Semi-Finals Feature Match: Desmond Brown vs. Kevin Slapnik
Both Desmond Brown and Kevin Slapnik were running Destiny Hero Zombie Decks in this match-up.
Desmond Brown won the dice roll and chose to go first. He opened up with “Mystic Tomato,” “Zombie Master,” “Caius the Shadow Monarch,” “Dark Grepher,” “Spirit Reaper,” and “Threatening Roar.” He Set Tomato and Roar before ending his turn.
Slapnik began his turn by drawing a card and activating “Allure of Darkness.” He removed “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness” from play with Allure’s effect, Set a card to his back row, and passed his turn.
Brown drew “Elemental Hero Stratos” next turn. He Flip Summoned his Tomato, then Normal Summoned a “Spirit Reaper.” Both monsters attacked, Slapnik dropped to 6300 Life Points, and Slapnik lost a Caius from his hand due to Reaper’s effect. Brown ended his turn.
Slapnik drew for turn and then paid 800 Life Points to activate “Brain Control.” He targeted and destroyed “Spirit Reaper.” He Set one face-down monster in Defense Position and ended his turn.
Brown drew Stratos next. He Tributed Tomato for Caius, to remove Slapnik’s face-down Sangan from play, and Slapnik flipped “Bottomless Trap Hole” to remove Caius. Slapnik lost 1000 Life Points from Caius’s effect after “Sangan” got removed.
On his next turn, Slapnik Set a card and ended his turn. Brown then Summoned “Zombie Master.” Slapnik activated “Phoenix Wing Wind Blast” to return it to the top of Brown’s Deck after he tried to attack. Brown played “Allure of Darkness” next and removed “Dark Grepher” from the game.
Slapnik played “Allure of Darkness” next turn, removing a “Mystic Tomato” from the game. Then he activated “Destiny Draw” by discarding a Diamond Dude. Next, he activated “Mystical Space Typhoon” targeting Brown’s “Threatining Roar,” but Brown activated it! Slapnik Summoned Stratos to the field and then searched his Deck for “Destiny Hero – Malicious.” He Set one back row and ended his turn.
On his next turn, Brown activated “Destiny Draw” by discarding “Destiny Hero – Doom Lord.” He drew 2 cards and then played “Heavy Storm” to destroy Slapnik’s Set “Phoenix Wing Wind Blast.” He then Summoned “Zombie Master,” used its effect by discarding a “Goblin Zombie” to Summon the “Goblin Zombie” to the field, and activated “Brain Control” to steal Slapnik’s Stratos. With only 4500 Life Points, Slapnik couldn’t survive the attack of all 3 monsters.
Slapnik chose to go first in the second Duel. He started off by Summoning “Elemental Hero Stratos” and searching for “Destiny Hero – Malicious.” Then he activated “Destiny Draw” to discard the Malicious and draw 2 cards. Next, he played “Allure of Darkness” to draw 2 more cards and remove “Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude” from play. He activated a second “Allure of Darkness,” this time choosing to remove “Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer” from play. He Set one card to his back row before ending his great first turn.
Brown opened up with “Necro Gardna,” “Dark Armed Dragon,” “Zombie Master,” and 2 copies of “Phoenix Wing Wind Blast.” He drew “Bottomless Trap Hole” as his sixth card. He Summoned “Zombie Master” but lost it to Slapnik’s “Bottomless Trap Hole.” He Set his own “Bottomless Trap Hole” and “Phoenix Wing Wind Blast” and ended his turn.
Slapnik activated “Reinforcement of the Army” next turn and searched his Deck for Diamond Dude to add it to his hand. He attacked with Stratos and Brown took the damage, dropping to 6200 Life Points. He Set 1 monster in Main Phase 2 and ended his turn.
Brown was up and drew “Plaguespreader Zombie.” He Set his second “Phoenix Wing Wind Blast” and ended his turn. Stratos attacked Brown on Slapnik’s next turn, Brown took the Damage, and Slapnik Set a second card to his back row before passing.
Brown was up, and he drew “Heavy Storm.” He Set a “Necro Gardna” and ended his turn without making any big plays.
Slapnik flip Summoned “Mystic Tomato.” He used Tomato to attack Brown’s Set monster, and Brown flipped “Phoenix Wing Wind Blast” to return “Mystic Tomato” to the top of Slapnik’s Deck. He discarded “Plaguespreader Zombie” to do so. Stratos then attacked “Necro Gardna.” Next turn, Brown activated “Phoenix Wing Wind Blast” by discarding “Zombie Master” to bounce Stratos to the top of Slapnik’s Deck. Next, Brown Summoned “Dark Armed Dragon” and attacked directly.
Slapnik activated “Smashing Ground” next turn, Summoned Stratos, and Set a card to his back row. There were no Destiny Hero monsters left in Slapnik’s Deck for him to retrieve with Stratos. Stratos attacked, and Brown dropped down to 2600 Life Points.
Brown drew a card on his next turn and passed without playing a card. Slapnik was up and he Summoned “Mystic Tomato” to the field! “Mystic Tomato” attacked, Brown took the damage and dropped to 1200 Life Points, and then Stratos attacked and got negated by “Necro Gardna.” Brown activated “Brain Control” to take control of “Mystic Tomato,” and returned his last card in hand to the top of his Deck to Special Summon “Plaguespreader Zombie” from the Graveyard. Slapnik flipped his face-down card, “Phoenix Wing Wind Blast,” and targeted Brown’s “Plaguespreader Zombie.” Brown immediately conceded.
Brown would go first in the final Duel of the Match.
He opened up with “Ceasefire,” “Necro Gardna,” “Destiny Hero – Doom Lord,” “Destiny Hero – Malicious,” “Destiny Draw,” and “Reinforcement of the Army.” He activated “Destiny Draw” by discarding Malicious to draw “Allure of Darkness” and “Mezuki.” He activated Allure, drew “Zombie Master” and “Mystic Tomato,” and then removed the Doom Lord in his hand from the game. He activated “Reinforcement of the Army” next and searched his Deck for “Dark Grepher.” He Summoned the Grepher, discarded “Necro Gardna,” and sent “Plaguespreader Zombie” to the Graveyard with Grepher’s effect. Next, he returned “Plaguespreader Zombie” to the field by putting “Mystic Tomato” on top of his Deck, Special Summoned Malicious from his Deck by removing it from play, and Tuned Malicious to “Plaguespreader Zombie” in order to Synchro Summon “Stardust Dragon”! He Set “Ceasefire” and ended his turn.
Slapnik started his turn by activating “Destiny Draw.” He then activated “Brain Control” on “Dark Grepher” by paying 800 Life Points and Tributed the stolen Grepher to Summon Caius. Caius removed “Stardust Dragon” from play. Caius attacked directly and Brown dropped down to 5600 Life Points. Slapnik Set one card to his Spell and Trap Zone and ended his turn. On his next turn, Brown drew “Heavy Storm.” He Set a “Mezuki” and ended his turn.
Slapnik removed a “Destiny Hero – Malicious” from his Graveyard next turn to Special Summon one from his Deck. Then he Tributed the Malicious for Caius and targeted Brown’s Set “Mezuki.” Brown chained Ceasefire to flip Mezuki face-up and inflict 1500 points of damage to Slapnik. Both copies of Caius attacked Brown, and he negated one attack with “Necro Gardna.” He dropped down to 3200 Life Points, while Slapnik was still standing strong with 5700 Life Points.
On his next turn, Slapnik drew “Lightning Vortex.” First, he played the “Heavy Storm” he was holding, but Slapnik negated it with “Solemn Judgment” to protect his other face-down card. He paid 2850 Life Points to do so. Next, Brown discarded the last card he had in his hand to activate “Lightning Vortex” and destroy both copies of Caius on Slapnik’s side of the field.
Slapnik drew “Mystic Tomato” next turn, attacked directly, and brought Brown down to 1800 Life Points.
Brown then drew a “Goblin Zombie” and Set it.
On his next turn, Slapnik Summoned his own “Goblin Zombie.” Then he flipped “Phoenix Wing Wind Blast” face-up by discarding “Sangan” and returned Brown’s Set “Goblin Zombie” to the top of his Deck. Finally, he attacked for game with “Goblin Zombie” and “Mystic Tomato”!
An aggressive opening costs Brown game 3 and lets Slapnik win the Match! Slapnik moves on to the finals!
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)
In the third Duel, Brown tried to open strong by using a bunch of the cards in his hand to rush a “Stardust Dragon” onto the field on his first turn. I believe that Brown should’ve slowed down and held onto some of his cards instead of bringing a Synchro Monster onto the field before he could even attack. Destiny Hero Zombie Decks can easily perform Synchro Summons to bring out monsters capable of destroying Stardust in battle. One “Necro Gardna” just isn’t enough for Brown to protect it in the long-run, and Brown didn’t have any Trap Cards to help him out either. It turned out that Slapnik also had the Caius to deal with Brown’s “Stardust Dragon.” When your opponent is holding a lot of cards in his hand, there’s a good chance he’ll be able to destroy the next monster you Summon when he gets a turn. It’s important to remember this when you’re thinking about Summoning a monster that you can’t afford to lose.
Matt Peddle (2009 Canadian National Championship Runner-Up; Five-Time Top 8 National Finalist)
In the second game, Brown Sets “Necro Gardna” instead of keeping it in his hand to pay the cost for “Phoenix Wing Wind Blast.” He ends up having to discard “Zombie Master” instead. Obviously “Zombie Master” would be much better on the field than “Necro Gardna.”
Michael McTavish (Top 8 Finalist – 2009 Canadian National Championship)
Brown’s huge opening play during Game 3 left him in what seemed like a good position. Unfortunately since Brown had no face down Spells or Traps to protect his field and was relying solely on “Stardust Dragon,” he was only leaving himself vulnerable. Slapnik was able to take advantage of this and move on to the Finals.
