Round 7 Feature Match: Bradley Easler vs. Scott Mattson
Bradley Easler is 18 years old and came here from South Carolina. Scott Mattson is 19 years old and came here from Minnesota. Mattson is using a Twilight Deck in today’s tournament, and Easler is playing a Stun Deck with “Dimensional Fissure” in it. Easler has faced 3 Lightsworn-based decks prior to this round and hasn’t lost to one yet. Will his winning streak continue? Both competitors are 5-1 at this point in the tournament, but only one of them can be 6-1 after this round.
“It’s time to Duel!” Easler exclaimed.
Easler won the dice roll and began the Duel. He opened up with 2 copies of “Royal Oppression,” “Mystical Space Typhoon,” “’Dimensional Fissure,” “D.D. Warrior Lady,” and “Torrential Tribute.” He Set “D.D. Warrior Lady” and “Royal Oppression” before ending his turn.
Mattson started his turn by Summoning “Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid” to the field. Aurkus attacked into Easler’s face-down “D.D. Warrior Lady” and Mattson lost 400 Life Points. During the End Phase, Mattson sent “Honest” and “Beckoning Light” to his Graveyard with the effect of Aurkus.
Easler drew “D.D. Survivor” next turn. He activated “Dimensional Fissure,” Summoned his Survivor, switched “D.D. Warrior Lady” into Attack Position, and then attacked over Aurkus with the Survivor. Next, “D.D. Warrior Lady” attacked directly and Mattson dropped down to 5500 Life Points. Easler ended his turn.
Mattson started his next turn by activating “Gold Sarcophagus” and removing “Heavy Storm” from his Deck with its effect. In 2 turns, he would reclaim it. Then he Summoned “Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress” to the field and switched it to Defense Position to destroy Easler’s “Dimensional Fissure.” He sent “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner,” “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast,” and “Monster Reincarnation” to his Graveyard in the End Phase due to the effect of Lyla. Easler negated the Special Summon of Wulf by flipping “Royal Oppression” and paying 800 Life Points.
Easler drew another “D.D. Warrior Lady” next turn. He attacked Lyla with Survivor and then attacked directly with “D.D. Warrior Lady” to drop Mattson to 4000 Life Points.
On Mattson’s next turn, he Set a monster and ended his turn without making any other plays.
Easler drew “Doomcaliber Knight” next turn. He attacked Mattson’s face-down monster with “D.D. Warrior Lady” and lost 400 Life Points after he saw that it was an “Honest.” Easler removed “D.D. Warrior Lady” and “Honest” from play with the Warrior Lady’s effect. Next, “D.D. Survivor” attacked directly, dropping Mattson to 2200 Life Points. In Main Phase 2, Easler Set another “D.D. Warrior Lady” before ending his turn.
Mattson added “Heavy Storm” to his hand from the removed-from-play pile next turn thanks to the effect of “Gold Sarcophagus.” Then he discarded Lyla to activate “Solar Recharge.” He drew 2 cards and sent “Chaos Sorcerer” and “Brain Control” from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard. Next, he Summoned “Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior” and attacked the Survivor, dropping Easler to 7750 Life Points. He Set a Spell or Trap Card before ending his turn.
Easler drew “Lightning Vortex” next turn! He had “Mystical Space Typhoon,” “Doomcaliber Knight,” “Lightning Vortex,” “Torrential Tribute,” and “Royal Oppression” in his hand. He activated “Mystical Space Typhoon” to destroy Mattson’s face-down “Beckoning Light.” Then he activated “Lightning Vortex” by discarding “Royal Oppression” in order to destroy Garoth. Next, he Summoned “Doomcaliber Knight” and flipped “D.D. Warrior Lady” face-up. “Doomcaliber Knight” attacked directly, dropping Mattson to 300 Life Points and then “D.D. Warrior Lady” finished the Duel with a direct attack!
Easler maintains total control to win the first Duel! Mattson will be going first in Duel 2.
Both players dipped into their Side Decks. Easler removed “DD Warrior, “Heavy Storm,” Fissure, “Royal Oppression,” 2 copies of “Trap Hole,” “Trap Dustshoot,” “Mystical Space Typhoon,” “D.D. Survivor,” and “Doomcaliber Knight” from his Deck to put in 2 copies of “D.D. Crow,” “My Body as a Shield,” 2 copies of “Windstorm of Etaqua,” “Waboku,” “Lightning Vortex,” 2 copies of “Legendary Jujitsu Master” and “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness.”
Mattson started off the Duel by activating “Charge of the Light Brigade” and sent 2 copies of “Necro Gardna” and an Aurkus to the Graveyard to pay the cost. He searched his Deck for “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner” with its effect and added it to his hand. Then he Summoned Lumina to the field and discarded “Bottomless Trap Hole” to Special Summon Aurkus to the field in Attack Position. He Set 1 card to his Spell or Trap Card Zone before ending his turn. “Necro Gardna,” “Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior,” “Judgment Dragon,” and 2 Spell Cards were sent to the Graveyard in his End Phase.
Easler opened up with “D.D. Assailant,” “Doomcaliber Knight,” “My Body as a Shield,” “Bottomless Trap Hole,” “Dimensional Fissure,” and “Royal Oppression.” He started his turn by activating “Dimensional Fissure” and Summoning “D.D. Assailant” to the field. Then he attacked Aurkus with his Assailant. Mattson flipped “Mirror Force,” but Easler chained “My Body as a Shield” to negate it by paying 1500 Life Points! Mattson lost his Aurkus and 500 Life Points. Easler Set “Bottomless Trap Hole” and ended his turn.
Mattson started his next turn by activating “Brain Control” to take control of “D.D. Assailant.” Then he attacked directly with Honest, Lumina, and the Assailant, dropping Easler to 2700 Life Points. In the End Phase, Mattson’s “Solar Recharge,” “Charge of the Light Brigade,” and “Bottomless Trap Hole” were removed from play due to the effects of Lumina and “Dimensional Fissure.”
Easler drew “Thunder King Rai-Oh” next turn! He Summoned it to the field and then attacked with his Assailant. Mattson blocked the attack with “Necro Gardna.” Rai-Oh attacked next, and Mattson tried to boost Lumina’s ATK by discarding Honest. Easler and the table judge reminded him that he can’t discard “Honest” with “Dimensional Fissure” on the field, so he brought the Honest back to his hand and Easler let him negate the attack with “Necro Gardna” instead. Easler ended his turn and Mattson was up again.
Mattson activated the effect of Lumina by discarding “Solar Recharge” in order to Special Summon Garoth from his Graveyard. Easler removed Garoth from play after it hit the field by flipping “Bottomless Trap Hole.” In the End Phase, Wulf, “Judgment Dragon,” and Lyla were removed from the top of Mattson’s Deck.
Easler attacked Lumina with his Assailant next turn and Lumina was destroyed. “Thunder King Rai-Oh” attacked Mattson’s face-down “Honest” next. Easler used “Fissure” in Main Phase 2 to destroy it before ending his turn.
Mattson was down to only 2 cards in his hand with a face-down Spell or Trap Card. He ended his turn without making a play. Mattson drew a card and then attacked directly with “D.D. Assailant” and “Thunder King Rai-Oh.” Mattson dropped down to 2400 Life Points. He drew card and passed his next turn immediately.
Easler drew “Solemn Judgment” next turn and attacked with his Assailant. Mattson took the damage and dropped down to 700 Life Points. “Thunder King Rai-Oh” attacked next, and Mattson negated the attack with “Necro Gardna” to stay in the game.
Mattson drew “Mystical Space Typhoon” next turn and used it to destroy “Dimensional Fissure.” Easler allowed it to be destroyed. Then Mattson Set another card to his back row and ended his turn.
Easler attacked with “D.D. Assailant” next turn and took down the rest of Mattson’s Life Points!
Bradley Easler takes down Scott Mattson’s Twilight Deck and sweeps the Match 2-0! He moves on in the tournament with a 6-1 record and a great chance of making Day 2.
See what our panel of experts had to say after the Duel.
Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
In Duel 1, after Mattson activated “Gold Sarcophagus” to retrieve a copy of “Heavy Storm” to use 2 turns later, Easler had the opportunity to play more aggressively and end the Duel before Mattson add “Heavy Storm” to his hand. But he continued to play cautiously instead. He would have been better off Summoning his second “D.D. Warrior” to the field when he had the opportunity, and attacking with it to drop Mattson down to 2500 Life Points instead of 4000. Then, on his next turn, still before Mattson collected his “Heavy Storm,” Easler would have been able to remove Mattson’s Set monster with a “D.D. Warrior Lady” and finish off the rest of his Life Points with his other “D.D. Warrior Lady” and “D.D. Survivor.”
Michael McTavish (Top 8 Finalist – 2009 Canadian National Championship)
Good sportsmanship seems to be a rarity these days, especially in the later rounds of large tournaments such as Shonen Jump Championships. It was nice to see some from Easler during game 2 when Mattson attempted to drop an “Honest” from his hand without realizing he could not due to “Dimensional Fissure”. Easler allowed Mattson to rewind back to the declaration of the attack so he could activate a “Necro Gardna” instead.
P.J. Tierney (Duelist from across The Pond)
Easler showed good sportsmanship in Duel 2 when Mattson tried to activate the effect of “Honest.” Since “Dimensional Fissure” was on the field, Mattson couldn’t play his “Honest” since it wasn’t able to go to the Graveyard. This would have been during the Damage Step, after the point in time when “Necro Gardna” could negate attacks. Easler let the battle play out again, since Mattson had made a simple mistake, and allowed him to remove “Necro Gardna” to negate his attack.
