[{"text":"The tournament was open to all players and was played online via Table Top Simulator on Saturday, May 18, 2019. "},{"text":"The number of players that participated in the event was:"},{"sql":"SELECT COUNT(`id`) as value1 FROM `dcdb_event_personnel_listing` WHERE (`role` LIKE 'Player' AND `eventNumber` LIKE '224')"},{"text":"Player list:"},{"sql":"SELECT name as value1 FROM dcdb_event_personnel_listing WHERE eventNumber = 224 AND role = 'Player' ORDER By name ASC"},{"text":"Judging staff:"},{"sql":"SELECT name as value1, role as value2 FROM dcdb_event_personnel_listing WHERE eventNumber = 224 AND role LIKE '%judge%' ORDER BY id ASC"},{"text":"The tournament consisted of 4 rounds of swiss pairings followed by a final round consisting of the top four players. A first place finish awards four match points, second place awards two, and third and fourth place award zero."},{"header":"ROUND 1"},{"text":"Table 1"},{"sql":"SELECT articleText as value1 FROM dcdb_event_round_results WHERE eventNumber = 224 AND roundNumber = 1 AND tableNumber = 1 ORDER BY playerResult ASC"},{"text":"Table 2"},{"sql":"SELECT articleText as value1 FROM dcdb_event_round_results WHERE eventNumber = 224 AND roundNumber = 1 AND tableNumber = 2 ORDER BY playerResult ASC"},{"text":"Table 3"},{"sql":"SELECT articleText as value1 FROM dcdb_event_round_results WHERE eventNumber = 224 AND roundNumber = 1 AND tableNumber = 3 ORDER BY playerResult ASC"},{"text":"Table 4"},{"sql":"SELECT articleText as value1 FROM dcdb_event_round_results WHERE eventNumber = 224 AND roundNumber = 1 AND tableNumber = 4 ORDER BY playerResult ASC"},{"text":"Standings after Round 1: Points - Player"},{"sql":"SELECT playerPoints as value1, playerName as value3 FROM dcdb_event_round_standings WHERE eventNumber = 224 AND roundNumber = 1 ORDER BY playerPoints DESC"},{"header":"ROUND 2"},{"text":"Table 1"},{"sql":"SELECT articleText as value1 FROM dcdb_event_round_results WHERE eventNumber = 224 AND roundNumber = 2 AND tableNumber = 1 ORDER BY playerResult ASC"},{"text":"Table 2"},{"sql":"SELECT articleText as value1 FROM dcdb_event_round_results WHERE eventNumber = 224 AND roundNumber = 2 AND tableNumber = 2 ORDER BY playerResult ASC"},{"text":"Table 3"},{"sql":"SELECT articleText as value1 FROM dcdb_event_round_results WHERE eventNumber = 224 AND roundNumber = 2 AND tableNumber = 3 ORDER BY playerResult ASC"},{"text":"Table 4"},{"sql":"SELECT articleText as value1 FROM dcdb_event_round_results WHERE eventNumber = 224 AND roundNumber = 2 AND tableNumber = 4 ORDER BY playerResult ASC"},{"text":"Standings after Round 2: Points - Player"},{"sql":"SELECT playerPoints as value1, playerName as value3 FROM dcdb_event_round_standings WHERE eventNumber = 224 AND roundNumber = 2 ORDER BY playerPoints DESC"},{"header":"ROUND 3"},{"text":"Table 1"},{"sql":"SELECT articleText as value1 FROM dcdb_event_round_results WHERE eventNumber = 224 AND roundNumber = 3 AND tableNumber = 1 ORDER BY playerResult ASC"},{"text":"Table 2"},{"sql":"SELECT articleText as value1 FROM dcdb_event_round_results WHERE eventNumber = 224 AND roundNumber = 3 AND tableNumber = 2 ORDER BY playerResult ASC"},{"text":"Table 3"},{"sql":"SELECT articleText as value1 FROM dcdb_event_round_results WHERE eventNumber = 224 AND roundNumber = 3 AND tableNumber = 3 ORDER BY playerResult ASC"},{"text":"Table 4"},{"sql":"SELECT articleText as value1 FROM dcdb_event_round_results WHERE eventNumber = 224 AND roundNumber = 3 AND tableNumber = 4 ORDER BY playerResult ASC"},{"text":"Standings after Round 3: Points - Player"},{"sql":"SELECT playerPoints as value1, playerName as value3 FROM dcdb_event_round_standings WHERE eventNumber = 224 AND roundNumber = 3 ORDER BY playerPoints DESC"},{"header":"ROUND 4"},{"text":"Table 1"},{"sql":"SELECT articleText as value1 FROM dcdb_event_round_results WHERE eventNumber = 224 AND roundNumber = 4 AND tableNumber = 1 ORDER BY playerResult ASC"},{"text":"Table 2"},{"sql":"SELECT articleText as value1 FROM dcdb_event_round_results WHERE eventNumber = 224 AND roundNumber = 4 AND tableNumber = 2 ORDER BY playerResult ASC"},{"text":"Table 3"},{"sql":"SELECT articleText as value1 FROM dcdb_event_round_results WHERE eventNumber = 224 AND roundNumber = 4 AND tableNumber = 3 ORDER BY playerResult ASC"},{"text":"Standings after Round 4: Points - Player"},{"sql":"SELECT playerPoints as value1, playerName as value3 FROM dcdb_event_round_standings WHERE eventNumber = 224 AND roundNumber = 4 ORDER BY playerPoints DESC"},{"header":"FINALS: TOP 4"},{"text":"Table 1"},{"text":"Three of these four players met in the finals just one month ago at the Oklahoma Championship (https:\/\/www.dcdeckbuilding.com\/article.php?id=10879) and have found themselves battling it out once again for a first place victory. ninjafriend was effectively using Trickster\/Boomerang synergy and was able to buy an early Motherbox with the help of a stacked Solomon Grundy.&nbsp; He added a Power of the Green to his deck and continued his shenanigans, returning a Location to play directly from his discard pile, netting him some card advantage with bonus power to boot.&nbsp; Huff replied with a solid early turn, playing several cards in one turn, but ultimately ending up one power short of defeating the first SV.&nbsp; After Huff's big turn, ninjafriend again had Solomon Grundy + a Boomerang fueled hand to defeat Vandal Savage. Swamp Thing showed himself as SV #2 and handed out a few Weaknesses while making ninjafriend bin his Location.&nbsp; At this point Oshi was developing quite a good deck and was able to generate some big turns by burning through cards with Weather Wizard to find his Super Powers.&nbsp; Those Super Powers in turn returned Punches to his hand which he again funneled through the Wizard for more card draw.&nbsp; He was able to get an early Shazam and started to generate some powerful turns. ninjafriend continued his abuse of Power of the Green by returning the Location that Swamp Thing just made him discard.&nbsp; He also purchased a few more Locations as he looked forward to more trickery.&nbsp; Pleased with his collections of Ongoings and Locations, ninjafriend quickly defeated Swamp Thing with plans to make use of this Location friendly SV to help burn through the rest of the SV stack. Up to this point, Xephongun had been quietly going through the motions of his combo, and being the only player at the table without access to Teamwork, his turns seemed to go by relatively quickly compared to everyone else.&nbsp; After picking up a few kicks and an early game Aqualad, he had begun performing a ritual of Kick, Kick, destroy a Starter (Dr. Manhattan), Aqualad, destroy a Starter (Starfire), buy expensive card(s), pass and draw seven cards (Kalibak). As we arrived to the mid-game Xephongun was suddenly wielding quiet powerful hands, averaging 4-6 non-Starters per turn.&nbsp; Eager to utilize his shiny cards (and to the surprise of nearly everyone!) he dumped an action packed hand onto the table and made taking down Harvest (IM) look easy. Next to make a finals appearance was Mongul, planning to put a halt to many player's plans with his random discard ability.&nbsp; This put a damper on high power turns for a bit while player's were biding their time by rebuilding. ninjafriend was the first to act with a big turn after Huff fell a few power short and ended up buying a trio of Kicks.&nbsp; Taking his opportunity to do more Kyle Rayner infused shuffling antics, he again left a high VP card in the bin and Boomerang'ed it to his hand for enough power to defeat Mongul. Mongul (IM) showed himself as the final SV of the game, handing out another flurry of Weaknesses to a few players and chipping away at one of the Locations that ninjafriend had.&nbsp; Up next was Oshi, who playe Xephongun's Harvest off an X-Ray Vision and then randomly hit it again by Teamworking him, and giving him a VP in the process.&nbsp; With no Heroes to gain, Oshi settled with the 6 power but ultimately fell short of enough power to take down the Impossible Mode Mongul. Huff then gave it his best effort, but had a few too many Super Powers in hand when he needed almost any other type for Mirror Master to get him the rest of the way there. Xephongun was up next, and after Huff's turn there were two Heroes waiting in the Lineup for Xephongun's Harvest: Vixen and World's Mightiest Mortal.&nbsp; Xephongun wasted no time in throwing a Batarang, allowing him to draw his top card (the Harvest we saw on Oshi's turn) and play it, netting him fifteen power worth of cards straight to his hand.&nbsp; His Kalibak fueled hand + the Mightiest Mortal was more than enough to take down the last SV, leaving him with only Vixen in hand.&nbsp; Eyeing the board, he played Vixen, gaining him the only Ongoing card in the lineup (Apokolips) before sending the players off a VP count."},{"sql":"SELECT articleText as value1 FROM dcdb_event_round_results WHERE eventNumber = 224 AND roundNumber = 5 AND tableNumber = 1 ORDER BY playerResult ASC"},{"text":"Final Standings: Points - Player"},{"sql":"SELECT playerPoints as value1, playerName as value3 FROM dcdb_event_round_standings WHERE eventNumber = 224 AND roundNumber = 5 ORDER BY orderForStandings ASC"},{"header":"FINALS DECKLISTS:"},{"text":"Xephongun (1st Place)"},{"sql":"SELECT `cardQuantity` as value1, `cardName` as value3, `setFrom` as value2 FROM `dcdb_games_decklists` WHERE `eventID` = 224 AND `roundNumber` = 5 AND `tableNumber` = 1 and `playerFinish` = 1 ORDER BY id ASC"},{"text":"ninjafriend (2nd Place)"},{"sql":"SELECT `cardQuantity` as value1, `cardName` as value3, `setFrom` as value2 FROM `dcdb_games_decklists` WHERE `eventID` = 224 AND `roundNumber` = 5 AND `tableNumber` = 1 and `playerFinish` = 2 ORDER BY id ASC"},{"text":"JohnHuffster22(SHAZAM!!) (3rd Place)"},{"sql":"SELECT `cardQuantity` as value1, `cardName` as value3, `setFrom` as value2 FROM `dcdb_games_decklists` WHERE `eventID` = 224 AND `roundNumber` = 5 AND `tableNumber` = 1 and `playerFinish` = 3 ORDER BY id ASC"},{"text":"Oshi (4th Place)"},{"sql":"SELECT `cardQuantity` as value1, `cardName` as value3, `setFrom` as value2 FROM `dcdb_games_decklists` WHERE `eventID` = 224 AND `roundNumber` = 5 AND `tableNumber` = 1 and `playerFinish` = 4 ORDER BY id ASC"},{"header":"VP TALLY"},{"text":"Over the course of the event, these players collectively gathered a VP total of:"},{"sql":"SELECT SUM(`vpPlayer[1]`+`vpPlayer[2]`+`vpPlayer[3]`+`vpPlayer[4]`) as value1 FROM `dcdb_games_played_log` WHERE `eventNumber` = 224"},{"header":"interview with the winner"},{"text":"After the event we had time for a question and answer session with our aptly titled &#34;Two Time Champ&#34;. Q.1:) You are making quite a name for yourself as an innovator in the DCDB community. While some players are quick to dismiss a team if it hasn't racked up dozens of wins, you frequently play unorthodox teams at high level events. Do you feel like this gives you a leg up on the competition since your opponents are probably not familiar with the team you're playing? A.1:) I am so happy to hear that people are starting recognizing me in the community, which keeps growing stronger every day! When I'm playing at TNLG, I love playing new and different combos just to see them. It does make you learn to playing in different ways. I started the first round trying my new (or abridged) combo of Oliver Queen and Sara Lance with Felicity Smoak. It started well with plenty of Villains in the line-up, however that combos needs Heroes more than Villains and the line-up only gave me 2 or 3 Heroes mid to late game and by mid game the Villains dried up too. The team did carry me to a very close third place finish in a close game of 32vp, 30vp, and 30vp. Q.2.) Tell us about this all tier-1 team that we've been hearing so much about since the tournament. You drafted Black Manta, Jay Garrick, Nightwing, Oracle, Silk Spectre and Starfire; who is the MVP is on this team, and how were you able to pilot it to two first place finishes and one second place finish over the weekend? A.2.) After my new combo failed me I was a little lost on what to play next. So when I was picking my tier-1s I first picked Starfire and after everyone else passed on ones I remembered how I played 6 ones so many times, so I went for it again! Unlike round one, this time Heroes were coming my way. Most people will think that this is just a Hero combo, but it is so much more. Most MCs combos rely on 1 or 2 MCs and the others you pick are there to support the combo as best as they can (Aka the Tier-1s that support the tier-2s and tier-3s). Well with this team there isn't an MVP MC at all.&nbsp; This combo works so well because every MC supports the other. To understand what it can do, say I have a Kick, Super Speed, Catwoman, and 2 Punches for a 6 power hand. This to me is a great hand. I play Catwoman, then use Silk Spectre to look at the top of my deck. Discard anything that isn't a Hero, Super Power, or a draw card. Next I play Super Speed and before I draw I use Jay Garrick. Again same thing as I'm looking for a Hero, Super Power, or a draw card and discard the rest. If I get another Hero from the draw. I repeat the same process I did when I played Catwoman. Then I use Oracle to draw again for having 2 Heroes in play. Hopefully I'll hit another Hero, Super power, or a draw card. Once I get the 3rd same type in play I use Nightwing to get +1 Power and draw another card. I keep playing all the draw cards or Heroes I can. Sometimes playing up to most of my deck or discarding most of my deck. (Note: I try to make sure to and leave any defenses I see stay on top of my deck.) Eventually I hope to end up with a lot of power, at least a lot more than the 6 power hand I started with. If I don't need any of the Punches or have any Vulns or Weaknessess then I can get rid of one with Starfire. Then, if I have the power and a defense on top of my deck, I go for the SV. If not, I take what I need from the line-up and put it on the bottom of my deck with Black Manta and try to set it up for a future turn.&nbsp; This is how I did so well playing 6 teir-1s. Q.3.) Moving on to the finals match, the trio of Dr. Manhattan, Kalibak and Starfire surprised many of us with its synergy. Dr. Manhattan and Starfire can both be very frustrating because they force you to destroy a card in your hand to get a benefit from them. You turned the tables on them by destroying cards you weren't going to be playing anyway, so you can draw a bigger hand next turn with Kalibak. Is this a team you recently found, or is it something you've been sitting on waiting on the right time to showcase it? A.3.) After three games in a row doing well with 6x tier-1s, you'd think I should stay on the bandwagon and run it in the finals. Well, after several hours of playing on TTS, the wonky controls were getting to me (nothing beats a face to face event!) and my brain was nearly fried. So I knew I needed a different combo for the finals.&nbsp; I was brainstorming with some friends and someone said something about playing destruction (might have been John Huff). So I started thinking that&nbsp; Starfire, Dr. Manhattan, and Aquaman sounded great to play, because I love playing with Aquaman. Then, right before the match, I when to the restroom. While there, I realized Aquaman is a good early game MC, but wasn't that great with both Starfire and Dr. Manhattan. I thought back to Monday when we were play testing the new changes, and we had a player (Rick Mitchell, who hadn't play in a while) asking what to play. The only think I had come up with was the Oliver combo so I didn't know what he should play. He asked Taylor Quinn what to play who recommended Kalibak, Starfire, and Saint Walker. It played real well in both games we tested it. So, I decided to use Kalibak over Aquaman for the better late game. Q.4.) Once the finals was underway, ninjafriend seemed to be off to a quick start, taking down the first two super villains in rapid succession. Meanwhile your early turns appeared a bit lackluster, with you performing a nearly identical repetition of turns consisting of Kick, Kick, Aqualad. This sequence was allowing you to destroy two Starters a turn, and suddenly your mid-game was poised to be quite strong with you routinely having action packed 7-card hands. Up to this point many of the other players at the table had already declared the game was over after such a fast start from ninjafriend. How did you manage to keep a positive mindset and power through for a victory? A.4.) Yes, you are right about that, great question! At the start of that game we all gunning for Mother Box. Knowing that each one of us had a Super Hero and a Super-villain in our combos. When Ninjfriend got it, it was painful! He was getting his worst card out of his discard pile with Captain Boomerrang and destroying them every turn. Before he bought Mother Box, I thought about just passing my turn and hoping to see a 7 power hand, but the math didn't add up enough for me to go for it. Instead, I hoped I would get lucky and see a 7 Power hand before anyone else, so I played the long game and slowly picked up Super Powers and Heroes. We all knew that Ninjafriend was in first place after taking the first 2 SuperVillains. When I got the third SV I knew I was in still in it, but needed to close the gap in VPs. When the last SV showed up I knew I needed it to assure me at least a second place finish. Oshi almost got him when he played my Harvest SV twice with an X-ray Vision followed by a Teamwork. John took his turn and bought two or three cards from the line-up and so before he passed his turn I was praying and hoping for a Green Arrow or some good Heroes to flip out. And then Vixen and World's Mightest Mortal flipped out I know I had a shot at first place! I made sure I had the power for the SV before I played Vixen to gain a free location in the line-up, leading me to have a 12 vp turn, and giving me first place by exactly 1 VP. It was sweet. I have seen many times while playing cube that someone can have a high VP turn, so that's why I never really gave up in the game. It just happens all the time. DCDB is a great game. I love it."},{"header":"winner&#39;s reward"},{"text":"For winning the event, Xephongun was given the opportunity to ban a Super Villain.&nbsp; Here's his choice along with his thoughts on that: The SV that I'm banning is 12 cost Brother Blood (Impossible Mode). I have been hit so badly by him so many times. When it happens I'm usually playing a combo with destruction in it, so I have already destroyed most of my Starters. It never fails that the SV I just bought or another SV I have is on top of my deck. There were other SVs that I want to ban to like Psimon or either Felix Faust. I really hate passing my hard-earned cards to others! I also considered maybe Lex Luthor or Doomsday to help out my Infinite Defense combo a little but ultimately settled on Brother Blood."},{"double":[{"src":"bro12648brother-.jpg"},{"src":"car445355card-bac.jpg"}]},{"header":"HEAD JUDGE THOUGHTS"},{"text":"This was our first TTS event, and we've received nothing but positive feedback from everyone involved.&nbsp; We look forward to our next TTS event, and plan on scheduling them more frequently going forward. The next few stops on the DCDB event train will see an event in North Carolina at the end of the month and then a pair of tournaments in June, in Ohio and Texas respectively. You can find out details about all our future planned events on our calendar here: https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheets\/d\/1t-PIDxIHCc2Fl82NoqKb4cDzTejicjAHKWgRdj9GVn4\/edit#gid=406982238r Link to event folder, with screenshots from the final match: https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1gQyOoAjpvUD-OAPXB4Sr0B7Dc1R88IgU "}]