Fortunately, I was eliminated after the Swiss rounds (finishing 10th) so I can again do some feature matches of the Top 8 of the Realm Championship of the Eastern Plaguelands. This time, we have Bootcamp L.E. member Ronny „schmortopp“ Schmertosch facing off Poland’s very own Marcin „Gnimsh“ Filipowicz, the reigning Realm Champion. Let’s see if he can defend his title or if the German invasion will succeed!
Marcin is playing Gaxtro, Bilgewater Marksman (Horde Hunter) while Ronny’s relying on Saria of Stormwind, a blue Paladin. Ronny’s 11 (2 dices) was more than enough to beat Marcin’s die rolling skills, so he has the advantage of going first in this important match.
As always, Marcin was quick to ask his opponent if he would keep his hand (he did that twice to me yesterday – obviously, he’s learned some mind tricks the past year). Ronny replied: „I’m not sure“, before shuffling his opening 7 back in. Marcin then took another minute or two to consider the mulligan decision for himself and he eventually decided to keep his hand of Shadowfang Keep, Seeds of Their Demise, The Essence of Enmity, Boomer, Quick Trap, Sava’gin the Reckless and „Fungus Face“ McGillicutty (it took me a while to get that last card name correctly). Meanwhile, the first game of the other semi final between Przemyslaw Staniszewski and Marcin Wajda was already decided in Przemyslaw’s favor – he was playing Rohashu, Zealot of the Sun and his opponent was relying on Rekwa Proudhorn.
Nothing happened on the opening turns of both players. Ronny added a Twilight Dragonkin Token courtesy of Twilight Citadel on his turn 2 and Marcin Delved before his turn.
He added Boomer, let out some noise and this got him rid of the token.
Play was back to Ronny, who geared up with Edged Dragonbone Girdle before passing his turn.
Marcin attacked with Boomer for 3 after letting out a noise which caused Ronny to exhaust his armor for some damage prevention. Shadowfang Keep and an Avatar of the Wild for 3 followed, dealing another 3 to the dome, leaving Ronny’s Paladin on 6 damage.
Ronny invited a Twilight Dragonkin token to his party, he added Winter Veil Disguise Kit and that concluded his turn.
Boomer’s effect caused Ronny to sack his token for Edged Dragonbone Girdle, netting him 2 more cards. Marcin then added something between $150 and $200 to his field, exhausting 4 resources for Edwin VanCleef after stashing Sava’gin the Reckless. His Avatar of the Wild Tiger dealt another 3 after Boomer dealt some damage, too. This left Ronny on 14.
The Bootcamp member had to find a way to defend himself and he did so with Magni, the Mountain King and Crime Scene Alarm-o-Bot
Marcin’s Edwin VanCleef attacked directly, hiding stealthily in the shadows and getting past Ronny’s protectors. A face-down resource and an activation of Shadowfang Keep later, Marcin added Mazu’kon and attacked with it directly, too, thanks to Boomer’s effect that exhausted the Alarm-o-Bot.
It took Ronny a little while to decide on his next move. Marcin’s field seemed hard to overcome to say the least and with Loque still waiting to make an appearance, it didn’t look like that the reigning champion would be running out of steam anytime soon. Saria’s effect dealt with Boomer and play was back to Marcin.
Mr. Edwin VanCleef dealt 5, Marcin stashed Cairne, Earthmother’s Chosen, he destroyed the token for Shadowfang Keep and exhausted all of his remaining resources to invite Loque to the party. „Back to you!“, Marcin began and he added: „… and thank you for destroying Boomer!“
Ronny was looking for answers, first with Seeds of Their Demise and then with Twilight Citadel and Edged Dragonbone Girdle. Both didn’t provide him with what he needed, so he was rather quick to shuffle up his cards.
Marcin’s only 1 win away from advancing to the finals!
While both players were shuffling up, I took a quick look at the other semi final. Here’s what I saw:
Przemyslaw seemed to be well on his way to victory,even though Marcin (Wajda) was able to tie the score at 1 – 1 a little earlier.
Back to our Feature Match, where Ronny decided to take a mulligan once more. He revealed that he should have kept his first hand in the game that just ended, so hopefully he won’t regret the decision again. Marcin also decided that he needed some more steam for his opening 7 in the second game, so he too shuffled his hand back in.
Ronny was obviously not too happy with his mulligan, while Marcin had at least some reason to rejoice. Ronny only had a face-down resource while Marcin added Seeds of Their Demise. Ronny had Edged Dragonbone Girdle on his turn 2 and Marcin Delved before his turn.
On his second turn, he only placed Shadowfang Keep and passed.
After the third face-down resource, Ronny added Obsidian Drudge.
Marcin mirrored his play with a Drudge of his own. Ronny considered destroying the Dragonkin right away and eventually decided to do so – 2 more cards for him!
He didn’t find a face-up resource on his turn 4 since Magni, the Mountain King only took a quick glimpse at the field, but it was still Ronny’s most useful resource so far. Grand Crusader and a Crime Scene Alarm-o-Bot later, play was back to Marcin.
The Polish champion asked about Ronny’s cards in hand (4) and considered recruiting Yertle or Boomer – both Pets certainly had something going for them.
Obsidian Drudge was sent into Crime Scene Alarm-o-Bot which cost Ronny Edged Dragonbone Girdle (Grand Crusader buffed the ally). Marcin found a better threat than one of his Pets: Edwin VanCleef.
Ronny opted to declare an attack with his Crime Scene Alarm-o-Bot into one of the Thug Tokens and Magni’s token took down the other one. Marcin was left with „only“ Edwin VanCleef on his side of the field. A second Edged Dragonbone Girdle followed, Ronny also played a second Crime Scene Alarm-o-Bot and he added Bronze Warden to heal his damaged Bot already on the field. He decided against rowing a card and stayed on 4 resources.
Edwin VanCleef made it 5 on Ronny’s Paladin. Boomer followed and this meant another point of damage on Saria. Marcin passed while Ronny was quick to sack the Dragonkin for the Girdle, drawing into 2 additional cards.
The other semi final was already over with Przemyslaw advancing to the finals!
Both Crime Scene Alarm-o-Bots were sent into Boomer, ridding the field of the Pet. A second Magni was stashed, Ronny added Burly Berta and he also had Bottled Light to return Bronze Dragonkin to his side of the field, healing his hero.
„Time for Gnash!“, Ronny suggested. Marcin followed his lead, invited the 6 drop to his party with Ronny using Edged Dragonbone Girdle to at least get something out of his dying allies and Edwin VanCleef dealt another 5.
A second Bottled Light activation returned Burly Berta to the field. Ronny played a second Bottle, returning Crime Scene Alarm-o-Bot.
Things were certainly shaping up for Marcin. He placed The Essence of Enmity, exhausted 6 resources for Mazu’kon and sent it into Crime Scene Alarm-o-Bot. Things seemed rather grim for Ronny. Marcin destroyed Mazu’kon for Shadowfang Keep’s effect, dealing another 6. Attacks with Edwin and Gnash followed, leaving Saria on 17.
Once again, Ronny had to go looking for answers. Twilight Citadel got him a token which he destroyed for Edged Dragonbone Girdle, he drew 2, placed a 7th resource, invited Faenis to his party and did what we did all night yesterday – popping a Bottle, returning Crime Scene Alarm-o-Bot to the field. Bromor was added, too, which caused Faenis to heal 3 at the end of the turn.
„Final turn!“, Marcin announced. He sent his Mazu’kon token into Crime Scene Alarm-o-Bot. Ronny said: „Show me the Mazu’kon!“, Marcin did just that and that in turn caused Ronny to offer the handshake.
Marcin Filipowicz advances to the final!
This means we’ll have an all Team Problem? final between „Andrzej“ (Przemyslaw) and Marcin. Congratulations already to the „home team“, defending „their“ title!
Since Marcin will most likely be attending a few more events than Andrzej, the latter decided to concede in favor of the former, which means that Marcin Filipowicz is a repeat Realm Champion! Congratulations again!
(Both players briefly considered playing a CardFight!! Vanguard game to decide the winner, however, they were afraid Cryptozoic would consider this a „random method to determine the winner“ and opted against it!)
