The playoffs for 3^rd place would pit George Murray’s Blackwing Deck against Desmond Brown’s Destiny Hero Zombie Deck. This was a common match-up in today’s tournament and the result here may help to define the future tournament scene.

Brown won the dice roll and chose to begin the Duel. He activated “Allure of Darkness” and removed “Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude” from play. He Set one monster and one back row before ending his turn.

Murray opened up with “D.D. Crow,” “Blackwing – Bora the Spear,” “Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame,” “Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn,” and “Mystical Space Typhoon.” He drew “Allure of Darkness” as his sixth card. Murray activated “Mystical Space Typhoon” to destroy Brown’s Set “Torrential Tribute,” then used “Allure of Darkness” to draw a second “D.D. Crow” and a “Brain Control.” He removed Bora from play with Allure.

Next, he Summoned “Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame” and used it to attack “Goblin Zombie.” Murray recruited Vayu to the field in attack mode with Shura’s effect, and Brown added “Zombie Master” to his hand with the effect of “Goblin Zombie.” Vayu attacked directly for 800, and Brown dropped to 7200 Life Points. Murray passed his turn without a back row.

Brown Summoned “Zombie Master” next turn and discarded “Plaguespreader Zombie,” targeting “Goblin Zombie” with the Master’s effect. Murrray chained “D.D. Crow” to remove the “Goblin Zombie” from play instead! Brown activated “Allure of Darkness” next, drawing 2 cards and removing a “Dark Grepher” from the game. Next, he played “Foolish Burial” to send a “Mezuki” from his Deck to his Graveyard. He then attacked Vayu with “Zombie Master,” and Murray dropped to 7000 Life Points. Brown Set a card and ended his turn.

Murray top decked “Icarus Attack.” Then he paid 800 Life Points to activate “Brain Control” and took control of Brown’s “Zombie Master.” Both monsters attacked Brown directly, and Brown dropped down to 2600 Life Points. In his second Main Phase, Murray Tributed “Zombie Master” for “Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn” and Set “Icarus Attack.”

Brown removed “Mezuki” from play to Special Summon “Zombie Master.” Then he discarded a “Destiny Hero – Malicious” to try to Special Summon “Plaguespreader Zombie” from his Graveyard, but Murray removed it by using his last in-hand card: “D.D. Crow”! Next, Brown removed Malicious from his Graveyard to Special Summon another one from his Deck. Finally, Brown flipped his one face-down card, “Return from the Different Dimension”! He Special Summoned Malicious, “Plaguespreader Zombie,” and “Goblin Zombie” by paying half of his Life Points. Murray activated his “Icarus Attack” by Tributing Shura to destroy “Zombie Master” and “Plaguespreader Zombie” before Brown could Synchro Summon. Next, Brown played “Burial from a Different Dimension” and returned “Mezuki,” “Dark Grepher,” and Diamond Dude to his Graveyard. Then he removed “Mezuki” to Special Summon “Plaguespreader Zombie,” Synchro Summoned “Stardust Dragon” by Tuning Malicious with “Plaguespreader Zombie,” and activated “Book of Life” to bring back the “Plaguespreader Zombie” again. He tuned “Goblin Zombie” with “Plaguespreader Zombie” and Synchro Summoned “Goyo Guardian.” He then searched for “Mezuki” with “Goblin Zombie’s” effect. Next, Brown put the “Mezuki” he searched for on top of his Deck to return “Plaguespreader Zombie” to the field. He tuned “Plaguespreader Zombie” to his last Malicious and Summoned “Colossal Fighter.” All 3 monsters attacked, and the 1 Sirocco on Murray’s field wasn’t enough to protect him.

A huge play made possible by “Return from the Different Dimension” suddenly turns the game around and gives Desmond Brown the win! George Murray would begin the second Duel.

Murray started with 2 “Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame,” “Icarus Attack,” “Waboku,” “Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer,” and “Royal Oppression” in his opening. He Summoned Shura and Set “Royal Oppression” along with “Waboku” before ending his turn.

Brown opened up with “Allure of Darkness” to draw 2 cards and remove “Mystic Tomato” from the game. Next, he Set one monster and one back row card before ending his turn.

Murray drew “Torrential Tribute” next turn. He attacked Brown’s face-down “Goblin Zombie” with Shura and recruited Kalut to the field with Shura’s effect. Brown searched for “Plaguespreader Zombie” with the effect of “Goblin Zombie” and added it to his hand. Murray forgot to attack with Kalut and went straight to Main Phase 2 where he Summoned Kycoo. He ended his turn.

Brown activated “Lightning Vortex” by discarding “Destiny Draw.” All of Murray’s monsters were destroyed! Next, Brown Set a monster and ended his turn.

Murray played “Mystical Space Typhoon” to destroy Brown’s “Bottomless Trap Hole,” then Summoned Shura and attacked a “Plaguespreader Zombie.” Shura recruited Kalut to the field and then Murray attacked directly with it. Brown dropped to 6600 Life Points. Murray Set “Icarus Attack” in his back row and ended his turn.

Brown Summoned “Zombie Master” next turn. He used it to attack Kalut, and Murray flipped Waboku. Kalut was saved! Next, Brown activated “Burial from a Different Dimension” to return “Mystic Tomato” to his Graveyard and try to Special Summon “Dark Armed Dragon.” But Murray negated the Summon with “Royal Oppression”!

Next turn, Murray attacked with Shura into “Zombie Master” so both monsters were destroyed, and attacked directly with Kalut dropping Brown to 5200.

Brown drew a card and Set one card to his back row.

Murray attacked with Kalut next turn and ended his turn without making any major play. On the following turn, Brown Set a monster and ended his turn immediately.

Murray drew and Summoned Shura next turn, but Brown activated his face-down “Bottomless Trap Hole”! Murray chained “Icarus Attack” to target and destroy Brown’s face-down “Necro Gardna” and “Bottomless Trap Hole.”

Brown Set another card next turn, and on his following turn, Murray Summoned a monster and lost his field to “Torrential Tribute.” Brown passed his next turn without a play.

Next turn, Murray had no cards in hand when he drew “Allure of Darkness.” He activated it and removed a DARK monster, then used another one that he drew and removed Sirocco from the game. He Summoned Kalut and attacked. Brown took the damage.

Next turn, Brown passed without playing any cards, and Murray attacked with another Kalut. The attack was negated by “Necro Gardna.”

One turn later, Brown Set his hand and then activated “Allure of Darkness.” He didn’t draw any DARK monsters and was forced to discard his entire hand. When play passed back to Murray, Kalut declared an attack and was blocked by “Necro Gardna.”

Brown activated 2 copies of “Book of Life” and had them negated by Oppression on his next turn, then used “Brain Control” to try to take control of Kalut and threaten Murray’s remaining Life Points. But Murray chained “Icarus Attack” to Tribute Kalut and target Brain Control and one of his Set copies of “Icarus Attack.”

Next turn, Brown Summoned Stratos and searched for Diamond Dude. Stratos got hit by “Trap Hole” and was sent to the Graveyard. Murray drew another “Royal Oppression” on the following turn and passed without making a play. Brown Summoned Diamond Dude next turn and lost it to another “Trap Hole.”

Next turn, Murray activated “Black Whirlwind,” Summoned Bora, and searched his deck for Blizzard with Whirlwind’s effect. Bora attacked but was blocked by “Necro Gardna” after Brown activated Burial to return 2 copies of “Necro Gardna” to his Graveyard.

Brown activated “Heavy Storm” next turn to clear the Spell and Trap Zones, then returned Plaguespreader to the field by putting a card on top of his Deck. Next turn, Murray Summoned Blizzard, activated the effect to revive Shura, and Synchro Summoned “Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier”! He pitched a card from his hand to bounce “Plaguespreader Zombie” and Brown conceded.

Brown would begin the third Duel. The winner here would receive a “Dark End Dragon” prize card!

Brown activated “Destiny Draw” and discarded “Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude” to draw 2 more cards. Then he Set a card to each zone and ended his turn.

Murray started with 2 copies of “Icarus Attack,” “Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North,” “Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow,” and “Black Whirlwind.” He drew “Royal Oppression” on his first turn.

Murray activated “Black Whirlwind” and Set a “Royal Oppression” to his back row. He Summoned Kalut next, but lost it to “Torrential Tribute.” Brown’s “Necro Gardna” was destroyed too. On his next turn, Brown cleared the field with “Heavy Storm”! Then he Summoned “Mystic Tomato” and attacked directly. He ended his turn without setting a back row.

Murray Summoned “Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North” next turn and used its effect to revive Kalut. He Set a card before play passed back to Brown.

On his next turn, Brown attacked Blizzard with “Mystic Tomato,” Set a card to his Spell and Trap Zone, and ended his turn. Murray used his next turn only to Set 2 cards to his back row.

Brown attacked Kalut with “Mystic Tomato” next turn, and Murray activated “Mirror Force”! He ended his turn.

Murray drew “Torrential Tribute” next turn, switched Kalut into attack mode, and attacked. Brown took the damage and lost 1400 Life Points.

Brown drew a card and Set a monster before passing. On Murray’s next turn, he attacked with Kalut but had his attack negated by Necro Gardna. He finished his turn by setting a fourth card to his back row.

Brown Tributed his face-down “Necro Gardna” for “Caius the Shadow Monarch” next turn, targeting Kalut with Caius’s effect, and Murray chained “Icarus Attack” to destroy Caius and a face-down “Bottomless Trap Hole.”

Murray drew a card and passed his next turn without making a play, and then Brown drew a card and Set 1 back row before passing. Murray drew a card, Set a back row, and passed the following turn too. Things got more exciting on Brown’s next turn.

Brown activated “Destiny Draw” by discarding Malicious to draw 2 cards. Then he activated “Book of Life” and Special Summoned “Plaguespreader Zombie” from his Graveyard by removing a Blizzard from Murray’s Graveyard. He also removed a Malicious from his Graveyard to Special Summon another one from his Deck. Murray flipped “Torrential Tribute” when the Malicious was Summoned, but Brown chained “My Body as a Shield” to protect his monsters. Brown Tuned “Plaguespreader Zombie” with Malicious to Synchro Summon “Stardust Dragon.” “Stardust Dragon” attacked and Murray dropped to 4000 life.

Brown Set another card next turn and now had 3 face-down Spell or Trap Cards. On Murray’s next turn, he Set a card to each zone and ended his turn.

Brown played “Allure of Darkness” next turn to draw 2 cards and remove Gorz from play. Then he activated “Reinforcement of the Army” to search his Deck for “Necro Gardna.” He Summoned “Zombie Master” and discarded “Necro Gardna” with priority. Murray flipped “Trap Hole” and “Zombie Master” was destroyed. “Stardust Dragon” attacked, but Waboku protected Murray’s face-down Bora. Brown ended.

Murray Set another Bora face-down before ending his next turn.

Brown Summoned another “Zombie Master” after play passed back to him. He used “Stardust Dragon” to attack, but Murray Tributed Bora with “Icarus Attack.” Brown Tributed Stardust to negate it, and then “Zombie Master” attacked Murray’s face-down monster. Brown flipped “Waboku” to protect his face-down Bora. On Brown’s End Phase, he brought back “Stardust Dragon.” Then Murray activated another “Icarus Attack,” Tributing his other Bora. He didn’t realize that “Stardust Dragon” would be able to use its effect again. “Stardust Dragon” negated the “Icarus Attack”!

Brown had 3 back rows with a “Stardust Dragon” and “Zombie Master” on the field, while Murray had only 1 Shura in his hand and no cards on the field.

On Murray’s next turn, he was delighted to draw a “Dark Armed Dragon” with exactly 3 DARK monsters in his Graveyard. He Special Summoned it and then Normal Summoned Shura. Shura was destroyed by Brown’s set “Trap Hole.” “Dark Armed Dragon” tried to attack, but Brown flipped “Threatining Roar.” On his next turn Brown activated “Brain Control” to take control of “Dark Armed Dragon” and Murray scooped up his cards.

In a narrow 2-1 victory, Desmond Brown has become the proud owner of a “Dark End Dragon” SHONEN JUMP Championship Prize Card!

Post-Event Analysis!
See what our expert had to say about this Duel after the event was over.

Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
Desmond Brown did a great job playing around “Icarus Attack” throughout the Match. He never committed too many cards to the field when he didn’t need to, which gave Murray fewer targets to destroy with it. At one point, he forced Murray to destroy one of his own cards. At another point, he got Murray to target a face-down “Necro Gardna” and an already-flipped “Bottomless Trap Hole” with “Icarus Attack.” “Stardust Dragon” also provided Brown with a great counter to Murray’s multiple copies of “Icarus Attack.”

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