Alex Hin is 13 years old and came here from Sacramento, California. Anthony Alvarado traveled here from New Jersey on vacation. He’s been playing the game since 2004. Both players are 8-1 and a win in this round can put either one of them in a great position for making Top 16.

Alvarado won the die roll and chose to go first. He Summoned “Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress” and ended his turn, sending “Honest,” “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner” and “Charge of the Light Brigade” from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard as a cost.

Hin opened up with “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner,” Lyla, “Charge of the Light Brigade,” “Plaguespreader Zombie,” and 2 copies of “Honest.” He activated “Charge of the Light Brigade” by sending 3 Spell and Trap Cards from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard to search for “Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior” and add it to his hand. He Summoned it to the field and then attacked Lyla, but Alvarado dropped “Honest” after Hin passed priority during damage calculation. Hin ended his turn and Alvarado was up.

Alvarado drew for turn and then attacked directly with “Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress.” Hin took the damage and dropped to 4600 Life Points. Alvarado Summoned Aurkus in Main Phase 2 and sent 5 cards from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard in his End Phase from the effects of Aurkus and Lyla.

Hin drew “Archlord Kristya” on his next turn. He Summoned “Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress” and attacked Aurkus with it. Alvarado lost 500 Life Points and Aurkus was destroyed. In his End Phase, Hin sent a “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast” to his Graveyard and Special Summoned it to the field.

Alvarado drew for turn and then Tributed Lyla for Celestia. He sent 4 cards from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard to clear Hin’s field of Wulf and Lyla. Then he Special Summoned “Judgment Dragon” and attacked for game.

Both players dipped into their Side Decks before beginning Duel 2. Hin would be going first.

Hin opened up with “Beckoning Light,” “Solar Recharge,” Aurkus, “Archlord Kristya,” “Threatening Roar” and “Charge of the Light Brigade.” He activated “Solar Recharge” by discarding Aurkus and drew “Plaguespreader Zombie” and “Necro Gardna.” Then he sent “Honest” and “Judgment Dragon” from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard. Next he activated “Charge of the Light Brigade,” sending Lyla, Celestia and a Trap Card to his Graveyard to pay the cost. He searched out Lumina and added it to his hand with Charge’s effect. Hin Normal Summoned Lumina and discarded “Necro Gardna” to revive Aurkus. Then he Set “Threatening Roar” and “Beckoning Light.” In his End Phase, he sent 4 Lightsworn monsters to his Graveyard including a Wulf he Special Summoned. Play passed to Alvarado.

Alvarado drew a card and began his turn by activating “Charge of the Light Brigade.” He sent Lyla, “Chaos Sorcerer,” and “Necro Gardna” to his Graveyard before searching his Deck for Aurkus and adding it to his hand. Alvarado Summoned Aurkus and then activated “Lightning Vortex”! He discarded “Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind” and all 3 of Hin’s monsters were destroyed! Alvarado attacked directly with Aurkus and Hin took the damage. In his End Phase, he sent a Wulf from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard with the effect of Aurkus and Special Summoned it.

Hin drew a card and ended his turn with no other play. Then Alvarado was up again. He Summoned Lyla to the field. When he entered his Battle Phase, Hin flipped “Threatening Roar.” In Main Phase 2, Alvarado switched Lyla to Defense Position to destroy Hin’s other Set card, “Beckoning Light,” and Hin chained it. He pitched “Plaguespreader Zombie,” “Necro Gardna,” and “Archlord Kristya” from his hand to return “Archlord Kristya,” “Judgment Dragon,” and “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner” to his hand. Alvarado sent 5 more cards from his Deck to his Graveyard in his End Phase, including a “Necro Gardna,” and Hin was up again.

Hin drew “D.D. Crow” next turn. He Special Summoned “Judgment Dragon” from his hand and then paid 1000 Life Points to destroy all 3 of Alvarado’s monsters. Then he attacked with “Judgment Dragon” and Alvarado took the damage, dropping to 5000 Life Points. Hin stood with 5800 Life Points. In his End Phase, Hin sent a Wulf from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard with the effect of “Judgment Dragon” and Special Summoned it to the field.

During Alvarado’s next Draw Phase, Hin discarded “D.D. Crow” from his hand to remove Garoth from Alvarado’s Graveyard. Then Alvarado Summoned “Honest” and attacked “Judgment Dragon,” but Hin blocked the attack with “Necro Gardna.” Alvarado bounced “Honest” back to his hand before ending his turn.

On Hin’s next turn he Special Summoned “Archlord Kristya” from his hand! He finally had the 4 fairies he needed in the Graveyard to play it. He returned a Fairy to his hand and Summoned “Honest” next. “Honest” attacked and Alvarado took the damage. Wulf attacked next and Alvarado dropped to 1800 Life Points. “Archlord Kristya” and “Judgment Dragon” attacked too but were blocked by the 2 copies of “Necro Gardna” in Alvarado’s Graveyard. Hin bounced Honest back to his hand in Main Phase 2 and then sent 4 more cards from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard in his End Phase.

Alvarado began his next turn by activating “Brain Control”! He gave up 800 Life Points to take control of Hin’s “Archlord Kristya.” He attacked “Judgment Dragon” with “Archlord Kristya” and Hin blocked the attack with “Necro Gardna.” Alvarado conceded, unable to deal with Hin’s field.

The Match pushed on to a third Duel and Alvarado would be going first! He Set a back row and Summoned Lumina before ending his turn and sending a “Necro Gardna” and 2 other cards from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard with its effect.

Hin opened up with “Judgment Dragon,” “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast,” “Solar Recharge,” 2 copies of Lumina, and “Foolish Burial.” Alvarado activated “Trap Dustshoot” in Hin’s Draw Phase and sent “Judgment Dragon” back to his Deck. Hin activated “Solar Recharge” next by discarding Wulf as a cost and drew “Honest” and “Heavy Storm.” He also sent “Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer” and “D.D. Crow” from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard with the effect of “Solar Recharge.” Then Hin activated “Foolish Burial” to send Garoth from his Deck to his Graveyard. He followed up by Summoning Lumina. Then he discarded Lumina from his hand to activate its effect and Special Summon Garoth from his Graveyard. Garoth attacked Alvarado’s Lumina and Alvarado blocked the attack by removing a “Necro Gardna” from his Graveyard. Hin ended his turn and sent Lumina, Garoth, and Celestia, plus 2 spell cards to his Graveyard in his End Phase with the effect of his Lightsworn monsters. He got to draw 2 cards off Garoth’s effect too.

Alvarado Summoned Kycoo next turn and attacked Lumina, but Hin pitched Honest from his hand to boost it up! Alvarado Set 2 cards to his Spell and Trap Zone before sending Wulf and “Necro Gardna” to his Graveyard in his End Phase and Special Summoning the Wulf to the field.

Hin started his next turn by activating “Heavy Storm” right after drawing! Alvarado chained “Beckoning Light,” discarding Wulf and “Judgment Dragon” to return “Honest” and “Judgment Dragon” to his hand. Alvarado’s “My Body as a Shield” was destroyed. Next, Hin Tributed Garoth for Celestia and sent 4 cards from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard to clear Alvarado’s field. One of the cards he sent to the Graveyard was Wulf, who he Special Summoned in Attack Position. Next, Hin activated Lumina’s effect by discarding “Monster Reincarnation” and Special Summoned Garoth from his Graveyard. All 4 monsters attacked and Alvarado blocked the Celestia by removing “Necro Gardna” from his Graveyard. He was at 2050 Life Points. The Gardna had saved him. Hin Set “Bottomless Trap Hole” and then ended his turn, sending 5 more cards from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard during his End Phase and drawing none from Garoth’s effect.

Alvarado began his next turn by activating “Charge of the Light Brigade” and searching his Deck for a copy of Lyla to add to his hand. He Summoned it to the field and Hin flipped “Bottomless Trap Hole” to remove it from the game. Alvarado dropped “Judgment Dragon” immediately after and paid 1000 Life Points to clear Hin’s field. “Judgment Dragon” attacked and Hin negated the attack by removing a “Necro Gardna” from his Graveyard. Alvarado ended his turn and suddenly, things weren’t looking so good for Hin.

Hin drew “Necro Gardna” and Set it before ending his turn. Between his hand and his field, it was the only card he had.

Alvarado was up again and paid 1000 Life Points to blow up Hin’s “Necro Gardna.” Then he activated “Monster Reincarnation” by pitching his last in-hand card to return “Judgment Dragon” from his Graveyard to his hand. Hin blocked one “Judgment Dragon’s” attack with “Necro Gardna” and took the other attack, dropping to 5000 Life Points.

Hin drew “Solar Recharge” on his next turn but couldn’t activate it without a Lightsworn monster to discard. He Set it as a desperate bluff and ended his turn.

Alvarado attacked Hin with both copies of “Judgment Dragon” next turn to win the Duel and the Match!

After an extremely close third Duel, Alvarado secures the win and advances in the tournament with a 9-1 record, one win away from Top 16.

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See what our panel of experts had to say about this Duel after the event was over.

Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)

In Duel 3, Hin discarded “Monster Reincarnation” to Special Summon Garoth from his Graveyard with Lumina’s effect, even though he knew Alvarado had “Judgment Dragon” in his hand. When Alvarado Summoned “Judgment Dragon” and destroyed everything on the field, Hin was left with nothing. If Hin had held on to his “Monster Reincarnation” instead of discarding it with Lumina’s effect, he may have been able to use it on his next turn to get back in the game.

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Matt Peddle (2009 Canadian National Championship Runner-Up; Five-Time Top 8 National Finalist)

In game one Alvarado doesn’t summon “Arkus, Lightsworn Druid” until Main Phase 2 despite his opponent having no Spell or Trap cards on the field. Because of this, he doesn’t get to attack for 1200 damage with Arkus. The reason he does this is because Hin might be holding “Trageodia” or “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness.” Trageodia is great for stealing monsters when your opponent is playing the same kind of Deck as you, and Gorz plus its token would be able to clear the monsters off Alvarado’s field. Alvarado has “Celestia, Lightsworn Angel” in his hand, which can destroy either of those monsters in main phase two if Hin plays them. If Alvarado had summoned Arkus and Hin had been holding one of those monsters, chances are good Alvarado would never have been able to play that Celestia and could have lost the Duel.

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Michael McTavish (Top 8 Finalist – 2009 Canadian National Championship)

This was a very well played mirror match (meaning the Decks were very similar – mirror images of each other) and it truly could have gone to either player. Look to this Match if you’re a new Lightsworn player looking to improve your game.

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P.J. Tierney (Duelist from across The Pond)

Alvarado made good use of “Lightning Vortex” in Duel 2 to clear Hin’s field. Like Zombie Decks and Blackwings, Lightsworn Decks tend to have several monsters on the field at once, but unlike the other 2 Decks, they don’t Synchro Summon “Stardust Dragon” as often. That leaves their field of monsters unprotected most of the time, making “Lightning Vortex” another good card to use against the Deck. “Lightning Vortex” also doesn’t target any monsters, so “Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid” can’t do anything to it.

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