Three Blackwing Decks made it to the Top 16 here, and right now we’re going to see two of them go head-to-head in a mirror Match! Benjamin Sager made waves yesterday as he included “Blackwing – Mistral the Silver Shield” in his Deck to secure a Day 2 finish, while Christian Lewis is packing Main Deck tricks like “Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer.” These Duelists duked it out yesterday in Round 6. Sager narrowly claimed victory, but Lewis was looking for a different outcome in this rematch.

Sager opened the match with “Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame,” “Bottomless Trap Hole,” “D.D. Crow,” “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness,” “Mystical Space Typhoon,” and “Allure of Darkness.” He Summoned Shura, Set Bottomless, and ended.

Lewis had “Blackwing – Bora the Spear,” “Bottomless Trap Hole,” “Royal Oppression,” “Black Whirlwind,” “Allure of Darkness,” and “Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow.” He activated Whirlwind, Summoned Bora, but lost it to “Bottomless Trap Hole.” He Set another card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone to finish.

Sager drew “Icarus Attack” and swung with Shura for 1800 Battle Damage. He Set two cards to his back row and play was back to Lewis. He Normal Summoned “Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow,” trying to search for another card with “Black Whirlwind,” but Sager responded with “Mystical Space Typhoon” to destroy Whirlwind! Lewis Set the rest of his cards to his Spell & Trap Card Zone.

Sager activated “Allure of Darkness,” drew two, and removed “Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn.” Shura attacked, Lewis flipped “Mirror Force,” and Sager chained “Icarus Attack.” He tributed Shura, destroying Lewis’ Kalut as well as his “Bottomless Trap Hole.” He Normal Summoned “Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind” in Main Phase 2 and ended.

Lewis Summoned “Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North,” tried to Special Summon Kalut with Blizzard’s effect, and lost out to “D.D. Crow.” Blizzard attacked Gale, and Sager responded with Kalut! Blizzard went down. Gale attacked directly, Sager Set a card to his back row, and Lewis Set another himself. He took another shot from Gale and dropped to 2200 Life Points. Sager still had 8000.

Lewis Set another Spell or Trap, then flipped “Allure of Darkness.” He removed “Dark Armed Dragon” to complete its effect, then Set another Spell or Trap. Gale attacked once more to drop Lewis to 900 Life Points, and Lewis conceded after seeing his next draw.

“Bottomless Trap Hole,” “Mystical Space Typhoon,” a clutch “Icarus Attack,” and a timely “D. D. Crow” let Benjamin Sager counter virtually everything Christian Lewis attempts in the first Duel, as everything just seems to come together! One more Duel like that and Sager would be moving on to the Top 8! Side Decking was quick.

“Going first was so important there” remarked Lewis, friendly. “That Bottomless screwed me! If I’d’ve gone first I’d’ve used the Whirlwind and Bora.”

“Can I go first?” asked Benjamin with a grin. Lewis laughed. “No!”

Lewis opened with “Brain Control,” “Heavy Storm,” “Icarus Attack,” Blizard, “Torrential Tribute,” and “Mystical Space Typhoon.” He Set 2 cards to his Spell & Trap Card Zone.

Sager had “Solemn Judgment,” “Icarus Attack,” 2 Whirlwinds, Shura, and “Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North.” He Set Blizzard, Set 2 cards to his back row, and ended. He lost Icarus attack to “Mystical Space Typhoon” in the End Phase. Lewis Set another Spell or Trap and passed.

Sager activated both copies of “Black Whirlwind.” He Normal Summoned “Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame,” Lewis flipped “Torrential Tribute,” and Sager chained “Solemn Judgment” to negate it! He searched his deck for “Blackwing – Bora the Spear” and “Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow.” He Flip Summoned Blizzard, attacked for 1300 damage, and attacked for 1800 more with Shura. Lewis was down to 4900 Life Points. He still had that “Heavy Storm” and “Brain Control” though, and that Shura was quite the opportunity.

Lewis flipped his face-down “Heavy Storm,” destroying both copies of Whirlwind! Not a bad way to start a comeback. “Brain Control” let him take Shura and he attacked with it. Sager activated Kalut at the start of the Damage Step, Lewis Chained his own, and then Sager activated another on a new Chain during damage calculation. After 3 Kaluts flew through the air, Shura was finally destroyed! In Main Phase 2 Lewis Summoned Blizzard, Special Summoned back his Kalut, and ended with two cards Set in his Spell & Trap Card Zone.

Sager Normal Summoned another “Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North.” He Special Summoned Kalut from his Graveyard, Tuned it to Blizzard for “Magical Android,” and lost his field to “Icarus Attack”! He took an attack from Lewis’ Blizzard next turn, but Summoned Blackwing – Bora next turn. Bora attacked, but was turned face-down by “Book of Moon.” Blizzard destroyed it on the turn that followed. Lewis Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone, Sager Summoned Blackwing – Kalut, and attacked into Blizzard. Lewis activated Kalut’s effect to destroy his opponent’s on-field Kalut, and attacked again next turn. Sager had just 1400 Life Points remaining.

He activated “Allure of Darkness” next turn, drawing two cards and removing “Dark Armed Dragon.” He Normal Summoned “Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind,” halving Blizzard’s ATK and DEF. Gale attacked over Blizzard and Lewis dropped to 2550 Life Points. Sager Set “Icarus Attack.” Next turn Lewis Normal Summoned “Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn,” activated its effect to gain Gale’s ATK, and attacked! Sager responded with “Icarus Attack” but Lewis had “My Body As A Shield” to Chain, and with Gale Tributed for “Icarus Attack,” Lewis was free to attack directly to finish the Duel.

Benjamin Sager opens with double “Black Whirlwind,” but Christian Lewis builds an opportunity and capitalizes on the unprotected Shura to battle back! This Match is going to a third Duel!

Sager opened up with “Allure of Darkness,” trading his “Blackwing – Bora the Spear” for two more cards. He Set a card to his back row and ended. Lewis activated “Mystical Space Typhoon” to destroy the copy of “Icarus Attack” Sager had Set, then Normal Summoned Bora for an attack. He Set one card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone.

Sager activated “Giant Trunade,” then Summoned “Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer” to attack over Bora. Lewis Normal Summoned “Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North,” targeted his Bora to Special Summon it, and Sager Chained “D. D. Crow”! Lewis Special Summoned another Bora though, Tuned it to Blizzard, and Synchro Summoned “Goyo Guardian.” Goyo attacked Kycoo, destroyed it, and Lewis Special Summoned it.

Sager activated “Black Whirlwind,” Normal Summoned “Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor,” and searched his deck for “Blackwing – Mistral the Silver Shield”! “My hero!” exclaimed Sager. Vayu attacked Kycoo, destroyed it, and a Set Spell or Trap finished Sager’s turn. “Goyo Guardian” attacked Vayu, Sager responded with “Icarus Attack,” Tributed Vayu, and destroyed Lewis’ “Goyo Guardian” and “Royal Oppression.” Lewis Set a Spell or Trap, Summoned Kycoo, and ended.

Sager Special Summoned “Dark Armed Dragon,” tried to move to his Battle Phase, and Lewis activated “Threatening Roar”! Sager Set a monster and ended with one card left in hand, plus Whirlwind on the field.

Lewis drew to two cards in hand with Kycoo on the field. He activated “Brain Control”! He took “Dark Armed Dragon,” attacked with it, and destroyed Mistral. Kycoo made a direct attack and Mistral’s effect negated it! Truly a champ, that Mistral. “Dark Armed Dragon’s” effect destroyed Whirlwind and itself, and Lewis Set his last card to his back row.

Sager drew, and played his two cards: “Black Whirlwind” and Bora the Spear! He searched his deck for “Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind,” Special Summoned it, and shrunk Kycoo with its effect. Bora attacked Kycoo, Kycoo went down, and Sager pumped his fist! Gale made a direct attack and Lewis was down to 2400 Life Points. He had just one card left in his back row.

In Main Phase 2 Sager Synchro Summoned “Blackwing Armor Master.” Lewis drew for his turn and conceded next turn.

“Blackwing – Mistral the Silver Shield,” along with a top-decked Bora to match his in-hand Whirlwind, clinch an exciting Match for Benjamin Sager! Both Duelists pulled out all the stops, but Sager moves on to the Top 8!