The final match of Darkmoon Faire Anaheim has Nevada local Tim Rivera facing off against European favorite Jan Palys.
German player Jan Palys won a trip to any Upper Deck event as part of a side event at German Nationals. He chose to fly to California as part of that prize. Now Jan has made it to the final round in an event that has another trip at stake. Jan is using the Horde Hunter “The Longeye.”
Tim Rivera’s motives are a little more immediate. Jan has eliminated Tim’s two teammates, Niles Rowland and Dane Young, in the previous matches in this Top 8. He is in this match to reclaim his team’s pride and to win the title of Darkmoon Faire Anaheim Champion. In addition of representing his Nevada teammates, Tim is also representing Alliance Priest Martiana the Mindwrench.
Game 1
After he won the die roll, Jan chose to go first, but he sent his first hand back for a mulligan. He played a quest and passed to Tim, who played Tonks the Tenacious. Jan had no play on his second turn.
Tim led off his next turn by attacking with Tonks to deal 2 damage to Jan’s hero. Jan played Tormentor Emek on his turn and passed to Tim, who followed up with Cymbre Shadowdrifter. Jan brought Kileana Darkblaze into his party, and Tim brought out Envoy Samantha Dillon. Tim had been attacking for 2 with Tonks in between these plays to put Jan’s hero up to a total of 10 damage.
Jan played the protector Nok'tal the Savage and then interrupted the game to ask if he could trade his three Darkmoon Faire tickets for an Extended Artwork Xanata the Lightsworn. Unfortunately the ticket redemption counter was across the room, and Jan had more immediate concerns as Tim played Vampiric Tendrils to empty Jan’s hand.
“Tend-a-rizzle?” Jan asked. Tim looked at his hand thoughtfully.
Jan attacked Tim’s Envoy Samantha Dillon with Kileana Darkblaze. Tim played Sphere of Divinity as a response to the attack, and Jan used his hero flip to destroy the Envoy and save his ally.
Tim played Misery and Tonks the Tenacious, prompting Jan to quip, “Your hero is emo,” as he drew for his turn.
Jan declared an attack on Tim’s hero with Kileana Darkblaze, but Tonks was removed to prevent it. Jan played another copy of Kileana Darkblaze and placed some damage on his party.
Tim had no plays besides his resource for the turn, simply passing back to Jan. Jan attacked with his allies and played a pair of war stomp allies, Horkin Figluster and Himul Longstrider.
It wasn’t enough, though, because Misery bottomed Jan’s deck out, and Tim took the first game.
Tim 1 – Jan 0
Game 2
Jan went first this game, and both players passed turn 1 without a 1-drop ally. Jan played Himul Longstrider on turn 2, and Tim was once again left without a play. Jan played Tormentor Emek on his next turn and attacked with Himul.
Tim finally hit the board with Envoy Samantha Dillon, but Jan killed it with an attack with from Emek and a shot from Bloodseeker. Play passed back to Tim, who played Woodsie Leafsong.
Jan started his next turn with an attack from both of his allies, which brought the damage on Tim’s hero up to 12. Jan took damage due to the fact he chose not to attack with Bloodseeker. Tim started his turn with Vampiric Tendrils to heal damage from his Priest hero before attacking with Woodsie to destroy the ranged weapon, and Jan swung back with it to kill Tim’s ally.
Play passed to Jan, who played Zi'mo, and then back to Tim, who played Tonks the Tenacious and Cymbre Shadowdrifter before he ended his turn. Jan declared an attack into Tonks with Himul and attacked Tim’s hero directly with his other two allies, bringing Tim’s damage total to 22.
The next two turns passed uneventfully, with Jan only using Twin Spire Ruins to return Himul Longstrider to his party. Tim asked to count the number of cards in Jan’s deck, and it totaled 17. Tim traded his Cymbre Shadowdrifter with Zi’mo and played Misery.
Jan played Nok'tal the Savage and attacked Tim, who played Dawn’s Grace to heal the damage. Tim healed to 14 but then dropped to 22 after the attack went through.
Tim couldn’t pay enough for Misery to finish Jan off, so he scooped to start game 3.
Game 3
Both players looked at their opening hands and chose to mulligan. Tim was on the play for this final game to decide the Darkmoon Faire Anaheim Champion.
Tim played the quest Outland Sucks! and passed to Jan, who cheerfully declared, “Side deck card!” as he played Tarren Mill.
Play passed to Tim, who played Rayne Savageboon. Jan answered it on his turn with Arcane Spikes before adding Zi’mo to his party, which was taken out by a Shadow Word: Anguish from Tim. Tim played Vampiric Tendrils and healed the damage he had taken from Anguish. Jan threw away two allies to the Tendrils.
Play passed back to Jan, who played another Zi’mo. “Come on,” Jan complained as Tim played a second copy of Vampiric Tendrils to remove another two big allies from Jan’s hand.
Jan added Nok'tal the Savage to his party. Tim played Catarina Clark and passed turn to Jan, who flipped his hero to kill the protector and attack with the Savage. Tim responded with Shadow Word: Anguish to destroy the ally.
Tim played Keward Rocksalt, and Jan played Lifemender Dorn. Tim played Tonks the Tenacious and Cymbre Shadowdrifter, and Jan had Michael Garrett, Bat Handler, revealing the location Twin Spire Ruins to take into his hand. Jan attacked with Lifemender Dorn and brought the damage on Tim’s hero to 15.
“Draw your card,” Jan said sternly as he ended his turn. Tim attacked the Bat Handler with Cymbre Shadowdrifter, which killed him, and had Tonks trade with Lifemender. Keward attacked and brought the damage on Jan to 5, and Tim added Tinker Burnfizzle to his party.
Tim revealed Vampiric Tendrils from his hand. “Just ridiculous,” said Jan as he lost his hand again and Misery hit the table. Misery ran Jan’s deck out of cards, and he lost the game due to not being able to draw a card.
Tim Rivera wins 2-1 to become the Darkmoon Faire Anaheim Champion!