Cool heads have helped propel the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic to the inaugural ANZ Championship netball final after it edged the Adelaide Thunderbirds 51-49 in Hamilton.
The Magic will now meet the New South Wales Swifts in next Monday night's final in Sydney.
In Monday's sudden-death preliminary final, Magic coach Noeline Taurua once again showed her ability to size up a situation and trust her instincts.
Opting to rearrange her attack line, which was exposed at times in last week's match, proved a decisive call by the coach as the Magic's attack line combined to out-think and outplay the Thunderbirds much-vaunted defensive line.
The swapping of captain Amigene Metcalfe into centre and the introduction of Laura Langman to the relatively unfamiliar wing attack position paved the way for more movement and better options for the Magic on attack.
The Thunderbirds presented a predictable line-up with most interest surrounding influential defender Mo'onia Gerrard, who started at wing defence but as expected found her way to goal defence once the Magic's attack began to get the upper hand.
Both teams missed opportunities to press home an advantage in a scrappy first quarter where momentum swung back and forth.
It was the Thunderbirds who found the early touch, the vision of goal attack Natalie Medhurst finding the tall figure of shooter Kate Beveridge with relative ease.
The Magic warmed to its task slowly as the new combination settled before a lift in intensity spurred the home team to a 17-14 first quarter advantage.
The teams went toe-to-toe in the opening half of the second quarter with neither taking a backward step as goals went with the centre pass.
Searching each other out for any weaknesses, it was the Magic who found the odd chink in the Thunderbirds' game.
The new centre court pairing of Metcalfe and Langman grew in stature the longer the match wore on. Langman proved the perfect foil with her ability to run all day while Metcalfe marshaled play superbly through court with her deft touches and vision.
Her pinpoint accuracy into the circle ensured quality service to the shooters under the hoop.
Playing goal attack for the third week in a row, Irene van Dyk continued to thrive in the position as she and Tutaia got the better of the well-performed Gerrard and Geva Mentor.
Despite the best efforts of Natalie von Bertouch and Medhurst, the Thunderbirds lacked the same accuracy on attack and was left playing catch-up as the Magic headed into halftime 29-25 ahead.
The Magic unleashed a withering start to the third quarter, propelling out to an eight-goal margin as the Thunderbirds wilted under the onslaught.
Defensive duo Casey Williams and Jodi Tod kept the Thunderbird shooters under tight wraps as the openings on attack dried up for the visitors. The ensuing turnover ball produced a dominant passage for the visitors, who dazzled on attack.
But as has become its trademark, the home team let the visitors back in with some sloppy play. The change of positions between Medhurst and Beveridge seemed to work as the Thunderbirds reeled in the deficit with the Magic heading into the last break 41-36 ahead.
In a torrid and battling final stanza, the Thunderbirds, on the back of some fine work from Gerrard and Mentor closed to within two goals, but could not stem the tide against a gutsy Magic who showed its fighting spirit and cool heads to repel the onslaught.