I know sometimes people think that only winning tournament reports are worth reading. For them I offer this, if there was no winner, wouldn't the writer still be playing the game? Somebody always wins. Somebody always loses. How did I do? You'll have to read on to find out.

I went to the Collector's Corner tournament bringing along my brother's friend again. It was silver age and while he wanted to play my really janky Willpower GL/JLA deck, I was bringing the rush. Squadron Supreme, old school style. No Fate set to help me out, I relied entirely upon... um, well, fate to draw my fours and fives without getting screwed, or worse holding cards in hand.

To be honest I would have preferred to play something Checkmate, probably Villains United, however I don't have the cards. So I took out my SQS deck and went about Silvering it up. That meant the removal of at least 9 cards.

-4 Surprise Attack
-4 Mega Blast
-1 Advanced Hardware

This left me with some options. So I sat and started looking through cards with two intentions. Hit hard and try to have a plan for Quicksilver. My deck looked like this at that point...

4x Ape X
4x Joystick
4x Shape
2x Tom Thumb
1x Foxfire
3x Lady Lark: Linda Lewis
3x Dr. Doom: Richard's Rival
4x Golden Archer
4x Nuke
1x Whizzer
2x Rocket Central
2x Other Earth
2x Flying Kick
2x No Man Escapes The Manhunters
4x Answer the Call
4x Pancea Potion
1x Airskimmer
2x Dual Firearms
3x Thunder Jet

First things first I upped Flying Kick and No Man to four of each. Next I went looking for an answer to Quicksilver. For this I decided a copy of Soul Gem would be good, but I had to be able to find it someway besides Ape X. Since I was running Dr. Doom to search for Other Earth (usually) all ready, I grabbed Cannibal Tech. It served a dual purpose of shedding unwanted cards and searching out Soul Gem or other useful equips. A hand with Cannibal Tech and a 1 and 3 on turn 3 could turn out really powerful when I played the three and Cannibaled the 1 to equip the 3 and basically give my 1 and 2 +2 attack.

I didn't want to be KO'ing a 5/5 Joystick to put Cannibal Tech into my row though, so I grabbed my two copies of Haywire: Suicidal Lover and put him in. Then I got another idea. If I really wanted to bounce Quicksilver on three every game, both my 3 drops should be able to search equipment. That led me straight to the King of Wakanda, Black Panther. So out got 3 Linda Lewis and in go 3 KoW. With an Atlantean Trident to replace the Advanced Hardware he's a 7/4 on 3 against no Quickfate decks too. And an 8/5 on turn 4. Not to mention he doesn't burn me when he stuns.

2 copies of Cannibal Tech seemed just right, but that put me at 62 cards. I cut one copy of Shape and looking at my off team characters replaced 2x Dual Sidearms and 1x Thunder Jet with 3x Image Inducer.

FINAL LIST
2x Haywire: Suicidal Lover
4x Ape X
4x Joystick
1x Foxfire
3x Shape
2x Tom Thumb
3x Dr. Doom: Richard's Rival
3x Black Panther: King of Wakanda
4x Golden Archer
4x Albert Gaines <> Nuke
1x Whizzer
3x Image Inducer
1x Soul Gem
2x Thunder Jet
1x Air Skimmer
1x Atlantean Trident
2x Rocket Central
4x Flying Kick
4x Answer The Call
4x No Man Escapes the Manhunters
2x Cannibal Tech
2x Other Earth
4x Pancea Potion

ROUND 1 - vs. Alan Lau w/ Hidden Faces

On turn one he had the initiative and played Dallas Riordan hidden. I dropped Joystick and Haywire, no equips, with Joystick in front of Haywire. Dallas peeped the top card and I swung for 2 points. Turn 2 I had Shape and he whiffed. Dallas looked at the top card and I think sent it to the bottom after I swung in directly for 5, which means I had 3 cards left in hand.

Turn 3 things started to get interesting. He played a Shadow Thief who brought along a Surveillance Pawn. He thought about backing-up right away, but then waited to see what I played down. I recruited Dr. Doom and started searching my deck. Alan jokingly suggested Reign of Terror to which I said, "I wish." hehe. Instead I grabbed Cannibal Tech and KO'd Haywire to boot a Tom Thumb from the row and replayed the Suicidal Lover. Since it was his turn I didn't use Cannibal Tech just yet. He decided to go ahead and activate the Pawn at this point.

He sent Shadow Thief into Shape and we traded stuns since I had one less card in hand by playing the extra Haywire. I forget how but Dallas traded on Joystick, then I beat face with Doom for 6 with a power-up. This put him to 33 and I was at 46. I kept Shape and he kept Dallas.

Turn 4 I brought out Golden Archer and played the Cannibal Tech to fetch Image Inducer which I equipped to Dr. Doom. Alan recruited Crystal and searched for Faces of Evil, then recruited Terry Sloane <> Mr. Terrific and used backup on his Surveillance Pawn. I declared a direct team attack of everyone, but my Proud Zinco Image Inducer blew up on me. So instead I teams all the Squad and Doom hit by himself. Still it totaled out to 19 damage. (Meaning I had... 2 cards in hand. 5 by Doom, 7 by Archer, 4 by Shape and 3 by Joystick. Haywire still hitting for nada!) Down to 14 endurance the only attack he made was Crystal into Golden Archer, hurting me for 6 and leaving him down by 29.

Turn 5 he opened with an Enemy for Yellow Jacket who boosted out Joystick. Then came Sage and a second Surveillance Pawn. Both Pawns used their backup ability and he sent it over to me. I recruited Nuke And formed with Nuke in front of Haywire to the left of Shape in front of Doom and Golden Archer to the right of Doom. I really should have had Shape protecting Nuke and Haywire in front of Doom though because I had a way to empty my hand now and a row'ed Pancea.

He flips faces and teams Yellow Jacket and Dallas into Nuke. Once legal he plays a Wrecking Crew and that's +6 each. Something happened where I had an empty hand and he played another Wrecking Crew, but not sure... Oh! I know, to give Terry Sloane an extra 2 attack. Okay, so he then sent Joystick into Shape and they traded. I was down to 21 and he was now at 8. He declares Terry Sloane <> Mr. Terrific on Dr. Doom. I responded with a Pancea Potion on Shape. Terry hit Shape and the blob man went down again. At this point he sent Crystal into Golden Archer and I burned and he scooped with no attackers left and Doom and the OH SO DEADLY HAYWIRE~!! coming at his empty visible area. We shake on it and I move to 1-0.

ROUND 2 - vs. Damian w/ Cosmic Skrull Beats

I shipped a hand with no characters and drew into a turn 1 Haywire/Image Inducer. Woulda been a nice keep I think, but it was right to mull. He played a Warskrull to his row and nuked it for Act of Defiance. Next turn he had Franklin and I dropped Shape. He took three for the turn. Franklin grabbed a counter and we went to three. I had Joystick and I sensed Haywire had outlived himself, so I transfered the Image Inducer to Joystick and sent it across the board. Damian had WolvieskrullnuckleheadbigfreakinATK.

I had a No Man Escapes and 2 Flying Kicks in hand so I started by playing the No Man on Franklin. I figured he might make a mistake and put Wolvie hidden to get his counter, but he made the right play and sent Franklin back when I declared an attack with Haywire. So I lose a 3 end pump so as to not take 5 next turn. This is a good play, right? So Wolvie is alone in the visible and Shape comes at him. He powers Wolvie up, I double Flying Kick. That puts him down to 35 and I'm above 40 still. In my notes I play Pancea on Shape, so I think he stunned Joystick. In any case I got greedy with the Flying Kicks and should have saved them because it hurt me on Turn 4.

I draw Whizzer and Golden Archer. I have an Archer rowed, but I have to put Whizzer in the row or drop a resource. This will cost me the game. But, I still say I didn't do it just to give Haywire 1 ATK Brian. lol Anyway, I played Archer after he flipped AOD and used Great Refuge to grab Captain Skrull-merica. With another Act of Defiance he no trades Franklin up into Golden Archer. I burn for 6. He's at 19 now and Wolvie/Cap no trades bouncing over Joystick/Shape. Before the end of the turn Franklin pops a counter to hide Captain America, then gets his new one. Little brat.

Looking like I have to Top Deck a 5 or play Golden Archer again I keep Shape. I think maybe I shoulda kept Joystick. 7/5 attack with 1 SEL. In any case, I top deck... An Ape X. :( She grabs a Thunder Jet and then Golden Archer jumps from the row. He has Paibok. Golden Archer and Paibok trade. Shape and Wolvie trade. I get him to 5 and I'm at 31. Franklin attacks Haywire... Who I guess is still around. lol Double power up means I take 3. Then Cap comes at Ape X, I take 5. 23/5? I think I'm okay. If I draw. I don't play anything. He has Lockjaw for Super Skrull and then plays Ronan. He hits for 15, I burn for 5, and then Cap comes at me with a Call To Arms. Too much.

In any case, it hurt to lose that one. I felt like it was entirely my fault because I had the gas and I had the right turns... I even all most got it anyway, but c'est le vie. 1-1.

ROUND 3 - vs. Kurt "X-Men Curve Beats TNNB" Garvey w/ Underworld/Doom (which I think should be called Devil's Due, but don't know if that would get confused too much with Moloids.)

We start off with a roll that he wins and he picks odds. Turn one I play Joystick and hit for 1. Next turn I have Tom Thumb and Image Inducer for Joystick. He discards The Dwarf to get Ritual Sacrifice, flips Dark Dimension and reveals Dr. Doom: Just Reward, pulls him back to the hand. Which I guess was cheating, huh? Oh well, he coulda tossed his Dwarf (Haha!) next turn and had it anyway. He didn't flip it for a while anyway. Hell, I don't think he used the effect ever.

I double up on Flying Kicks (hmmm... perhaps a lesson I need to learn...) and hit for 15 to his face. He's at 34, I'm at 50. Turn 3 he finally had a character in the form of Meatmarket. I was wary, cause that dude can get crazy real easy with his pseudo Ally like power-ups. I have Richard's Rival and with no 5 drop I want an Answer the Call at the ready. Kurt puts the Unipower on Meatmarket and sends him into Doom. He has a natural power-up as well. The Meatmarket is huge now. 8/7 against my 5/4. I again make a dumb play and decide to KO Doom and replace Answer into the row. It's not worth the advantage. I should have taken my beats and gone into the next turn with 3 characters. Instead Meatmarket hits Tom Thumb and I have no attack back.

Next turn i start with Golden Archer and pass it over. He plays Enemy dropping Divinity for Blackheart. Dwarf discards for another Ritual Sacrifice. Blackheart is out and concealed. Before it's even my attack Joystick is put to rest by the hidden fop. So I send Golden Archer into Meatmarket and he returns MM from his KO'd pile to power up with Slaughter Swamp. 4 for all. He's at 30, I'm at 41. I play a No Man Escapes the Manhunters on Blackheart and Tom Thumb smacks him for just enough. 26 him, 39 me going into the next turn.

I chain to the draw with Answer the Call, grabbing Nuke, after I've all ready searched he mentions he should have Slaughter Swamp'ed, but I've all ready searched and I feel bad because I think I did play it a little fast. I mean, I didn't start searching immediately, but still I was obviously not playing as well as I usually do, today. :\ He returns Divinity after missing with a 5 with another Dark Dimension. Which is, yeah, wow, totally not legal again. I suck! I recruit Nuke with a copy in hand. Blackheart killed Tom Thumb, then he attacks Divinity into Nuke. I power up, he Slaughter's Tom Thumb back to hand. I guess I should've won on this turn or the next. After he took 4 from the Divinity trade he was at 22, then Golden Archer punched through Black Heart for 5 after a power up.

Nuke's attack back would have put him at 2. Blackheart would have hit Golden Archer and I would have burned for 6 instead of hitting for 5 so that's 1 endurance left. Bah. I feel stupid.

On turn 6 I have Golden Archer left. Ape X searches out an Atlantean Trident which is given to Golden Archer. Tom Thumb comes down and gets himself a Thunder Jet. Kurt has Goblyn Queen, who pops her counter to move to the visible area and KO's all 0 stunned characters in play. Maybe I should have read his cards before then, right? Hehe. Blackheart killed Tom Thumb again, then Golden Archer beat the crap out of him. He went from 15 to 6 on this attack and with me at 19, Goblyn Queen attacks back for 13 after a power up.

The turn that shouldn't have happened had Dark Dimension return the copy of Madelyne Pryor, Dr. Doom: Just Reward and Black Rose were recruited. I didn't have anyone. Goblin Queen was able to power up 4 times attacking Golden Archer and I burned for 6. Doom was big, I scooped. 1-2, really, really my fault now.

(Just for the record, I want to make it clear that I don't think Kurt was cheating at all. We both were having questions about his cards, like on 6 he wanted to know if he could do the move with the counter removal for Madelyne. I really should have just read his cards earlier in the match instead of trusting my half-formed memories of what they did. That's why I didn't even ask what Dark Dimension or The Dwarf did.)

Okay, so I wrote everything before this within a few days of the tournament. In fact the next day. The rest below is done weeks later cause I've been incredibly busy and kinda sick since then, but I took detailed notes and I'll be damned if I'm gonna do that and then NOT use them. Plus I know Paul digs this and he's done a lot for VS recently.

ROUND 4 - vs. Rich "Wrathraven" w/ Heralds Control

I had odd initiative and had Ape X, Joystick and a Thunder Jet. This was a nice hand, so on turn one I played the Ape and grabbed my Atlantean Trident for Joystick next turn. X got the Jet and I hit unopposed to 3. Next turn Rich had Silver Surfer and decided to get Elemental Converters after I put down the Beatstick. Joystick slammed into Surfer for a trade and a counter. Ape X, unopposed.

I played Dr. Doom to grab Other Earth. Rich Terraformed the Converters then played... Destroyer. Ouch. Ape X traded Surfer, Joy Stick traded Destroyer, Doom direct. Turn 4 he played Human Torch and I had Tom Thumb with a Thunder Jet and Shape. Surfer traded on Thumbsy, Human Torch ran over Doom to gain some life back, but Joystick hit him on the attacks back followed by Shape direct.

I had the Whizzer on five against Airwalker. Terraformed Soul World. I traded Whizzer with Airwalker. Joystick attacked Human Torch and one of us had a power up, I believe Rich did. He flipped Worldship to bounce Joystick. My other characters went to the face. Turn six went with a Firelord and Pacification returned a counter to Airwalker. I played Joystick and played Answer the Call to grab Golden Archer. Firelord hit Whizzer with a discarded Fallen One so I reinforced with Archer. He passed and Joystick/Shape teamed into Firelord. This was enough get the scoop before I even revealed a Pancea for Whizzer. 2-2

ROUND 5 - vs. I lose My Notes w/ Hellfire Club

All I remember is I play Shape on 3, he gets Mutant Massacred and I draw only a Shape. I play Nuke on 5 with an empty hand, Pancea in response to another Mutant Massacre and then draw 2 Nukes. :(

I double Pancea Nuke on turn 6 too. I lost. lol

2-3 official record.

One thing I gotta mention was an awesome play my brother's friend Charles made. On turn 8 he had Martian Manhunter-8, Sinestro-6-GL, Guy Gardener-7 and his opponent had Noble Kale. Noble attacked him directly and they go to 9. He searches out G'nort with a Rain of Acorns face down. G'nort locks Noble down and Charles attacks with everyone without fear of reprisal.

How freaking cool is THAT!?

-Mike

City Champs!

April 15th. Five dollars a pop!

I'll be there. Unless something comes up. And then only if I can't blow it off.

-Mike

Outstanding report. Quite a substantial breakfast on this sunny Monday morning.

38 Rep for you!

Great report! Hope to be luckier next time!