Both of these competitors were playing Lightsworn, and both were a win away from a seat in Day 2! Alex Vansant and Justin Ashe are both hungry for shot at the Top 16, and one Duelist would walk away from this table with a ticket to the playoffs tomorrow morning!

Ashe opened the Match with a hand of “Archlord Kristya,” “Honest,” “My Body As A Shield,” “Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid,” “Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter,” and “Celestia, Lightsworn Angel.” He Summoned Aurkus, Set “My Body As A Shield,” and ended to send “Beckoning Light” and “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner” to his Graveyard.

Vansant activated “Charge of the Light Brigade,” sending “Honest,” “Solar Recharge,” and “Beckoning Light” to his Graveyard to get “Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior.” He discarded Garoth for “Solar Recharge,” drew 2 cards, and sent Lumina and another “Beckoning Light” to the Graveyard. Another Charge sent Ryko, “Tragoedia,” and “Plaguespreader Zombie” to the Graveyard next, getting “Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress.” He Summoned her, attacked Aurkus, and passed priority in Damage Calculation – then Ashe hit him with “Honest,” destroying Lyla and dishing out 1200 Battle Damage. Vansant ended.

Ashe drew Garoth. He Summoned it, attacked with Aurkus, and made a direct attack with Garoth – Vansant had no response and dropped to 3750 Life Points. In the End Phase Ashe sent “Celestia, Lightsworn Angel,” Lumina, Charge, and Wulf to the Graveyard, drawing for Wulf via Garoth and Special Summoning to boot!

Vansant Special Summoned “Judgment Dragon” and activated its effect, but Ashe flipped “My Body As A Shield”! “Judgment Dragon” was destroyed, Vansant was down to 2750 Life Points, and the wind was clearly gone from his sails. He took a moment to inspect Ashe’s Graveyard, then Normal Summoned Aurkus. He placed a card on top of his Deck, Special Summoned “Plaguespreader Zombie,” and Tuned it to Aurkus for “Ally of Justice Catastor.” Catastor attacked Aurkus, destroyed it, and Vansant ended. Ashe still had that Celestia.

He Tributed Garoth for Celestia next turn, sending 4 cards to the Graveyard including a Wulf, and Vansant conceded. “You hit that other Wulf. If you hadn’t hit it… And I got hit by My Body! Did you SEE that?” Vansant made quick use of his Side Deck, as did Ashe.

Vansant opened up with “Solar Recharge,” discarding “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner” and sending “Celestia, Lightsworn Angel” and another Recharge to the Graveyard. He followed up with “Charge of the Light Brigade,” sending “Plaguespreader Zombie,” “Mystical Space Typhoon,” and “D. D. Warrior Lady” to his Graveyard. “It’s been the nuts all day!” he declared, as Ashe gave a look of surprise towards “D. D. Warrior Lady.” Vansant plucked “Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid” from his Deck, Summoned it, and Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone, sending “Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior” and “Bottomless Trap Hole” to his Graveyard.

Ashe Set a monster, then Set a card to his back row. Vansant attacked with Aurkus, slammed into “Necro Gardna,” and then Special Summoned “Tragoedia” with 2400 ATK! “Tragoedia” attacked “Necro Gardna,” destroyed it, and Vansant Set a second Spell or Trap. He Special Summoned “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast” in his End Phase courtesy of Aurkus, but lost his field to “Torrential Tribute”!

Ashe Summoned an Aurkus of his own! He attacked for 1200 damage, ended, and sent “Ehren, Lightsworn Monk” and Wulf to his Graveyard! Wulf was Special Summoned and Vansant heaved a sigh, then activated “Torrential Tribute” to clear the field, just like Ashe had done to him!

Vansant Summoned Lumina, discarded “Heavy Storm,” and Special Summoned “Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior.” Lumina attacked for 1000 Battle Damage, Garoth attacked for 1850, and Vansant sent “Charge of the Light Brigade,” “Necro Gardna,” 2 Lylas, and “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness” to the Graveyard in his End Phase. He drew a card for  Garoth’s effect. Ashe Summoned Lumina and discarded 1 card to Special Summon Wulf, but Vansant flipped “Royal Oppression” to stop the Special Summon and destroy Lumina! Ashe ended with an empty field.

Vansant Normal Summoned “Honest,” attacked with Lumina, and Ashe was down to 4150 Life Points. “Honest” attacked first, and when Garoth attacked afterwards, Ashe stopped it with “Necro Gardna.” Vansant sent a pair of “Necro Gardnas” to the Graveyard in his End Phase.

Ashe drew, and was now holding “Brain Control,” 2 “Honests,” and a useless “Judgment Dragon.” He Set 1 of his “Honests” and ended, projecting an air of defiance. Vansant Tributed Lumina for “Celestia, Lightsworn Angel” next turn, blowing away the “Honest” anyways.

He put a card on top of his Deck to Special Summon “Plaguespreader Zombie,” and Ashe decided not to pay 800 Life Points to negate the Summon with “Royal Oppression.” “Plaguespreader Zombie” attacked for 400 damage, Garoth attacked next, and Ashe dropped to 800 Life Points. Celestia attacked, and Ashe clung to life by removing another “Necro Gardna.” Vansant Tuned “Plaguespreader Zombie” to Garoth in Main Phase 2, Synchro Summoned “Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier,” and ended, knowing that even if Ashe had “Brain Control” (which he did), he wouldn’t be able to pay for it. Ashe conceded moments later.

Alex Vansant controls the second Duel, fighting off more Wulf Summons and taking a dominant stance in the game with “Royal Oppression”! One more Duel would decide which of these two competitors would be guaranteed a seat in Day 2! Ashe would play first, and Vansant shook his hand before the game started.

Ashe had “Celestia, Lightsworn Angel,” “Necro Gardna,” “Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid,” “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner,” “Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior”, and “Mirror Force.”  He Set “Mirror Force,” Summoned Aurkus, and sent “Brain Control” and “Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter” to his Graveyard. Vansant sent “Beckoning Light,” “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness,” and “Ehren, Lightsworn Monk” to his Graveyard for “Charge of the Light Brigade,” getting “Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress” from his Deck. He Summoned Lyla, attacked, and Ashe flipped “Mirror Force,” but Vansant Chained “My Body As A Shield,” Then, when he got to damage calculation, he activated “Honest” to boost Lyla over Aurkus. “I don’t want want any shenanigans!” Ashe had done well, drawing out his opponent’s “Honest” unnecessarily. Vansant sent “Necro Gardna,” “Judgment Dragon,” and “Royal Oppression” to the Graveyard.

Ashe drew “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast,” and Summoned Garoth to attack and destroy Lyla. Vansant Special Summoned “Tragoedia,” then drew to 3 cards. “Tragoedia” now had 1800 ATK.

“I know not to get greedy, but I have to say,” Vansant paused for dramatic effect… “He works for ME!” Vansant discarded “Honest,” took control of Garoth with “Tragoedia’s” effect, Summoned Lumina, and discarded “Necro Gardna” to Special Summon Lyla. “Please don’t have Gorz. I would feel so stupid.” Lumina attacked for 1000 Battle Damage, Lyla struck for 1700, and Garoth hit for 1850. Ashe had 1750 Life Points to Vansant’s 6350. He sent 10 cards total to his Graveyard, drawing 3 cards with Garoth’s effect!

Ashe drew, and top-decked “Judgment Dragon”! He couldn’t Summon it yet, so he Summoned Lumina, discarded “Necro Gardna” to Special Summon Aurkus, and ended, sending 5 cards to his Graveyard – none of them were Lightsworn!

Vansant Special Summoned “Plaguespreader Zombie,” Tuned it to Lyla and Lumina, and Synchro Summoned “Mist Wurm.” He tried to target Ashe’s Lightsowrn monsters, but couldn’t. He’d forgotten about Ashe’s Aurkus! Vansant drew 2 cards with “Solar Recharge,” discarding Garoth, then discarded Lyla for another 2 draws. He sent “Brain Control” and “Necro Gardna” to the Graveyard.

He then Normal Summoned “D. D. Warrior Lady”! “Tragoedia” turned to Attack Position, Garoth attacked Aurkus, and Ashe let it go through. Aurkus was destroyed, and Ashe dropped to 1100 Life Points. “Tragoedia” attacked Lumina, Ashe took the damage, and “D. D. Warrior Lady” attacked for the win!

Alex Vansant makes a big misplay, forgetting entirely about his opponent’s “Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid” and Summoning “Mist Wurm” without being able to use his effect – when he could’ve just taken the Duel with “Tempest Magician”!

“I can’t believe I forgot about Aurkus!” shouted Vansant, laughing as he scooped up his cards. He shook Ashe’s hand, almost apologetic. “I’m so bad!” He leaned across the table to give a comment for the Feature Match records: “Make sure to put in there that I’m bad, and I’m an idiot!”

Misplay or not, Alex Vansant is going to Day 2!

See what our panel of experts had to say after the Duel.

Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
In Duel 1, Ashe used “My Body as a Shield” to negate the effect of Vansant’s “Judgment Dragon,” sealing the Duel. In the future, I expect “Starlight Road” to replace “My Body as a Shield” in most Decks, especially as a counter to cards like “Judgment Dragon” and Celestia.

Michael McTavish (Top 8 Finalist – 2009 Canadian National Championship)
While Vansant wanted to make sure that we mentioned he was “bad, and an idiot”, I’d like to disagree. Despite the one (fairly large) misplay at the end of the Match, him and Ashe both played a very good Match that could have gone either way. While I’d say the “Mist Wurm” misplay stops him from making up for the misplay in his earlier feature match, I’ll at least give him the benefit of the doubt and say the pressure of wanting to win so badly in a final round feature match at a SHONEN JUMP Championship probably got to him a bit.

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

Ashe made a good play at the start of Duel 3. When he attacked Vansant’s “Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid” with his “Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress,” Vansant flipped “Mirror Force” to try and protect the Aurkus. Ashe Chained “My Body as a Shield” to negate it and force Vansant to use his “Honest” earlier than he wanted to.

Vansant’s misplay was outlined above, but here’s what he could have done. Instead of Summoning “Mist Wurm” he could have used his “Plaguespreader Zombie” to Summon “Tempest Magician.” Tempest would have gained 1 Spell Counter for her effect, and Vansant could then discard 3 cards to give it 3 more Counters. Then, he could use Tempest’s other effect to inflict 2000 points of damage to end the Duel without having to risk attacking.

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