Jon Moore is a former SHONEN JUMP Championship winner, and he’s competing here today with a dedicated X-Saber build that we profiled here. Moore’s Deck threatens his opponent in two ways. First, by punishing conservative play with “XX-Saber Gottoms.” And second, by punishing aggressive play with cards like “Saber Hole” and “Saber Slash.” He’s got a ton of Special Summoning power, and a lot of cool plays his opponents might not be ready for.

His opponent is Baltimore’s Collin Berman, one of many competitors here today playing Destiny Heroes with “Deep Sea Diva” and “Miracle Fusion.” “Elemental Hero Absolute Zero” is proving to be really popular here in the early rounds of Day 1, and if Moore gets out too many monsters, Berman could hammer him with Absolute Zero’s effect. This one should be interesting.

Moore opened the Match by Summoning “X-Saber Airbellum” and Setting 2 cards to his Spell & Trap Card Zone – 1 of them was “Saber Hole.” Berman activated “Allure of Darkness,” drew 2 cards, and removed his “Destiny Hero – Dasher” from play. He Summoned “Elemental Hero Stratos” but lost it to “Saber Hole”! Berman Set 2 cards to his Spell & Trap Card Zone.

Moore attacked with “X-Saber Airbellum,” Berman flipped “Skill Drain,” and Moore Set another card to his back row. Berman Set a monster, Moore drew “XX-Saber Ragigura” and groaned – it wasn’t very useful with “Skill Drain” on the table. Airbellum attacked, knocked Berman’s “Plaguespreader Zombie” into the Graveyard, and Berman was up.

He Summoned “Destiny Hero – Fear Monger,” and Moore had another “Saber Hole” to negate the Summon! Berman passed, Moore drew “XX-Saber Fulhelmknight,” and Airbellum made a direct attack. Berman Summoned another Fear Monger next turn, returned a card to the top of his Deck to Special Summon “Plaguespreader Zombie,” and Tuned it to Fear Monger to Synchro Summon “Goyo Guardian”! Goyo attacked Airbellum and destroyed it, but Berman couldn’t Special Summon it with his own “Skill Drain” active.

Moore Normal Summoned “XX-Saber Fulhelmknight,” took “Goyo Guardian” with “Brain Control,” attacked with Fulhelmknight, and swung for game with “Goyo Guardian”!

““Saber Hole” was pretty ridiculous,” commented Berman, diving for his Side Deck.

“Yeah,” replied Moore. “I had the first, drew a monster, and then topped another one.”

“I would’ve been fine if I’d had that Stratos,” remarked Berman. “I just couldn’t do anything.”

“See, that’s how my bad hands are supposed to play out!” grinned Moore.

“Skill Drain” shuts down Jon Moore’s best plays, but a pair of “Saber Holes” wins the Duel anyways! Moore makes short work of the first Duel and claims victory with X-Sabers. Both competitors made quick use of their Side Deck before starting the second Duel.

Berman got things started with a Set card to his back row, and a Set monster. Moore matched him, Setting a monster himself, then Setting a Spell or Trap. Berman Set another monster. Moore Set one too, holding “Foolish Burial,” “Giant Trunade,” “X-Saber Airbellum,” and “XX-Saber Ragigura.” Play was to Berman.

He Flip Summoned “Mystic Tomato,” attacked, and destroyed his opponent’s “Sangan.” Moore got “Rescue Cat” from his Deck: “That’s game,” groaned Berman. “No doubt in my mind.” He ended without making any more moves.

But Moore drew another Airbellum, dampening the impact of his “Rescue Cat”! He had “XX-Saber Emmersblade” and “Bottomless Trap Hole” Set. He cleared the field with “Giant Trunade,” sent “XX-Saber Faultroll” to the Graveyard with “Foolish Burial,” and Flip Summoned “XX-Saber Emmersblade.” He Normal Summoned Ragigura, took back Faultroll from his Graveyard with Ragigura’s effect, and rammed Emmersblade into “Mystic Tomato.” Emmersblade was destroyed, Moore got another Emmersblade from his Deck, slammed that one into Tomato too, and Special Summoned “XX-Saber Fulhelmknight” from his Deck.

In Main Phase 2 he Special Summoned Faultroll from his hand, used its effect to Special Summon “XX-Saber Emmersblade,” then Tuned Faultroll and Fulhelmknight to Synchro Summon “XX-Saber Gottoms.” He Tributed Ragigura for Gottoms’ effect, making Berman discard “Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude.” He Set “Bottomless Trap Hole” again to finish out, holding 3 cards in hand.

Berman drew to 6 cards, with “Mystic Tomato” and a Set monster still on the field. He Normal Summoned “Deep Sea Diva,” Special Summoned another from his Deck in Defense Position, and Tuned one to Tomato for “Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier.” He discarded “Destiny Hero – Malicious” for Brionac’s effect with priority, sending Emmersblade back to Moore’s hand, but Moore chained “Bottomless Trap Hole” to destroy and remove Brionac from the game.

Berman removed “Destiny Hero – Malicious” from his Graveyard, Special Summoned another from his Deck, and Tuned the second Diva to it to Summon “Colossal Fighter” with 3200 ATK. He Flip Summoned “Sangan,” attacked over Gottoms with “Colossal Fighter,” and made a direct attack with “Sangan.” Berman Set 2 cards to his Spell & Trap Card Zone to finish.

Moore Summoned Emmersblade, then Set a Spell or Trap card, planning to force Berman to consider whether or not Moore had Set “Saber Hole.” Berman played around it though, and took Emmersblade with “Brain Control.” He turned “Colossal Fighter” to Defense Position, then attacked with “Sangan” and Emmersblade – Moore was down to 4400 Life Points, while Berman still had 7200. He Tributed Emmersblade for a face-down monster in Main Phase 2 and Set his remaining cards to his Spell & Trap Card Zone.

Moore Summoned “Rescue Cat,” sent it to the Graveyard to Special Summon “Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter” and Airbellum, and lost Airbellum to “Bottomless Trap Hole”! Stymied, Moore lost Ryko in the End Phase to the Cat’s effect. Next turn Berman attacked with “Colossal Fighter” and “Sangan,” and Moore had just 200 Life Points left.

He Summoned Airbellum and used “Saber Slash” to destroy “Colossal Fighter,” then passed play to Moore. Moore didn’t attack, and passed play back. Berman Flip Summoned “Destiny Hero – Dasher,” Moore negated the Summon with “Saber Hole,” but Moore conceded when “Solemn Judgment” was activated moments later!

Collin Berman fights through a big early game from Moore, pushing this Match to a third Duel! “I was so glad you didn’t have that second Faultroll,” remarked Berman. He visibly exhaled for what appeared to be the first time in a few minutes, gaining some confidence as the last Duel began.

Moore opened Duel 3 with “Threatening Roar,” “Heavy Storm,” “XX-Saber Fulhelmknight,” “Mind Control,” “Heavy Storm,” “Gottoms’ Emergency Call,” and “Brain Control.” He Set “Threatening Roar” and ended. Berman Summoned “Sangan,” attacked for 1000 damage, and Set a single Spell or Trap Card.

Moore drew “Rescue Cat,” Summoned Fullhelmknight, and attacked “Sangan” – Berman searched his Deck for “Mystic Tomato” with “Sangan’s” effect. Berman Summoned “Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude,” activated its effect to reveal “Threatening Roar,” and moved into his Battle Phase, prompting Moore to activate his own “Threatening Roar.” Next turn Moore activated “Heavy Storm,” destroying Berman’s face-down “Skill Drain”!

Moore Summoned “Rescue Cat” to get 2 “X-Saber Airbellums” from his Deck, then activated “Brain Control” to take Diamond Dude! He activated its effect, revealing “Bottomless Trap Hole,” and attacked for 1600 damage with an Airbellum! That put Berman’s “Destiny Hero – Malicious” in his Graveyard. The next Airbellum stripped Berman of “Miracle Fusion,” and Fulhelmknight and Diamond Dude attacked to drop Berman to 1800 Life Points. Berman shook his head while Moore Tuned an Airbellum to Diamond Dude, Synchro Summoning “X-Saber Urbellum.” Moore Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone and ended, losing the second Airbellum in his End Phase.

“Allure of Darkness” let Berman trade his “Mystic Tomato” for 2 more draws, but that just led to him having to discard his second “Destiny Hero – Malicious” for “Destiny Draw.” He had 4 cards in-hand, and Summoned “Elemental Hero Stratos” to search his Deck for “Destiny Hero – Fear Monger.” “I just lost myself the game,” remarked Berman, immediately realizing he’d made a mistake. “I shouldn’t have Summoned Stratos.” He considered attacking, but opted just to Set one card to his back row to finish the turn. When Moore revealed “Mind Control” next turn Berman conceded the Match!

Jon Moore chalks up a win for X-Sabers, narrowly claiming victory, 2 Duels to 1 over Collin Berman!

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

Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
In Duel 1, Moore activated “Saber Hole” to negate the Summon of a “Destiny Hero – Fear Monger.” He may have been better off saving the “Saber Hole” for a monster Berman could Summon that would actually pose a threat. Most likely, Berman would have returned a card from his hand to the top of his Deck to revive “Plaguespreader Zombie” and Tune it to Fear Monger in order to Special Summon “Goyo Guardian.” Since “Saber Hole” works on Special Summons too, Moore could have negated the Summon of the Goyo instead of the Fear Monger. That would’ve made better use of the “Saber Hole” by leaving Berman without a “Plaguespreader Zombie” in his Graveyard and with one less card in his hand.

Michael McTavish (Top 8 Finalist – 2009 Canadian National Championship)
Superb playing on both sides of the table in this match led to a battle that could have gone either way. With one unfortunate mistake by Berman at the end, mixed with some bad luck at the hands of “Destiny Hero – Malicious”, Moore was able to show why he’s a former SHONEN JUMP Championship winner and take the victory. The huge push by Moore during game 2 was enough to throw Berman off his game temporarily. The moral of the story is to never lose your cool, concentrate, no matter how bad the situation looks.

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

As soon as Berman destroyed Moore’s “Sangan” in Duel 2, he felt that he’d just lost the Duel. Moore searched for “Rescue Cat,” one of his Deck’s strongest cards. Luckily for Berman though, Moore drew an “X-Saber Airbellum” right after that, cutting off his big combo, and when Moore eventually played the Cat a few turns later, it wasn’t very effective.

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