Paul Abdelsayed is from Corona, California, and he’s 1-0 here in Round 2 with his “Relinquished” Djinn Deck. Manser’s strategy revolves around “Relinquished” backed by “Djinn Releaser of Rituals” and a supporting cast of DARK monsters, and often uses “Preparation of Rites” to unleash multiple copies of “Relinquished” in a single turn.

His opponent, Christopher Oyola, hails from Lovittown, New York, and is here playing Zombies with “Royal Oppression” and “Tragoediae.” Oppression could be key in this match-up: if Oyola could get to it early enough, he could keep Abdelsayed from bringing out “Relinquished” and protect his Special Summons from the effect of “Djinn Releaser of Rituals.”

Oyola opened with a Set monster, and Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone. Abdelsayed had two “Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands,” “Armageddon Knight,” “Caius the Shadow Monarch,” “Mirror Force,” and “Bottomless Trap Hole.” He Summoned “Armageddon Knight,” used its effect to send “Necro Gardna” to the Graveyard, and attacked into his opponent’s “Mezuki”. He Set Bottomless, Set “Mirror Force,” and ended.

Oyola Summoned “Mystic Tomato,” leading Abdelsayed to activate “Necro Gardna’s” effect when the Tomato attacked his Knight. He really didn’t want to see both monsters destroyed and then take a direct attack from whatever Oyola would Summon with the Tomato. Oyola Set another Spell or Trap to match Abdelsayed’s, then ended. Abdelsayed drew “Book of Moon,” Tributed “Armageddon Knight” for “Caius the Shadow Monarch,” and removed “Mystic Tomato” from the game. Oyola Chained “Bottomless Trap Hole” to remove Caius in turn. Abdelsayed ended, and Oyola passed. Abdelsayed drew “Djinn Releaser of Rituals.”

He Summoned Manju, Searched his Deck for “Black Illusion Ritual,” and attacked with Manju for 1400 damage. Oyola Special Summoned “Tragoedia” with 3 cards in hand! Abdelsayed ended his turn. Oyola attacked over Manju with “Tragoedia” next turn, then Set another Spell or Trap. Abdelsayed drew “Plaguespreader Zombie,” Summoned another Manju, and got “Relinquished” from his Deck. He activated “Black Illusion Ritual” and Oyola Chained “Royal Oppression,” paying 800 Life Points to negate the effect of the Ritual. With Oppression locking him down and “Tragoedia” bigger than anything else immediately in play, seemed like Abdelsayed be in trouble.

Oyola attacked with “Tragoedia”: Abdelsayed responded with “Mirror Force,” and Oyola saved his “Tragoedia” with “Book of Moon.” He Set “Trap Dustshoot” and flipped it next turn to reveal Abdelsayed’s hand: “Book of Moon,” “Lightning Vortex,” “Plaguespreader Zombie,” “Relinquished,” and “Djinn Releaser of Rituals.” He shuffled the Djinn back into Abdelsayed’s Deck.

Abdelsayed Set Book, hoping to get that “Tragoedia” with “Bottomless Trap Hole,” but Oyola just Set another monster next turn. Abdelsayed attacked with Manju, destroying Oyola’s “Sangan” and sending him to his Deck to get “Mystic Tomato” with “Sangan’s” effect. Abdelsayed Set a “Sangan” of his own, Oyola Summoned “Mystic Tomato,” attacked Manju, and was repelled by “Book of Moon.” Abdelsayed drew “Necro Gardna,” Flip Summoned “Sangan,” attacked “Mystic Tomato” to flip it over, and attacked with Manju into “Tragoedia”. He destroyed neither monster in battle, but then discarded “Necro Gardna” for “Lightning Vortex” in Main Phase 2, clearing the field!

Oyola drew to 5 cards in hand and passed. He took 1000 damage from “Sangan” next turn, then Special Summoned another “Tragoedia”! Abdelsayed shifted Manju to Defense Position in Main Phase 2, counted 3 DARK monters in his opponent’s Graveyard, and Set another Spell or Trap. Oyola attacked “Sangan” with “Tragoedia” and Abdelsayed got “Spirit Reaper” from his Deck. The Duel stood at 3900 Life Points to 3800, with Abdelsayed barely leading. Oyola Set another Spell or Trap to finish his turn.

Abdelsayed Set Reaper, trying to buy time, and Oyola Summoned “Goblin Zombie.” The Goblin destroyed Manju, “Tragoedia” flipped “Spirit Reaper,” and Abdelsayed Set a third card to his back row on the turn that followed. He Set another monster and play was to Oyola.

He attacked with “Goblin Zombie,” hitting “Djinn Releaser of Rituals” and taking 900 damage. “Tragoedia” attacked the Djinn to destroy it. Abdelsayed drew “Preparation of Rites” and activated it, searching his Deck for “Relinquished” and returning “Black Illusion Ritual” to his hand from his Graveyard. He Set another monster and ended once again. He was keeping a careful eye on his opponent’s Life Points, and Oyola’s dwindling ability to use “Royal Oppression.”

“Tragoedia” attacked to destroy Abdelsayed’s Set “Plaguespreader Zombie,” and “Goblin Zombie” went to Defense Position. He Set a third Spell or Trap. Abdelsayed drew “Chaos Sorcerer” and ended with two “Relinquished” and a “Black Illusion Ritual” in-hand.

Oyola activated “Phoenix Wing Wind Blast,” discarding “Burial From a Different Dimension” to spin away “Spirit Reaper.” “Goblin Zombie” made a direct attack, Abdelsayed took 1100 damage, and sent “Relinquished” to his Graveyard from his Deck for the Goblin’s effect. “Tragoedia” attacked and Abdelsayed removed “Necro Gardna” to block the attack. Oyola activated “Call of the Haunted,” Special Summoned another “Tragoedia,” and Abdelsayed responded with “Torrential Tribute” to wipe the field!

Oyola got “Spirit Reaper” back with his “Goblin Zombie,” Set a monster, and Set 2 more cards to his back row. Abdelsayed activated “Allure of Darkness” and drew into a hand of: Djinn Releaser, “Mystical Space Typhoon,” 2 “Relinquished,” “Black Illusion Ritual,” and “Chaos Sorcerer.” He removed the Djinn for Allure’s effect. He activated “Black Illusion Ritual,” Oyola paid 800 Life Points for “Royal Oppression,” and Abdelsayed Chained “Mystical Space Typhoon”! He removed Djinn Releaser for “Relinquished,” absorbed the face-down “Spirit Reaper” with “Relinquished,” and removed Manju and “Spirit Reaper” from his Graveyard to Special Summon “Chaos Sorcerer”! He then set a card back on top of his Deck to Special Summon “Plaguespreader Zombie,” Tuned it to Sorcerer, and got “Stardust Dragon”!

The Dragon attacked, Oyola tried to respond with “Emergency Teleport,” and Abdelsayed reminded him that he couldn’t Special Summon thanks to Djinn Releaser’s effect! Stardust’s attack went through and this long, back-and-forth Duel was over!

Paul Abdelsayed scores the first win of the Match with late game appearances from “Relinquished” and “Djinn Releaser of Rituals”! Both competitors went straight for their Side Decks.

“Good game” stated Abdelsayed, sincere. “That Oppression really had us both on lock for a bit.” Oyola nodded his agreement and got ready to start the second Duel.

He started by Summoning “Krebons” and Setting a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone. Abdelsayed had “Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands,” “Scapegoat,” “Caius the Shadow Monarch,” “Necro Gardna,” and “Allure of Darkness.” He Summoned Manju, searched his Deck with its effect to get “Black Illusion Ritual,” and activated Allure. That got him “Relinquished” and “Threatening Roar,” removing his Caius. He sent Manju to attack “Krebons,” Oyola paid 800 Life Points to deny the attack, and Abdelsayed Set 3 cards to his back row!

Oyola activated “Heavy Storm,” and Abdelsayed Chained Roar and “Scapegoat”! He lost his Ritual, and Oyola lost “Phoenix Wing Wind Blast.” He activated “Allure of Darkness,” drew 2 cards, and removed Caius for Allure’s effect. Oyola then Summoned “Mezuki,” tried to attack, and Abdelsayed reminded him that he couldn’t attack this turn due to “Threteaning Roar.” He Set one card to his back row with 2 more cards left in hand.

“Preparation of Rites” got Abdelsayed another “Relinquished” from his Deck, and he took back “Black Illusion Ritual” from his Graveyard. He activated it, and Oyola had “Royal Oppression” yet again! In the heat of the Match neither Duelist noticed that “Black Illusion Ritual” couldn’t have been activated anyways, since Abdel’s Monster Zones were all filled. Play proceeded, and Manju attacked “Krebons.” Oyola paid 800 Life Points to stop the attack and dropped to 5600 Life Points.

Oyola Set a Spell or Trap, Summoned Kycoo, and attacked with “Krebons” and Kycoo to destroy two “Sheep Tokens.” Abdelsayed Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone, Set a monster, and ended. Next turn “Krebons” and “Mezuki” destroyed the remaining “Sheep Tokens” in battle, and when Kycoo attacked Abdelsayed’s Set monster he activated “Book of Moon” to flip Kycoo face-down. “Mezuki” was Tributed in Main Phase 2 for “Caius the Shadow Monarch,” removing Abdelsayed’s face-down “Necro Gardna” from the game.

Abdelsayed drew, now stuck with a hand of 2 “Relinquished,” “Necro Gardna,” and “Brain Control.” He Set “Necro Gardna,” lost it to an attack from Caius, and it was stripped from his Graveyard by Kycoo moments later. “Krebons” made a direct attack. Abdelsayed drew Manju, Summoned it, got “Black Illusion Ritual” from his Deck, and had just 3700 Life Points left. “How am I gonna get out of this one?” laughed Abdelsayed. “2 cards in hand?” Oyola confirmed that he had 2 cards left.

Manju attacked “Krebons” and Oyola paid 800 Life Points to stop the attack. “Let’s go to game three” shrugged Abdelsayed, packing it in.

“Royal Oppression” hits the field once again, and this time it totally shuts down Abdelsayed’s strategy! Oyola presses with just the right amount of force to keep Abdelsayed off-balance, and ends the second Duel. Yet more Side Decking from both competitors.

Abdelsayed started Duel 3 with a hand of “Necro Gardna,” “Caius the Shadow Monarch,” “Threatening Roar,” “Dark Armed Dragon,” “Allure of Darkness,” and “Sangan.” He Set “Sangan,” Set Roar, and ended, wanting to set up a Caius play. Oyola ran right into it: he Summoned “Mezuki”, attacked, and Abdelsayed activated “Threatening Roar.” Oyola Set a Spell or Trap.

Abdelsayed activated “Allure of Darkness” and drew 2 “Relinquished” – he removed 1 to complete Allure’s effect then tributed his “Sangan” for Caius to remove “Mezuki” from play! It was a huge blow to Oyola’s plan and he had no response: Abdelsayed got Manju from his Deck with “Sangan,” attacked for 2400 damage, and ended with nothing in his Spell & Trap Card Zone.

Oyola activated “Allure of Darkness,” drew 2 cards, and removed a Caius of his own. His facial expression didn’t seem confident – he shuffled his hand several times, heaved a big sigh, and finally activated “Emergency Teleport” to Special Summon “Krebons.” He Summoned another “Mezuki”, Tuned “Krebons” to it for “Goyo Guardian,” and destroyed Caius in battle! He Special Summoned Caius to his side in Defense Position, Set a second Spell or Trap and ended.

Abdelsayed Normal Summoned Manju and searched out “Black Illusion Ritual.” He activated it: “let’s see that Oppression?” Nothing this time from Oyola, and Abdelsayed sent “Necro Gardna” from his hand to his Graveyard to bring out “Relinquished”! He activated its effect with priority, targeting “Goyo Guardian,” and Oyola Chained “Book of Moon.” “Relinquished” was turned face-down, Goyo was sent to the Graveyard, and Manju destroyed Caius in battle! Oyola had clearly thought he’d get to keep his “Goyo Guardian.” Abdelsayed ended.

Oyola drew another “Allure of Darkness,” activated it, and drew 2 before removing another Caius. He Set a monster, Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone and ended. Abdelsayed Flip Summoned “Relinquished,” absorbed his opponent’s face-down “Mystic Tomato,” and attacked for 1400 damage with Manju! He lost the stolen Tomato to “Mystical Space Typhoon” in his End Phase, but all Oyola could do next turn was Set and then activate “Trap Dustshoot.” Oyola had lost a lot of cards to that “Relinquished” and he still hadn’t gotten rid of it!

Dustshoot revealed Abdelsayed’s hand of “Dark Armed Dragon,” “Chaos Sorcerer,” “Mystic Tomato,” “Armageddon Knight,” and “Djinn Releaser of Rituals.” Oyola sent back “Armageddon Knight.” Abdelsayed turned “Relinquished” to Defense Position and attacked with Manju yet again. Oyola had just 2800 Life Points left, to Abdelsayed’s 7600. Oyola drew his next card and conceded the Match, revealing an outmatched hand of “Lightning Vortex” and “Burial From a Different Dimension.” Oyola offered the handshake

Paul Abdelsayed moves on, securing a 2-0 record with his “Relinquished” Djinn Deck in a thrilling Match!

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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)

At the end of the first Duel, Oyola had “Royal Oppression” on the field and Abdelsayed had “Black Illusion Ritual” and “Mystical Space Typhoon” in his hand. Instead of activating “Mystical Space Typhoon” to destroy “Royal Oppression” and then using the “Black Illusion Ritual” to Special Summon “Relinquished,” Abdelsayed activated “Black Illusion Ritual First.” Then, when Oyola paid 800 Life Points to negate it with “Royal Oppression,” Abdelsayed chained “Mystical Space Typhoon” to destroy the Oppression and make sure his “Black Illusion Ritual” went through. This was a great play by Abdelsayed because it squeezed an extra 800 Life Points out of Oyola. Since “Royal Oppression” is a Continuous Trap Card, because it wasn’t on the field anymore when “Black Illusion Ritual” tried to resolve, “Royal Oppression” couldn’t negate it even though Oyola paid the Life Points.

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

This first Duel was one of the best I’ve read and was certainly played very well by both players. The turning point came when Oyola went for the win by activating his “Phoenix Wing Wind Blast” and “Call of the Haunted.”  This was a mistake because Abdelsayed could have just used Oyola’s own “Royal Oppression” to negate the Call. Instead, Abdelsayed took the opportunity to use “Torrential Tribute” and destroy the “Trageodia” he was having so much trouble with.  If Oyola had been more patient he could have waited to draw into “Heavy Storm” to guarantee the win.  Instead he gave up his winning position in an attempt to seal the game, and wound up losing instead.

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

Abdelsayed played an amazing game 1, slowly building up his strength and keeping a close eye on his opponent’s Life Points until he could make a push to overcome the “Royal Oppression” with “Mystical Space Typhoon” and win the game. Oyola on the other hand got greedy in trying to end Duel 1 early with “Call of the Haunted” to get “Tragoedia.” Not only could Abdelsayed have responded by activating “Royal Oppression” himself, he was given the go ahead to activate the “Torrential Tribute” he was begging to be able to use. With how close this match was, that one misplay may have been the difference between the win and the loss for Oyola.

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

This Match showed just how troublesome a card like “Royal Oppression” can be. As soon as it was flipped in Duel 1, the entire Duel revolved around getting it off the field, or keeping it there long enough to win with a big “Tragoedia.” Oppression also decided which way Duel 2 would go, as Abdelsayed couldn’t do anything once it hit the field.

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