Round 3 Feature Match: Zachary Bishop vs. Herman Herrera
Herman Herrera is here today running a cool Deck combining “Dark Simorgh” with “Anti-Spell Fragrance” to lock down his opponent. He’s also using “Fortune Lady Wind” and “Fortune Lady Dark” to help him Summon “Dark Simorgh,” as well as “Fortune’s Future” to let him draw extra cards. His opponent, Zachary Bishop, is running a DARK Synchro-centered Deck.
Zachary Bishop won the dice roll and chose to go first. He Set 1 card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone and ended his turn without Summoning a monster.
Herman Herrera opened up with “Hand Destruction,” “Divine Wrath,” “Broww, Huntsman of Dark World,” “Fortune’s Future,” and “Upstart Goblin.” Herrera drew “Night Assailant” on his first turn. He then activated “Upstart Goblin” to draw “Dark World Dealings.” He activated it. Each player drew a card. Bishop discarded “Destiny Hero – Malicious” from the effect of “Dark World Dealings” and Herrera discarded Broww to draw another card. He then activated the “Allure of Darkness” he had drawn and removed “Night Assailant” from the game. He Set “Divine Wrath” face-down, along with a monster, and ended his turn.
Bishop Summoned “Dark Grepher” next turn and used its effect to discard “Plaguespreader Zombie” and send “Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor” to his Graveyard. Herrera thought about activating “Divine Wrath” to negate the effect of “Dark Grepher” but eventually decided not to. Bishop then attacked with Grepher and destroyed Herrera’s Set monster: “Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive.” Herrera drew another Dekoichi with its effect.
Bishop ended his turn, and Herrera drew “Gold Sarcophagus.” He activated it to remove “Fortune Lady Wind” from his Deck, then activated “Fortune’s Future” to send Wind to the Graveyard and draw 2 cards. He played “Hand Destruction” next, discarding an “Anti-Spell Fragrance” and “Divine Wrath” to draw 2 new cards. Bishop discarded “Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind” and “Burial from a Different Dimension” and drew 2 cards as well. Herrera removed a “Fortune Lady Wind” and a Dekoichi from his Graveyard, and “Dark Simorgh” hit the field! Then he activated “Fortune’s Future” to send Wind back to the Graveyard and draw 2 cards! He activated “Upstart Goblin” next, attacked “Dark Grepher” with “Dark Simorgh,” and Set 2 more face-down Spell or Trap Cards. He also Set a monster before ending his huge turn. The score stood at 9000 Life Points for Bishop and 8000 Life Points for Herrera.
During Bishop’s Draw Phase, Herrera flipped “Anti-Spell Fragrance”! Combined with “Dark Simorgh,” Bishop could no longer Set his Trap Cards or activate his Spell Cards. Instead, he removed “Destiny Hero – Malicious” from his Graveyard to Special Summon another one from his Deck. Then he put a card from his hand on top of his Deck to Special Summon “Plaguespreader Zombie” from his Graveyard. He next tried to drop “Dark Armed Dragon,” but Herrera flipped Royal Oppresison, paying himself down to 7200 Life Points to negate the Summon of “Dark Armed Dragon.” Bishop was in trouble. He couldn’t Special Summon because of “Royal Oppression,” and he couldn’t use any Spells or Traps except the one he already had face-down. All he could do was Summon “Cyber Valley” and end his turn.
Herrera flipped Dekoichi next turn to draw a card, and then Summoned “Fortune Lady Wind.” He destroyed Bishop’s Set “Scapegoat” with “Fortune Lady Wind’s” effect. “Dark Simorgh” attacked Bishop’s Attack Position “Plaguespreader Zombie,” Dekoichi destroyed Malicious, and “Fortune Lady Wind” attacked “Cyber Valley.” When “Cyber Valley” got attacked, Bishop negated the attack and drew a card by removing “Cyber Valley” from play.
On Bishop’s next turn he drew a card and ended his turn without playing a single card. Herrera attacked with “Fortune Lady Wind,” Dekoichi, and “Dark Simorgh” directly. Bishop dropped down to 1400 Life Points and tried to Summon Gorz after Dark Simorgh attacked. But Herrera negated its Summon with “Divine Wrath” and Bishop scooped up his cards after looking at his next card.
Side Decking was quick and Bishop chose to begin their Duel 2. He Summoned a “Cyber Valley” and Set one card to his back row before ending his turn.
Herrera started off with “Anti-Spell Fragrance,” “Allure of Darkness,” “Fortune Lady Dark,” “Card Destruction,” “Upstart Goblin,” and “Divine Wrath.”
He played “Allure of Darkness” to draw 2 cards and remove “Fortune Lady Dark” from play. Then he activated “Fortune’s Future” to return “Fortune Lady Dark” to the Graveyard and draw 2 cards. He followed up with “Dark World Dealings.” Each player drew and discarded a card. Herrera discarded Broww to draw another card. Herrera then played “Card Destruction” to discard his hand and draw 5 more cards. He played another “Dark World Dealings” next, drawing a card and discarding Broww to pick up another card from his Deck. Then, he removed “Fortune Lady Wind” and “Fortune Lady Dark” to Summon “Dark Simorgh” on his very first turn! Herrera activated “Gold Sarcophagus” to search for “Solemn Judgment,” Set 2 cards to his back row, and ended his turn.
During Bishop’s Draw Phase, Herrera flipped “Anti-Spell Fragrance.” Bishop drew a card and tried to Set one to his back row before being reminded of “Dark Simorgh’s” effect. Once again, Bishop seemed to be locked down by “Dark Simorgh” and “Anti-Spell Fragrance,” unable to use Spells or Traps. He removed a copy of “Destiny Hero – Malicious” from his Graveyard that was sent there by “Card Destruction” in order to Special Summon another one from his Deck. Then he put a card on top of his Deck to Special Summon a “Plaguespreader Zombie” from his Graveyard. He Tuned Malicious to “Plaguespreader Zombie” to Synchro Summon “Colossal Fighter.” Herrera flipped “Royal Oppression” and paid 800 Life Points to negate the Summon, but Bishop chained his one face-down card, “Phoenix Wing Wind Blast,” to return Oppression to the top of Herrera’s Deck! He attacked “Dark Simorgh” and destroyed it with “Colossal Fighter.” With “Dark Simorgh” off the field, he was free to Set 2 back row cards. Herrera drew a card next turn and ended his turn after setting one Spell or Trap Card. Bishop Summoned “Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude” next turn and activated its effect to send “Brain Control” to the Graveyard. He then attacked with Diamond Dude to destroy Herrera’s face-down Dekoichi. He attacked directly with “Colossal Fighter” to drop Herrera to 3900 Life Points. Bishop still had 9000 Life Points. Herrera looked at his next card and conceded.
The Match pushed on to a third Duel! Herrera chose to go first and opened with “Dark World Dealings,” “Fortune’s Future,” “Solemn Judgment,” Broww, “Morphing Jar,” and “Gold Sarcophagus.” He activated “Dark World Dealings” to draw “Royal Oppression” and discarded Broww to draw another card. Bishop discarded “Elemental Hero Stratos” from the effect of “Dark World Dealings.” Herrera activated “Gold Sarcophagus” to search his Deck for “Fortune Lady Wind,” then used “Fortune’s Future” to send it back to the Graveyard and draw 2 cards. Next, he activated “Upstart Goblin” to draw a card, and drew another Upstart. He played that one too, picking up another card and boosting Bishop to 10,000 Life Points. Herrera Set 3 cards face-down along with a monster.
On Bishop’s next turn he activated “Destiny Draw” and discarded “Destiny Hero Malicious.” He then Normal Summoned “Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn,” Set one card into his back row, and attacked a “Morphing Jar.” Both players discarded their hands and drew 5 new cards. Bishop Set 3 more cards to his back row before ending his turn, knowing he wouldn’t be able to Set any more cards after Herrera Summoned “Dark Simorgh.”
During Herrera’s Draw Phase, Bishop activated “Trap Dustshoot” and sent Broww back to Herrera’s Deck. Herrera revealed “Fortune’s Future,” “Hand Destruction,” “Divine Wrath,” “Dark World Dealing,” and “Anti-Spell Fragrance” along with the Broww that just got sent back to his Deck. He activated “Hand Destruction” and both players pitched two cards to draw 2 more. Then Herrera Summoned “Dark Simorgh”! He followed up with “Fortune’s Future” to draw 2 cards by sending the “Fortune Lady Wind” he removed back to his Graveyard. Next, he Summoned another “Dark Simorgh,” and activated another “Fortune’s Future”! He attacked with Simorgh, and Bishop activated “Mirror Force”! But Herrera had “Solemn Judgment” to negate it! Bishop dropped down to 5700 Life Points after taking the attacks from the two “Dark Simorghs” and the “Fortune Lady Wind.” Sirocco was also sent to the Graveyard after being destroyed in battle.
Herrera was at 4000 Life Points from activating “Solemn Judgment.” In Bishop’s next Draw Phase, Herrera flipped “Anti-Spell Fragrance.” Bishop removed Malicious from his Graveyard on his next turn to Special Summon another copy from his deck. Once again, he returned “Plaguespreader Zombie” from his Graveyard to the field by putting a card on top of his Deck. He Tuned “Plaguespreader Zombie” with Malicious and Herrera flipped “Royal Oppression”! By paying 800 Life Points, Herrera negated the Summon of “Colossal Fighter.” Bishop activated his face-down Burial to send “Plaguespreader Zombie” back to the Graveyard, then put a card on top of his Deck to Special Summon it. He Tributed the “Plaguespreader Zombie” for “Caius the Shadow Monarch,” targeted “Dark Simorgh,” with Caius’s effect, and Herrera dropped down to 2200 Life Points. Caius attacked over “Fortune Lady Wind,” and Herrera lost another 1500 Life Points. On Herrera’s next turn, “Dark Simorgh” attacked Caius and Bishop lost 300 Life Points. Bishop drew the card he put on top of his Deck with “Plaguespreader Zombie” next turn, unable to make any plays. Before Bishop’s next turn, Herrera revealed his hand and Bishop conceded.
Herman Herrera advances in the tournament with his unique Fortune Lady Simorgh Deck!
Post-Event Analysis!
See what our panel of experts had to say about this Duel after the event was over.
Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
Herman Herrera’s combo of “Dark Simorgh,” “Anti-Spell Fragrance,” and “Royal Oppression” is a really tough one to break out of. As Zachary Bishop quickly learned, one good way to play against “Dark Simorgh” is to Set Trap Cards early on so that they don’t get stuck in your hand once “Dark Simorgh” hits the field. Without all three cards for the combo, however, Herrera’s field can be vulnerable. This was seen when Zachary Bishop was able to get “Royal Oppression” off of the field with “Phoenix Wing Wind Blast” and gain control of the game.
Michael McTavish (Top 8 Finalist – 2009 Canadian National Championship)
Whenever a monster is Set with 3 or more Spell or Trap cards, you should automatically recognize the threat of a “Morphing Jar.” In this Match, Bishop was unable to recognize the danger, and caused the turning point in game 3 that gave Herrera the win.
