Allen Pennington hails from Tampa Bay, Florida, but just moved to Orlando for school. He’s known locally as “The Gadget Guy.” Except for last format, he’s run Gadgets perpetually for several years now. The dedication is paying off here today, as Pennington is 6-1 going into this round.

Chioh Yim is playing Gladiator Beasts, complete with “Elemental Hero Stratos” and “Elemental Hero Prisma.” The speed of those cards and the access they give to “Gladiator Beast Gyzarus,” as well as the generally useful nature of Stratos, could be a deciding factor in this match. With that said though, everything will change once we hit Duel 2 and Side Decks become a factor.

Pennington opened with “Trap Hole,” “Royal Oppression,” “Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind,” “Fissure,” “Lightning Vortex,” and “Soul Taker.” He Set “Trap Hole” and passed but lost it to Yim’s “Heavy Storm.” Yim looked to capitalize! He Summoned “Gladiator Beast Samnite,” Special Summoned “Test Tiger,” Tributed it to bring “Gladiator Beast Secutor” to the field, and made a direct attack to bring out “Gladiator Beast Darius” and “Gladiator Beast Laquari.” That let him Special Summon “Gladiator Beast Heraklinos” and he ended his turn by Setting one card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone.

Pennington activated “Soul Taker,” and Yim discarded “X-Saber Airbellum” to negate it with Heraklinos’ effect. He activated “Fissure” next, lost out to Heraklinos again, but finished the job with “Lightning Vortex.” He discarded “Book of Moon” and Heraklinos went down to “Lightning Vortex’s” effect. Pennginton Set a card to his back row and ended.

Yim Summoned “Elemental Hero Stratos.” He searched his Deck for “Elemental Hero Prisma,” attacked for 1800 damage, and ended. Pennington Set a monster, Yim Summoned Prisma, and sent Laquari to the Graveyard with Prisma’s effect. He then attacked into “Spirit Reaper.” He Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone, Pennington Set one too, and Yim Set a monster.

Pennington drew again: he now had “Tragoedia” and “Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind” in hand. “This is a pretty fun game. Go ahead! Apparently Reaper’s good against Gladiator Beasts! I didn’t know that!”

Well, it wasn’t for long. Yim Flip Summoned the Bestiari he’d Set last turn, attacked into “Spirit Reaper,” but lost out to “Royal Oppression” when he tried to tag Bestiari out for another Gladiator Beast. Each player passed twice, and play was back to Pennington, who Set a monster. He Set “Trap Dustshoot” and flipped it, revealing Yim’s hand of “Waboku,” “Gladiator Beast War Chariot,” “Gladiator Beast Retiari,” and “Test Tiger.”  He sent back Retiari, Yim passed again, and Pennington drew another “Tragoedia.”

More passing! Pennington passed, Yim Set a third Spell or Trap, and play was back to Pennington (who finally drew a Gadget: “Yellow Gadget”). He Flip Summoned “D. D. Warrior Lady,” attacked “Elemental Hero Stratos” with her, and then Special Summoned “Tragoedia” when he took the Battle Damage. “D. D. Warrior Lady” removed Stratos from play, and Pennington sent his 2400 ATK Tragoedia to attack over “Elemental Hero Prisma.”

Yim Set a monster, Set “Waboku,” but lost it to “Mystical Space Typhoon” in the End Phase. Pennington attacked with “Tragoedia,” but Yim responded with another “Waboku.” He still couldn’t tag out due to “Royal Oppression.” Pennington turned “Spirit Reaper” to Attack Position, attacked Retiari with “Tragoedia,” and made a direct attack with Reaper to force Yim to discard “Test Tiger.”

Yim set two more cards to his Spell & Trap Card Zone, and took direct attacks from “Spirit Reaper” and a 4200 ATK “Tragoedia” next turn! Pennington Set a monster, Set a Spell or Trap, and Yim Summoned “Gladiator Beast Darius” to press some damage through “Spirit Reaper.” Pennington discarded “Yellow Gadget” to try and take control of Darius, succeeding – “Didn’t you have Chariot down?” asked Pennington. “I thought you did.” Yim just shrugged and shuffled up.

Neither Duelist really gets much action going, but Allen Pennington gets the best end of the short stick and pulls through, thanks to a massive “Tragoedia”! One more win, and he’d just be two Matches away from Day 2.

Pennington brought in nine cards from his Side Deck: 2 “Dust Tornado,” 2 “Mirror of Oaths,” 2 “Legendary Jujitsu Master,” 2 “Breaker the Magical Warrior,” and 1 copy of “Dimensional Prison.”

Yim opened Duel 2 with “E – Emergency Call,” getting “Elemental Hero Stratos.” He Summoned it, grabbed “Elemental Hero Prisma” from his Deck, and Set one card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone.

Pennington Summoned “Yellow Gadget,” searching his Deck for “Green Gadget” with the first Gadget’s effect. He attacked with “Yellow Gadget” into Stratos, took 600 points of damage, and Special summoned “Tragoedia” – at which poin Yim activated “Book of Moon”! Pennington Set “Mirror of Oaths,” lost it to “Nobleman of Extermination” next turn, and Yim Summoned “Elemental Hero Prisma.”

Yim sent “Gladiator Beast Bestiari” to the Graveyard with Prisma’s effect, Special Summoned “Test Tiger,” sent Prisma back to the Deck, and then Special Summoned “Gladiator Beast Darius.” Darius got Bestiari, Yim traded his two Gladiator Beasts for “Gladiator Beast Gyzarus,” and Gyzarus’ effect blew away “Tragoedia.” Yim made direct attacks with Gyzarus and Stratos, then tagged Gyzarus out to Special Summon “Gladiator Beast Laquari” and “Gladiator Beast Samnite.”

Pennington took out Samnite and Laquari with “Fissure” and “Smashing Ground,” then Summoned “Green Gadget” to get “Red Gadget” from his Deck. He Set “Book of Moon” and had two “Red Gadget” left in hand. Yim Summoned “Gladiator Beast Darius” next turn, attacked with it, and then made a direct attack with Stratos. When Yim tagged in Bestiari, Pennington Chained “Book of Moon,” turning Stratos face-down. Yim Set another Spell or Trap.

Pennington Summoned “Red Gadget,” searched for “Yellow Gadget,” attacked, and Yim stopped it with “Dimensional Prison.” Two turns later Yim unleashed Gyzarus again, and the match was moving to a third Duel!

Pennington got things started in Duel 3 with “Green Gadget,” fetching a copy of “Red Gadget” from his Deck. Pennington Set one Spell or Trap, Yim blasted him with “Cold Wave,” and then Summoned “Gladiator Beast Samnite” to attack “Green Gadget.” “Green Gadget” went down, but Pennington Special Summoned “Tragoedia” during the Damage Step, forcing Yim to Special Summon “Gladiator Beast Murmillo” at the end of the battle Phase to destroy it. That left Pennington free to Summon “Red Gadget” next turn, searching for “Yellow Gadget,” and attacking over the vulnerable Murmillo. It was a really nice play by Pennington.

Yim could do nothing next turn, except Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone. Pennington Summoned “Yellow Gadget,” not realizing he was out of “Green Gadgets” in his Deck, and had to make do with a couple direct attacks. He Set another card to his back row to end. “That was my worst misplay of the day.” Yim Set another card to his back row.

Pennington attacked with “Red Gadget,” lost it to “Dimensional Prison,” and dished out 1200 damage with “Yellow Gadget.” He Summoned “Green Gadget” in Main Phase 2 to get “Red Gadget” and ended. Yim must’ve been getting desperate, using “Dimensional Prison” on a Gadget! Yim just Set another Spell or Trap next turn.

“Doesn’t seem like you have much.”

“I don’t have a single monster!” groaned Yim. He ate attacks from “Green Gadget” and “Yellow Gadget” next turn, dropping to 1700 Life Points. Pennington activated “Heavy Storm” in Main Phase 2 to wipe three cards total from each side of the field, and he Normal Summoned “Red Gadget” before setting one more Spell or Trap.

Yim Summoned Samnite, attacked “Yellow Gadget,” and Pennington turned Samnite face-down with “Book of Moon.” Yim sighed and Set two more cards to his back row. He had one card left in hand.

Pennington drew to five cards in hand with three Gadgets on the field. Fearing “Waboku,” he Normal Summoned “D. D. Warrior Lady” and attacked with her – Yim responded with “Enemy Controller,” Tributing Samnite to take control of “D. D. Warrior Lady.” That cut Pennington off from his planned attacks for the turn, so he Set another card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone before taking back “D. D. Warrior Lady.”

Yim Summoned “Gladiator Beast Bestiari,” then Special Summoned his last in-hand card: “Test Tiger.” Pennington responded with “Torrential Tribute,” and Yim had just one card left in his back row. Pennington summoned “Yellow Gadget,” attacked into another “Enemy Controller,” and it was all over a turn later!

Allen Pennington grinds down Chioh Yim card by card to dominate the third Duel, as Yim is stuck drawing Spell after Spell, and Trap after Trap! Pennington is just two wins away from the Top 16!