Having lost the weekly battle “The Source of Foes” a couple more times since my first major attempt, I eventually decided that attempting to simply WIN was more important than trying to take advantage of my future knowledge, since it seemed unlikely that this knowledge would accomplish anything. So I tried yet again, and finally things managed to go my way (sort of).
Once again, we have Aeon Master in zone 1 and Progeny in zone 2, and OblivAeon beings the game with a Tear Through Reality, dealing 14 damage to each of the Prime Warden promo heroes (and 12 net to Aeon Master after he spawns and reabsorbs an Aeon Thrall), and gaining one Devastation.
DS 1
Aeon Vassal and 2x Aeon Locus are played into zone 2, and Devastation happens again.
DS 2
Source of Foes plays Aeon Vassal, then Argent is up. As before, I played Arcane Cadence, and used it to make sure I had an Instrument in hand this time, so that I could successfully complete the Great Fortune mission. Inventive Preparation is played, then Conduct plays Rhapsody of Vigor before granting a card play to Fanatic, who plays Zealous Offense. Lucky Break arrives, bringing two Instruments with him, and Vernal Sonata is both selected as the freebie card and is the only card Argent can play as a result, so all the heroes gain 2 HP {AA 13, CC 16, Fanatic 17, Tempest 15, Haka 23}, and the Arcane Cadence is the only card that can be recycled by the first VS. Chain Lightning is then played, hitting Aeon Master for 4 {44}; he plays Aeon Locus, and Tempest zaps that {3}, then deals 2 more damage to the Aeon Vassal {3}. Haka does his Shielding dance, getting a Battle Haka in his hand and discarding Intercession. The second Sonata recycles Chain Lightning and Haka of Shielding, and Argent is finally done.
Shuffling the Mission deck, CC plays a Cosmic Weapon (turns out I was wrong about not having that option last time). Hitting Aeon Master again {41}, the Captain forces AM to play an Aeon Thrall. Draws Dynamic Siphon.
Fanatic puts The Red Menace into play, and Zealous Offense prevents it from dealing any damage, also targeting an Aeon Vassal. Plays Aegis of Resurrection, then uses Resolute {14}; she gets Absolution again {15}, but rather than using it, she grants a power to AA, who Conducts out a Silver Shadow, triggering Inventive Preparation. NOW Tempest plays Electrical Storm, and Argent draws Arcane Cadence. Haka of Battle is also played, drawing a Ground Pound and the Shielding Haka again, then discarding Mere. Fanatic draws Prayer of Desperation.
Tempest puts Building a King into play, then Lightning Storm fires off, reducing Aeon Locus to {2}, Thrall to {3}, Vassal to {2}, and the Red Menace to {13}, while Aeon Master falls to {40} and plays a new Thrall, who enters at {3}. Chain Lightning then destroys both Aeon Thralls and the Vassal, and then Arc of Power burns Tempest down to {12} so he can play a Ball Lightning, finishing off the Locus. The Oblivion Shield goes down in record time, and the first Chain Lightning is redrawn. Then Building A King discards one Absolution, destroys another one plus both Instruments, and turns into T-Rex Bot, who gives Aeon Master a big chomp {31}.
After moving to zone 2, Haka of Shielding is played again, drawing both Enduring Intercessions and discarding one. Haka of Battle is then played, Dominion and Savage Mana, discards the other Intercession, and Haka draws Taiaha. I think he shuffled the Mission deck at the start of that turn, but regardless nothing interesting happens at the end.
Blast Doors are played again, and as happened in the second game, Certain Finality destroys Cosmic Weapon and doesn’t cause Progeny to move to zone 1. Aeon Master plays Aeon Thrall, and since all the “real” heroes are battered, the Thrall punches Lucky Break {18}.
Maerinya plays Unexpected Microburst, hitting both Aeon Loci {4 each} and the Vassal {3}, while Progeny falls to {48} and gains a token. PW Haka wastes his 4 damage reduction, and this is unfortunate because Scatter Slaughter is then played, so Progeny deals 5 to him {18} and then another 4 {14}, before Progeny gains a token [2] and then shoots Haka for another 2 {12}. As if he’s not battered enough, Aeon Vassal deals him another 1 {11}, then the Loci heal each other by 1 and the Vassal by 2, putting them all at 5.
OblivAeon plays The Abyss Stares Back, which Devastates.
DS 3
Absorb Energy chains out; the Red Menace is the first to take 8 {5}, then an Aeon Thralls is destroyed and heal the Menace {7}. Aeon Master also heals to {33} and then gets blasted down to {25}; it plays an Aeon Vassal, blowing him up and Devastating again.
DS 4
Lucky Break falls to {10}, Argent to {5}, CC to {8}, Fanatic to {7}, and Tempest to {4}. Since Lucky Break counts as the fifth hero instead of Haka, no Devastation is triggered. T-Rex Bot then takes its hit {8}. OblivAeon takes his first damage {9999}, the Red Menace falls to {6}, and Aeon Master to {24}. One Devastation somehow results despite five hero character cards having been hit.
DS 5
Aeon Thrall, Aeon Warrior, and Aeon Vassal enter zone 2. OA then devastates again.
DS 6
A True Hero in the End goes into play, not that Argent plans on taking the hit for it; he plays Counterpoint Bulwark, then Conducts out Instrumental Conjuration, fetching Xu’s Bell and drawing Alacritous Subdominant. The Bulwark’s accompany text allows Tempest to draw Into the Stratosphere. Argent then gets thrown to zone 2 by Counteraction Aura, and it plays Aeon Locus there with him. Draws Alacritous Subdominant, then Lucky Break does his thing. Telamon’s Lyra is revealed, and only Haka has an equipment to play, his Taiaha, and then both of these go into play.
Captain Cosmic puts Nature’s Compulsion into play, then plays Vitality Conduit on Tempest. He skips his power due to the Counteraction Aura, then draws Harsh Offense before migrating to zone 2 and gaining a token.
Fanatic moves between zones, shuffles the mission deck, and continues to stun the Red Menace and a random Aeon Man into immobility. Playing Chastise for some reason on an Aeon Man (not sure if it’s the same one), then uses Resolute {4}, Final Dives an Aeon Thrall into the Red Menace {2}, and declines an additional power. Draws End of Days.
Tempest picks up The Nations in Ruins, then the Lightning Storm goes off, hitting OblivAeon {9998}, Aeon Master {23} who plays an Aeon Warrior, and that Warrior {6}. He plays Chain Lightning, dealing 4 to Aeon Master {19}, 3 to the Vitality Conduity {1}, healing himself to {6}, and 2 to T-Rex Bot {1}. The Bot then zaps OblivAeon {9997}, Aeon Master {18}, and the Warrior {5}. Tempest activates Arc of Power, not playing any cards but getting shoved by Counteraction Aura, which plays Aeon Vassal. Drawing Lightning Slash, he sics T-Rex Bot on Progeny {49} and gives him a token, then his new Mission puts Bionic Patroller and Softball-Sized Hail. El Mejor Legado arrives, he punches Progeny for 3 {46}, and Tempest is done.
Taking on To Hope for the Dawn, Haka plays Ground Pound, discards Dominion and Savage Mana, and then Taiahas Progeny for 5 {41} thanks to those Hakas of Battle from so long ago. Progeny gains a token, then the Red Menace gets thumped into submission with the other end of the Taiaha, bringing The Everyman to the table over in Fanatic’s play area. Haka draws Elbow Smash.
Fort Adamant plays General Armstrong, then Bionic Patroller deals Aeon Master 3 Energy {15}, and Aeon Locus enters play. The General shoots Aeon Warrior {3}, then Devastation occurs.
DS 7
Aeon Assault is played, bringing out an Aeon Warrior and dumping them all in zone 1; Aeon Master plays Aeon Warrior, the Loci heal any of the damaged AMs, and a whole lot of nothing else happens.
Maerinya plays Hurricane Shield, then Terrible Burden brings Dark Mind out. Progeny gains a token, Dark Mind steals a Dominion from Haka while ditching two Vitality Surges from his deck, and then OblivAeon goes again.
After counting down, Blivs plays Summon Scion, bringing Voidsoul into zone 2 along with Aeon Thrall and Aeon Locus. Putting a Vassal and two Thralls into zone 1, he eats his Thrall to heal himself {9999} and Progeny {43}, after which he pops the Locus, plays Absorb Energy, and gains 5 Devastation since there are no heroes onsite.
DS 12
He then Devastates again.
DS 13
Argent starts his turn by getting out of dodge; he trades A True Hero for The Digital Age, then plays Arcane Cadence. Akpunku’s Drum goes to his hand, Inventive Preparation and Inspiring Supertonic bookend his deck,
and he trashes Rhapsody of Vigor to play another Cadence. This one gives him Inventive Preparation (trash), another Arcane Cadence (hand), Instrumental Conjuration (topdeck), Syncopated Onslaught (bottom), and yet another Arcane Cadence, which he of course plays. Because why stop at ten cards when you could juggle fifteen? This time, Instrumental Conjuration gets played, Scherzo of Frost and Flame is trashed, Sarabande of Destruction goes back on top, and two more Instrumental Conjurations go to his hand and the bottom of his deck. Grabbing Musaragni’s Harp from the trash, he avoids shuffling and draws the Sarabande; after that, he rings Xu’s Bell. The Bulwark protects Argent and Lucky Break, and Argent draws Silver Shadow from the Bulwark’s Accompany, then Polyphoric Flare on his draw phase. Lucky Break turns up a Vernal Sonata, allowing Argent to play the second Conjuration and fetch out Eydisar’s Horn, drawing Inspiring Supertonic. The Sonata then heals Argent {6} and Lucky {11}, and he moves Silver Shadow from his trash back onto his deck, where The Digital Age promptly reveals it. He made sure to have the Drum in hand for just this purpose; discarding it, he plays Silver Shadow, and the Bulwark lets him draw Cedistic Dissonant and play Inspiring Supertonic. Omni-Unity joins the battle, and all the Instruments come alive (now that’s what I call a techno soundtrack!). Eydisar’s Horn shocks Aeon Master {14}, who plays a Vassal; the Harp, Lyra, and Bell all then follow suit, as does Argent himself and then Lucky Break and finally Omni-Unity, leaving AM at {8} after the full salvo. At last, Argent is done with his turn, and it’s high time I posted a part of this log, since I’m clearly never going to finish it in one go.