Heading into Round 6 we have a number of cool undefeated decks. Everything from Dragons with “Genesis Dragon” and “Yamata Dragon,” to “Il Blud” Zombies with “Supervise” are 5-0, but this round’s feature match goes to Matt Puttman and his Eatos Gemini Deck. Puttman has been shredding his opponents so far today, combining “Soul Release” and “Guardian Eatos” with “Royal Oppression” and an aggressive set of high-ATK Gemini monsters.

His opponent is Enoch Sanz, a Zombie Duelist wielding the card of the day: “Tragoedia.” “Tragoedia” is a big concern for Puttman’s Deck– he can’t stop it with “Royal Oppression” and isn’t playing “Honest,” so he has to rely on “Gemini Spark” to power through it. This one should be interesting.

Puttman opened the Match with 2 “Dark Bribes,” “Royal Oppression,” “Bottomless Trap Hole,” “Guardian Eatos,” and “Reinforcement of the Army.” He Special Summoned Eatos, searched out “Elemental Hero Stratos” with Reinforcement, Summoned it, and got “Elemental Hero Neos Alius” – a huge start to this Duel. He Set everything but Neos Alius and ended, secure with two “Dark Bribes” protecting his Oppression.

Sanz just Set a monster for his turn. Then Puttman drew “Gemini Spark”! He Summoned Neos Alius, Tributed it for Spark, destroyed his opponent’s “Goblin Zombie,” and drew a card for Spark’s effect while Sanz searched out “Mezuki.” That Spark seemed a bit overzealous. Stratos attacked for 1800 damage and Sanz Special Summoned “Tragoedia.” Puttman ended his turn.

Sanz drew and “Tragoedia” went to 3600 ATK. He activated “Heavy Storm,” and Puttman Chained “Dark Bribe” to negate it. Sanz discarded “Mezuki” for “Tragoedia’s” effect, took control of “Elemental Hero Stratos,” and attacked Eatos with “Tragoedia.” Stratos made a direct attack and Puttman was down to 5700 Life Points.

Puttman drew “Soul Release,” adding it to his hand of “Beast King Barbaros.” He Summoned Barbaros, attacked Stratos, and activated “Soul Release” in Main Phase 2 to remove “Goblin Zombie” and “Mezuki” from Sanz’s Graveyard. He removed all of the monsters from his own Graveyard too, just in case he drew into another “Guardian Eatos.” Play was to Sanz.

He activated “Allure of Darkness,” drew 2, and removed “D.D. Crow.” “That card’s really good against you,” noted Sanz, removing the Crow to complete Allure’s effect. “Tragoedia” attacked over Barbaros and Sanz Set a monster, then a Spell or Trap. Puttman passed his next turn and took 3000 damage from “Tragoedia” next turn. Sanz Set a second Spell or Trap.

Puttman conceded – he drew another “Soul Release,” was holding another Oppression, and just had nothing to stop that “Tragoedia.”

Enoch Sanz takes the first Duel after a huge opening from Matt Puttman! If Puttman had played that “Gemini Spark” differently he could have held it for “Tragoedia,” but that slight miscalculation cost him the Duel. Both competitors went straight for their Side Decks.

Puttman had “Legendary Jujitsu Master,” “Beast King Barbaros”, “Crusader of Endymion,” and not 1, not 2, but 3 “Guardian Eatos”! He Set “Legendary Jujitsu Master” and tried not to look shifty, hoping that Sanz wouldn’t commit many cards to the field. Sure enough, Sanz Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone, Set a monster, and ended. Next turn Puttman Special Summoned all three of his Guardians, and Normal Summoned “Crusader of Endymion”! He Flip Summoned “Legendary Jujitsu Master,” attacked with Crusader, and Sanz just surrendered in disbelief.

Matt Puttman explodes back into this Match with the biggest single-turn play we’ve seen here today, Special Summoning three “Guardian Eatos” and throwing down over 10,000 damage on turn 1! The Match proceeded to one more Duel, heading to Game 3 in record time!

Sanz opened with “Allure of Darkness,” drawing 2 cards and removing “Caius the Shadow Monarch” from his hand. He Set a monster, Set a Spell or Trap and ended. Puttman was holding “E – Emergency Call,” Elemental Neos Alius, “Gemini Spark,” “Bottomless Trap Hole,” “Crusader of Endymion,” and “Royal Oppression.” He activated Emergency Call, got “Elemental Hero Stratos” and Summoned Crusader. Crusader attacked, struck Sanz’s face-down “Legendary Jujitsu Master,” and while the Master was destroyed, Crusader was sent to the top of Puttman’s Deck. He Set Bottomless, Set Oppression and ended.

Sanz passed! Puttman drew his Crusader, Summoned it again, and attacked for 1900 damage. He Set “Gemini Spark,” now locked and loaded with a Gemini to Tribute for it. Sanz activated “Mystical Space Typhoon” next turn, destroyed Puttman’s face-down “Bottomless Trap Hole,” then wiped away Oppression and Spark with “Heavy Storm”! He Summoned “Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind,” cut Crusader’s ATK and DEF in half with Gale’s effect, then attacked Crusader to destroy it. He finished with a Set Spell or Trap, ending a big, big turn.

Puttman Summoned “Elemental Hero Stratos,” searching out another Neos Alius from his Deck. Stratos attacked Gale, Gale was destroyed, and Puttman was left with a hand full of monsters (2 Neos Alius and a Barbaros). The Duel stood at 5600 Life Points to 7650, with Puttman leading. Sanz Summoned “Zombie Master,” slammed it into Stratos, and ended.

Puttman drew “Threatening Roar” and Summoned Neos Alius, trying to capitalize on what was potentially a bad hand for Sanz. Alius attacked for 1900 damage and Puttman Set Roar. Sanz activated “Book of Life,” brought back his “Zombie Master,” and removed Crusader from Puttman’s Graveyard. He Tributed “Zombie Master” for Caius, removed Puttman’s Neos Alius from the game and attacked for 2400 damage.

All Puttman could do next turn was Set a monster. Sanz Summoned “Mezuki,” and when he tried to move to his Battle Phase Puttman flipped Roar. He Summoned another Alius, attacked over “Mezuki,” Tributed the Neos Alius that attacked for “Gemini Spark” to destroy Caius, then attacked for 1900 damage direct! He finished his turn by activating “Dimensional Fissure,” holding that Barbaros as his last in-hand card. Sanz had just 1600 Life Points left. He Set another monster. When Puttman drew and Summoned another Barbaros next turn Sanz knew it was over and immediately conceded.

Matt Puttman loses the first Duel, but battles back to sweep 2 games straight, chalking up a massive and memorable win with triple “Guardian Eatos”!

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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)

Puttman opened up Duel 1 with a powerful hand that could deal with just about anything. But after using his “Gemini Spark,” his hand was no longer equipped to take down a “Tragoedia” with over 3000 ATK. When there’s only 1 card that could possibly beat you, it’s important to play around that card. Puttman should have saved his “Gemini Spark” in case Sanz had the “Tragoedia” that would be able to take him down.

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

In game 3, Puttman commits all his Spell and Trap cards to the field.  This is a very risky play when all your monsters are big attackers with no useful effects of their own.  One “Heavy Storm” can cause you to lose the Match, and sure enough, Puttman’s opponent had it. Puttman caught a break though because Sanz didn’t draw “Goblin Zombie,” “Pyramid Turtle,” “Mystic Tomato” or “Sangan.” If he’d drawn any one of those monsters, he would  have been able to Synchro Summon “Goyo Guardian” by searching for “Plaguespreader Zombie” and combining that with “Zombie Master” or “Book of Life.” Puttman would have had to hope to draw something good to take out Goyo.

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

“That “Gemini Spark” seemed a bit overzealous.” — If Puttman had saved his “Gemini Spark” and Alius for when it was actually needed, instead of slamming it into a “Goblin Zombie” for little to no benefit, he could have easily trumped his opponent’s “Tragoedia” and put up a lot more of a fight, possibly winning the game outright. Another small thing worth noting is that setting the “Gemini Spark” during game 3 instead of holding on to it left Puttman very vulnerable to “Heavy Storm”. If Sanz had simply activated Storm instead of fishing for a “Solemn Judgment” or “Dark Bribe” with his “Mystical Space Typhoon” first, Sanz could have held on to his Typhoon for later when it would once again be required.

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

That “Gemini Spark” at the start of Duel 1 didn’t really need to be played. “Guardian Eatos” and “Elemental Hero Stratos” were more than strong enough to handle any face-down monster, and he could have used the Spark to take care of “Tragoedia” in Main Phase 2. One important thing that most players learn over time to hold on their cards as long as possible, so that they can use them on more important threats later on.

Puttman took a huge risk in Duel 2 by setting “Legendary Jujitsu Master” on his opening turn. It Sanz had a card that could destroy it, or had set a “Torrential Tribute,” Puttman wouldn’t have been able to Summon all 3 Guardians. Luckily for him, Sanz didn’t have any way to protect himself, but this Duel could have gone a lot differently if he did.

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