This is a recap of the Golden Age FEB 2006 PCQ. I am posting it here because MSN blog spaces begins to lag like crazy while I am typing 2000+ words. It sometimes hang when I try to save an oversized post and I lose my work.
Just for reference, the top 8 were:
- Uncle David (Squadron Supreme)
- Jeffrey (Teen Titans)
- Daniel... I think (Teen Titans)
- Joseph (GLock)
- Wai Leong (Kang's Dream)
- Yap Jing Yang (Doom Society)
- ??? (Anti-Green Lantern)
- "That guy from JE who always plays CE" (Common Enemy)
I played the same Common Enemy deck I use in Hobby League all the time with 3 Betrayals.
Match 1: Vs. Samuel (Curve Sentinels)
I was wondering what deck he was playing when he recruited a Sentinel Mark III (the 2-drop) on turn 2. At first I thought it might be Wild Vomit but I got a surprise when Mark V appeared on turn 4. *Gasp* It was Curve Sentinels; the only one at the entire PCQ and I had to face it. :(
On turn 5, it was his Nimrod and Mark V against my Human Torch, Diaoblic Genius and She-Thing (we both had missed our 3-drops). Nimrod bashed Human Torch and removed his counter while Dr. Doom held off Mark V's assault on She-Thing with a Mystical Paralysis.
I knew that turn 6 would be a crucial turn for me. He got Bastion out while I had to make do with Robot Destroyer. I had 2 Betrayals hiding in my resource row to prepare for Magneto's big arrival next turn. I also had 3 pumps to aid me in trying to stun as many of his guys as I could. My Human Torch went for Mark V. Bastion pumped Mark V in an attempt to stunback the Human Torch but Robot Destroy interrupted the attack by stunning Mark V. Human Torch then managed to take down Nimrod after several pumps from both side. Bastion was the last man standing. Dr. Doom and She-Thing team-attacked Bastion but poor She-Thing got hit by a Flame Trap. Dr. Doom tried to solo the man himself but Samuel had 2 Recon Programs to ensure that Bastion was unscathed. My board was cleared and Bastion swung at me directly for massive damage. He had 20+ life while I had 7.
It was turn 7. Samuel added Magneto to his ranks alongside Bastion and Nimrod. My 2 Betrayals gave me hope as I was hoping to get a Diabolic Genius to re-use a Betrayal. But alas, I drew none of the 8 cards in my deck that could've given me access to Dr. Doom. I recruited a Submariner. Magneto took him down easily and I was left with 0 endurance. I just played my 2 Betrayals for fun and he responded by popping 2-3 Genoshas and playing all his Recon Programs to pump Magneto to 25/25 just to show me that he could.
Score: 1-0
Match 2: Vs. Dave (New Gods/Brotherhood)
*Be prepared for a long read; this match was a totally nerve-wrecking & crazy experience for me.*
It's Dave and his home-made creation. I remembered him doing quite well with it at the Malaysian 10k. I also remembered I got totally murdered by it during Hobby League.
On turn 2, I recruited She-Thing to which he said, "I hate that card." He then got Pyro out and began the burn. I got Medusa out on turn 3 whereas he got Mark Moonrider. Moonrider went for She-Thing and I playfully responded with a small powerup, hoping I could get his Cosmic counter off. He played The Exchange to tutor for another Moonrider, flipped up Lost City and showed me a bigger power-up. "So fast!" I yelped. My She-Thing was stunned. His Pyro went for Medusa with another powerup that he tutored out. "I am wasting a lot of cards this turn," he remarked.
On turn 4, I recruited Dr. Doom and he had the Blob with Nth Metal. I had Have-A-Blast but, for some reason, didn't feel like playing it from my hand (I thought of setting it down first in the next turn and reusing it with Diabolic Genius' effect later). I could not reach Pyro and Moonrider because of the Blob. Neither did I have enough pumps to take him, so I passed my attack step. It was a foolish move cos' this was when I realized his deck didn't need to attack to win; he promptly tapped Moonrider and Pyro to burn me for 8 damage. Before the turn ended, I played 2 Reign of Terrors to get rid of the evil little burners.
"Do I need Scarlet Witch...?" Dave thought for a while before deciding to re-recruit Moonrider and Pyro on turn 5. My heart sank as the burn damage every turn was quite sick. I got out the Human Torch. I played Mystical Paralysis on Blob when he tried to attack. I felt that I could not make him lose a character without wasting a lot of cards so I just passed, too and he burned me for another 8.
On turn 6, I recruited Thing: Heavy Hitter with a Boris. Dave got out Mimic and his formation was very tight since Blob was still there protecting the little guys in the back. I knew he played Cover Fire in his deck so I decided to plan my attacks carefully. I finally played my HAB. Human Torch took down Blob easily; I was wondering if he was saving his Cover Fire. Thing went for Mimic with a pump but he played *drum roll* Insignificant Threat, making a gesture with his fingers like Magneto in the card art. Now I felt real demoralized. Under-dropping against Brotherhood was a bad, bad idea. Oh, well. Blob was down, so Dr. Doom went for the little guys in the back. At the end, my life was already in single digits while he still had 35+.
On turn 7, he recruited Lightray in front with Blob. Mimic and Mark Moonrider were in the back. I recruited Submariner who now had a big bullseye on his head. Mimic went for Dr. Doom, who tapped Lightray with Mystical Paralysis before he got stunned. This was when Dave started having a headache. Blob and Moonrider weren't enough to take down Submariner. He thought for a while but could do nothing but pass.
I saw my ray of hope! I went into deep thought as if my life depended on it; this was a golden chance and I told myself it would be a shame if I screwed up. After several minutes of planning, I sent Heavy Hitter + Human Torch into Blob; I was still anticipating Cover Fire and the look on his face somewhat proved my guess was right. Once Blob went down, Submariner proceeded to take down Mark Moonrider, Mimic and Lightray for TONS of damage. Dave tried to reduce the damage with his Cover Fires. Our life totals at the end were -13:-13. Yes, it was a tie so we took an additional turn.
It was turn 8 and my initiative but I was still in danger. I had no tutors to get the Silver Surfer and could only recruit She-Hulk. She seemed out of place (a 3-drop on turn 8) but my board was fairly large thanks to the previous turn where all my guys survived (Submariner, Thing, Torch, Doom). Dave only had Lightray and he recruited a Mimic to copy his effect. Once again, I lapsed into deep thought, assessing the situation and making calculations on a sheet. I sent the Submariner at Lightray, who promptly burnt me. Life totals were -20 (Me) : -21 (Dave). At this moment, I was wary that he might have another Insignificant Threat. I sent the trio of Thing + Torch + Doom at Mimic just to be ultra-super-duper safe. He was alarmed by my move and did some calculations of his own. He did have Insignificant Threat and calculated that if he had played it, we would trade stuns, so it will be -30 (Me) : -27 (Dave). But then, my She-Hulk would direct attack for 4 points and it would be -30 (Me) : -31 (Dave).
This was one of the craziest match I have ever experienced. I was totally stressed out and my nerves were frayed. I have never put so much thought into a match before but I was pleased that I had managed to make a comeback with a lot of planning on my part. This would be a match to remember. :)
Score: 1-1
Match 3: Vs. CKTeacher (Doom/Injustice Gang)
I sooo dreaded this match because I know how irritating the deck can be if it achieves the 'perfect lock'.
CKTeacher took evens. He got both Lex Luthor and Dr. Doom out on turn 4 while I had She-Hulk and my own Dr. Doom. Since both of us did not have team-ups, we Reigned each others' 3-drops, though I felt that I got the better end of the deal. :) On turn 5, his Scarecrow: Psycho Pyschologist and burned me for 10 damage. My Robot Destroyer and Dr. Doom attacked to stun his characters and play proceeded to turn 6.
Turn 6 came along and he recruited a new Dr. Doom. I began to consider my choices; I could simply recruit a Hulk, or use Boris to find a Signal Flare to get Invisible Woman. I somehow had a bad feeling that I could die this turn even though I had 35+ life against his 10+ life. I decided to just go with Hulk. "What could possibly happen?" I asked myself.
Scarecrow burnt me for 10 damage and then went for the Hulk. CKTeaher flipped up 3 copies of All Too Easy to pump Scarecrow to 39 ATK. Needless to say, I lost the match.
Score: 1-2
Match 4: Vs. Jerry (Avengers Reservist)
I did not know what he was playing but I kinda panicked when he took odds and I found out that he was playing Avengers. I won't describe much since Avengers games were pretty one-track.
On turn 5, I let my Dr. Doom trade stuns so that I won't have to recover him and get hit by Wonder Man. On turn 7, I formed up to reinforce as much as I could and let Victor Von Doom paralyze Hercules to try and minimize damage. When we got to turn 8, I recruited Submariner and managed to deal enough damage to win.
My opponent actually made a wrong play, though. When my Submariner attacked Wonder Man, he used She-Hulk's invulnerability effect to replace resources in an attempt to dig for a pump to stun me back and put me in the negatives. He thought the invulnerability lasted for the entire turn when it was time for my other characters attacked her.
Score: 2-2
Match 5: Vs. Jeffrey (Teen Titans)
Jeffrey was very quiet throughout the match. I was wondering why he was depressed. Maybe he drew a bad hand or something.
I took evens and managed to recruit Dr. Doom and double-Reigned on turn 4 to prevent Terra from coming out. He boosted out Hawk & Dove again. After Dr. Doom and She-Hulk attacked them, Dove was lost. On turn 5, I recruited Thing: Heavy Hitter while he got Garth out. Dr. Doom exhausted Garth with a Paralysis. At this point in time, I was feeling slightly guilty of my board advantage and his seemingly depressing mood. That was until he Foiled my team-up and Betrayal'ed me 3 times with the help of Garth's ability to stun my entire board followed by a direct attack. I watched in horror as my life dropped from 40+ to 20+. (Okay, he definitely was not depressed cos' he had an unplayable hand.)
That setback was difficult to recover from. On turn 6 (with 5 resources), he recruited Redstar and burnt me for 5. I recruited a Human Torch. We traded stuns and I was much closer to death. On turn 7, I entered the combat phase with 0 life after Redstar burnt me again. Then Arsenal did his thing and I lost.
After the match, I found out that Jeffrey was sad cos' he let Himura win for their match and now he had to face me and he was in a dilemma again. I didn't say anything but perhaps I should've told him he should have just concentrated on advancing himself; I am fine looking after myself.
Score: 2-3
Match 6: Vs. Noel Neo (Common Enemy)
I faced Noel Neo this match who was playing Common Enemy as well. Normally I would just negotiate for a prize split but since Jeffrey had the same score as him and only one position above, I thought I'd better try and impede Noel's progress if possible.
As the game began, I thought he was trying to stall because he took one full minute to shuffle his deck from a Signal Flare. Maybe he thought I was playing New School. hehe.
During the first few turns, we had similar drops. Both had 6/6 She-Hulk and couldn't attack so we passed. Then both had 7/9 Dr. Doom and couldn't attack so we passed then Reign'ed away each others' She-Hulk (both of us didn't get to team-up). On turn 5, we both had Human Torch but I had a Betrayal handy. I attacked then played Betrayal to stun his board, followed by a direct attack for a massive endurance swing. From then on, I played Mystical Paralysis to slow him down and bullied down the curve to try and maintain the gap. By turn 7, I had 38 to his 20+. He managed to get in a Finishing Move to KO my Hulk. We exchanged blows and the game went to turn 8. Both of us had Surfer but I had the board and life advantage (my 4-5-7-8 to his 6-7-8). He retained his initiative with the Surfer but my Diaoblic Genius tapped him down with Mystical Paralysis. He tried to attack as best as his can but the endurance gap was still pretty wide (My 25+ to his 10+). My Silver Surfer attacked his Victor Von Doom and I pumped to put him to the negatives.
After the match, Noel was kinda surprised (or pissed?) to learn that I was a 3-3 and me winning him had no meaning at all. I wanted to apologize and explain but Dave told me to forget about it.
Final Result: 3-3
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