Playoff Rounds
John Tatian v Brian Batista
Rich Shay v Erik Menooshion
Nick Cuenca defeated Thomas Dixio
Bill Anderson defeated Jonah Acosta
One of the semifinal rounds could begin early, so it has and we are covering it live: Nick Cuenca v Bill Anderson.
This match was a fantastic match with one of the longest games we’ve ever recorded. We can’t wait to get the video of this match online.
| Game 1 | Nick Cuenca | Score | Bill Anderson chooses going second | Score |
| 0 | Mulligans 1 | 29-30 | No mulligan | 29-30 |
| 1 | Steel Golem, revealing 2, attacks. Bill has Lying in Wait. | 29-30 | Raxxa, Demon Tyrant making two demons. Nick does not spend his gold. | 29-30 |
| 2 | Kong, taking out Raxxa. One Giant Ape vs. Two Demons. Bill plays the top half of Plague for 1 damage, a draw, and a recycle. | 28-30 | Sea Titan returning Kong to Nick’s hand — a dangerous play to send that back! One Demon token attacks and that summons a Hunting Raports, revealing Fire Tyrant and another card. Block is made, and the Demon goes down. He didn’t use Raptors right away, waiting to see if he could shoot Bill, but Bill played Feeding Frenzy first. | 28-30 |
| 3 | “Fire Spirit gets Nick a card. Warrior Golem off the top gets played right away, and Nick passes. “”Maybe I should have shot with the Raptors right away…”” Bill plays Time Bender, showing Stand Alone and Erase — a demoralizing setup. Warrior Golem is banished so Nick won’t get a recycle out of it. Tough turn for Nick.” |
28-30 | Bill leads off Erasing Fire Spirit (and drawing two). Sea titan gets in for 11 (17-30) and then Demon Token gets in for four damage (13-30). Nick again passes without using his gold. | 13-30 |
| 4 | Nick finds a Jungle Queen and draws a card for it. Bill bounces it with Time Bender, then plays Spike Trap just to recycle. He draws Ancient Chant and draws two. | 13-30 | Sea Titan comes in for 11 and Nick plays Pyromancer shooting Time Bender (key play). Necrovirus will break Pyromancer and turn it into a Zombie, followed by Flash Fire. Nick is staring down lethal but plays Second Wind. (16-30). Sea Titan gets in for 11, then the Demon gets in for four more. | 1-28 |
| 5 | Wurm Hatchling followed by Jungle Queen gets some material on the board, Keeper of Secrets to banish Necrovirus (key play), but Memory Spirit from Bill to get and play Flash Fire ends it. Bill wins game one. | 0-30 | — | — |
| Game 2 | Nick chooses to go first | Score | Bill Anderson | Score |
| 0 | Mulligan 3 | 27-30 | Mulligan 1 | 27-29 |
| 1 | Steel Golem (no loyalty), pass. Bill plays Fumble to draw two. | 27-29 | Winter Fairy, pass. Nick plays Rage to draw two. | 27-29 |
| 2 | “Draka Demon Tyrant appears for Nick, loyalty is met and the attack is on (killing Bill’s Winter Fairy). Bill finds Necrovirus again and breaks the dragon. Zombies for everyone! Steel Golem attacks and is blocked by Bill’s Zombie token.” |
27-29 | Dark Knight is played and it attacks. Nick’s Zombie token jumps in the way of it. Bill passes, holding coin, and Nick is ok with that. | 27-29 |
| 3 | “Steel Golem attacks into a Lying in Wait — I’ve seen that play many times today. Wurm Hatchling is played, Pyromancer follows (two counters for Hatchling, death for the Dark Knight). Nick passes. Bill does not use his gold.” |
27-29 | “Bill uses Plague to break all, triggering Necrovirus. Three more Zombies. Nick plays Hunting Raptors with no loyalty, but can begin hunting next turn.” |
27-29 |
| 4 | “Hunting Raptors ability takes out a zombie token. Then, Nick plays Warrior Golem (showing Mist Guide Herald and Transform) and attacks. Bill plays Spike Trap — recycle for everyone! Mist Guide Herald shows lash, Frost Giant, Draka’s Fire, Muse and Elara Lycomancer. Nick plays Elara and does not use her loyalty. Bill plays Hurricane, rocking the board. Empty board now.” |
27-29 | This has turned into a grindy matchup. With an empty board Bill plays Rampaging Wurm which summons the Transform from Nick’s hand. Both players pass. | 27-29 |
| 5 | Forced Exile is used to draw two cards, and Bill follows suit by using Feeding Frenzy to do the same. Durdle turn complete. | 27-29 | “Wolf token attacks and gets in. (25-29) Memory Spirit for Bill, taking back the Plague. He passes with seven cards in hand. Nick plays Smash and Burn just to draw two.” |
25-29 |
| 6 | “Fire Spirit gets Nick a card again. He flips through his discard pile (which is looking full) and then he plays Corpse Taker to get back Hunting Raptors, then passes. Bill asks “”How many cards?”” Nick has six cards in hand. Bill then plays Erase on the Fire Spirit. ” |
25-29 | “Bill attacks with Memory Spirit into empty skies. This summons Hunting Raptors again — Fire Spirit and Burrowing Wurm (!!!) are revealed. Raptors shoot the spirit. Juggernaut is played by Bill, no loyalty, but blitz attack gets in for nine damage. (16-29) Bill has too many cards and discards Wolf’s Call.” |
16-29 |
| 7 | “Hunting Raptors take out the Juggernaut with its ability. The known Burrowing Wurm is played. “”The big guy is here.”” Bill looks at his list of known cards, flups through his full hand, and plays Surprise Attack. He draws Flash Fire, and plays…. Gold Dragon. Maybe not what he wanted.” |
16-29 | “Gold Dragon attacks again into empty skies. Draka’s Enforcer hits the scene, showing Fire Spirit and a Wolf Companion. He gives his enforcer +2/+2 from the Wolf Companion (how did it get up there?) and blocks. Gold Dragon is broken in combat, but Bill gains 6. (16-35) Wold Token attacks. Corpse Taker blocks and he removes Hurricane from Bill’s discard pile. This board state finally gets the Plague out of Bill’s hand.” |
16-35 |
| 8 | “Fire Spirit is played again (again), drawing a card for Nick. He passes. Temporal Enforcer bounces Fire Spirit. (Stand Alone and Time Bender is shown.)” |
16-35 | Temporal Enforcer attacks. Strafing Dragon appears, dealing 5 damage from the loyalty (Jungle Queen and Fire Spirit). Deck check — 12 cards left for Bill and 10 for Nick. Rain of Fire to draw two. | 16-35 |
| 9 | “Jungle Queen is played, but no attacks. Bill plays Temporal Shift targeting the Jungle Queen. This gets him closer to decking out and since Nick has to banish one, it puts him further away. Strafing Dragon attacks into an empty board and gets in for six damage.” |
16-29 | Bill plays Stand Alone to draw two, leaving 6 cards left in his deck. Nick has nine left. Bill passes with nine cards in hand. Nick plays Deadly Raid to draw two. Bill discards two. | 16-29 |
| 10 | “Strafing Dragon attacks and gets in. (16-23) Steel Golem is played, loyalty is met, and attacks into an empty board. Bill has been playing to win by decking but he can’t ignore this attack. He Turns Strafing Dragon (top mode) and blocks. Keeper of Secrets is played banishing a card — important in this race to the bottom of the decks. Bill has 7 cards in deck, Nick has 6.” |
16-23 | “Bill draws a card (6 left). He needs to deal with the Keeper of Secrets because he cannot outrace it and deck out. He is trying to find a solution, and he has a couple in hand but will they keep him from winning before Nick decks out? Bill goes aggro and plays Raxxa Demon Tyrant, getting 2 Demon Tokens. Can Nick afford to ignore this and draw two? No. Nick plays Pyromancer and deals … I think he forgot about Raxxa’s bonus to Demon tokens. He now realizes it, I think? Deals 4 to Bill. (16-19)” |
16-19 |
| 11 | “Keeper of Secrets banishes Spike Trap. Steel Golem attacks, Demon token jumps in the way to block. Jungle Queen is played (Nick draws a card). Bill plays Time Bender showing Time Walker and Ancient Chant, banishing the Keeper of Secrets. (Huge play!)” |
16-19 | “Time Bender returns Jungle Queen to Nick’s hand. Sea Titan is played, returning Pyromancer to Nick’s hand. Demon token attacks (it is a 6/6 due to Raxxa), Nick plays Pyromancer dealing 4 to Time Bender. She blocks the Demon token and they both survive. Raxxa attacks and gets in. (16-10)” |
16-10 |
| 12 | Pyromancer attacks, Flame Strike and Flash Fire wins. Bill Anderson wins 2-0! | 16-0 | — | — |
Final Round Coverage
Bill Anderson vs. John Titian
| Game 1 | Bill Anderson | Score | John Tatian chooses to go second | Score |
| 0 | No mulligan | 30-30 | Mulligan 1 | 30-29 |
| 1 | “Pack Alpha, make two wolves, pass. John plays Inheritance of the Meek to draw two.” |
30-29 | “Banishment sends Pack Alpha to the bottom of Bill’s deck, John draws one. Bill draws two with Fumble, finds and plays Muse, but that is quickly Withered.” |
30-29 |
| 2 | “Wolf token attacks and deals two damage (30-27) and then the other one does (30-25). Bill plays Winter Fairy (draws a card, has five) and passes. John has six cards and uses one of them to play Hurricane. (Bill draws 1 for Winter Fairy’s death.)” |
30-25 | Lord of the Arena played into an empty board, attacks, but is Erased. | 30-25 |
| 3 | Raxxa Demon Tyrant, gets two demon tokens, passes. John plays Turn to draw two and we have a game penalty. Plays Great Horned Lizard. | 30-25 | “Lord of the Arena is played, tribute happens (+8 offense and unbreakable) and he attacks. Bill blocks with a Demon token. John lashes the Lord of the Arean breaking through 11 damage. (19-25) Bill plays Demon Breach, getting two more Demons.” |
19-25 |
| 4 | “Demon attacks. John plays Second Wind (banishing Hurricane and something else, goes to 30 health). Blocks with Great Horned Lizard. Bill plays Rage, John plays Brave Squire to save his Lizard. 2 damage breaksthrough. (19-28) Another demon token attacks. John turns a demon token just to chump block (it appears he forgot the Raxxa bonus for Bill’s token). Lord of the Arena is Bitten, giving Bill a Zombie token.” |
19-28 | “Human token attacks, is blocked and broken by a Zombie token. John passes holding his gold (three cards in hand). Bill also passes holding his gold.” |
19-28 |
| 5 | “Guilt Demon attacks, banishes two cards, before blocks he plays Battle Cry, and that gets a Quell from John. This was a game-saving play! Raxxa is 9/9 breakthrough and is not blocked. (19-19)” |
19-19 | “Great Horned Lizard attacks and a Lurking Giant ambushes in to block, breaking the Lizard. Rampaging Wurm is played into an exhausted board with Bill’s coin down and GETS IN FOR 14 damage! (19-5) Bill plays Hands from Below to get two zombies.” |
19-5 |
| 6 | Bill attacks and Forked Lightning ends it. John Tatian wins game one. | — | — | — |
| Game 2 | John Tatian | Score | Bill Anderson chooses to go second | Score |
| 0 | Mulligans 2 | 28-30 | Mulligan 1 | 28-29 |
| 1 | Gold Dragon is played, attacks, and is Bitten. Zombie for John. | 28-29 | “Winter Fairy is played (Bill draws a card) and passes. John is down to 4 cards, and plays Ice Drake revealing Arcane Research and Helion’s Fury. This expends the Winter Fairy. John on an aggressive line to start!” |
28-29 |
| 2 | “Winter Fairy attacks and gets in. (28-23) Zombie token attacks and deals two damage. (28-21) John passes holding his gold. Bill does not use his gold.” |
28-21 | “Bill is looking at his hand of six cards, sensing that he might be in trouble especially with John’s aggressive stance. Raxxa is played, making two demon tokens. Arcane Research for two, flips up Lash and Spike trap. John takes Lash.” |
28-21 |
| 3 | “Lord of the Arena is drawn and John is getting a bit nervous with victory potentially close. Ice drake attacks, Winter Fairy blocks, summoning a Lash for the Drake. This will deal seven breakthrough is Bill does not have an answer… and that answer is a defensive Battle Cry to draw two and to pump up his team. This will be enough damage to break the Ice Dreak… Banishment is played removing the Winter Fairy. 10 damage breaksthrough (with no defenders left)! (28-11) Bill plays Hands from Below to make two Zombies before the turn ends.” |
28-11 | “Bill is ahead on cards (6 in hand vs. 4) and on the board (5 champions vs 2) but way behind on health. Demon token attacks for six and gets in. (22-11) Another demon token attacks for six (due to Raxxa bonus) and gets in as well. (16-11) Raxxa himself attacks for six. Is this tempting enough for John to jump into combat? No! (10-11) John is setting up for a big play with recalling Lash when this turn is over I feel like… Zombie token attacks, and is met by an ambushing Angel of Light (gaining 5, no loyalty). Another zombie attacks, John’s Zombie trades. Apocalypse is played by Bill to clear the board.” |
15-11 |
| 4 | “John has four cards, Bill has five. John just drew Royal Escort. Does he play it defensively? Does he play Lord of the Arena now? He just… passes holding his coin! Bill sighs, and thinks about it. He is seemingly sorting through plays in his head… Thought Plucker by Bill. This puts John down to only three cards in hand (Helion’s Fury is discarded.) Lord of the Arena played but an ambushing Spawning Demon keeps Bill in the game!” |
15-11 | Pack Alpha is played, making two wolf tokens. John recalls Lash. | 15-11 |
| 5 | “Royal Escort (gaining 3 health). That triggers Lord of the Arena who attacks as 13/8 unbreakable and a known Lash in hand. Bill must stop a bunch of this, and he trie two with two Wolf tokens. “”No effects?”” Bill is confused. Both tokens are broken. John had the kill in his hand with Brave Squire and Lash — why didn’t he play it? Bill plays Muse off of a draw-two lightning Strike.” |
18-11 | “Pack Alpha makes two wolf tokens again. Bill attacks with Muse into empty skies, gets in for two damage. (16-11) Trihorror makes it debut in this match for Bill. Lash, recall, Lash kills Muse. Bill Heinous Feasts John’s discard pile! Major play!” |
16-13 |
| 6 | “John draws White Knight. He has a world of hurt but how can he make it work? White Knight, draws a card, doesn’t get the loyalty (which would have been key to deal with Trihorror). 2 cards for John, 3 for Bill. Royal Escort triggers giving john +3 health (19). Lord of the Arena triggers but he does not attack with him. Bill plays Ancient Chant to draw two cards.” |
19-13 | “Pack Alpha makes wolf tokens number five and six. (There are four in play.) Trihorror attacks. John thinks about it for a long, long time. He plays Brave Squire making a human token and making his Royal Escort unbreakable. Escort blocks. Smash and Burn is played on the Trihorror making it 17 offense breakthrough, breaking 8 damage through. (11-13) ” |
11-13 |
| 7 | “John draws Helion the Dominator, but only has Turn in his hand right now. Lots of control eventually. Can he survive long enough? Lord of the Arena attacks and is blocked by a wolf. Royal Escort attacks and is also blocked by a wolf. “”Draw two”” to take Trihorror permanently. John is down to one card in hand! Bill has six! Bill plays Temporal Enforcer without loyalty.” |
11-13 | “Temporal Enforcer attacks for six, and he takes it. (5-13) Wolf token attacks for three (Pack Alpha bonus) and John… blocks with a Human token. Human down. Another Wolf comes over and this one is met by… nothing. No blocks. (2-13) Guilt Demon is played (banishing one) and attacks (banishing the other) and is broken by White Knight. Pack Alpha attacks into an exhausted board, ambushing Helion saves John, but not from the follow-up Avenging Angel. Bill wins game two and this match goes to a final game!” |
0-13 |
| Game 3 | Bill Anderson | Score | John Tatian chooses to go second | Score |
| 0 | No mulligan | 30-30 | Mulligan 1 | 29-30 |
| 1 | “Winter Fairy (draw a card), pass. John plays Noble Unicorn (draw a card), pass.” |
30-29 | “Noble Unicorn attacks and is Bitten. Zombie for John. John permanently Turns the Winter Fairy — potentially huge play with Bill down to four cards. Ogre Mercenary makes its debut (recycle)” |
29-30 |
| 2 | “Bill Erases the Winter Fairy back to his hand (from John’s field). Big play. John plays Angel of Light (gaining 5 no loyalty).” |
30-34 | “Ogre Merc attacks into Hands from Below. +2 zombies for Bill. Angel of Light attacks and gets in for 5. (25-34) John passes holding gold. Bill plays Thought Plucker. John must discard… Inheritance of the Meek. This does feed into an Arcane Research for 3 showing Second Wind, Lightning Storm and Lightning Storm. John keeps the Lightning Storm. Key card vs. Thought Plucker. John with a continuation play, attacking with zombie token getting in (23-34). Rampaging Wurm is played, punishing Bill’s use of his coin. Does he throw his Thought Plucker into the Rampaging Wurm? What if John has a Lash? Plucker… blocks and is broken. Muse is played. Major card advantage for Bill.” |
23-34 |
| 3 | “Bill draws for Muse. He has seven cards to John’s 3. Zombie token attacks and gets in for two. (23-32) Avenging Angel attacks into empty skies. Does this summon the known Lightning Storm? No, he really wants to kill Muse with it I think. Gain 6 health, deal 6 damage. (26-29) Lightning Storm deals 2 to Muse, 2 to Zombie, 2 to Bill. (26-27)” |
26-27 | “Helion’s Fury returns Avenging Angel to hand and removes the token. Angel of Light attacks and is Fumbled (not Rampaging Wurm? That is a tell). Rampaging Wurm attacks and here is a Temporal Enforcer. Loyalty bounces Wurm. (Knight of Shadow and Winter Fairy) Heinous Feast banishes John’s discard pile (no health gain).” |
26-27 |
| 4 | “Temporal Enforcer attacks and gets in for six damage. (20-27) Knight of Shadow is played. (Wolf Companion is discarded) Bill passes. John plays Royal Escort gaining 3 health. (23-27)” |
23-27 | “Angel of Light attacks for five, and gets in. (23-22) Royal Escort attacks and Knight of Shadow blocks — battle cry isplayed by Bill to draw two. This would kill Royal Escort, so it gets Knight of Shadown Banishmented. The Royal Escort trigger was missed by John.” |
23-22 |
| 5 | “Avenging Angel is played, attacks, deal 6 gain 6. (28-17) Bill passes holding coin, John recalls Wolf Companion (making a wolf).” |
28-17 | John draws and passes, Bill passes. | 28-17 |
| 6 | “Avenging Angel attacks into Angel of Light. A known Wolf Companion is played. Avenging Angel has some Rage, which is met by an unknown Brave Squire! Angel of Light is 12/8, Avenging Angel is 10/10. Angel down, 2 breaksthrough. (38-15) Temporal Enforcer attacks and is not blocked (unblockable). Dealing 6. (38-9) Raxxa is played, making two demons. Quell for 0-champs by John.” |
38-9 | “John has 3 cards (Lash, Divine Judgment, and Rampaging Wurm). Angel of Light attacks for 5 and isn’t blocked. (33-9) Royal Escort attacks. “”14 to the face, huh?”” Bill knows that Wurm is waiting. Bill blocks with Raxxa. Without cards being played, Raxxa and Escort will both survive combat… Lash breaksthrough for 3 damage. (30-9) Rampaging Wurm is played and he attacks and gets in for 14 damage! (16-9) Lightning Strike finishes off the Royal Escort. Bill passes with his coin. (?)” |
16-9 |
| 7 | “Temporal Enforcer attacks for 6 (unblockable) AGAIN — this is the fourth attack. Divine Judgment to draw two. “”Take six”” (16-3) Bill’s hands are shaking now. He is *so close* to Worlds. This game hangs on an edge. He’s thinking hard now, asking to see the discard pile. Big sigh from Bill. “”Two cards”” — the number in John’s hand. Bill has a coin and is trying to find the right play. Nothing in his discard pile to recall. He ALMOST plays a card. “”What did you draw?,”” Bill asks. “”Something good,”” John replies. Pack Alpha is played by Bill. “”Do I win?”” Yes, he does! Bill Anderson wins a seat at the Epic World Championship this November!” |
16-0 | — | — |
Preliminary Rounds Coverage
32 players are competing for their chance to go to Epic Worlds!
DECK BUILDING
Thirty two players from New England and beyond — some traveling from Albany NY and Detroit MI — have entered the arena. Five preliminary rounds of “Random 60” format are about to begin.
Players were given a cardlist of 60 cards, with between 13 and 17 cards in each alignment. From that list, each player selected 30 cards to use and that becomes their deck for the prelim rounds. The eight players with the most tournament points — 3 for a match win, 1 for a match draw — will advance to the Dark Draft playoff rounds.
In a strategy card game first, players have the option to “mulligan” their cardlist. If they didn’t like their list, they can get another one. Their mulligan cardlist will only have 56 cards, however. Of the 32 players, five chose to use this option. We will have details about those cardlists after the tournament.
ROUND 1
Garrett MacArthur v William Anderson (2015 GenCon Epic Champion)
Coverage begins with William having one game one.
| Turn | Garrett | Score | Will | Score |
| 0 | Mulligan 1 | 29-30 | Mulligan 1 | 29-29 |
| 1 | Bellowing Minotaur played, attacks, Will responds with Medusa breaking it. | 29-29 | ” Medusa attacks, isn’t blocked, Arcane Research for 0 cards (drawing 1), Dark Knight attacked. Will plays Final Task to draw 2, ends turn, Garrett plays Lightning Strike to draw 2, turn ends.” |
18-29 |
| 2 | Apocalypse to break all. Heinous Feast to banish Will’s discard pile (gaining 2 health in the process). | 20-29 | Spawning Demon, then Trihorror, paying the life. Garrett says ‘yikes.’ Garrett plays Stand Alone to draw two cards. He somehow determines that the break most would not be a good play. | 20-28 |
| 3 | I don’t know if I could have found a worse draw. That’s not what I wanted to see.’ Plays Sea Titan, returning Will’s Trihorror — great tempo play. That Sea Titan will also provide an untargetable defense against Wills team. Will plays Smash and Burn to draw two at the end of turn. Garrett thinks about doing something… but passes. He’s sitting on a T-Rex but can’t find loyalty… | 20-28 | Will begins with Pentiful Dead – a good cousin of Spawning Demon. Replays Trihorror, pays two life (1 for demon, one for recall on Plentiful Dead), passes. Garrett, “sadly”, does nothing. | 20-26 |
| 4 | Blue Dragon is drawn and played, breaking a zombie token. Garrett passes, Will plays Plentiful Dead (+1 zombie), Drain Essence (+9 health), paying 2 health for recall and demon. Huge board advantage for Will now. | 20-33 | “Will plays Plentiful Dead, follows it up with RAXXA Demon Tyrant (!!!), gets the loyalty (dealing 2 damage to opposing champions, which does hurt the otherwise-untargetable Sea Titan). Will has 12 champions in play! Garrett really needs a sweeper! Will attacks with Trihorror. Sea Titan blocks after a couple of minutes of thought and is broken. In come a Demon, chump-blocked by Thought Plucker. (Plentiful Dead discarded.) Demons come in again and again, and then a zombie and a Spawning Demon. Will can’t quite end it but it is close.”  |
2-31 |
| 5 | “Divine Judgment wipes the board! Corpose Taker brings back Thought Plucker back to Garrett’s hand. He passes, barely hanging on! He has a full hand but only two health left! Will plays end of turn Crystal Golem. ‘Yup,’ says Garrett.” |
2-31 | “Breaks Crystal Golem to draw 2 cards. ‘How many cards?’ The six cards in Garrett’s hand are way more than Will expected… Will has six cards, and is really thinking about his next play. He plays Spike Trap just to get the Recycle effect, then draws Drakka off the top! Attacks in, Thought Plucker does not find an answer, Will wins two games to zero!” |
0-31
|
ROUND 2
| Game 1 | Gil Medeiros chooses to go first. | Score | John Tatian | Score |
| 0 | Mulligan 1 | 29-30 | Mulligan 2 | 29-28 |
| 1 | Gold Dragon is played and attacks, no blocks. Thought Plucker is played | 35-22 | Thought Plucker attacks, second discard done, Hands from Below from Gil breaks the Plucker and gives him two zombie tokens. John plays Sea Hydra and passes. Time Bender is played without Loyalty. | 35-22 |
| 2 | “Gold Dragon attacks. John plays Pyromancer, breaking the Time Bender, passes. Gil does not use his gold. “ |
41-16 | “Sea Hydra attacks, no blocks, dealing 5 damage. (36-16.) Flash Fire followed by Lighting Storm wipes out the Gold Dragon. (34-14.) Pyromancer attacks, no blocks. (29-14.) Gil plays Rain of Fire to draw 2.” |
29-14 |
| 3 | Helion’s Fury returns both of John’s champions, but Pyromancer is played. | 25-14 | “Pyromancer attacks, Gil plays Crystal Golem to block and does. Both are broken. John keeps up the pressure with a Djinn of the Sands and attacks, which is not blocked. (17-14.) Gil plays Muse. “ |
17-14 |
| 4 | “Gil draws an extra card, due to Muse. Muse attacks (!!!) and isn’t blocked or broken (!!!). (17-12) Gil plays Frost Giant and attacks – this game has been filled with blitz! John is down to 4! Gil passes. John Recalls Lightning Storm.” |
17-4 | Djinn attacks, Gil plays Lessons Learned to play Rain of Fire to win the game. Gil wins game one. | 17-0 |
| Game 2 | Gil Medeiros | Score | John Tatian chooses to go second. | Score |
| 0 | Mulligan 1 | 29-30 | Mulligan 2 | 29-28 |
| 1 | Secret Legion to start for Gil and he doesn’t attack! John plays Draka’s Enforcer showing Chomp and Flashfire. | 29-28 | “Draka’s Enforcer attacks, no blocks. (22-28.) John passes holding his coin. Gil thinks… then draws two with Helion’s Fury. Gil wants to start his turn but John spends his gold on Frost Giant. Attacks. (14-18)” |
14-28 |
| 2 | “Two human tokens attack, no blocks. Another two attack no blocks. (14-24) Gil plays Time Bender, revealing Lesson Learned and Trandform, and returns Draka’s Enforcer.” |
14-24 | “Lying in Wait was used to draw two by John. Flash Fire is finally played. (12-22). Frost Giant attacks, blocked by a newly-played Muse. Winter Fairy is played by John.” |
12-22 |
| 3 | “Time Bender vs Frost Giant and Winter Fairy. Lessons Learned for Helion’s Fury to bounce both of John’s champions. Time Bender does not attack, Gil passes. John spends his gold on Draka’s Enforcer showing Chomp! & Jungle Queen, Enforcer is immediately bounced by the Time Bender. “ |
12-22 | “John begins the turn with nine cards in his hand. He plays Djinn of the Sands to try to win in the air. He attacks and Gil thinks… and plays Flame Strike to deal enough damage to the Djinn to break it. That can’t have been his preferred use of the most-powerful damage event in the game. John’s Vanishing bounces the Time bender.” |
12-22 |
| 4 | “Plays Paros, then passes (holding gold). John plays Draka’s Enforcer (again again), Gil plays Time Bender (again), and passes.” |
12-22 | “Brachiosaurus, followed up with Chomp on the Time Bender puts John in the driver’s seat! Draka’s Enforcer attacks and is met with a Transform. Who doesn’t like wolves? Both players pass.” |
12-22 |
| 5 | Gil starts his turn by passing, holding his coin again. He only has three cards in his hand compared to John’s seven. John passes. | 12-22 | “Brachiosaurus attacks, no blocks (because Breakthrough would make a block unwise). This brings Gil down to 4. John passes holding gold, Gil plays Standard Bearer to make more humans, John plays Frost Giant to expend the team and win! I think Gil forgot the Frost Giant was in John’s hand. John wins game two.“ |
0-22 |
| Game 3 | Gil chooses to go first for game three | Score | John | Score |
| 0 | Mulligan 2 | 28-30 | Mulligan 2 | 28-28 |
| 1 | Winter Fairy by Gil. Draka’s Enforcer by John. “Geez,” Gil says. John draws Muse off the top and plays it — even worse news for Gil. | 28-28 | “John gets an extra card from Muse, then attacks with Draka’s Enforcer, who is Transformed into a wolf again! Muse attacks and is blocked by the Winter Fairy that was already on the board… Vanishing returns Winter Fairy to Gil’s hand. Juggernaut recealing Thought Plucker and Fumble… the pressure is on! Juggernaut hits. End of turn Muse by Gil.” |
19-28 |
| 2 | “””I feel like I’m going to get Plucked,”” Gil muses. His Muse gives him a card… there is Time Bender again, this time banishing John’s Muse. He passes. The unexpected Thought Plucker causes a discard.” |
19-28 | “Juggernaut, 9/3 breakthrough and unbreakable on his turn, attacks. Gil is unamused to say the least. Lying in Wait is played, putting Gil down on coins early in the turn. Thought Plucker attacks, making Gil discard Winter Fairy. The attack gets in. Chimp kills the Muse after a Brachiosaurus is played. Overkill, sure, but you do what you have to do.” |
16-28 |
| 3 | “Forced Exile banishes the Thought Plucker… a required play, to be sure. Time Bender returns Brachiosaurus to John’s hand, and Gil passes. John… plays Second Wind (gaining 5 health and recycling). Memory Spirit is played, getting back Second Wind.” |
16-33 | “Memory Spirit attacks and gets in. (11-33). Wolf Token attacks, is blocked by a human and Standard Bearer is ambushed in to make the humans bigger… but it is Force Exiled as well! The blocking human token is broken and the wolf survives. “ |
11-33 |
| 4 | “Human token attacks and gets in. (11-32) Another one attacks and also gets in. (11-31) Gil passes holding his gold which seems risky being down on cards in hand and on life, but John plays Pyromancer breaking Time Bender. Helion’s Fury returns Pyromancer (?) and banishes a token. Paros is played, making ANOTHER human token.” |
11-31 | “Brachiosaurus is played, Pyromancer is played breaking Paros, and the attacks begin. A human token, another human token, then the wolf token (7-31). Gil does not use his gold.” |
7-31 |
| 5 | “Two humans attack and are blocked by Brachiosaurus. Another two attack, blocked by Pyromancer, Brave Squire is enough to break Pyromancer when damage happens, John uses his coin to use Pyromancer’s ability to deal 4 damage. Temporal Shift returns Brachiosaurus. Second Wind gains 5 health and a recycle…” |
3-36 | Lightning Storm ends it. John wins game three and the match. | 0-36 |
ROUND 3
| Game 1 | Nick Cuenca chose to go first | Score | Erik Manooshian | Score |
| 0 | Mulligans 2 | 28-30 | No mulligans | 28-30 |
| 1 | “Great Horned Lizard is played and attacks. (28-20) Noble Unicorn is played by Erik. Nick continues, playing Shadow Imp, and attacks.” |
28-18 | “Noble Unicorn attacks and is Chomped! Bitten on his GHL, gives you a Demon, Raxxa’s Curse on Shadow Imp. ” |
28-18 |
| 2 | Draws two, passes. Thought Plucker is played by Erik. | 28-18 | “Erik attacks with Plucker but Blind Faith will remove the Plucker’s rules text. He then plays Brave Squire to make a token to block, which will survive due to the event’s rules text. The Zombie and Demon tokens each attack. (22-18). Erik also finds Inner Peace.” |
22-28 |
| 3 | Anklyosaurus is played, spending the coin to draw a card. Erik plays Drain Essense to break it and gain 9. (22-37) | 22-37 | “Zombie token attacks, gets in. (20-37). Demon token attacks, is met by a Pyromancer who did damage to it with her Tribute ability not by blocking. Erik plays Jungle Queen, then plays Guilt Demon banishing Deadly Raid and then Chomp on the attack. ” |
17-37 |
| 4 | Begins turn by using the Pyromancer’s ability to deal 4, then plays Fireball to finish off the Jungle Queen. Passes. Erik plays Necrovirus to kill ty Pyromancer and give a Zombie token to each player. | 17-37 | “Erik begins his turn by looking through his discard pile, then plays Second Wind to recycle and gain 5 health. Guilt Demon attacks, banishing something (we missed it). Nick then plays Arcane Knowledge to banish the other 5 cards, revealing six from the top and taking Ancient Chant to his hand. He plays Ancient Chant to draw two cards then takes 3 damage. (14-42) Draka’s Fire clears the way for the other two zombies to attack.” |
10-42 |
| 5 | Nick begins with an empty board and only a few cards in hand, but plays Sea Titan to bounce a token (removing it). Erik plays Angel of Mercy, returning Inner Peace via the ally ability. | 10-42 | “Start of turn brings up Noble Unicorn from Angel of Mercy’s ability. The angel then attacks. Nick is down to only three cards, using one of them to Lying in Wait the angel away. Guilt Demon attacks (banishing Lying in Wait) and deals damage. (7-42) Inner Peace gains Erik 10 health and also gives him a card from Noble Unicorn.” |
7-52 |
| 6 | Quell for the 0-cost champions clears the board mostly, but Erik ends it with Forked Lightning and Fireball. Erik wins game one. | 0-52 | — | — |
| Game 2 | Nick Cuenca chose to go first | Score | Erik Manooshian | Score |
| 0 | Mulligans 1 | 29-30 | No mulligans | 29-30 |
| 1 | Begins with Great Horned Lizard again and attacks for 10 Breakthrough! Erik slumps a bit in his chair. “Yup.” Plays Inner Peace to keep the score 29-30. Nick plays Cave Troll and passes. | 29-30 | Draka’s Fire kills Cave Troll. Arcane Research gets a card for Nick. He then uses that card to draw two more, and finds Muse! | 29-30 |
| 2 | GHL attacks and gets in for 7 damage. Muse attacks and meets an Angelic Protector (who protects herself and also gets back Inner Peace). Muse is broken. Anklyosaurus is played and the coin is spent to draw a card. | 29-23 | “Angelic Protector attacks and deals 5 damage. (24-23) Banishment sends GHLizard to the bottom and gives Erik another card. Nick uses Lying in Wait to draw two cards.” |
24-23 |
| 3 | Anklyosaurus attacks. Forked Lightning and Flash Fire removes both the dinosaur and 7 health from Nick. (17-21) Juggernaut is played, given blitz from loyalty, and attacks. Erik plays Hasty Retreat, returning Juggernaut to hand but that lets Nick draw a card. He now has 8 cards in hand! Turn ends. | 17-21 | Angelic Protector attacks again and this time Lesson Learned from Nick finds Lying In Wait. Nick plays Inner Peace to extend his lead. (17-31) Cave Troll was recalled. | 17-31 |
| 4 | Rampaging Wurm is played into a completely empty board, and he attacks with it. It’s another Lying in Wait, this time from Erik. | 17-31 | Raging T-Rex with no loyalty. Erik’s got only two cards in hand, neither are Wild. Erik uses Mighty Blow to draw two cards. | 17-31 |
| 5 | “Juggernaut is played from hand again and attacks. He attacks, T-Rex blocks, and here is a Brave Squire. 4 damage will breakthrough (17-27) Cave Troll attacks and gets in. (17-22). Erik plays Angel of Mercy, returning Inner Peace.” |
17-22 | Angel of Mercy attacks — there was no start of turn trigger used. Forked Lightning deals 5 to the angel and to Erik. Fireball with the coin does damage. | 14-17 |
| 6 | Shadow Imp is played and attacks and gets in. (14-15). Ligtning Storm deals 6. Inner Peace is played. | 14-19 | “Burrowing Wurm, go. Pyromancer from Nick deal 4 to Erik.” |
14-15 |
| 7 | Shadow Imp attacks and gets in. Turn steals Wurm attack for the win is stopped by Bitten. Cave Troll attacks and kills Zombie Token blocks, Pyromancer attack and got in (14-8), go | 14-8 | Draw, concede. Nick wins game two. | 14-0 |
| Game 3 | Nick | Score | Erik chooses to go second. | Score |
| 0 | Mulligans 1 | 29-30 | No mulligans | 29-30 |
| 1 | Rampaging Wurm is played and it gets in there! Erik draws 2. | 29-16 | “Raging T-Rex showing Draka’s Fire and Flash Fire gives Erik two cards. Nick plays Zealous Necromancer. Erik plays Flash Fire (rather than discarding), plays Second Wind to gain 5 health and a recycle. ” |
27-19 |
| 2 | “Rampaing Wurm attacks “”rawr!”” and it is the unfortunate victim of a Lying in Wait “”noooo!”” T-Rex for Nick showing Forked Lightning and Mighty Blow — Erik is in deep deep trouble.” |
27-19 | T-Rex attacks, T-Rex block. Both are broken, but Nick gets two zombies out of it. Erik plays Draka’s Fire to break them and draw a card. End of turn Great Horned Lizard… which is then responded with a Guilt Demon. Nick now has an empty discard pile. | 24-19 |
| 3 | “Great Horned Lizard attacks “”just”” as a 7/8 and gets in. (24-12) Shadow Imp is played, and it attacks and gets in. (24-10). Lightning Storm deals 2 to Guilt Demon and 6 to Erik, who then plays Inner Peace.” |
24-16 | “Jungle Queen, pass. Nick pays 1 to recall the Lightning Storm. Raxxa’s Curse kills the Shadow Imp and gives Erik a demon token.” |
24-16 |
| 4 | “GHLizard attacks and plays Mighty Blow to make it 17/8 breakthrough, then plays Blind Faith so Jungle Queen no longer can grant Ambush to Wild champions. Which is important as Erik has some big ones in his hand! Both Queen and the Demon block. (24-10) Arcane Research for 2 carda gets a Cave Troll, which is played. Erik passes with his gold. Blind Faith did serious work that turn!” |
24-10 | Gold Dragon is played and it attack — big moment for Erik to stay in this game. Nick thinks hard and then takes 6… wait, Lash, which summons a Turn! Erik responded with words we cannot print. =) | 24-10 |
| 5 | Sea Titan returns Gold Dragon to Erik’s hand. GHLizard attacks, Inner Peace is played. Cave Troll also gets in for damage. | 24-8 | Gold Dragon is played and it attacks and gets in. Nick plays Lightning Storm. | 18-8 |
| 6 | Sea Titan attacks, and Erik plays Thought Plucker hoping to find an answer. Doesn’t! Nick wins game three and the match! | — | — |
ROUND 4 features two players needing a win to keep their hopes alive.
| Game 1 | Rich Shay goes first | Score | Kyle Coons | Score |
| 0 | Mulligan 1 | 29-30 | Mulligan 1 | 29-29 |
| 1 | “Dark Knight is played, and attacks. It gets in (29-24) Steel Golem is played, loyalty met, attacks and gets in. (29-11) Kyle uses Hurricane to draw 2.” |
29-11 | “Knight of Shadows is played (Kyle draws, Rich discards). Rich plays Memory Spirit and gets back Hands from Below, who then plays it.” |
29-11 |
| 2 | “Memory Spirit attacks. Kyle sighs, thinks about it, then plays Drain Essence to break it and gain 9 health. Shadow Imp is played and attacks, gets in. (29-18) Frost Giant is played, expending the Knight of Shadows. Dark Knight attacks, then Steel Golem attacks to win.” |
29-0 | ||
| Game 2 | Kyle Coons chooses to play first | Score | Rich Shay | Score |
| 0 | Mulligans 3 | 27-30 | Mulligans 3 | 27-27 |
| 1 | Noble Unicorn, pass. Rich uses Heinous Feast to draw two. | 27-27 | Forced Exile removes the Unicorn, giving Rich 2 humans, which he follows up with Anklyosaurus. Kyle plays Pyromancer to dead 4 to Rich. | 27-23 |
| 2 | “Palace Guard is played, exiling the Ankylosarus, pass. Lurking Giant by Rich, Kyle played Amnesia just to recycle.” |
27-23 | “Lurking Giant attacks. Pyromancer’s one-gold ability deals 4 to Rich. (27-19) Both Pyromancer and Palace Guard block. After blocks, Pyromancer is Erased so Guard is broken. Two human tokens attack one at a time and get in.” |
29-19 |
| 3 | “Knight of Shadows makes Rich discard Plague. Kyle passes. Rich uses Raxxa’s Curse to draw two.” |
25-19 | “Lurking Giant attacks, Knight of Shadow jumps in the way. Steel Golem is played, showing Time Walker and Ancient Chant, which gives Steel Golem blitz… attacking into an empty board. Pyromancer is Kyle’s response, and 4 damage is done to Lurking Giant finishing it off. Kyle doesn’t block!” |
12-19 |
| 4 | “Kyle draws a card and does not seem happy. Plays Jungle Queen, which gives him a card. Passes priority, clearly unhappy. Rich draws two with Ancient Chant.” |
12-19 | “Rich draws Memory Spirit but sees another line of play. Steel Golem attacks. Both Pyromancer and Jungle Queen block. Bellowing Minotaur is played boosting all of Kyle’s team! Rich plays Feint! Major play! Steel Golem is prepared even though it is untargetable — Feint does not target! Steel Golem attacks again! It is blocked by the Bellowing Minotaur. Two humans attack one at a time and get in. (10-19)” |
10-19 |
| 5 | Murderous Nercomancer sets up a blocking team, but Rich plays Hurricane to completely wipe the board. Everything is broken except Steel Golem! | 10-19 | Steel Golem attacks for the win… Royal Escort is Kyle’s way to buy a turn. Maybe. (13-19) Inner Demon breaks the Royal Escort and Steel Golem does exactly enough to win! | 0-19 |
ROUND 5 and another two are win-and-in.
| Game 1 | Nick Cuenca chooses to go first | Score | Andrew Hanna | Score |
| 0 | Mulligan 2 | 28-30 | Mulligan 2 | 28-28 |
| 1 | “Rampaging Wurm, met with Couragous Soul, who Couragously died. Cave Troll, pass, Andrew plays Muse, then draws two from Apocalypse.” |
28-28 | “Andrew draws from Muse. He then plays Palace Guard (seeing the Wurm out) and attacks with the Muse. A dangerous play this early – many airborne ambushers could jump in here… but instead Nick uses Forked Lightning to deal 5 to it and to Andrew. Andrew plays his own Muse.” |
23-28 |
| 2 | “Nick draws from Muse. He plays Zealous Necromancer (drawing a card), and pass. Andrew plays Memory Spirit to recover Apocalypse.” |
23-28 | “Andrew plays Apocalypse to clear the board (toimit the use of the Necromancer). Nick draws two from Lying in Wait. The board is cleared and the turn is over.” |
23-28 |
| 3 | “Juggernaut is played, given blitz (by showing Erase and Helion’s Fury), and attacks. Andrew uses Inheretance of the Meek to draw two (surprising he doesn’t use it as a wipe on another turn…) and takes 9 damage from the Juggernaut. (14-28) Shadow Imp is played and attacks, getting in for two more.” |
12-28 | Kong shows up, smashing Juggernaut to many small pieces. 13 damage is plenty of damage. Andrew passes, and Nick spends several moments looking at his hand and discard pile… Andrew Erases Kong, returning it (and Shadow Imp) back to hand. This play is very confusing to this reporter… | 12-28 |
| 4 | “Nick plays Great Horned Lizard and attacks. This would reduce Andrew to only 2 health if it get in there… and he takes it! (2-28) Here comes that Shadow Imp again, attacking, giving it Brave Squire to make it unbreakable… Andrew plays Drain Essence on the human token, keeping himself alive. (4-28)” |
4-28 | “Andrew plays Gold Dragon – and passes! Doesn’t attack! This is an exceptional risky move. Nick plays Helion’s Fury to draw two, spending his coin. Andrew passes again. Surprising play – maybe he is a bit pressured in this win-and-in match.” |
4-28 |
| 5 | Shadow Imp attacks and gets in. (2-28), Flash Fire from Nick ends it. Nick wins game one. | 0-28 | — | — |
| Game 2 | Nick | Score | Andrew chooses to go second | Score |
| 0 | Mulligan 1 | 29-30 | Mulligan 3 | 29-27 |
| 1 | “Shadow Imp attacks and gets in (29-25). Juggernaut played, revealing Arcane Research and the Shadow Imp which went back to Nick’s hand. Attacks no blocks. (29-16). Andrew plays Muse. Nick plays Arcane Research for 0, getting Erase.” |
29-16 | Andrew draws from Muse. He then plays Palace Guard (removing Juggernaut) and passes. Nick responds with Quell to banish the 0-costs cards (the Muse) and to draw a card of his own. | 29-16 |
| 2 | Shadow Imp is played and attacks — Andrew’s turn for a Quell! He has spent his coin first though, leaving him open to a blitz attack of some sort. But instead, Nick plays Helion’s Fure to draw two. Board is empty except for Andrew’s Palace Guard | 29-16 | “Gold Dragon is played and attacks, but it is Erased right away by Nick.
Palace Guard attacks, Brave Squire is played and pumped, dealing 6 to the Palace Guard. Nick’s Fireball finishes the Palace Guard off.” |
29-16 |
| 3 | Human token attacks and runs into an ambushing Courageous Soul (??!). Raging T-Rex is played, revealing Rampaging Wurm and Chomp! — Nick is very far ahead right now with 7 cards in hand and superior board state and health totals. Andrew draws two from Inheritance of the Meek. | 29-16 | Courageous Soul attacks alone, into a board with a Raging T-Rex. T-Rex blocks. What is the plan? Oh, Angel of Death revealing Soul Hunter and Necrovirus — the Evil cards finally show up on camera! It meets a Lightning Storm, with 1 damage left over for Nick. | 29-15 |
| 4 | Nick is facing an empty board and plays Rampaging Wurm. He knows the Necrovirus is in Andrew’s hand and summons it up now. | 29-16 | “Raxxa Demon Tyrant shows up, showing Drinker of Blood and somethine else, dealing 2 damage to all enemy champions — breaking Nick’s Zombie. Andrew attacks with his Zombie. Stand Alone is played breaking everything except Raxxa – a good reset.” |
29-15 |
| 5 | “Sea Titan returns Raxxa to Andrew’s hand — a tempo play but this will give him more demon tokens later. Andrew plays Angel of Mercy.” |
29-15 | “Angel of Mercy’s trigger is not used because Nick only has one champion in play and it is untargetable. Raxxa is played again – here gome the Demon tokens… Angel of Mercy attacks in the air after Andrew has spent his coin. This is a risky play — but nothing would have prevented the Chomp. Angel is down.” |
29-15 |
| 6 | Helion’s Fury returns the two Demon tokens to the token pile, and Nick draws a card. In comes Sea Titan, which is not blocked! (4-29) Cave Troll is played by Nick, while Andrew ends the turn with Secret Legion… | 4-29 | …Drinker of Blood appears! This is potentially a game-winning combo with all of these tokens in play, except it turns out Lightning Storm is in the discard pile, which is recalled. | |
| 7 | Lightning Storm wins it. Nick wins game two and the match. | 0-29 | — | — |
Recent Comments