We’re in the final round of today’s competition! We saw Timothy Billiar earlier today, one of the Tims in Team Mike in Some Tims. His team won in that Feature Match, and he’s back with his Sky Striker Mitsurugi Deck looking for another win. His opponent is Elliot Horowitz, playing K9 Vanquish Soul. He’s the “E” in Team E.A.T. Shifter – I wonder how they feel about Dimension Shifter…

Duel 1

Billiar won the dice roll, and chose to play first. He had a hand of Mitsurugi no Mikoto, Kusanagi; Mitsurugi Prayers; Ame no Murakumo no Mitsurugi; Lightning Storm; and Mitsurugi Great Purification.

In his Draw Phase, he played Mitsurugi Prayers, Tributing Murakumo. He added Ame no Habakiri no Mitsurugi to his hand, then took 800 damage to Special Summon Kusanagi. Kusanagi put Prayers back in his hand, and Murakumo’s effect put Mitsurugi Ritual in his hand. He moved to the Main Phase and activated Mitsurugi Ritual to Ritual Summon from his hand, bringing down Habakiri by Tributing Mitsurugi no Mikoto, Saji and Mitsurugi no Mikoto, Aramasa from his Deck. Saji’s and Aramasa’s effects activated, putting another Mitsurugi Ritual and Murakumo in his hand. He used Kusanagi and Habakiri to Link Summon Sky Striker Ace – Camellia. Its effect sent Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage! to the Graveyard. Horowitz now activated K9-17 Izuna, Special Summoning it and sending K9-ØØ Lupis to the Graveyard. He Special Summoned Lupis, and used it and Izuna to Xyz Summon N.As.H. Knight. He attached Number 104: Masquerade and Billiar’s Camellia to it as materials. Billiar continued, playing Mitsurugi Ritual to Tribute Murakumo from his hand to Ritual Summon Futsu no Mitama no Mitsurugi from his Deck. He Set Great Purification and Prayers to finish his turn.

Horowitz convened with his team mate, and began by using N.As.H. Knight to play CXyz N.As.Ch. Knight! Billiar used Futsu to revive Kusanagi, which put Murakumo in his hand. Horowitz then used his CXyz to bring forth Number C104: Umbral Horror Masquerade! Billiar flipped Prayers, Tributing Murakumo from his hand, but Horowitz had Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring to negate it. In a new Chain, Murakumo put another Prayers in Billiar’s hand. Horowitz Special Summoned an Izuna from his hand, then Special Summoned Lupis from his Graveyard. He Xyz Summoned K9-17 “Ripper”, and activated its effect. Billiar flipped Great Purification, Tributing Futsu to negate and destroy Ripper! Futsu then put Mitsurugi Mirror in Billiar’s hand and returned to the field. Horowitz continued his turn with Pot of Prosperity, banishing 6 Extra Deck cards to dig into his Deck, finding Vanquish Soul Heavy Borger. He then revealed Heavy Borger to Special Summon Vanquish Soul Hollie Sue from his hand. He used Hollie Sue’s effect to Special Summon Vanquish Soul Razen from his Deck, and Razen put Vanquish Soul Dr. Mad Love in his hand. He Normal Summoned Dr. Mad Love, adding Vanuish Soul, Start! to his hand. He played Start, using its effect to put Vanquish Soul Caesar Valius in his hand. He then used Dr. Mad Love to bounce Kusanagi to the hand, and Razen to destroy Futsu. He bounced Dr. Mad Love to Special Summon Heavy Borger, and used its effect to deal 750 damage (due to Prosperity halving the damage). He Special Summoned Caesar Valius by returning Hollie Sue. He attacked with everything, dropping Billiar to 1300. That meant he could use Heavy Borger’s Quick Effect on Billiar’s turn and end the Duel!

Duel 2

Billiar played first again, this time with a hand of Aramasa, Murakumo, Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, Pre-Preparation of Rites, and Sky Striker Special Maneuver – Lemnisgate! to begin.

He led with Pre-Preparation of Rites, and Horowitz negated it with Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion. Billiar Normal Summoned Aramasa to add Habakiri to his hand. He used Habakiri’s effect to Special Summon and Tribute Saji, and Saji’s effect put Mitsurugi Ritual in his hand. He played Mitsurugi Ritual to Ritual Summon Murakumo from his hand, Tributing Futsu from his Deck. He used Futsu’s effect to put another Mitsurugi Ritual in his hand. He used Aramasa and Murakumo to Link Summon Camellia, which sent Engage to the Graveyard. He then used Camellia to Link Summon Sky Striker Ace – Kagari, adding Engage to his hand. He played Engage to find Sky Striker Mecha – Hornet Drones. He used Kagari to Link Summon Sky Striker Ace – Hayate, then played Hornet Drones. He used Hayate and his Sky Striker Ace Token to Link Summon Sky Striker Ace = Zero, putting Engage in his hand. He played Engage to add Sky Striker Mecha – Widow Anchor to his hand and draw… Dimensional Fissure! He played Mitsurugi Ritual, Tributing Habakiri from his hand to Ritual Summon a new Murakumo from his Deck. Habakiri added Mitsurugi Mirror to his hand. He played it, Tributing Murakumo to Ritual Summon Futsu from the Graveyard. Murakumo returned to the field after adding Great Purification to his hand. He played Dimensional Fissure, then Set Lemnisgate, Great Purification, and Widow Anchor.

Horowitz activated Reinforcement of the Army, and Billiar Chained Murakumo. Horowitz chose to let his card be negated. He Normal Summoned Razen, and Billiar Tributed Murakumo to negate and destroy it. Horowitz couldn’t play through Billiar’s board, and conceded here!

Duel 3

Billiar began the final Duel with Kusanagi, Prayers, Murakumo, and two copies of Triple Tactics Thrust. Horowitz played Stake your Soul!, revealing Izuna to Special Summon Hollie Sue. He used Hollie Sue to Special Summon Dr. Mad Love from his Deck, and that put Vanuish Soul, Start! in his hand. He played Start, which added Heavy Borger to his hand. He Normal Summoned Razen and added Caesar Valius to his hand. He used Razen’s effect, revealing Vanquish Soul Jiaolong, and doing so let him then Special Summon Jiaolong. He stacked it with Hollie Sue for K9-17 “Ripper”. He used Razen to Link Summon Rock of the Vanquisher, which returned Razen to his hand. Ripper’s effect detached Hollie Sue and put K9-66a Jokul in his hand. He used Jokul’s effect, Special Summoning it with Izuna. Izuna sent Lupis to the Graveyard, and Jokul added another Izuna to his hand. He bounced Dr. Mad Love to his hand to Special Summon Heavy Borger, and revealed the same Mad Love to draw a card. He stacked Izuna and Jokul for Qunuery, which then revived Hollie Sue. He moved to the End Phase, and Start let him Set Vanquish Soul Snow Devil.

Billiar drew another Murakumo. In the Draw Phase, Billiar used Prayers, Tributing a Murakumo, and Horowitz drew a card with Heavy Borger. Billiar added Habakiri to his hand, then took 800 damage to Special Summon Kusanagi. Kusanagi returned Prayers to his hand, and Murakumo added Mitsurugi Ritual to his hand. He played Mitsurugi Ritual, bringing Murakumo from his hand by Tributing Saji and Aramasa from his Deck. He activated all three monsters’ effects, and Horowitz Chained Rock’s effect to Special Summon Dr. Mad Love. Vanuish Soul, Start! protected his Vanquish Soul monsters, but Murakumo’s effect destroyed the rest. Billiar’s other effects then put Mitsurugi Mirror and Futsu in his hand. Horowitz activated Hollie Sue’s effect to Special Summon a monster, and Billiar Chained Murakumo. Horowitz discarded his Pot of Prosperity to make his effect resolve, and Special Summoned Razen. Razen put Jiaolong in his hand, and then Razen destroyed the Murakumo since it was in the same column. Billiar played Mitsurugi Mirror, Tributing Habakiri from his hand to Ritual Summon Futsu from his hand. Habakiri’s effect put another Prayers in his hand. He used Kusanagi and Futsu to Link Summon Sky Striker Ace – Azalea. Horowitz flipped Snow Devil, dealing some damge and destroying Azalea. Billiar finally used Triple Tactics Thrust, adding Engage to his hand. It was right around this time, the other Duels ended – it was all coming down to this Match.

He played Engage to find Sky Striker Mobilize – Linkage!, and then drew… The Winged Dragon of Ra – Sphere Mode! Horowitz Special Summoned Caesar Valius by returning Hollie Sue to his hand. Billiar wasted no time, and Tributed everything but Razen to hand over Sphere Mode! He Set Prayers, sending it away with Linkage to get Sky Striker Ace – Kagari in play, which returned Engage to his hand. He played it, adding another Linkage to his hand and drawing Droll & Lock Bird. He played Linkage, and Horowitz Special Summoned Hollie Sue from his hand. He then Chained Lupis from the Graveyard, and Linkage brought Zero to the field. Horowitz brought down N.As.H. Knight, and Zero put Engage in Billiar’s hand. He played Engage to get Widow Anchor and drew Forbidden Droplet. He moved to the Battle Phase and attacked Razen with Zero, but the clock was running out. Billiar didn’t want the Match to end in a double loss, and knew he was fighting from behind – he made the decision to concede.

A tough ending to an otherwise great Match, but Team E.A.T. Shifter comes out ahead! Both of these teams have strong records, so we’ll be seeing more of them in Day 2!