Rex Mendoza hails from San Diego and is playing Zombies with “Krebons” and “Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind” as his Tuners of choice. Mendoza’s Deck is packed with a lot of single cards, including “Tragoedia,” “Book of Life,” “Creature Swap,” “Return from the Different Dimension,” “Dust Tornado,” and “Gold Sarcophagus.” They’re fairly uncommon cards for most Zombie Decks this weekend, and they’ve made Mendoza an unpredictable force in this tournament.

That opponent is Omaha’s Oscar Olmedo, the only Duelist to make Top 16 here this weekend with Blackwings! Olmedo is playing all the usual suspects with 2 copies of “Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor.” He’s got a heavy lineup of 11 Trap Cards, complete with 2 “Royal Oppression” and a fully committed 3 copies of “Icarus Attack.” Olmedo’s also teched a single copy of “My Body As A Shield” and a “Mind Control,” too. “Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer,” “D.D. Crow,” and “Delta Crow – Anti Reverse” may prove to be the most useful cards in his Side Deck.

Olmedo opened the Match with a hand of “Bottomless Trap Hole,” “Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow,” “My Body As A Shield,” and a painful 3 copies of “Icarus Attack.” He Set Kalut, Set “Icarus Attack,” and Set Bottomless. Mendoza activated “Mystical Space Typhoon,” destroyed “Icarus Attack,” and followed up with “Allure of Darkness,” drawing 2 cards before removing “Caius the Shadow Monarch.” He Normal Summoned “Goblin Zombie,” then attacked to destroy Kalut! He Set 2 cards to his Spell & Trap Card Zone and ended.

He flipped “Trap Dustshoot” next turn, sending a freshly-drawn “Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn” back to Olmedo’s Deck! Olmedo was trapped with two copies of “Icarus Attack” and a “My Body As A Shield” but no Blackwings! “I hope that’s an Icarus,” quipped Mendoza, pointing to “Bottomless Trap Hole.” “A dead Icarus would be a free win!” Olmedo was stuck with not 1, but 2 of them.

Mendoza Summoned “Krebons,” Tuned it to “Goblin Zombie,” and Synchro Summoned “Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier.” “Goblin Zombie’s” effect occupied his right to priority, so Olmedo was forced to Chain “Bottomless Trap Hole” without getting a chance to draw out a card from Mendoza paying to use Brionac’s effect. Brionac was destroyed and removed, while “Goblin Zombie” got Mendoza “Zombie Master” from his Deck.

He sent “Mezuki” to his Graveyard with “Foolish Burial,” then removed it to Special Summon “Goblin Zombie.” He attacked for 1100 damage, but Goblin’s effect sent “Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor” to Olmedo’s Graveyard! A Set card to the Spell & Trap Card Zone ended Mendoza’s turn.

Olmedo drew “Mirror Force” and Set it, Setting an “Icarus Attack” to smokescreen the useful card. Mendoza Normal Summoned “Plaguespreader Zombie,” Tuned it to “Goblin Zombie,” and Synchro Summoned a second Brionac. Goblin’s effect got him another “Mezuki,” which he discarded to bounce “Mirror Force” back to his opponent’s hand. That was the second fifty-fifty choice Mendoza had made blindly and correctly in this Duel, and now Olmedo had nothing but “Icarus Attack” Set. Brionac attacked for 2300 damage.

In Main Phase 2 Mendoza removed “Mezuki” to Special Summon “Plaguespreader Zombie,” Tuned it to Brionac, and Synchro Summoned “Stardust Dragon.” Olmedo drew “Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North,” but had nothing but Vayu and Kalut in his Graveyard to Special Summon with Blizzard’s effect: he brought back Kalut, then used both monsters to Synchro Summon “Ally of Justice Catastor.” Mendoza activated “Bottomless Trap Hole” and Olmedo had to let it go. He Set “Mirror Force” and ended with 4600 Life Points left.

Mendoza Normal Summoned “Zombie Master,” set his last in-hand card on top of his Deck, and Special Summoned “Plaguespreader Zombie.” He attacked with Plaguespreader, forcing Olmedo to flip “Mirror Force,” and he Tributed “Stardust Dragon” to negate it. “Plaguespreader Zombie” and “Zombie Master” each made direct attacks to drop Olmedo to 2400 Life Points. Mendoza Sychro Summoned “Revived King Ha Des” before Special Summoning his “Stardust Dragon” back in the End Phase.

Olmedo had nothing: he drew and was left holding “Icarus Attack,” “Allure of Darkness,” and “My Body As a Shield.” He Set everything, activated Allure, drew “Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North” and “Torrential Tribute,” and removed Blizzard. He Set “Torrential Tribute” and Mendoza just attacked with “Stardust Dragon” to win.

Olmedo revealed his Set cards, including his double “Icarus Attacks”. “Yeah, I figured that’s what those three cards were,” remarked Mendoza, “So I figured the Stardust would win me the game.” Some spot-on reads from Rex Mendoza lead to victory in the first Duel! Both competitors made leisurely use of their Side Decks.

“I was hoping to Summon Catastor, attack into Stardust, force you to Tribute him, and then activate My Body” explained Olmedo. “I was just hoping you didn’t have that Bottomless. Let’s see if I can draw some monsters this time.”

“I don’t think you can,” joked Mendoza, grinning. “The monsters you can have are… how about 3 Vayu, and you have to start with all your Siroccos removed?” Olmedo laughed and both competitors shuffled up.

Olmedo started with “Black Whirlwind,” “Delta Crow – Anti Reverse,” “Royal Oppression,” 2 “Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame,” and “Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer.” He activated Whirlwind, Summoned Shura, and searched his Deck for “Blackwing – Bora the Spear.” He Set Delta Crow and ended.

“Draw Phase, anything?” asked Mendoza. Olmedo shook his head, and Mendoza activated “Brain Control”! He attacked for 1800 damage and tributed Shura for “Mobius the Frost Monarch” in Main Phase 2! Mobius destroyed “Black Whirlwind” and Delta Crow, and Mendoza Set a Spell or Trap to finish out.

Olmedo drew another Whirlwind! He activated it, Summoned Shura, but lost Whirlwind to a Chained “Dust Tornado”! He Set Oppression and ended, losing it almost immediately to “Heavy Storm.” Mobius ran over Shura and suddenly Olmedo had just 2 cards left. Mendoza Set a monster, then Set his last two cards to his Spell & Trap Card Zone.

Olmedo Summoned “Blackwing – Bora the Spear” and lost it to “Bottomless Trap Hole.” Next turn Mendoza beat him down with “Mezuki” and Mobius, Setting another back row card. Olmedo drew, holding 2 “Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer” and a “D.D. Crow.” He Summoned Kycoo, attacked “Mezuki,” and could do nothing but end. Mendoza Tributed Mobius for “Caius the Shadow Monarch,” removed Kycoo from the field, and attacked for game!

Rex Mendoza takes 2 consecutive train-wreck Duels over Oscar Olmedo, moving on to the Top 8 with Zombies!

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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 the first Duel, Olmedo set “Bottomless Trap Hole,” “Icarus Attack,” and “Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow” on his first turn, before Mendoza even had anything on the field. Since “Icarus Attack” is a chainable Trap Card, he may have been better off keeping it in his hand along with the Kalut and only setting “Bottomless Trap Hole” on his first turn. He could set Kalut and “Icarus Attack” later in the Duel, after his opponent committed more cards to the field. This way, he would be less vulnerable to “Heavy Storm” on his first turn. If Mendoza Summoned a monster and attacked Olmedo’s Kalut without playing any other cards, Olmedo wouldn’t be able to activate “Icarus Attack” without destroying his own cards anyway.

As it turned out, Mendoza was able to Summon “Goblin Zombie” and destroy Kalut in battle, making the “Mystical Space Typhoon” he also activated irrelevant. Olmedo wouldn’t have wanted to activate the “Icarus Attack” anyway, since it would only be able to destroy “Goblin Zombie” and his own “Bottomless Trap Hole.”

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

One thing worth noting in this match is that in a Top 16 Match it’s always important to pay very close attention to what cards have been used, destroyed, and what cards are left. At the beginning of Duel 1, Mendoza destroys Olmedo’s set “Icarus Attack” with his “Mystical Space Typhoon”. Then a turn later he activates “Trap Dustshoot” and sees two more “Icarus Attacks” in Olmedo’s hand. Mendoza joked around, saying “I hope that’s an “Icarus Attack” as well, that would be a free win!” pointing at Olmedo’s face-down trap. He definitely should have been able to note that all 3 “Icarus Attacks” were gone, and therefore that wasn’t a possibility.

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

Blackwing Decks need to see a lot of monsters to win, as even their key Spells and Traps, like “Icarus Attack” and “Black Whirlwind,” need monsters to go with them to be of any use. Olmedo wasn’t able to keep any of his monsters for long in the first Duel, and while he had 3 copies of “Icarus Attack,” he couldn’t do anything with them.

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