his next initiative, so I blew everything I had at the time, into the Xallarap Attack. Even with the extra draw from Negative Zone, Slipstream just arrived too late as I only had the two characters to recruit. he ended up managing a 45 damage turn and putting me on my ass. Mind you, Chomin taking a day off really hurt too."

Aaron Thoughts:
I was pretty confident I was going to lose... right up until I activated that last Sivana giving me the Straight to the Grave for both the Polaris I needed AND the last Path. SUPER CLUTCH! I can't believe the guts on this little deck! This was Rocky VS Apollo!"

Match 3Z - League of Doom VS Ultimate Fear

League of Doom
- Mark
VS
Ultimate Fear
- Steph



Mark wins the flip and elects to take evens

Steph Mulligans. Mark keeps

        TURN 1 (Steph Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

Steph sets a resource and recruits Wasp inthe hidden area.

Mark sets a resource and passes.

    COMBAT PHASE

Steph activates Wasp's effect to burn Mark for 3. (Removing Cover Fire, Iron Man, Quicksilver, Clint Barton and Nick Fury)

    RECOVERY PHASE

    League of Doom -> 47    Ultimate Fear -> 50



        TURN 2 (Mark Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

Mark sets a resource and recruits Gypsy, looking at the top 3 cards of his deck before placing one on top and the rest on the bottom.

Stephj sets a resource and recruits Clint Barton in the hidden support row adjacent to wasp.

    COMBAT PHASE

Mark sends Gypsy direct.

Steph sends Clint Direct and activates Wasp to burn for 3, (Removing Forbidden Loyalties, Sleeper Cells, Bullseye, Liberation Day and Wasp)

    RECOVERY PHASE

    League of Doom -> 40    Ultimate Fear -> 48



        TURN 3 (Steph Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

Steph sets a resource and recruits Blade, independant contractor in her hidden area, protecting Wasp.

Mark sets a resource and recruits Batman, founding Member in the hidden area protected by Gypsy.

    COMBAT PHASE

Steph sends Blade into GYpsy, once legal, using his effect to move her into the visible area stunning her. Steph continues with Clint attacking Direct before activating Wasp for yet another 3 burn. (Removing Iron Man, Shimmer, Dr. Light, Wasp, and The Triskelion)

Mark swings with Batman direct for 5.

    RECOVERY PHASE

Mark Recovers Gypsy.

    League of Doom -> 29    Ultimate Fear -> 43



        TURN 4 (Mark Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

Mark sets a resource, playing Enemy of my Enemy from the row, (Discarding Dr. Doom) to search for Aquaman, placing it into his hand before recruiting Dr. Doom diabolic genius behind Gypsy and flupping the EomE face down from his effect. Mark then flips up For the Glory of Doom! to team-up JLA and Doom.

Steph sets a resource and recruits Iron Man in the visible support row.

    COMBAT PHASE

Mark plays Reign of Terror, thinking a LONG while... before settling on targetting Blade, returning it to Steph's hand. Then declaring Doom into Iron man. Once legal flipping up Doomstadt to avoid the stunback. before sending Batman and Gypsy direct.

Steph activates Wasp to force 3 more endurance loss. (Removing The Underworld Star, 2x Dr. Sivana, Sleeper Cells, and Clint Barton)

    RECOVERY PHASE

Steph recovers Iron Man.

    League of Doom -> 26    Ultimate Fear -> 32



        TURN 5 (Steph Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

Steph sets a resource and recruits Shimmer protecting Iron Man, and Blade protecting Wasp in the hidden area.

Mark sets a resource and recruits Superman, metropolis marvel in the support row unprotected adjacent to Dr. Doom.

    COMBAT PHASE

Steph flips up Triskelion and plays forbidden Loyalties from the row, (Discarding Iron Man) to place a +1/+1 counter on Iron Man and teaming up S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fearsome Five.
She then activates Shimmer's effect (now able to exhaust 5 characters) to which Mark responds with a Batman Activation (Discarding Batman) to replace the team-up. And Steph chains a second rowed Forbidden Loyalties, re-teaming up and placing a +1/+1 counter on iron man (Discarding Nick Fury)
Mark, not liking the 9/9 Iron man chains a mystical Paralysis played from his hand, to exhaust Iron Man and shimmer finally resolves, exhausting his board.
She then sends Blade into Batman. Once legal Moving him into the Visible area in a mutual stun. before exhausting wasp, removing Clint Barton from the game to remove Batman and passing.

    RECOVERY PHASE

Steph recovers Blade.

    League of Doom -> 23    Ultimate Fear -> 29



        TURN 6 (Mark Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
Steph chains The Underworld Star from her row to the draw phase, (Discarding Lady Deathstrike) and chains Triskelion (removing 0 cards from play). Trisk resolves, placing Sleeper Cells into her hand before resolving The Underworld Star grabbing Dr. Light.
( Then Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

Mark sets a resource and recruits Aquaman (placing Mystical Paralysis and Batman into his hand from the KO pile.)

Steph sets a resource and recruits Dr. Light, forming him in the support row adjacent to Iron Man. And activates Dr. Light's effect targetting Superman, Stunning him before playing Sleeper Cells from her row (exhausting  Shimmer, Wasp, and Hawkeye) to ready Dr. Light, immediately activating to stun Dr. Doom. Doom responds with a Mystical Paralysis exhausting Iron Man.

    COMBAT PHASE

Without flight, Mark can't attack without triggering Iron Man's effect first and checks Steph's RFG pile. not seeing any Press the attacks and worrying about a timely reinforcement effect, he ultimately sends Gypsy into Shimmer for the easy stun (triggering Iron Man's effect) before sending Aquaman into Iron man himself for another uncontested stun. Steph counterswings her last ready character, Blade into Gypsy. Mark responds and KO's Gypsy to For the Glory of Doom!'s effect to burn for 2. Blade readies, but Steph passes.

    RECOVERY PHASE

Shimmer auto-recovers and gains a +1/+1 counter from Iron Man's effect.

Mark recovers Superman, KOing Dr. Doom.
Steph recovers Iron Man.

    League of Doom -> 14    Ultimate Fear -> 17



        TURN 7 (Steph Initiative)

    DRAW PHASE
Steph chains Triskelion to the draw phase, (removing 0 cards from play) and places Lady Deathstrike into her hand.
(Both Players draw 2 cards)

    BUILD PHASE

Steph sets a resource and substitutes Lady Deathstrike into play, replacing Iron man before playing Liberation day, removing Wasp from the game to search for Thor. recruiting him in the support row, and activating him immediately. With 21 cards left inher deck and 24 in her RFG pile, Mark elects to take deck damage and eats 21 endurance loss. She then actiates Lady deathstrike, returning her to her hand to ready Thor, activating him again for another 21. She then substitutes Lady Deathstrike removing Dr. Light from the game, and activates her effect again, readying Thor, and burning for another 21 endurance loss.
"Sorry Mark. Rules are rules."
She then flips up a second triskelion, activating it (removing Lady Deathstrike from play) to get Sleeper Cells and plays it. Exhausting Blade, wasp and Clint to ready Thor, burning for another 21.

"Holy shit."Mark sets a resource and plays Enemy of my Enemy (discarding batman) to search out Dreadnought Tank, recruiting it.

    COMBAT PHASE

Dreadnought Tank triggers (Thanks Doomstadt!) returning Shimmer and Wasp to Stephs hand before she has the opportunity to use Shimmer's effect.

With her board exhausted, Steph passed combat.

Mark swings with Superman into Thor and plays Savage Beatdown from his row for a mutual stun before sending the Dreadnought Tank and Aquaman direct, playing another beatdown from the row on Aquaman and playing Mightiest Heroes from his row as well, (Discarding Wonderwoman) to put an aquaman into his hand for a power up for a total of 31 direct.

But alas, the damage was done.

    RECOVERY PHASE

    League of Doom -> -75    Ultimate Fear -> -23


        Ultimate Fear advances to the top 4!


        POSTGAME THOUGHTS:

Mark Thoughts:
"84 burn from Thor on turn 7? Not even caring about teamups? That's just silly!"

Steph Thoughts:
"I was so petrified of Batman I didnt bother flipping up any team-ups or triskelions until I had my second team-up on turn 5. I'm sorry Mark, I really wanted to stop but Aaron Insisted I activate any other options I had. So blame him! I'll make you some cookies later! Thanks for being a good sport!"