This is the first Pro Circuit finals for both players, and after this match one will be a Pro Circuit Champion. Both players flew into Sydney from the U.S., and not only have they nevertheless played scintillating Vs. System, they have also been fine sportsmen the whole time.
Kyle overcame Germany’s Jonas Skali and his Checkmate / JSA deck in the semifinals, while Erik achieved a highly entertaining 2-1 victory over class act Jonathan Luey and his Checkmate / Villians United deck. Kyle has had a few turn 3 wins this weekend with his QuickFate deck, while Erik will be keen to brickwall him with The Rock. The unstoppable force vs. the immovable object. Two top players fighting it out for the one place at the top of the podium. Let’s get the action started!
 Game 1
Turn 1
Erik won the die roll and chose odds. Cabanero had no turn 1 play, while Luna Maximoff got some early beats on for Kyle.
Endurance: Dembinski 50, Cabanero 49
Turn 2
Kyle started off turn 2 by discarding Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster to Dr Fate’s Tower to find Helm of Nabu. He then recruited Cloak of Nabu onto Luna and followed it up with the Helm to draw two cards. Having found what he was looking for, he terraformed Soul World into his row and recruited the crucial Quicksilver, Inhuman by Marriage. Erik still couldn't find a character, and the 4 ATK / 4 DEF Quicksilver swung directly.
Kyle then flipped over the Soul World, readied the Inhuman Mutant, and snuck in for another 4 ATK. Luna got in for a cheeky point of endurance, and Soul World sent Ape X back to Kyle's Hand.
Endurance: Dembinski 46, Cabanero 40
Turn 3
Erik started out the turn by flipping over Brother I Satellite to find the veritable King of Silver Age, Ahmed Samsarra, White King (revealing another copy of the 3-drop for loyalty). Ape X came out for Kyle, finding him the Amulet of Nabu, and then the final piece of the puzzle was added to Quicksilver. Kyle re-recruited the Helm to dig through his deck a little and then formed Ape X in front of Quicksilver, providing an essential barrier from a flightless Samsarra.
Samsarra bashed into the simian, and Brother Eye forced an extra 2 endurance loss. Ape went down, and then play passed over to Kyle. His suited-up Quicksilver swung right on into the White King and was enhanced with a bevy of attack pumps: Kill or Be Killed, two Air Strike, Windstorm, and a Flying Kick! Facing 19 incoming ATK, Erik used Checkmate Safe House to reduce some breakthrough and a natural power-up to attempt to force a trade with the 2-drop. Soul World dug a Quicksilver pump out of Kyle's KO’d pile, but it was met by a second power-up from Erik via Enemy of My Enemy. The two traded stuns, but Luna Maximoff did what she does best, returning to hand to recover Quicksilver. Quicksilver swung in for 19 again, and during recovery Kyle chose not to recover Ape X.
Endurance: Dembinski 32, Cabanero 7
Turn 4
With no cards in hand, Kyle decided to use Soul World to bring Ape X back. He recruited the monkey and sought out a copy of Helm of Nabu, which he used to dig through his deck once more. An Air Strike gave Quicksilver +2 ATK for the turn (and helped Kyle see a little more of his deck), and then Kyle played Luna and Lockjaw, Inhuman’s Best Friend (with no card in hand to discard to the Inhuman Puppy).
Ahmed Samsarra found Slaughter Swamp for Erik, and then he used the location to return a copy of Ahmed to hand. Erik discarded the King to Enemy of My Enemy to get Terrax, The Tamer for his back row.
Quicksilver attacked right on into Ahmed, and the Safe House reduced the blow. Terrax's ability replaced the location (and stunned Ape X), and Target Acquired forced a trade with the Mutant. Luna Maximoff was then retuned to hand to once again recover the Inhuman. Needing to achieve a fully-face-up resource row to get Quick online, Kyle flipped up a second Dr. Fate’s Tower and KO'd the first copy. The 2-drop readied for free, and then Lockjaw and Quicksilver were able to team attack into Terrax to bring Erik to -2.
Kyle wins game 1 in this best-of-5 marathon!
 Game 2
Turn 1
Erik again chose odds. Atom Smasher and Ted Kord ◊ Blue Beetle came into play for Erik and Kyle respectively, and Atom gained a counter. Ted also decided that attacking wasn't the plan and activated (discarding another Ted Kord) to find Helm of Nabu.
Endurance: Dembinski 50, Cabanero 50
Turn 2
Ted received the full set of Fate Artifacts (Cloak of Nabu, Helm of Nabu, and Amulet of Nabu), with Kyle using the Helm to dig through his deck to try to find a more appropriate target for the Artifacts. The Great Refuge and Dr. Fate’s Tower were both played from the row, and then Quicksilver came out in front of Blue Beetle. Atom Smasher gained another counter, and then Erik formed Jack Knight ◊ Starman behind the 3 ATK / 3 DEF 1-drop and activated him to net a card.
Dr. Fate’s Tower sent the Artifacts over to Quicksilver, and then the 2-drop swung over Atom Smasher and into Jack. Kill or Be Killed and Flying Kick were too much for the 2-drop to deal with, as the Inhuman was brought to 13 ATK. With Knight stunned, Quicksilver then slammed into a 3 DEF Atom smasher, and Ted snuck in for 2 more ATK.
Endurance: Dembinski 50, Cabanero 25
Turn 3
Erik flipped over Brother I Satellite (discarding Elimination Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot) and searched through his deck to find the necessary Ahmed Samsarra. He needed a card to reveal for the 3-drop, however, so he flipped Brother Eye and used its “other” ability to return the OMAC to his hand. Samsarra formed up in the back row next to Atom Smasher, and it was over to Kyle.
Ape X came out for Kyle and found him a second copy of the Cloak (which he searched for just to thin out his deck). Noting Atom Smasher's lack of range and Ahmed's lack of flight, Kyle put Quicksilver behind Ape.
Erik decided that attacking wasn't going to get him anywhere this turn, and play passed over to Kyle. Quicksilver wasted no time attacking into Atom Smasher.
The 1-drop grew to become a formidable 4 ATK / 4 DEF, and Ahmed activated to find Checkmate Safe House. The location was flipped to team-up JSA and Checkmate and then activated to soak up some damage.
With one face-down resource, Erik flipped over Dr. Fate’s Tower, KO’ing the first and sending Kyle down to two resources. Kyle then pitched the Cloak to find a copy of the Helm and readied his Quicksilver. When the Mutant tried to take down the White King, Advance Warning bounced the attack, and Atom Smasher recovered shortly thereafter.
Endurance: Dembinski 43, Cabanero 22
Turn 4
Another Helm helped Kyle to thin out his deck; he settled on a copy of Human Torch, Sparky. The 3-drop formed behind the 7 DEF wall of Quicksilver, and Ape X protected Blue Beetle. Enemy of My Enemy found Terrax for Erik, and the 4-drop Herald joined Smasher and the King in the back row (with Smasher in the center).
Kyle looked down at his row, realized that this game was out of his reach, and decided to move on to game 3.
Kyle 1 – Erik 1
 Game 3
Turn 1
After choosing odds, Kyle played Ape X and found an Amulet of Nabu. Erik had his own turn 1 play, with Connie Webb hitting his back row.
The weenies traded stuns, and it was off to turn 2.
Endurance: Dembinski 49, Cabanero 49
Turn 2
Erik had to pass on recruits while Kyle clearly had a more ideal play, with Quicksilver, Inhuman by Marriage receiving the Amulet of Nabu and the Cloak of Nabu.
Connie and Ape traded blows, and then it was over to Quicksilver to cleave through Erik's endurance. The Inhuman’s ATK went up to 10 with The Royal Guard (which also resulted in an all-face-up resource row) and Kill or Be Killed, and Erik's endurance was reduced by 20.
Endurance: Dembinski 48, Cabanero 28
Turn 3
Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose came out into Kyle's front row, with Erik exclaiming, “No wonder you kept your opening hand!” The Great Refuge was flipped to search out Luna Maximoff, and Ape X was KO'd to replace The Royal Guard with Dr. Fate’s Tower. Kyle then flipped the location to search out the Helm of Nabu (discarding Lockjaw, Inhuman’s Best Friend), and with the whole row face up again, Kyle was in a position of power once more. Brother I Satellite found Erik's Ahmed Samsarra for the visible area, and he formed Ahmed up next to Connie in the back row.
Kyle broke Erik's reinforcement channel by sending Ivy into Connie, and Erik took the opportunity to reduce some damage; he flipped over Checkmate Safe House, and then Ahmed activated to find a second Safe House, which brought Connie's DEF to 3 and thus prevented breakthrough.
Two Windstorms then brought Quicksilver to 15 ATK, and an 8 DEF Samsarra was stunned. The incredible Mutant then swung for another 15, and then Luna tried to jump out of the shadow of Quicksilver, sneaking in for 1 ATK.
Endurance: Dembinski 48, Cabanero 2
Turn 4
Terrax, The Tamer came out in the back row next to Ahmed, signalling that Erik might have been trying to slow the game down with some endurance gain from Worldeater Apparatus. Ape X came in for Kyle and searched out another Helm. The mini-monkey was KO'd to Poison Ivy, and she found Kyle The Great Refuge for his resource row. The location, in turn, found Human Torch, Sparky, and then the Helm was re-recruited to dig through Kyle's deck. Quicksilver formed up in the back row next to Sparky, and the Deadly Rose protected the Inhuman. Ahmed indeed found Worldeater Apparatus, and then Terrax exhausted to gain 3 endurance.
Trying to bring the game to a close, Quicksilver bashed up the curve into Ahmed. Two Safe House activations brought the King to 8 DEF, but The Royal Guard brought Quicksilver up to the necessary 9 ATK / 9 DEF, and Sparky activated to take game 3 for Kyle.
Kyle 2 – Erik 1
Game 4
Turn 1
Erik started off the game with an ideal first turn Atom Smasher. The 1-drop wasted no time in zipping up the curve to become 2 ATK / 2 DEF, and it was over to Kyle. Ted Kord came out on Kyle's side of the table, and Kyle elected not to attack with his 1-drop, instead activating him and discarding Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster to find Amulet of Nabu.
Endurance: Dembinski 50, Cabanero 50
Turn 2
Keeping with theme of the “nut draw,” Kyle recruited Quicksilver and used Ted and Mxy once more to get the Helm. Watching from the sidelines, Ryan Jones quipped, “He should only be able to search for Nth Metal!” Kyle then flipped up Soul World and sent Mxy to his hand for the second time that turn. Next, he flipped over The Great Refuge to search for Luna Maximoff and ensure that the cards in his resource row all faced upwards.
Kyle then suited up Quicksilver with the full winter collection of Fate Artifacts, pitching Mxy, another Cloak, and Lockjaw, Inhuman’s Best Friend to the Helm's ability. On Erik's side of the board, Atom Smasher grew another counter and received a Cloak of Nabu of his own, and then Jack Knight was used to draw a card.
Quicksilver flew over Smasher and smacked Jack Knight ◊ Starman around a bit before readying and slamming right back into the 4 DEF Smasher. Erik decided that his Atom Smasher's DEF was more valuable than Jack Knight's cards, so he recovered the 1-drop.
Endurance: Dembinski 46, Cabanero 40
 Turn 3
An awkward recruit in Christopher Smith ◊ Peacemaker came out for Erik, with the lack of Ahmed Samsarra clearly spelling trouble for the player. Kyle started off his recruit by using Soul World for Lockjaw and then used Ted Kord ◊ Blue Beetle and Mxy to get a fresh copy of the Helm. Kyle used The Great Refuge to find Human Torch, Sparky, and then Quicksilver got the fresh Helm, letting Kyle draw three cards in the process; he was clearly trying to find the Deadly Rose. He was successful, and Ivy came into play in front of Ted, with Luna Maximoff hitting the hidden area. Erik tried to even up the odds by using Chris Smith's backup before moving onto the combat phase.
Checkmate Safe House teamed-up JSA and Checkmate, and then Erik flipped over Satellite HQ and Brother Eye. Atom smashed into Ivy as 6 ATK / 4 DEF with a little help from the Eye, and Deadly Rose took Quicksilver down with her as she became stunned, courtesy of Chris Smith’s backup. Quicksilver wasn’t to stay down for long, as Luna Maximoff was unsurprisingly returned to hand to recover the Inhuman. Quicksilver then readied and knocked out Chris Smith. A Checkmate Safe House activation helped to reduce the damage, and then Ivy and Smith were recovered at the end of the turn.
Endurance: Dembinski 35, Cabanero 34
Turn 4
Kyle used another Helm to dig through his deck and recruited Human Torch, Sparky, indicating that he was going to try to push for the win that turn. Play went over to Erik, who asked Kyle how many cards he had in hand; Kyle announced that he had 5. Erik could only offer, “Oh jeez . . . this is bad,” realizing that the multiple Helms had probably resulted in a bevy of plot twists in Kyle's hand. To make matters worse, the lack of Ahmed compounded Erik's situation when he didn’t have a turn 4 recruit. All he could offer was a little bit of Atom Smasher growth, and play moved over to combat.
 Kyle started off with Air Strike, replacing The Great Refuge in his row. Ivy KO'd Ted to get another Refuge, and then Kyle sent his enormous Quicksilver into Chris Smith. A further copy of The Royal Guard, a Flying Kick, and two copies of Kill or Be Killed brought the Mutant to an unprecedented 22 ATK; after activating the Safe House, Erik crashed down to 13 endurance.
Kyle then flipped over The Great Refuge to get Dewoz, and his Quicksilver readied for the final time at PC: Sydney. As the 2-drop ripped through Atom Smasher, Erik tried to save the game with Advance Warning, but Quicksilver still came in with the necessary 13 ATK. Erik could only lament, “First time I’ve missed 4 all tournament!”
And with that, the game came to a close with Kyle Dembinski taking the crown at PC: Syndey 2007! |