Family Feud Rnd 1: Sibling Rivalry

Welcome back to the Family Feud, the event where we see just which member of the Fantastic Four can rise above the others WITHOUT the support of their headlining teammates. Four Golden Age decks, all pre-MUN, with almost every card stamped for the team. Bring it on!

Time for a little brouhaha between the brother and sister duo, Johnny Storm and Susan Richards. That’s right, the Human Torch - master of burn and out-of-combat stunning, against the mistress of stalling and reinforcement.

Through the wonders of Uatu-vision, we get to see all the shenanigans…

*ding!*

Susan wins the toss and takes odds initiative.

Susan’s opening hand has a Flare, two Medusa, and an Invisibility. Sucks to lose the tutor and Invisibility, but she opts to mulligan. She’s rewarded with a slightly healthier hand of options - She-Thing, She-Hulk, Franklin and Norrin - and two cards that will really mess with Johnny’s day - Pathetic Attempts.

On the other side of the table, Johnny’s opening hand has 2 Matshsticks, a Hotshot, and a Torch And Thing. Not willing ship two 2-drops from the opening hand, he keeps, and draws a Firewall and a Cosmic Radiation to complete his 6 starting cards.

Turn one: Init Sue

Susan rows a Pathetic Attempt, and has no recruit. She passes.

Johnny rows the Cosmic Radiation, and also passes.

Sue: 50 Johnny 50

Turn two: Init Johnny

Johnny draws a Heatwave and a second Hotshot. Clearly, he’s hoping for a Clash of Worlds in the near future. Rowing the Torch And Thing, he recruits a Matchstick in the support row.

Susan draws a Signal Flare and an Unstable Molecular Suit. Rowing the flare, she recruits Sharon Ventura in the front row.

For Combat, Johnny swings into Sharon, figuring an even stun is better than taking break in return. Dual stun, both take 2 END.

With no unstunned characters, Sue passes. Both players recover their wounded.

Sue: 48 Johnny: 48

Turn three: Init Sue

Susan finally draws some of herself - Walking On Air and Shield of the Four. Rowing the second Pathetic Attempt, she recruits She-Hulk: Jennifer Walters into the front row and passes.

Johnny draws a second Firewall, and Lyja: The Lazerfist. Rowing a Firewall, he recruits Lyja side-by-side with Matchstick.

For Combat, She-Thing into Lyja, 3/3 on 4/3. Lacking any defensive pumps, Johnny doesn’t have much choice and it’s a dual stun. Sue takes 2, Johnny takes 3.

Eager to get a headstart on the endurace race, Sue sends She-Hulk into Matchstick. 4/4 on 3/1. Johnny activates Matchstic to drop She-Hulk’s defense into stunback range, and Sue opts to let it pass, saving the Pathetic Attempts for later. Sue takes 3, Johnny takes 5.

Sue recovers She-Hulk, Johnny, without a Clash Of Worlds in hand, recovers Lyja.

Sue: 43 Johnny: 40

Turn four: Init Johnny

Just his luck, Johnny topdecks a Clash of Worlds, and a Flame On!. Rowing the Clash, he recruits Hotshot, forming up behind Lyja.

Sue topdecks her 4-drop self, and pulls a Force Field Projection. Yummy. Rowing the FFP, she recruits Sue Storm and gives her an Unstable Molecular Suit for added protection.

For combat, Johnny’s options aren’t good. Lyja can do a whole lot of not much, and with the Suit, Sue Storm’s DEF is high enough that even the two Firewalls won’t put her in stun range for Lyja. Johnny opts to declare Hotshot into She-Hulk. 6/5 on 6/6. Once the attack is legal, Johnny plays Torch And Thing to dodge the stunback. Sue decides to hold onto the FFP, and lets it go through. Sue takes 3. Johnny then passes with Lyja, who’s just not big enough to threaten Sue.

Sue responds by trampling Lyja. 6/10 on 4/3. Johnny doesn’t have much to answer with, the stun goes through. Johnny takes 6.

Both players recover their stunned 3-drops.

Sue: 40 Johnny: 34

Turn five: Init Sue

Sue draws another flare and a She-Thing. Non-plussed, she recruits Franklin Richards: Child of the Cosmos, and positions him behind She-Hulk/

Johnny draws a second Clash, and an effectively useless Alicia Masters. He rows and then plays the Clash, naming Human Torch, and recruits a second Hotshot.

Combat: Sue opens by putting Sue Storm through an exposed Hotshot. 6/10 on 6/5. The attack is legal. Johnny powers up with a Matshstick, Sue responds with a Walking On Air power up of her own. 7/11 on 7/6. Not willing to pitch his 6-drop, Johnny decides to break out the burnination.

Hotshot 1 activates, Sue lets it go through and takes 5 burn. Hotshot 2 activates, Sue lets it go through and takes 5 burn. Johnny plays Cosmic Radiation, readying both Hotshots. Sue looks concerned. Hotshot 1 burns Sue for another 5, but Sue uses a Pathetic Attempt to stop Hotshot 2’s burn.

Johnny proceeds to flip the row’d Firewall and play the other from hand. Stats are now 7/7 to 7/6. Sue powers up with her Shield Of The Four, and narrowly dodges the stunback by getting to 8/8. Johnny takes 6.

Sue follows up by putting Firewall’d Franklin through Lyja. 10/5 on 4/3. Johnny has no response, and takes 10.

Sue takes a gamble, declaring the 4/0 She-Hulk into Hotshot 2. The attack is legal, and Sue uses a Signal Flare, pitching She-Thing to get a powerup. 5/1 on 6/5. Johnny still needs to keep his Flame On!, and using the Heat Wave would have the same net result, so the stun goes through. Sue takes 3, Johnny takes 4 and has a stunned board.

Sue recovers She-Hulk, Johnny recovers a Hotshot.

Sue: 22 Johnny: 14

Turn six: Init Johnny

Johnny draws another Heat Wave and a Matchstick. Rowing the Heat Wave, he plays the second Clash Of Worlds and brings Flame On! into play.

Sue draws 2 copies of Spider-Man: Power and Responsibility. Rowing one, she plays her second Signal Flare to hunt out a 6-drop She-Hulk, who replaces her 3-drop version in the front row.

Wishing he’d drawn another Cosmic Radiation, Johnny declares Flame On! into Sue Storm. Sue elegantly responds with a Force Field Projection, and Johnny pouts. Hotshot activates to burn Sue for 5, Franklin responds by activating to heal Sue for 5.

She-Hulk, lacking the flight to get to Hotshot, ploughs into Flame On! looking for a couple of points of breakthrough. Sue takes 6, Johnny takes 8.

Both recover their 6-drops. 

Sue: 16 Johnny: 6

Turn 7: Init Sue

Muttering imprecations about having to power up earlier with Shield Of The Four, Sue draws a Clobbering Time and an Unstable Molecular Suit. Rowing the plot twist, she recruits Spider-Man and Johnny is forced to exhaust Hotshot. The second Suit goes on She-Hulk.

Johnny draws a Nova Blast and a Signal Flare. Discarding Alicia for the Flare, he grabs a Sub-Mariner: Uncertain Ally, the highest drop he can recruit without a third Clash. Using Namor’s ability he discards a Heat Wave to return a Firewall to his hand.

Entering combat, Sue’s board presence makes it pretty much a foregone conclusion. At 13/15, She-Hulk rams into the 9/8 Namor. Out of tricks and unlikely to be able to use Flame On!’s ability to any real effect, Johnny reinforces and takes 5.

Sue declares Sue Storm on Hotshot. 6/10 on 6/5. Playing the Firewall and powering up twice makes it 6/8 on 8/7, but Sue responds with the Clobbering Time. 9/11 on 8/7; Johnny takes 6.

Being a class act, Sue activates Franklin for +5 END, and passes. Johnny has no response, and the match ends.

Sue: 21 Johnny: -5

Sue is victorious.