Nicky Lacaille is 20 years old and came here today with his “Crab Turtle” good luck charm to make it all the way to the Top 16. He’s running a Blackwing Deck in today’s tournament featuring newer cards like “Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor” in his Main Deck and “Blackwing – Silverwind the Ascendant” in his Extra Deck.

His opponent, Desmond Brown, is 15 years old and from Ohio. He’s running a Destiny Hero Zombie Deck in today’s tournament.

Brown won the die roll and chose to go first. Lacaille wished him luck.

Brown opened up with “Destiny Draw,” sending “Destiny Hero – Doomlord” to the Graveyard to draw 2 cards. Then he Set a monster in Defense Position and one card to his back row before ending his turn.

Lacaille drew “Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame,” 2 copies of “Icarus Attack,” “Bottomless Trap Hole,” and “Book of Moon” in his opening hand. His sixth card was “Torrential Tribute.” He Summoned Shura but lost it to Brown’s Bottomless. He Set “Torrential Tribute” before ending his turn.

Brown Flip Summoned “Mystic Tomato,” attacked for 1400 damage, and Lacaille dropped down to 6600 Life Points. Brown Set one more back row and ended.

Lacaille drew another Shura next turn. He Normal Summoned it to the field and Brown gave a sigh. He allowed the Summon to go through, and Shura tried to declare an attack against “Mystic Tomato” but was stopped by “Threatining Roar.”

Next turn, Brown Tributed his Tomato for “Caius the Shadow Monarch,” targeted Shura with Caius’s effect, and Lacaille flipped “Torrential Tribute.” All monsters on the field were destroyed.

Lacaille drew “My Body as a Shield” on his next turn. He Set Bottomless and ended his turn with no monsters to Summon. He was facing some really poor draws.

Brown activated “Heavy Storm” next turn and followed up by Summoning “Spirit Reaper.” Reaper attacked directly, and Lacaille lost an “Icarus Attack” from his hand due to “Spirit Reaper’s” effect.

On his next turn, Lacaille drew “Brain Control.” He just couldn’t get the monsters he needed. He had “Icarus Attack,” “Brain Control,” “My Body as a Shield,” and “Book of Moon” in his hand. He paid 800 Life Points to activate “Brain Control” and targeted Brown’s “Spirit Reaper.” Reaper was destroyed by its own effect. Lacaille Set his “Icarus Attack” and “Book of Moon” before ending his turn.

Brown was up again. He Summoned “Mezuki” and attacked Lacaille directly. Lacaille took the damage and dropped to 3800 life.

Lacaille drew “Mystical Space Typhoon” next turn. Another rough draw for Lacaille. He still had no monsters to play and had to end his turn without playing a single card.

On his next turn, Brown Summoned a second “Mezuki” to the field. He attacked with the first “Mezuki,” was stopped by Lacaille’s “Book of Moon,” and then attacked directly with his second “Mezuki” to drop Lacaille down to 2100. Brown Set one card and ended his turn.

Lacaille drew “Black Whirlwind” next turn and tried to bluff Brown by setting everything in his hand that he could. But Brown didn’t fall for the bluff! He Flip Summoned his second “Mezuki” and attacked for game with both of his monsters!

Lacaille would be going first in the Duel 2! He drew “Solemn Judgment,” “Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer,” “Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn,” “Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame,” “Blackwing – Bora the Spear,” and “Royal Oppression” in his opening hand. He Summoned Shura to the field in attack mode before Setting his two Trap Cards and ending his turn.

Brown activated “Lightning Vortex” by discarding “Plaguespreader Zombie” to destroy Shura. Then he Summoned “Goblin Zombie” and attacked directly, dropping Lacaille to 6900 Life Points. He sent an “Icarus Attack” from Lacaille’s Deck to his Graveyard because of “Goblin Zombie”’s effect. Brown Set 2 cards and ended his turn.

Lacaille top Decked “Heavy Storm,” but he didn’t want to activate it because he had “Solemn Judgment” and “Royal Oppression” face-down. He Summoned Bora to the field instead, but lost it to Brown’s “Trap Hole.” Lacaille ended his turn with no other play.

Brown drew to 2 cards in hand before Summoning a second “Goblin Zombie” to the field on his next turn. Both copies of “Goblin Zombie” attacked and Lacaille dropped down to 4700 Life Points. Lacaille sent a “D.D. Crow” and a “Bottomless Trap Hole” to his Graveyard from the effect of both copies of “Goblin Zombie.”

Lacaille drew “Black Whirlwind”! He activated it and then Summoned Sirocco to the field. Brown thought for a while and then allowed the Summon to go through. Lacaille searched his Deck for “Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame” with the effect of “Black Whirlwind” and added it to his hand. He appeared to be in great shape, with a “Solemn Judgment” and “Royal Oppression” face-down. Sirocco attacked “Goblin Zombie” and Brown dropped down to 7100 Life Points. Brown used the effect of “Goblin Zombie” to search his Deck for “Zombie Master” and add it to his hand. Lacaille ended his turn and play passed to Brown.

Brown drew a card and activated “Heavy Storm”! Lacaille paid half of his Life Points with “Solemn Judgment” to negate it, dropping down to 2300 Life Points. Brown flipped his face-down “Mystical Space Typhoon” next, targeting Lacaille’s “Royal Oppression”! Lacaille was stunned. He knew it was over. Brown Summoned “Zombie Master” and discarded “Dark Grepher” to revive “Plaguespreader Zombie” from his Graveyard. He Tuned “Plaguespreader Zombie” with “Goblin Zombie” to Summon “Goyo Guardian” from his Extra Deck. Then he searched his Deck for “Mezuki” with the effect of “Goblin Zombie.” He put “Mezuki” back on top of his Deck to return “Plaguespreader Zombie” to the field, and then Tuned “Plaguespreader Zombie” to “Goyo Guardian” to Synchro Summon “Colossal Fighter”! “Colossal Fighter” attacked Sirocco and Lacaille dropped down to 1350 Life Points. “Zombie Master” attacked directly and knocked Lacaille out of the tournament!

Some rough draws for Lacaille give Desmond Brown an easy 2-0 win that lets him advance to the Top 8!

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)
Some poor draws in the first Duel made it very difficult for Nicky Lacaille to win. While Duel 2 was also unlucky for him since his opponent drew both “Heavy Storm” and “Mystical Space Typhoon,” the perfect combination of cards to deal with Lacaille’s set-up on the turn that he lost, I believe that there were some plays he could have made differently to stand a better chance. Backed by “Solemn Judgment,” Lacaille should have been a bit more aggressive later in the game. If he had searched his Deck for Bora or Gale instead of Shura with “Black Whirlwind,” he would’ve been able to Special Summon it and attack with it to destroy Brown’s other “Goblin Zombie.” Brown needed that “Goblin Zombie” to perform a Synchro Summon and swarm the field with enough ATK to finish off Lacaille. Plus, if Brown had a Caius in his hand, he could’ve Tributed the “Goblin Zombie” to Summon it. Lacaille wouldn’t have to worry about that if “Goblin Zombie” was removed from the field. I’m still unsure of whether or not this play could have won the game for Lacaille, but it may have given him a stronger chance.

Matt Peddle (2009 Canadian National Championship Runner-Up; Five-Time Top 8 National Finalist)
“Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame” has a great effect when it destroys a monster in battle. However, “Mystic Tomato” has an even better effect when it’s destroyed by battle. In this game, Brown protects his Tomato from being destroyed by Shura and then Tributes it next turn for “Caius the Shadow Monarch.” Instead he could have let Shura’s attack resolve and search out “Sangan.” Lacaille would have to get either “Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow,” “Blackwing – Gale the Hurricane” or “Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor.” He’ll most likely get Vayu, and then will be in for a nasty surprise once Brown plays that Caius.

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