Round 4 Feature Match: Austin Ruggeri versus Giuseppe Longo
Giuseppe Longo is playing one of the most frequently seen Decks at this tournament: Gladiator Beasts. His opponent is Austin Ruggeri, one of today’s Plant Duelists. Ruggeri made the finals of SHONEN JUMP Championship Chicago over two years ago, and is eager to make Day 2 yet again.
Giuseppe Longo is playing one of the most frequently seen Decks at this tournament: Gladiator Beasts. His opponent is Austin Ruggeri, one of today’s Plant Duelists. Ruggeri made the finals of SHONEN JUMP Championship Chicago over two years ago, and is eager to make Day 2 yet again.
Ruggeri opened the Match with a hand of “Mystic Tomato,” “Mystical Space Typhoon,” “Burial From a Different Dimension,” “Allure of Darkness,” and two “Mystic Tomatoes.” He Set Tomato, Set “Mystical Space Typhoon,” and ended.
Longo Normal Summoned “Rescue Cat”, sent it to the Graveyad with its effect, and Special Summoned two “Gladiator Beast Samnites” from his Deck. One Samnite attacked “Mystic Tomato,” and Ruggeri Special Summoned “Armageddon Knight” from his Deck with Tomato’s effect. He sent “Necro Gardna” to the Graveyard with “Armageddon Knight’s” effect, and removed “Necro Gardna” from the Graveyard to block the second Samnite’s attack. Longo tagged out his first Samnite for “Gladiator Beast Murmillo,” destroyed “Armageddon Knight,” and Set “Waboku.” He lost it immediately to “Mystical Space Typhoon” in the End Phase, and his Samnite was destroyed by the effect of “Rescue Cat.”
Ruggeri drew “Mark of the Rose” and passed. Longo Normal Summoned “Gladiator Beast Bestiari,” attacked with both of his monsters, and Special Summoned two more: “Gladiator Beast Laquari” with 2100 ATK, and “Gladiator Beast Darius.” Darius Special Summoned Samnite from Longo’s Graveyard, and he sent all three of his monsters back to his Deck, Special Summoning “Gladiator Beast Heraklinos” from his Extra Deck! He Set one card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone to finish.
Ruggeri drew and activated “Foolish Burial,” but Longo negated it with Heraklinos’ effect by discarding “Torrential Tribute.” Ruggeri Set “Burial From a Different Dimension,” ended, and next turn Longo searched his Deck for “Gladiator Beast Laquari” with “Gladiator Proving Ground.” He Normal Summoned it, attacked, and tagged in Bestiari. Ruggeri Chained “Burial From a Different Dimension,” but was denied its effect as Longo discarded “Book of Moon” to negate it with Heraklinos’ effect. Longo Set another card to his back row.
Ruggeri drew “Allure of Darkness” and activated it – Longo didn’t have any more cards in hand to discard for Heraklinos. Ruggeri activated “Mark of the Rose,” removed “Mystic Tomato” to take control of Heraklinos, and then Normal Summoned “Lonefire Blossom.” He Tributed it, Summoned another from his Deck, then Tributed his second Lonefire to Special Summon “Dandylion.”
“I will… enter my Battle Phase?” Longo nodded. “Attack.” Heraklinos attack Bestiari, but Longo had another “Waboku”! At the end of the Battle Phase he tagged out Bestiari for “Gladiator Beast Murmillo,” destroying “Dandylion.” Ruggeri Special Summoned two “Fluff Tokens” and Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone.
Longo took back his Heraklinos, attacked, and when Ruggeri activated “Threatening Roar,” Longo Chained Heraklinos’ effect, discarding “Bottomless Trap Hole.” The attacks went through. Ruggeri lost his “Fluff Tokens,” Longo tagged in “Gladiator Beast Bestiari,” and used its effect to destroy “Mark of the Rose.”
Ruggeri had two “Pots of Avarice” and “Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind.” He Set everything, but Longo was unfazed. He attacked with both of his Gladiators and it was all over!
Giuseppe Longo takes complete control over the first Duel, showcasing the versatility of a well-played Gladiator Beast Deck, as Austin Ruggeri’s Deck just doesn’t give him the cards he needed to survive.
“This is my hardest matchup” remarked Ruggeri as he made use of his Side Deck. “”Gladiator Beast War Chariot” is really hard to play around.” Ruggeri’s Deck is heavily dependent on monster effects like those of “Armageddon Knight,” “Mystic Tomato,” and “Lonefire Blossom.” Without them filling his Graveyard, cards like “Debris Dragon” and “Pot of Avarice” never become useful. Even if the Graveyard is loaded, War Chariot can still stop “Debris Dragon” anyway, so it’s really an uphill battle for Ruggeri.
Could he pull it out? We were about to find out, as Duel 2 got started!
Ruggeri opened the second Duel with “Armageddon Knight,” “Dandylion,” “Necro Gardna,” Burial and two “Legendary Jujitsu Masters.” He was rolling in defense, but didn’t have any real offense going yet. He Set “Legendary Jujitsu Master.”
Longo Normal Summoned “Rescue Cat” again, brought out two “Gladiator Beast Samnites,” and Ruggeri feigned a sigh. He was in a great position, but was bluffing weakness. Longo activated “Dimensional Fissure,” attacked, and Ruggeri flipped up “Legendary Jujitsu Master”! Samnite was bounced back to Longo’s Deck. He Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone, ended, and lost his second Samnite.
Ruggeri drew another Burial, and set his second “Legendary Jujitsu Master.” Longo Summoned “Gladiator Beast Laquari,” attacked the face-down Jujitsu Master, and used “Gladiator Beast War Chariot” to destroy the Jujitsu! He didn’t tag out Laquari – he just Set a card to his back row.
Ruggeri blew it away next turn with “Heavy Storm,” destroying “Dimensional Fissure” and “Torrential Tribute”! He Normal Summoned “Armageddon Knight,” sent “Plaguespreader Zombie” to his Graveyard with the Knight’s effect, and returned a card to the top of his Deck to special Summon his Plaguespreaker. He Tuned Plaguespreader to “Armageddon Knight,” Synchro Summoned “Goyo Guardian,” and attacked “Gladiator Beast Laquari.” Instead of Special Summoning Laquari, Ruggeri left it in Longo’s Graveyard, not wanting to present him with a Defense Position monster he could easily attack to do a Gladiator Beast tag-in next turn.
Longo could do nothing next turn but Set a monster. Ruggeri ran it over on his next turn with Goyo, revealing it to be “Gladiator Beast Darius.” Longo Set another monster, Ruggeri activated “Allure of Darkness,” and removed “Necro Gardna” for Allure’s effect. Goyo attacked again, destroying “Gladiator Beast Samnite.” Ruggeri Set “Mystical Space Typhoon.”
Longo Set a monster card, then Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone. He lost his “Bottomless Trap Hole” to “Mystical Space Typhoon” in the End Phase. The Duel stood at 8000 Life Points to 6800 Life Points, with Ruggeri leading.
Ruggeri drew and started running numbers. “Burial From a Different Dimension” got him three DARKs in his Graveyard, he Special Summoned “Dark Armed Dragon,” and he turned “Legendary Jujitsu Master” to Attack Position! “Dark Armed Dragon” cleared the field and three direct attacks ended the Duel!
Austin Ruggeri manages to battle back, pushing this Match to a third Duel! Each Duelist made only minimal use of their Side Deck before the third Duel was started.
Longo opened with “Gladiator Beast Laquari” and a Set card in his Spell & Trap Card Zone. Ruggeri had “Allure of Darkness,” “Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind,” two “Lonefire Blossoms,” “Debris Dragon,” and “Legendary Jujitsu Master.” The Allure got him “Sangan” and “Dust Tornado,” and he removed “Sangan” for its effect. He had a great hand. He set “Legendary Jujitsu Master,” Set “Dust Tornado,” and ended.
Longo activated “Cold Wave,” and Ruggeri Chained “Dust Tornado” to destroy his opponent’s “Bottomless Trap Hole.” Longo Summoned “Gladiator Beast Darius,” sent it back to the Deck with “Test Tiger,” and Special Summoned “Gladiator Beast Bestiari.” He Special Summoned “Gladiator Beast Gyzarus,” destroyed “Legendary Jujitsu Master,” and attacked to Special Summon two copies of “Gladiator Beast Laquari” from his Deck!
Ruggeri Normal Summoned “Lonefire Blossom,” Tributed it to Special Summon “Tytannial, Princess of Camellias,” and attacked one of the two Laquari, destroying it. Ruggeri ended with four cards in hand. Longo drew to three in hand.
He Normal Summoned “Gladiator Beast Bestiari”! But he knew Tytannial would destroy “Gladiator Beast Gyzarus” if he Summoned it, so he Set one card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone and then activated “Dimensional Fissure.”
With his opponent now fully committed to the field, Ruggeri Summoned “Debris Dragon”! He brought back “Lonefire Blossom,” Tuned the Dragon to it, and cleared the field by Synchro Summoning “Black Rose Dragon.” He Set two cards to his Spell & Trap Card Zone. Longo passed, and Ruggeri Summoned “Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind” for a direct attack. Longo passed again, ate another direct attack from Gale, but destroyed it next turn with “Smashing Ground.” He Summoned “Gladiator Beast Murmillo” but lost it to Ruggeri’s “Torrential Tribute.” He Set a card to his back row to end.
Ruggeri Set “Plaguespreader Zombie,” and when Longo tried to move into his Battle Phase next turn he was shut down by “Threatening Roar.” Ruggeri Tributed “Plaguespreader Zombie” for “Caius the Shadow Monarch” next turn, but Longo Chained “Gladiator Beast War Chariot” to destroy Caius! Ruggeri Set “Threatening Roar,” used it next turn to stop Retiari’s attack, and Longo Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone.
Ruggeri Set “Necro Gardna,” Set a back row card, and Retiari attacked “Necro Gardna” next turn. Retiari bounced off “Necro Gardna’s” 1300 DEF. Longo tagged in “Gladiator Beast Equeste,” taking back “Gladiator Beast Bestiari” from his Graveyard. He Set a second card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone.
Ruggeri blasted him with “Heavy Storm” next turn! Longo didn’t chain his “Enemy Controller,” losing both that and “Bottomless Trap Hole.” Ruggeri Summoned “Lonefire Blossom,” placed his last card on the top of his Deck to Special Summon “Plaguespreader Zombie,” and Synchro Summoned with everything he had to bring out “Stardust Dragon”! Stardust ran over “Gladiator Beast Equeste” and the Duel stood at 3700 Life Points to 5600. Ruggeri was in the lead, but had nothing left except “Stardust Dragon.”
Longo drew to two cards in hand with an empty field. He Set one back row card, ended, and took 2500 damage from Stardust during Ruggeri’s turn. Longo Set another monster next turn, then Set a Trap Card, and lost his monster (Bestiari) to Stardust next turn. Ruggeri Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone and ended. Longo Set “Gladiator Beast Samnite” next turn, but Ruggeri had “Armageddon Knight” to destroy it in battle, leaving “Stardust Dragon” to make a direct attack for game!
Austin Ruggeri suffers some tough opening draws in the first and second Duels, but fights back to claim the match in Game 3! He is now 4-0 here today with Plants.