It’s Round 7, and both of these competitors are running Zombie Decks. Maurice Brantley is packing Destiny Hero Zombies, while his opponent, Tim Blair, is running Lightsworn Zombies, a Deck he insists isn’t very good but that remains undefeated with a 6-0 record. This one should be a lot of fun!

Brantley opened the Match with a Set monster and a Set card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone. Blair had “Zombie Master,” “Card Destruction,” “Lightning Vortex,” “Return from the Different Dimension,” “Torrential Tribute,” and “Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior.” He Set “Return from the Different Dimension,” activated “Card Destruction,” and drew “Necro Gardna,” “Gold Sarcophagus,” “Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind,” and “Bottomless Trap Hole.” He activated “Gold Sarcophagus,” removed “Charge of the Light Brigade” from his Deck, and Set Bottomless and “Necro Gardna.”

Brantley Flip Summoned “Goblin Zombie,” attacked, and slammed into “Necro Gardna.” “200 to you” commented Blair, as “Goblin Zombie” bounced off Gardna’s 1300 DEF. Brantley Set a card to his back row.

Blair Set a monster, Set a card to his back row, and ended. Brantley Normal Summoned “Mystic Tomato,” attacked “Necro Gardna,” and “Goblin Zombie” attacked into “Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter.” Ryko sent “Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress” and 2 “Mezukis” to the Graveyard, destroying Tomato! Brantley Set two more cards to his back row.

Blair got his “Charge of the Light Brigade,” and activated it to send “Solar Recharge,” “Celestia, Lightsworn Angel,” and “Solemn Judgment” to his Graveyard. He searched his Deck for “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner.” He Summoned her, passed priority, and then discarded Blackwing – Gale to Special Summon “Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior.” Brantley responded with “Bottomless Trap Hole” to remove Garoth from the game. Blair sent another Lumina, “Call of the Haunted,” and “Dark Armed Dragon” to the Graveyard with Lumina’s effect in the End Phase.

“Goblin Zombie” attacked Lumina, and Blair removed “Necro Gardna” to shut it down. Blair drew “Plaguespreader Zombie” and added it to his hand of “Brain Control” – he could take “Goblin Zombie” and Tune it to Plaguespreader, but doing so would just give Brantley a free card with “Goblin Zombie’s” effect. Blair discarded “Plaguespreader Zombie” for Lumina’s effect instead, Special Summoning “Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter” from his Graveyard. He then removed “Mezuki” to Special Summon Plaguespreader, and Brantley responded with “Mystical Space Typhoon” – it destroyed Blair’s face-down “Call of the Haunted.”

He Tuned Plaguespreader to Lumina and Ryko to Synchro Summon “Black Rose Dragon”! Brantley responded with “Solemn Judgment.” If the “Black Rose Dragon” had gone through, it would’ve cleared the field for Blair’s “Return from the Different Dimension.” Instead he took control of “Goblin Zombie” with “Brain Control,” attacked, forced Brantley to send “Phoenix Wing Wind Blast” from his Deck to the Graveyard, then flipped Return.

But Brantley’s last card was “Bottomless Trap Hole”! It removed Garoth and “Mezuki” from the game, leaving nothing but Blair’s “Necro Gardna” to make a direct attack. Blair passed with a cleared field, Maurice took back his “Goblin Zombie,” and next turn he Tuned it to his own “Plaguespreader Zombie” to Synchro Summon “Doomkaiser Dragon”! Doomkaiser’s effect Special Summoned one of Blair’s Zombies and Blair conceded, down to just 3600 Life Points.

Maurice Brantley leads the Duel from the beginning with a strong defense, and when Tim Blair makes his move, Brantley has every single individual card needed to rebuff the attack! “Mystical Space Typhoon,” “Solemn Judgment,” and “Bottomless Trap Hole” set Tim Blair up, while “Doomkaiser Dragon” knocks him down! It was a great Duel and we were about to see another one.

Blair opened with a hand of “Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress,” “Mystical Space Typhoon,” “Brain Control,” “Solemn Judgment,” “Malevolent Catastrophe,” and “Pot of Avarice.” He Summoned Lyla, Set Catastrophe, and sent “Allure of Darkness,” “Gold Sarcophagus,” and “Zombie Master” to his Graveyard.

Brantley discarded “Destiny Hero – Malicious” and activated “Destiny Draw”! He discarded “Destiny Hero – Defender” for a second copy of “Destiny Draw,” then took Lyla with “Brain Control.” He activated her effect, destroyed “Malevolent Catastrophe,” and Normal Summoned Kycoo for a direct attack. He hit for 1800 damage and Brantley removed “Zombie Master” from his opponent’s Deck. He Set “Skill Drain.”

Blair destroyed it with “Mystical Space Typhoon,” Normal Summoned his own Kycoo, then attacked to remove Brantley’s Malicious and Defender from Brantley’s Graveyard! He Set two cards to his Spell & Trap Card Zone, ended, and sent “Threatening Roar,” “Chaos Sorcerer,” and “Lightning Vortex” to his Graveyard. Brantley attacked Lyla with Kycoo, Set a monster, and play was back to Blair.

He drew “Pot of Avarice,” holding “Bottomless Trap Hole” with two more cards Set in his back row. He asked to read Brantley’s removed copy of “Destiny Hero – Defender,” clearly considering the notion that Brantley’s Set monster could also be Defender. He activated “Call of the Haunted,” Special Summoned Lyla from the Graveyard, and attacked…

…Right into “Mystic Tomato.” “Oh! You have no idea how bad I wanted that to be a Defender!” Blair wanted to draw some cards really badly. Brantley Special Summoned “Plaguespreader Zombie” with “Mystic Tomato’s” effect. Blair Set a Spell or Trap and ended.

Brantley Tuned “Plaguespreader Zombie” to Kycoo to Synchro Summon “Goyo Guardian,” but lost his Guardian to “Bottomless Trap Hole.” He Normal Summoned another Kycoo though and attacked for another 1800 damage.

Blair drew “Charge of the Light Brigade”! “I am a topdecking master!” He activated Charge, but sent no monsters to the Graveyard. He went and got “Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior” from his Deck though – its 1850 ATK was enough to attack over Kycoo’s 1800 ATK, and Kycoo went down. The Duel stood at 3600 Life Points to 5350, with Brantley leading. A Set back row card ended Blair’s turn.

Brantley drew to three cards in hand, but seemed to be capable of nothing but Setting a monster. Blair drew “Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind,” with one card Set in his Spell & Trap Card Zone and Garoth on the field. He sent Garoth to attack, and this time he hit Defender. “There’s my buddy!”

He Normal Sumoned Blackwing – Gale, Tuned it to Garoth, and Synchro Summoned “Blackwing Armor Master.” Play was to Brantley, who returned a card to the top of his Deck to Special Summon “Plaguespreader Zombie.” He Tuned it to Defender, Synchro Summoned “Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth,” and Set a Spell or Trap.

Blair couldn’t attack over Gaia Knight, so he Set a monster. Brantley passed, Blair Set another Spell or Trap, and Brantley was up. He looked through his Graveyard for a moment, eyed the card he had drawn, and passed without doing anything. Blair checked his own Graveyard next turn, shaking his head, and ended.

Brantley activated “Allure of Darkness” next turn, removing his second copy of “Destiny Hero – Malicious” from the game. Brantley wondered what Blair’s face-down was. “Ryko, maybe? I would be very, very pissed… Go ahead.” He passed without attacking.

Blair drew “Dark Armed Dragon,” but couldn’t Summon it. He Set another monster, and next turn Brantley blasted him with “Heavy Storm.” That destroyed Blair’s “Pot of Avarice” and “Malevolent Catastrophe,” as well as Brantley’s own “Solemn Judgment,” but he didn’t present an immediate follow-up. Brantley just Set a Spell or Trap. Blair hit him with “Trap Dustshoot” a turn later, revealing Brantley’s hand of “Torrential Tribute,” “Bottomless Trap Hole,” “Lightning Vortex,” and “Mezuki.” The latter was returned to Brantley’s Deck.

Brantley attacked “Blackwing Armor Master.” ““Skill Drain”?” asked Blair.

“Yeah,” replied Brantley, flipping “Skill Drain” to let Gaia Knight destroy Armor Master in battle. He Set another Spell or Trap, Blair passed, and Gaia Knight swung at Blair’s face-down “Mezuki” to destroy it. Blair now had “Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress,” “Celestia, Lightsworn Angel,” and “Dark Armed Dragon” in hand. He Set Lyla. Next turn Brantley Summoned “Elemental Hero Stratos” (there was nothing left for him to search with Stratos’ effect), and attacked Blair’s Lyla and “Shiny Black “C”.” Blair Set another “Shiny Black “C”” but was scooping up a turn later, as Brantley attacked again with Gaia Knight and Stratos!

Maurice Brantley may be on his way to yet another Day 2 finish, now just one win away from a seat in the Top 16!