Game Log Versus OblivAeon (Complete!)

Games SotM: The Video Game
#1

I’ve fought OblivAeon six or seven previous times, but never managed to grab the Game Log previously, since in most cases the game goes on long enough for a glitch to freeze the screen, forcing me to Main Menu out and then Continue Game. It’s possible to get the first Game Log then before continuing and wiping it, but I haven’t historically thought of this fast enough. But this time, I managed to lose the game in only 2 or so hours of gameplay, which is breakneck speed against the big guy (actually attempting to win tends to take me at least 4), in large part because I failed to actually read the Shield Card until after a full round of gameplay. There’s no excuse, since this was one of the first five Weekly Challenges to feature OA, and these are literally named after the Shield they use, so I really should have paid attention. So the game ends with OblivAeon completely untouched, all the heroes having scrambled and suffered just trying to deal with Scions and Missions, but the action was pretty cinematic all the way through, and I’m really going to enjoy fictionalizing these events.

“The Source of Foes” - Aeon Master begins in Zone 1, which is Fort Adamant.
Progeny enters Zone 2, the Maerinyan Refuge.

OblivAeon removes 1 token from the Countdown, then plays Tear Through Reality. The five Prime Warden promo heroes all take 14 total damage, although first Aeon Master gets hit once for 7 {53}, plays an Aeon Thrall, and then takes another 7 {46}. The Thrall is obliterated, healing its creator to {48}, and then the heroes get hit {Argent 11, Cosmic 14, Fanatic 15, Tempest 13, Haka 21}.
DEVASTATION (hereafter DS): 1
OblivAeon plays Aeon Vassal, and 2x Aeon Locus in Zone 2.
DS 2
The Source of Foes plays Aeon Vassal in Zone 1.

Argent takes on the mission “Great Fortune”, then plays Arcane Cadence. Drake’s Pipes, Rhapsody of Vigor, Eydisar’s Horn, Inventive Preparation, and Vernal Sonata are revealed; not wanting to waste the Sonata when there is no trash, I put the Preparation in play, dump the Pipes in the trash, and carelessly sort the Horn to the bottom without fully remembering what this promo’s power does (I did remember that it Accompanies a card, which is why I picked Inventive for its usually-best secondary effect). Activating Conduct (which it now occurs to me was probably originally meant for rose-baton Argent, and things got shuffled around a bit when they did the Kvothe promo), Argent plays the Horn to no benefit, then activates IP; unfortunately, nobody is holding a card which is terribly strong at the moment, so I just use it to put Electrical Storm into play before Tempest’s turn, allowing it to fire right away. Argent draws the last of his Cadence cards, fails to trigger Great Fortune due to an Instrument showing up at the wrong moment, and is done, more so than he realizes at the time.

CC doesn’t like the mission that’s up (To Hope For The Dawn), so he shuffles; he puts a Wounding Buffer on Tempest, then activates his rather disappointing power before drawing a card.

Fanatic moves to Zone 2, then takes on The Red Menace as a mission; playing her Aegis of Resurrection, she activates Resolute {12}, and her deck plays “Absolution”, healing her {13} and allowing her to deal 3 damage. Not wanting to trigger Red’s retaliation damage (he’s relatively harmless if left alone, and you get full credit for him dying even if the villains do it for you), she cuts an Aeon Locus in half (at this point I had a vague sense I should try to kill the Aeon Men, without realizing how important it was that I kill a very specific number of them all at once, and otherwise allow them to pile up somewhere that OA won’t eat them). Draws Prayer of Desperation, takes 1 damage from Red {12}, and passes the turn.

Tempest moves to the Zone with a bunch of Aeon Men in it, takes on Building a King, and then his Electrical Storm goes off; Aeon Loci are reduced to {2} and {5}, Aeon Vassal to {4}, Progeny takes a plink {59} and gains [1] token, and then the lightning strikes Red {13}. Red roasts the lightning-striker severely in response {10}, but then his Wounding Buffer hits Red {11} without further retaliation. Now that Progeny and Red have had their once-per-turn triggers, Chain Lightning gets played; un/fortunately, my intended plan to kill the 5-point Aeon Locus this turn with two of these attacks got forgotten while I was picking targets. Tempest deals 4 to Red {7}, 3 to Progeny {56}, and kills the weaker Locus. Activating Arc of Power, Tempest plays the other Chain Lightning, taking 3 sourceless damage {7}, and doing another 4 to Progeny {52}, 3 to Red {4}, and 2 to the remaining Locus {3}. Draws Into the Stratosphere; the party doesn’t have quite enough equipment cards between them to instantly build Rex, so he passes the turn.

Haka switches over to zone 2, shuffles the mission deck (rather than waiting to become A True Hero In The End), and plays Haka of Shielding, drawing Intercession (which he discards to toughen up) and Haka of Battle, then activates his Guardian power to play the second Haka, drawing Ground Pound and another Intercession to discard. Not wanting to boost Fanatic and potentially have it be her self-damage from Resolute which goes up, he keeps the +1 for himself, then somehow draws a third Intercession, which I didn’t even think he had three copies of.

Fort Adamant at least is being sensible; rather than play a bunch of Subjects while under assault, it closes the Blast Doors, which is obviously what you should do when a giant monster and his army of minions have just showed up.

With Aeon Master in command of the Adamant assault, the Scion Deck plays Certain Finality, dealing 10 damage to Argent {1} and summoning Progeny to the scene. AM plays Aeon Locus, then Progeny gains a token [2] before attacking; at first I was going to have him hit CC, but then I realized Aeon Vassal would kill Argent anyway, so having Progeny do it instead spared the Captain from 2 damage.
DS 3
Great Fortune goes back into the Mission deck, from which it will never emerge; the Vassal shoots Cap for 1 {13}, then the Locus plays Aeon Thrall, who punches CC {11}. After that, Legacy enters the game as First Hero, though this turned out nowhere near as well as I hoped it would.

Maerynia plays Unexpected Microburst, cutting what little remains of Red in half {2}, not quite killing the Locus {1}, damaging the Vassal and Thrall as well as Tempest’s Wounding Buffer {2 each}, and battering Fanatic {10} and Tempest {5} while using up Haka’s shield. Electrical Storm is destroyed, having debatably done more harm than good, and the Scion Turn for Zone 2 consists solely of Aeon Men acting. Vassal zaps Fanatic {9}, Vassal zaps Tempest {4}, Wounding Buffer kills Vassal, and I rewind and undo the hit to Fanatic {10}. Locus plays Thrall, Thrall punches Haka {19}, and we’re back to OblivAeon’s turn.

OblivAeon counts down again, then plays The Abyss Stares Back.
DS 4
Absorb Energy is played, dealing 8 to Progeny {44} [3], then eating an Aeon Thrall to heal him {46} and Aeon Master {50}, who then takes his own 8 {42} and plays Aeon Thrall. This too is popped, healing Progeny {48} and Aeon Master {44} again. Blivs then eats a Vassal.
DS 5
Cap falls to {3} from OA’s attack, while Legacy remains at {24}. Aeon Locus is then consumed, and it causes OA to play Summon Scion, bringing Dark Mind into play along the two existing Scions, as well as Aeon Vassal and Thrall. Since Absorb Energy is still running, these too are wiped, with the Thrall healing the first two Scions {Progeny 50, AM 46}, and only then does Dark Mind get hit for Nemesis damage, totaling 9 {17}.
DS 6

More Aeon Men are deployed in Zone 2, starting with an inconveniently hard-to-kill Warrior, then Vassal and Locus, while Source of Foes puts a Warrior into Zone 1. Only now-abouts did I think to look at the shield card; this was the first of several crucial mistakes that would end up costing me the game, as the first wave of AMs was also easily the weakest. I’m not sure if there were ever four in one place, and certainly killing them all simultaneously on any one hero’s first turn would have been tough, but I didn’t even think to try, and now that I was trying, I was destined to consistently fail.

(Important details I missed; Absorb Energy added 3 Devastation, since there were only two heroes to hit, and OA himself adds one more, so Legacy’s first turn starts with the DS count at 10, not the 6 I recorded here. Not sure how this straightened itself out.)

To be continued…

#2

As a reminder, we’re at Devastation (DS) 6 (actually make that 11), and OA has Counted Down twice; the present heroes are Legacy {24}, PWCC {3}, PW Fanatic {9}, PW Tempest {5}, and PW Haka {19}. The bad guys include Progeny {50}, Aeon Master {46}, and Dark Mind {17}, plus an Aeon Warrior {7}, all in Zone 1 (Ft. Adamant) along with Blivs, while Zone 2 (Maerynia) contains only Aeon Men, one each of Warrior {7}, Vassal {5}, and Locus {6}.

Legacy moves to Zone 2, and for lack of a better pre-start option, activates Argent’s incap ability to redirect the next hit a hero takes. Not having quite planned this out, he plays Take Down, which generates the hit he’ll be deflecting; activating Galvanize, he draws Surge of Strength, then the Aeon Warrior deals him 2 damage because of Take Down, which Argent’s spirit deflects to the Locus {4}.

CC also goes to zone 2, since it’s the obvious place for nearly-dead heroes to try and escape to; he shuffles away his brother’s attempt at becoming A True Hero In The End, and then his innate power ends, having done nothing. He plays a Cosmic Weapon which I’m pretty sure he didn’t have on his last turn, or he’d probably have used it; he does so now, stabbing the Aeon Warrior for 4 {3}. Draws Harsh Offense.

Somebody needs to stand against the army of Scions, and Fanatic with her Aegis is the logical choice; moving to Zone 1, she rejects the current Mission (I wish the game log recorded these), shuffling it away, and for lack of better card play options, puts a Chastise on the Aeon Warrior, being almost certain it’s a mistake. Activates Resolute {7}, and gets a Final Dive, which is more than sufficient to kill the Red Menace; it doesn’t count as “destroyed”, so she doesn’t get to deal any damage, but she complete’s the game’s first mission by flying up and rescuing The Every Man {14}. Resolute then activates Absolution; since the Warrior is invincible, the only real choice for her to stab Dark Mind {14}. Fanny draws End of Days, then Everyman clobbers Dark Mind for another 4 {10}.

Tempest is in no condition to move to zone 1, but does so anyway because of desperate need; giving up on Building a King, he takes on A True Hero in the End instead. Ball Lightning fries Dark Mind down to 6, and Tempest disposes of the useless Chastise (had she simply not played a card, there would have been one more Every Man to punch DM). Dark Mind consumes this card, which I had no idea was going to happen or the significance of it; Tempest draws Lightning Slash, then True Hero makes Fanatic damage herself {5}, and Tempest does the same {2}, whereupon the Wounding Buffer I forgot about kills him! (And then commits seppukku)! Whoops! Undo time! (Just before I selected the Undo, I got the puzzling message: “WARNING: CardDefinition not found in OblivAeon decklist for promo card: TheRedMenace”. Having rewound, Fanatic still self-damages {5}, but Tempest politely declines.

Haka joins the hopelessly doomed party, whereupon Wager Master turns up and says “Your friends are all gonna die!” Haka replies “Wanna bet?”, and with that Mission under his belt, he plays Ground Pound, discarding his Mere and the third intercession. Guardian lets him play another Haka of Battle; he draws Dominion and Savage Mana, ditches the latter, and gains a second floating bonus to his own damage, rather than giving it to either of his rather self-destructive friends. Draws Taiaha. The Last Wager lets the party discard a duplicate “Absolution” (useless as long as one is in play), Into the Stratosphere (half-useless as long as OblivAeon is on page 1), and Dominion (too slow by far for a game like this). In exchange, they draw an Aegis (which is WELL worth keeping duplicates of), Gene-Bound Shackles (currently fairly useless in play, but it’s an Equipment to discard for missions), and Elbow Smash (always handy).

The heroes opt not to activate the Blast Doors, so Fort Adamant plays Bionic Patroller, who does nothing thanks to Ground Pound. The Scions then play Scatter Slaughter, which is likewise inconsequential; Aeon Master plays an Aeon Vassal, Progeny gains a token [his 4th, I think] but does nothing else, and Dark Mind digs around in Fanatic’s deck, ditching Smite the Transgressor, Consecrated Ground and Divine Sacrifice, but not dealing the 12 damage this would normally mean.

Unexpected Microburst destroys itself, then Maerinya plays Softball-Sized Hail; this pounds one Aeon Locus to death and takes the other down to {2} along with an Aeon Thrall, but also leaves PWCC at {1} along with the Aeon Warrior, with an Aeon Vassal surviving at 3. We know how this is going to end in just a moment. Legacy goes down to {22}, while the Cosmic Weapon is also hit {2}; the Thrall then punches Legacy {20}, the Warrior punches him twice {16}, and the Vassal scorches him a little {5} while killing CC.
–DS 7 (or possibly 8, I don’t seem to have added a token when AA died).–
DS 11
Aeon Locus then heals the Thrall to {3}, the Vassal to {4}, and the Warrior to {2}. One hero from Wrath of the Cosmos is replaced with the other {33}; she joins the melee in Zone 1 instead of showing up in the almost-abandoned combat theater where her predecessor fell.

OA counts down for the third time, then plays Absorb Energy; since he can’t damage anything, he instead Devastates out the wazoo.
DS 12-13 (actually 16).
He eats the Aeon Warrior, which does nothing, but also the Vassal, which ups the Devastation again, but weirdly the log claims that the Vassal first raises this once, then OblivAeon raises it again. So I’m now doubly uncertain exactly what’s going on, though clearly it’s nothing good.
DS 14-16 (actually 18).
The Source of Foes plays Aeon Locus, then Legacy comes to Zone 1 where all the fun is, assumes the mission “Create Contraption”, and destroys Take Down, which Dark Mind repossesses. Since extra damage doesn’t seem crucial at the moment, he plays Motivational Charge and activates it, dealing nemesis damage to Progeny {47} [5], and healing himself {16}, Fanatic {6}, Tempest {5}, and Haka {20}. He draws The Legacy Ring, which he’d sorely like to keep, but the Heart of the Cards has other plans.

Sky-Scraper uses PWCC’s iconically unique incap ability to discards Emergency Evac (I would later regret that choice) and draw Neutralizing Resonator, Micro-Assembler, and Compulsion Canister. Playing Catch a Ride, she tells Legacy to throw a punch at Progeny for nemesis damage {44} [6], then she gives him an Atomic Wedgie (as in, she wedgies one of his atoms), leaving him at {42} without another token gain. She then Sneaks off to play Compulsion Canister; since no non-hero targets can deal damage, she has to put this on The Every Man [12], which draws Fanatic a third Absolution (I totally didn’t even notice that part), and then allows him to punch Progeny yet again {40}. While she’s at it, Sky throws a Micro-Assembler onto Tempest, not that he has much use for it, and she then takes the Canister back into her hand. Draws Proportionist.

At this point, one of those cinematic moments I talked about happens; Fanatic believes that she alone can manage to halt the Aeon Man assault which is rendering OblivAeon invulnerable, so she moves to the otherwise-abandoned Zone 2. Picking up the F.I.L.T.E.R. Heist mission, mostly because I’m curious whether it will be destroyed along with everything else, she plays End of Days, hoping that the sacrifice of The Every Man will be worthwhile, to save Maerynia and possibly the world. Resolute consumes half of her remaining HP {3}, and it plays Brutal Censure; not being aware that I could damage the already-doomed Everyman to draw cards, she hits an Aeon Vassal {2}, then Holy Nova…and attacks the Everyman anyway, just for lack of any other way to use Absolution without killing one of the four Aeon Men prematurely. The Everyman falls to {9} and gives her another Brutal Censure, which I apparently didn’t even notice happening, and she then ends by drawing Sacrosanct Martyr, failing to accomplish the purely-random Heist, and declining to have the Every Man punch anything before he dies.

At this very epic moment, where Fanatic is surrendering her friend’s life in order to try and achieve the first of the battle’s overall goals, we pause again, before seeing how our hopes are destined to be dashed.

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#3

Okay, we have DS --14(possibly one or two more, though I think I ruled out those errors)-- 18, Countdown 3, and the battle includes Legacy {16}, an as-yet-untouched Sky-Scraper, Fanatic {3} with The Everyman {9} in Zone 2 by themselves, Tempest barely alive {5}, and Haka {20}, all in Zone 1 vs. OblivAeon, Progeny {40}[6], Aeon Master {46}, and what little remains of Dark Mind {6}. Zone 2 has the four Aeon Men that we need to simultaneously kill to get the Shield card flipped, and Fanatic is charging up to blow them all away, while The Everyman sacrifices himself to hold them in place.

Prime Wardens Tempest starts his turn by exchanging missions with Haka, then plays Lightning Slash on Progeny {35}[7]. Skipping his suicidal power, he draws Otherworldly Resilience, which would have made it safer, but he’ll never get the chance to play it, and knows so. The Last Wager lets the heroes discard Superhuman Durability, Proportionist, the Resilience; Haka refuses to discard for some reason. They draw Back-Fist Strike, Neutralizing Resonator, and Reclaim from the Deep; that’s two one-shots, so Tempest claims his Meager Winnings, the second Reward in the entire party.

Nobody wants to be A True Hero In The End; having just received this Mission, Haka hands it off again to Legacy, receiving Create Contraption now that Sky has a grip full of disposable and recyclable Links to put toward this project. Ground Pound destroys itself, and Dark Mind takes possession of its remains; he then plays another one, discarding his Taiaha reluctantly, and being surprised to note that Create Contraption gains a token even when you’re not discarding specifically for it. Also discarding Elbow Smash, he moves on to his power phase, but I’m pretty sure his hand is empty, so he skips his play-a-card power and draws Dominion. SS discards Compulsion Canister and two Neutralizing Resonators, the moribund Tempest reluctantly gives up his Gene-Bound Shackles, and Legacy very hesitantly surrenders the Legacy Ring; just a moment too late for that wasted power phase, Haka obtains Chekhov’s Hairdryer (I’d like to imagine that in his case, instead of Wraith’s impromptu invention, it’s a super-high tech version of the Taiaha he accidentally threw away for the benefit of its creation).

Since he has a one-card hand, Haka figures he might as well discard and draw a replacement card in order to secure the Blast Doors; Ground Pound also immobilizes the Bionic Patroller, so Fort Adamant literally does nothing this round, other than trade that worthless Dominion for a Vitality Surge that will help Haka with rebuilding his hand.

The powered-up Progeny flips over, and then disaster strikes: Aeon Assault is played, not only adding an Aeon Warrior {7} to the existing assault force, but summoning the Locus, Thrall, Vassal and Warrior from Maerinya to appear here. Aeon Master calls up another Warrior {7}, and then if not for Ground Pound, Progeny would deal 7 cold to Tempest, but instead he loses 1 token without accomplishing anything. Dark Mind rummages through Sky’s brain, finding no Ongoing cards, and another 12 damage is avoided. Aeon Locus heals the army, who’s about to die to OblivAeon so I won’t note their totals; with that, the first scion turn ends.

At the start of Zone 2’s environment turn, Fanatic explodes in holy destruction as planned, unable to stop herself despite all the enemies having vanished; FILTER Heist and Every Man are destroyed with no benefit (twice each, for some reason, in the log), aside from ending the Softball-Sized Hail. The only good news in this turn is that Maerinya plays Hurricane Shield; after that, no Scions are in this zone, so it’s OblivAeon again.

Counting down for the fourth time, Blivs spends 12 Devastation (leaving --2 or more-- 6), and Fort Adamant vanishes, having only ever played two cards. The replacement environment is Nexus of the Void; don’t get too attached to it. Ground Pound ensures that OA deals no damage to the inhabitants of the fortress he just obliterated; he also fails to deal damage with a Tear Through Reality, so he gets another Devastation.
DS --3±- 7
OblivAeon plays an Aeon Thrall, Locus, and Vassal into Zone 2, where each is immediately blasted by the Hurricane Shield, leaving them at {2}, {4}, and {3}. Three Aeon Men, in the wrong zone for Aeon Master to place a fourth one with them, and their differing HP totals will make them hard to kill simultaneously. Blivs then eats all of the other Aeon Men except these new three; the three Warriors don’t get to make him deal damage, but the Thrall heals his Master {48}, Dark Mind {8}, and Progeny {37}, while the Vassal Devastates.
DS --5±- 8
The death of a Locus makes OA play a Locus of Power into the other zone, and then another one plays Disrupt Spacetime. Unable to throw the heroes to zone 2, he moves himself there instead; --he then destroys a third Locus, which for some reason gives him a Devastation instead of a card.
DS 6±-
DS 9
The Source of Foes plays Aeon Thrall here in Zone 2, giving back a chance for Fanatic to possibly break the shield; this one premieres at {2} thanks to the Shield, and Oblivaeon is finally done for now.

Activating the AA redirection incap ability again, Legacy plays Surge of Strength, then does a Motivational Charge for 3 damage to Dark Mind {5}, healing himself {17}, Tempest {6}, and Haka {21}, while Sky hasn’t been hurt yet. Draws Surge of Strength, then activates A True Hero, attempting to make Haka hurt himself so the mission gains a token, but the redirection sends it to Aeon Master, so no token is gained; the Hakas of Battle apply to the self-damage, so AM falls to [44] and spits out a Thrall. Sky actually takes the 2 damage {31}, getting a token, and Tempest doesn’t even think about near-killing himself with self-damage, nor does Legacy want to take it because he’d have a +1 damage to it.

Sky uses CC’s middle ability to heal Tempest to {8}, then she plays Rest and Recover, getting back 1 of the 2 HP she’s lost yet {32}, drawing Cortex Hyperstimulator, then getting back Linking Incursion. She also draws Micro-Assembler, Colossal Left Hook, and Thorathian Monolith, but that’s her whole turn.

Losing no sleep over her miserable failure, Fanatic shuffles the Mission deck (which has been Orchestrate The Void for some time, RIP Argent), then plays Holy Nova. Hits Aeon Locus {3}, Vessel {2}, and both Thralls {1}, and heals herself {4}. That’s a depressing situation to find yourself in, when the big guy is right there, and you have a rounded-up half of the combined HP of his disposable minions; still, she has her Aegis, so there’s no need to be timid. She activates Resolute, which isn’t actually a great idea; there are numerous cards in her deck which could have killed only 2 or 3 of these Aeon Men, disqualifying anyone from killing all four in one turn. But she’s already screwed up, so she might as well risk doing it again, in the hopes of undoing her mistake. Falling to {1}, she anticlimactically plays Undaunted, then uses Absolution, having to attack the doubly-invincible main villain just to avoid killing an Aeon Man (or stabbing herself). Draws Final Dive and ends her unsatisfying turn.

Tempest takes up the mission “Demand of the Gods” (which, as one of the few which can move itself every turn, is definitely not one of the ones that has previously forced me to shuffle the mission deck). Meager Winnings heals him to {9}, then he plays Reclaim from the Deep, allowing the party to get back The Legacy Ring, Rest and Recover, Lightning Slash, and Taiaha (since the first Ground Pound is under Dark Mind rather than in Haka’s trash). Drawing the Slash, Tempest activates Arc of Power to let him play it, not trusting the Scions not to kill him before he gets another turn even with 9 HP. Falling to {6} instead, he kills Dark Mind outright, and then something I didn’t expect happens: the three Ongoings that she’s absorbed go back into play. Ground Pound isn’t helpful since Haka is about to start his turn, so he refuses to discard for it and it’s instantly destroyed; Take Down then enters play, and that seemed like it’d be a good thing, since Legacy doesn’t even have to take the damage he normally suffer when playing it. Chastise also enters play, but the best thing that can be done with it is to put it on the Aeon Vassal (who did after all effectively kill Argent earlier, so it’s not like he’s harmless, but he’s not super dangerous either). Voidsoul replaces the destroyed Scion, and Devastation goes down for once.
DS 5+
Declining any other zaps, Tempest draws Cleansing Downpour. He passes Demand of the Gods to Sky-Scraper, hoping that she’ll be able to kill five Aeon Men on her upcoming turn, however unlikely that seems.

Haka takes on the mission “A War-Torn Landscape”, then ditches Ground Pound; the party is no longer invincible for the first time in two rounds, although they’ll get a lesser degree of protection back once Sky gets to play a card. Vitality Surge heals Haka to {23} and draws him his Taiaha, but he probably won’t use it anytime soon, because he has the Hairdryer; though nigh-invincible to normal damage due to its 6 points of armor, Progeny takes 6 from this irreducible attack, and is left at {31}. The blast also hits Aeon Master {38}, and --for some reason-- due to Take Down, he doesn’t play an Aeon Man. Haka draws Vitality Surge, then Ember Dunes and Elemental Awakening enter play before Nexus of the Void takes its actual turn.

Magma’s Rage is played, then the Dunes burn Aeon Thrall {3}, scorch the still-Taken-Down Aeon Master {37}, bounce off Progeny, and deals the first damage to Voidsoul {39}. Legacy takes a point {16}, Sky goes back down to {31}, Tempest falls to {5}, and Haka goes to {22}, while Magma’s Rage is left at {7} with a token. Elemental Awakening brings out Void Slave and Reclusive Keeper, then Magma’s Rage deals 2 to Aeon Master {35} and gains another token.

The scions attack for the first time in a while; Aeon Master skips another AM play, then Progeny obliterates Tempest, who would have survived if he hadn’t needed to kill Dark Mind right away (Haka could have done it with the Hairdryer if I’d thought of this, and then we might have been able to Ground Pound for a third time, though this was only the second worst mistake I made with her as it turns out).
DS --6±- 9
Progeny goes on to deal 6 to Haka {16} and 6 to Sky {25}, then loses a token [5]. Voidsoul forces Haka to deal 2+2 to Legacy {12}, Sky {21}, himself {12}, the Reclusive Keeper {8}, Void Slave {5}, and Magma’s Rage {3}, raising it to 4 tokens. (Interestingly, this attack would have happened even with Ground Pound.) Aeon Thrall punches Sky-Sky {19}, and Ember Dunes burns her for another point {18}. At the end of this turn, the defeated Tempest is replaced…by his normal version instead of the Prime Wardens promo.

The Refuge plays a Maerynian Lightning-Dome, a usually-irrelevant card which is going to cause significant issues in this particular game. An Aeon Thrall punches Fanatic, who dies and resurrects {10}; Aeon Locus heals the Thralls to {2} and the Vassal to {3}, and Focus of Power Devastates.
DS --7±- 10
Focus of Power plays a card, which is the other Focus of Power; Void Slave cancels this, then another Aeon Thrall punches Fanatic {8}.

Back to OblivAeon again; the Countdown clicks to the last safe setting, then Unbracing Smite is played. Still being on his first form, the base 3 damage goes up by 5, but then both Hurricane Shield and Undaunted are able to reduce it to 4 {4}, so rather than dying she’s simply cut in half. Chastise is destroyed, which doesn’t bother me much (apart from making me wonder if this is the same Chastise which was put into play in the other zone by Dark Mind’s demise). But the presence of Legacy’s Take Down prevents three Aeon Men from being played into Zone 1, then those four Aeon Men in zone 2 that I wanted to kill are eaten by Blivs instead; I picked a Vassal to die first, producing Devastation.
DS 8+
And then I blow up a Locus, which makes OblivAeon play Tear Through Reality; moving to Zone 1, he stops eating the Zone 2 Aeon Men, but appears among the heroes and Scions, dealing the old 7+7 across the board. Progeny shrugs off most of this and takes a total of 4 {27}, while Voidsoul feels all the pain {25}, and the three Environment targets are all obliterated. Lastly before starting to exterminate the heroes, OA blasts Aeon Master, leaving him at {21}, and yet again Legacy won’t let him play an Aeon Man, which is a good thing this time. That’s all the good news; OA now begins blowing up the Zone 1 Aeon Men, starting with a Thrall, healing the Master to {23}, Progeny to {29}, Voidsoul to {27}, then Legacy is destroyed, which Devastates the heroes.
DS --9±-12
Sky-Scraper remains relatively unscathed at {4}, and the new Tempest’s introduction to the game is to lose more than half his HP {12}. And Haka also dies; heck of a time to not have Ground Pound out. More Devastation ensues; for some reason, he gains 2 tokens instead of just one (the sources are listed as “first battle zone” and Tear Through Reality).
DS --11±-14
Destroying another Aeon Locus, OA devastates again
DS --12±-15
The Source of Foes plays Aeon Vassal, and Blivs is finally done.

Super-Science Tachyon arrives to replace Legacy; --there might be a continuity glitch somewhere here, because I was certain that the TakeDown Legacy was holding caused serious problems by preventing Aeon Men from being played and triggering various other alternate abilities. Maybe that did actually happen, and the Log simply doesn’t really show it very well. Oh well, moving on.–
SST goes to the second battle zone, and if I’d been a little quicker to notice that her power gives the option of targeting the Aeon Man deck, she might have been able to spawn some AMs to kill off with Fanatic so that we could finally proceed through the Shield. I used the ability at least twice before that idea occurred to me, and then when I tried it eventually, there wasn’t an Aeon Man in the zone at the time, so she wasn’t able to target their deck. So that’s another reason why I never even scratched the big guy.

Meanwhile, Haka’s replacement is Expatriette; she also goes into zone 2, and then Tachyon starts her turn.

#4

Down to four Environments, with DS at 12 15, a brand-new Super-Scientific Tachyon at her full {26}, Sky-Scraper at {4}, Fanatic at {8}, normal Tempest at {12}, and an also-untouched Expatriette at {29}, versus Progeny {29}[5], Aeon Master {23} and Voidsoul {27}. All these scions are in Zone 1 with OblivAeon, being faced down by what’s left of Sky-Scraper and Tempest, while the other three heroines are in zone 2 along with some Aeon Men.

Tachy takes up an Expedition to Atlantis, then plays Blinding Speed to take out the Focus of Power. Using her power on Ex-Patriette, Tachy discards Arsenal Access and Liquid Nitrogen Rounds, giving the Expedition two tokens. Draws Fleet of Foot, then discards Accelerated Assault and Sucker Punch, while Fanatic discards Prayer of Desperation and Sacrosanct Martyr (this would turn out to be yet another big mistake, as she would wish for that card to be in play on a later turn, even apart from its inherent combo with Resolute), and Expatriette discards Quick Draw. The Expedition is completed instantly, and Tachyon now has the Atlantean Conduit; Tachyon draws Research Grant, wishing she could get it into play so she could use the bonus power, and then she’s done.

Joining the other females in Zone 2, Sky-Scraper heals herself with the incap ability {6}, but she’s still nowhere near tough enough to tank for the party with Thorathian Monolith, and instead focuses on trying to be another hope of killing four Aeon Men, though that isn’t possible yet. So for now, she plays Linking Incursion, finding Rebounding Debilitator and Aggression Modulator. Neither is useful right now, so she puts them in her hand, then Sneaks out a Micro-Assembler on Ex-Patriette and a Cortex Hyperstimulator on the (second I think) Aeon Thrall, putting a Compulsion Canister from the trash into her hand (and possibly a second one; I only have record of one, but she needs to take two if possible, and the only other choices are two Neutralizing Debilitators, which would be nigh-useless). Draws Undetectable Relinking and hands off Demand of the Gods to Expat.

Fanatic takes on “To Hope for the Dawn” (this was the reason why she should have kept Sacrosanct Martyr a minute ago), replays her Aegis, and swings Absolution, attacking Ex-Patriette. Not sure if I was just roleplaying at this point, that Fanny has just gone mad with the frustration from having failed to kill the Aeon Men, and now having to leave them alive because she can’t kill enough of them; otherwise I don’t know why I wouldn’t just skip her power (or risk using Resolute in spite of her issues). At least this attack leaves Expat and the yet-undamaged Tachyon tied for highest HP; maybe I thought that was reason enough. Draws Zealous Offense, which would have given her a reason for attacking an ally if she wasn’t willing to risk damaging herself, but as it stands, who knows.

Joining the evacuation from the doomed Nexus, Tempest retrieves Meager Winnings from beneath his Prime Wardens version’s corpse, putting it into play. Starts to skip his Power, but then remembers he has a Micro-Assembler; he discards his weaker piece of equipment to retrieve his best one, even if it’ll be useless against the big guy; he would have drawn Grevious Hail Storm if he hadn’t Undone his skip and shuffled, but instead he gets Electrical Storm.

Expat gets back Haka’s Hairdryer, but her target isn’t nearby, so she uses her Assembler too, discards Hollow Points and gets out Submachine Gun. Draws Incendiary Rounds.

Nexus of the Void plays Devouring River; the Ember Dunes burn Aeon Vassal {4}, then hit Aeon Master {22}, who shuffles the Aeon Men deck (I guess Experiment wouldn’t have helped for that reason, even if I’d thought of it) and plays, Aeon Thrall (edit: or Warrior?), which is also burned {3} ({6?}). Progeny ignores the Embers, but Voidsoul can’t {26}, nor can the River {5}.
Elemental Awakening puts Slumbering Serpent into play at {2}, and Devouring River fails to activate.

“First Battle Zone adds 3 tokens to Devastation Token Pool”; I’m not sure why, but probably because there are three Scions and no Heroes.
DS 15+ or actually 18
Terrible Burden is played, and Empyreon joins the battle; Aeon Master plays Aeon Thrall, Progeny counts down to [4] without finding a target, and Voidsoul plays Wave of Oppression, destroying Elemental Awakening and killing the Serpent, leaving the River at {3}.

In Maerinya, the Squall-Guards finally start to show up, an Aeon Thrall punches Expat {24}, and another one tries to hit Tachyon but is Hyperstimulated and loses half of his impact {25}. Not sure why it didn’t shock itself (probably because of the Lightning-Dome, the first of many inconveniences it would inflict on me), but anyway it’s Oblivaeon’s turn.

The countdown completes, and the Nexus is obliterated; Ruins of Atlantis takes its place, and Blivs near-kills Empyreon {5}, making him deal 1 damage to everything else while his boss is dealing 25 to everything. It’d be neat if any of the three present Aeon Men were at 1, so that Empyreon rather than OblivAeon could have destroyed them, but they’re all going to go soon, so I won’t bother noting the scratches they take first. Aeon Master takes a poke {21} from Empy, playing an Aeon Vassal, then Empy hits himself {4}, caresses Progeny gently, and deals nemesis damage to Voidsoul, neatly bringing him down to {24}. OA’s damage resumes; Progeny is left at {4}, while Voidsoul and Aeon Master are killed without giving the heroes any benefit (actually AM’s death is mostly a huge detriment, since it removes all surviving Aeon Men in both zones, depriving OA of some bonuses but also rendering it further impossible to hurt him), although Devastation goes down by 2 because of the Scion deaths…
DS 13+ but actually 16
…and Rainek Kel’Voss joins the Scion party, just in time for OblivAeon to blast him for nemesis damage {64}. Borr the Unstable then shows up as well, premiering at {5} as Empyreon did, and getting one token. OblivAeon finally advances to his second form, but remains Shielded and invincible. He then plays Aeon Warrior and Aeon Locus in his own zone, counts down from 5, and spends 12 Devastation.
DS 1+ (Rainek had 4 armor around here, so I’ve --probably-- made massive errors).
Ruins of Atlantis, we hardly knew ye. If I’d know that was going to happen, I might have picked Court of Blood to be insta-obliviated instead, or not, who knows. Rainek takes another 21 {43}, then Borr explodes for another 1+1 to everything {Empyreon 2, Aeon Locus 4, Aeon Warrior 5}. Devastation goes down by 1.
DS 3?
Obliterating an Aeon Locus, Oblivaeon plays The Abyss Stares back.
DS 4?
Heir to Nothingness is played, and we Devastate again.
DS 5?
Moving to Zone 2 where all the heroes are, Blivs destroys another Locus, then plays Unbracing Smite. Science Tachy takes 3 {22} and her Conduit is destroyed, since she has nothing else to lose; Expat also takes 3 {21} and her Gun breaks. His innate attack targets Fanatic, and is reduced by one of Undaunted or Hurricane Shield, leaving her at {1}, then Sky-Scraper is shot for 3 as well {3}, and Tempest too {9}. Tachyon takes another 3 {19}, and Expat {18}, and the Squall-Guard takes 2 {5}. Sanction enters this previously Scion-free zone, immediately taking 2 from the Hurricane Shield {53} (amusingly, this hit happens before she speaks her arriving line), and the Source of Foes plays a Vassal, who enters at {3} for the same reason. (The shuffle has definitely been random, as this one is again a Warrior in the replay.)

The new party is battered but by no means obliterated, but with these being the last two Environments they can defend, they have only a few rounds until total defeat, and there’s STILL no progress on getting the Shield Card down.

#5

The party makes their final desperate stand against the now-reduced OblivAeon, who is presently attacking the last two Environments, the Court of Blood and the Maerinyan Refuge. The latter zone is under attack by Sanction {53} and an Aeon Vassal {3}, with OblivAeon looking on impassively, while a Squall-Guard {5} stands beside all the heroes: Tachyon {19}, Sky-Scraper {3}, Fanatic {1}, Tempest {9}, and Ex-Patriette {18}; Zone 1 is the grave of five different Scions, all but one of whom OblivAeon killed in a single turn, giving the heroes no hope of reward, but now it contains only an Aeon Warrior {5}, the almost-flipped Empyreon {2}, Rainek Kel’Voss {43}, who has an armor value of (something like) 5 (depending on how many errors I’ve made in tracking the Devastation tokens [later it’s confirmed that 5 is the exact level, so perhaps I did everything right]). The twilight of the heroes is definitely here; let’s see just how disastrous it is.

Tachyon commences “Building a King”; Sanction durdles the scion deck a little, but will never actually flip, so I’ll ignore all future mentions of this action. Playing Fleet of Foot, she gives the party Linking Incursion, Divine Focus, Electrical Storm, Expatriette’s “Pride” and joy, and she herself draws a Research Grant, which she immediately plays but doesn’t use. Her innate power discards Into the Stratosphere and Grevious Hail Storm from the bottom of Tempest’s deck, and she draws Synaptic Interruption. Sky ditches Rebounding Debilitator and Compulsion Canister from hand, then destroys her own Micro-Assemblers on both Tempest and Expat, as well as a Cortex Hyperstimulator. Fanatic discards “Absolution” to complete the process, and T. Rex Bot flips into play. The Hurricane Shield which has exclusively benefitted the heroes so far does diminish Rex’s impact as she bites into Sanction, leaving the newest Scion at {46}.

Fleeing to the marginally safer first zone, the barely-alive Sky heals a trifle {5} with CC’s incap ability, then plays Thorathian Monolith. Her power finishes off Empyreon, who pops back up at {15} and is now immune to three damage types; Aeon Warrior falls to {3}, while Progeny and Rainek both ignore the hit. Draws another Monolith.

Fanatic flies in to take shelter behind the giant Thorathian, shuffles away an unwanted Mission, and plays Brutal Censure, hitting Empyreon with 2 points of one of the eight damage types that’s effective against his void-form {13}. She draws Wrathful Retribution and then stabs him with Absolution, which has two different options for how to get through and reduce him to {10}; she picks Radiant again, then draws Chastise.

Tempest joins the fallback movement, puts A War-Torn Landscape into play, and heals Sky with Meager Winnings {6}. The Hurricane Shield really saved the heroes’ bacon recently, so he plays some Shielding Winds to duplicate the effect, then he Squalls, hitting the Aeon Warrior {2} and having no effect on any of the Scions, even with his Shackles finally applying to a target that he can theoretically actually hurt. Still having Maerinyan defenses on the brain, he draws Localized Hurricane. A War-Torn Landscape plays Unhallowed Halls x2, so that’s it for the healing; Sky nervously hopes she hasn’t just signed her death warrant.

Expat follows everyone else to zone 1, and PW Haka’s incap ability increases her next hit by 2. She plays an Assault Rifle, but uses the power on Chekhov’s Hairdryer, which is actually Haka’s High-Tech Taiaha; the spirit of Haka himself guides her aim, and she smashes Rainek for 8 {35}, plus she obliterates Progeny. He had 4 tokens left, so the party draws 4 cards; Tachyon feels left out. Sky gets Undetectable Relinking, Colossal Left Hook, Tectonic Chokeslam, and Emergency Evac. Fanatic draws Embolden, Smite the Transgressor, Brutal Censure, and Holy Nova. For Tempest, there’s Into the Stratosphere, Cleansing Downpour, Vicious Cyclone, and Localized Hurricane. And Expat now has Arsenal Access, Shock Rounds, RPG Launcher, and Quick Draw. The Devastation total, which is now the doomsday clock of the entire multiverse, ticks down for once.
DS 4
Expatriette draws Hairtrigger Reflexes, then Infecting an Heir enters play. But, as stated in the game log, “There are no vampires in play to infect an heir.” (We love you guys at Handelabra.)

The scions of Zone 1 play Relentless Hunter; Empyreon targets Expat for 5, Sky intercepts it, and Shielding Winds reduces it to 3, so that she takes only 1 {5}. Empyreon’s innate then deals her another 1 {4}, plus 1 that was meant for Tempest {3}, and 1 for Expat {2}, and finally 1 for Fanatic, leaving Sky at {1}. Then Rainek fires upon Expat, and Sky sacrifices herself to protect her from the blast. Devastation goes back up, and Rainek’s armor with it.
DS 6

Since OblivAeon isn’t here, Rainek attacks Empyreon {6}, and now that Sky isn’t blocking anymore, the Aeon Warrior’s punches land on Expat {14}. The promo version of Void Guard Writhe arrives to replace Sky, and the curtain is drawn on zone 1 for now.

The Squall Guard tries to attack the enemies of the Maerinyan Refuge, but his lightning attacks are prevented by that stupid Maerinyan Lightning-Dome, so only his melee damage applies, reducing an Aeon Vassal to {2} and Sanction to {45}. Then a Stormspeaker is played, and the scions strike back, playing Relentless Hunter. Sanction deals 5 to Tachyon, and 3 gets through the Hurricane Shield {16}; Sanction heals to {48}, and shoots T-Rex Bot {8}, who shoots out lightning bolts at the three opponents, but that Lightning-Dome again interferes, preventing any effect. Aeon Vassal blasts Tachy {15} and the Bot {7}, who again fires ineffectual sparks in every direction.

OblivAeon starts his first full turn as a 20-foot orange monster instead of a 200-foot purple one; after counting down, he plays Global Devastation, hitting Stormspeaker for 2+1 thanks to the Squall-Guard {2}, who then takes the full 4 himself {1}. Empyreon ignores the melee, so the 2 sonic drops him to {4}; Rainek shrugs off the nemesis damage, but Sanction takes 6 {42}. Science Tachy falls to {11}, then Fanatic is killed, her Aegis brings her back at {10}, and she immediately falls to {8}, while Expat goes down to {10}, Tempest to {5}, and our new hero Writhe the Cosmic Inventor premieres at {18}. T-Rex Bot also takes the two hits, leaving her at {3}, and more sparks fly. Aeon Warrior dies, and despite being in a different zone, Blivs is able to deal 7 damage to Writhe, with the Shielding Winds stopping 2 of it (the Hurricane Shield which is in OA’s zone doesn’t protect his victim in a different one), leaving him at {13}. An Aeon Vassal also dies, and Devastation goes up.
DS 7
The Unhallowed Halls are destroyed, along with that fricken’ Lightning-Dome, and the Stormspeaker who threatens to remove the Hurricane-Shield in a round. Despite the Shield’s protection, OA’s innate is sufficient to kill T-Rex Bot, and the Squall-Guard also goes down despite being even tougher. Tachy takes 3 {8}, Sanction takes 4 due to Nemesis {38}, and then Aeon Thrall is played by The Shield Card, premiering at {2} thanks to the other Shield card.

Tachyon activates her Research Grant with an incap ability, after having retroactively decided to move to zone 1 with everyone else; she draws Hypersonic Assault and Synaptic Interruption, discards Research Grant, and then plays Synaptic Interruption. Activating her innate power on Fanatic, she discards Sanctifying Strike and Undaunted, then draws Hypersonic Assault again.

Writhe starts his turn by using Sky-Scraper’s incap ability to destroy Infecting an Heir, then plays an Umbral Siphon. His innate power draws Distorted Perception and Grasping Shadow-Cloth, and he protects himself with the Mk2 Cloak, drawing Swallowed by Shadows. With the last environment card removed from the Court of Blood, Tempest’s Mission is complete, and Cold War enters play.

Apparently skipping her before-start phase completely, Fanatic plays Holy Nova, bringing Empyreon down to {3}, shining a harmless light on Rainek, and healing Tachy {9}, Writhe, {14}, herself {9}, Tempest {6}, and Expat {11}. Despite no longer being protected by an Aegis, Fanatic finally re-activates Resolute, falling to {6}, playing Smite the Transgressor (which bounces harmlessly off Rainek), and deals 3 radiant to Empyreon with Absolution. She draws Consecrated Ground, Tachy gets Quick Insight, Writhe has Unquiet Night, Tempest draws Otherworldly Resilience, and Expatriette gets Reload. Devastation goes down.
DS 6
Fanatic draws Holy Nova, then Tempest is up.

Taking on Nature’s Compulsion, just because, Tempest heals Tachy to {10}, then he plays Cleansing Downpour, using it to heal everyone to {12}, {16}, {8}, {8}, and {13}. Drawing Gene-Bound Shackles, he uses Cold War’s bonus power to Squall, failing to affect Rainek with either this or the cold damage it triggers. So he Undoes to his play phase, plays Reclaim from the Deep, and gives back the party Atlantean Conduit, The Everyman, Into the Stratosphere, and Hollow Points from Expatriette’s trash to Expatriette’s deck (Writhe gets nothing). Draws Gene-Bound Shackles again, then is Compelled to move to the other zone, though this comes too late for him to have Cold War give him a Squall that could actually hit something. Since the healing was undone, the party is still at {10}, {14}, {6}, {6}, and {11}.

With Haka’s help, after playing Quick Draw and adding “Prejudice” to her gun collection, Expat blasts Rainek for 8 {27}, then she shoots at Tachyon and is Synapticked to hit Rainek again for 6 {21}. Draws Hollow Points, then hands off Demand of the Gods to Tachyon.

Court of Blood plays Relict Dorotya, who fails to scratch Rainek but succeeds at blasting the heroes {Tachy 9, Expat 10}, with Writhe and Fanatic being protected by Undaunted and his power irrespectively.

Scatter Slaughter is played, and Rainek tries to hit Writhe for 5, but he slips away like a shadow. Rainek blasts Fanatic down to {2}, then deals 6 to Writhe {8}.

Stormspeaker enters play, and the scions play Erase from Time, dealing 3 to Tempest {3}. Tempest discards Electrical Storm, Sanction heals to {41}, and then Sanction kills Tempest.
DS 7

I thought we were done, but The Sentinels have just arrived; it looks like this Ragnaroksaga has one more chapter left for the skalds to sing.

#6

The Southwest Sentinels have arrived at the moment of the Multiverse’s doom; let’s watch how the disaster falls around them. Devastation is at 7, and we’ll be done as soon as OA starts his turn with 12, so this won’t take long The last two Environments are being defended unto the bitter end, however, with the Court of Blood under attack by Rainek Kel’Voss {21} and defended by Tachyon {9}, Writhe {8}, Fanatic {2}, and Ex-Patriette {10}, and the long-suffering Maerinyan Refuge still besieged by Sanction {41} while Tempest gave his life to protect it. The Sentinels have just taken his place, but they immediately transfer over to the Blood Court where all the action is.

OblivAeon starts his turn by counting down, probably for the last time; he again plays Global Devastation, finally killing Fanatic.
DS 8
Sanction takes nemesis damage {35}, while Writhe is partially protected and takes 2 {6}. Everyone else takes 4 total damage; Stormspeaker is left at {1}, Expat at {6}, and Tachyon at {5}, the same total as Relict Dorotya just before she’s outright destroyed, while the newly arrived Sentinels will begin their first turn at {9}, {10}, {7} and {10}. Finally, OblivAeon wipes out two Aeon Thralls, one of them in each zone, healing Sanction {37} and utterly sinking any hope that the heroes might possibly have gotten to give him a slight scratch before the end. Besides Dorotya, the Stormspeaker also dies, and the long-crucial Hurricane Shield finally goes down. OA then deals nemesis damage to Sanction {31}, and gains 5 Devastation.
DS 12
One last Aeon Vassal arrives thanks to The Source of Foes; the Eternal Haka is the last hero to arrive, and he shows up in zone 2, where Tachyon promptly joins him.

Lacking better incap ability options, Tachyon draws her Atlantean Conduit and puts it into play, belatedly using her power to play Aeon Warrior and Aeon Thrall. She draws Pushing The Limits, gives Demand of the Gods to Haka, draws Sucker Punch, and uses the power on Research Grant, drawing 2x Lightspeed Barrage and discarding Quick Insight.

Writhe arrives in Maerinya, then activates Sky-Scraper’s incap ability to let Tachy play Synaptic Interruption. He plays Lies of the Shadows, useless though it is, and then uses his power to draw Lurking Shadows and Penultimate Penumbra while protecting himself. Draws Distorted Perception.

Haka retrieves The Every Man and plays him, then uses Haka of Knowledge; he draws Taiaha, discards Haka of Battle, and draws Punish the Weak and Ground Pound, followed by Haka of Restoration. He passes Demand of the Gods to Writhe, and the Everyman punches Sanction for 7 {24}.

Since being in a different zone from OblivAeon wasn’t much protection, the Sentinels come back to Maerinya, and they retrieve Cold War from under Tempest. First they play Unique Capabilities, putting Caliginous Form into play and drawing Second Chance, then replaying Cold War. Mainstay uses Block, then Restorative Burst is drawn; ColdWar allows them to use another power, and they pick Writhe’s Extract, trashing a Stormspeaker, but more importantly triggering ColdWar, dealing 2 to the Aeon Vassal {3}, 2 to the Warrior {5}, and 2 to Sanction {22}.

Unlike everyone else, Expat stays in zone 1, using an incap ability to give herself a Power. She uses Load, plays “Pride”, and then plays Arsenal Access, which puts Tactical Shotgun into play. Ignoring all this weaponry, she fires her Hairdryer, bringing Rainek down to {15}, and draws Shock Rounds.

Hunter Fulepet shows up, apparently still thinking vampires are something to worry about, despite the fact that only one has even shown up. The scion deck plays Elemental Pandemonium, killing Expat with 6 damage, and we have yet more Devastation as a result.
DS 13
I guess I was technically wrong about Haka being the last new hero; G.I. Bunker shows up at the last second, after which a Squall-Guard also arrives far too late to help out. Relentless Hunter is the last card played, allowing Sanction to blast Haka for 5 {28}, after which she heals to {25} and shoots Tachyon for 3, but Synaptic Interruption sends this blast at the Aeon Vassal instead, killing it. That last act of heroic defiance completed, Aeon Warrior pummels Haka down to {24}, and the Thrall punches Bunker, who otherwise might as well never have existed {25}. After that, OblivAeon wipes out Maerinya, and that’s all she wrote.

#7

Replayed the game up to the point of Fanatic’s disastrous End of Days, and changed the outcome from there on, resulting in the shield flipping the next round, and eventually being destroyed by killing Aeon Master (which is probably how it usually happens). Unfortunately, two environments were already gone by that point; it was a more sporting contest, but ultimately the outcome was, well, Inevitable Destruction. This outcome also confirmed that even slight changes have such a gargantuan ripple effect that any foreknowledge of the future is quickly obsoleted. I’ll certainly continue to retry this battle, but if I’m not retracing these doomed footsteps exactly, then I might as well not have done so at all.