We are down to the last two competitors as we bring today’s Realm Championship Qualifier to a finish.  Standing toe-to-toe at the final table is Danniel “Paxi” Alcantara with his [Rohashu, Zealot of the Sun] “Blessing and Crusade” deck, and Michael Ryan Villamayor with his [Suncaller Haruh] HordeStone deck.  Paxi has overwhelmed his opponents with his relentless assault of allies buffed by the Paladin Ongoing abilities, even beating Michael during a previous round.  Michael’s priest has bounced back from his loss against Rohashu and has relied on protection and card advantage in order to bring him to the final table.  Will this finals match be a replay of the previous round, or will Suncaller Haruh be able to stand against the odds and pull off a victory?

Before the match began, Michael opted to use a different playmat for the finals. Spectators joked that his cool black Cryptozoic playmat will seal the game in his favor. Kidding aside, both players shook hands and proceeded with the die roll, which Michael won. Both players mulliganed their opening hands, and Michael begins the match by stashing [Cairne, Earthmother's Chosen] to create a 1/1 token, and then passes the turn. Paxi responds with a rowed resource and [Telor Sunsurge] on his turn.

[^Blessing of the Kindred]

Michael plays [Shadowfang Keep] on his turn, then passes the turn. Paxi responds by attacking Telor into the Cairne token, killing it. He then stashes his own copy of Cairne, and passes the turn. Michael plays a third resource and [Devout Aurastone Hammer] on his turn. He ends his turn, and Paxi responds by playing [Blessing of the Kindred] at the end of turn, naming the Warrior class. He attacks with Telor and the Cairne token on his turn, dealing 4 total damage to Suncaller Haruh. He then plays [Lordann the Bloodreaver], rows another resource then passes the turn.

[Vanessa VanCleef] enters play on Michael’s fourth turn, killing Paxi’s Telor Sunsurge. Paxi then attacks with Lordann and the Cairne token on his turn, bringing the total damage on Haruh to 9. He then plays [Dagax the Butcher] and proceeds to attack with him as well. A fourth rowed resource, and a [Bronze Drakonid] readies Dagax for another attack, bring the total damage to 19.

[^Power Word: Barrier]

Michael, still calm and composed at this point, first stashes [Sava'gin the Reckless], luckily hitting Paxi’s Cairne token, therefore killing it. Vanessa then attacks into Lordann, killing the Blood Elf warrior. Vanessa is then sacrificed to Shadowfang Keep in order to bring out Michael’s [Mazu'kon], which attacks into the Bronze Drakonid, clearing Paxi’s board of allies. Paxi retaliates with a second Dagax the Butcher, but Michael was expecting the ferocious goblin and plays [Power Word: Barrier], preventing the damage. Paxi then rows another resource and plays his deck’s namesake ability [Grand Crusader] before ending his turn.

Michael’s Mazu’kon attacks into Rohashu the following turn for 6 damage. Another rowed resource later, a second Mazu’kon is played for another 6 damage, bringing the Paladin’s damage total to 12. Paxi plays Righteous Cleanse, killing Michael’s Power Word: Barrier, and ships both Delved cards to the bottom of his deck. With nothing else to play, he is unable to stop the 2 Mazu’kons from hitting him for another 18 damage with the help of Shadowfang Keep, and he yields to the power of Suncaller Haruh.

Congratulations to Michael Ryan Villamayor for winning the 5th Zangarmarsh Realm Championship Qualifier!