Both competitors in this Feature Match are 7-1 going into this round. A victory here would give one of these Duelists a great shot at making Day 2, while the other would need to rely on good luck and great tie-breakers to make it into the Top 16. Paura is running a Zombie Lightsworn Deck and Urbahns is playing a classic Lightsworn Deck.

Urbahns won the dice roll and chose to go first. He opened up by activating “Gold Sarcophagus” to remove “Judgment Dragon” from his Deck. Then he activated “Charge of the Light Brigade” by sending “Heavy Storm,” “Necro Gardna,” and “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner” from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard to pay the cost. He searched his Deck for “Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior” with the effect of Charge and added it to his hand. Then he Normal Summoned Lumina and discarded Garoth from his hand to Special Summon it from his Graveyard with Lumina’s effect. In his End Phase, Urbahns sent 5 monsters from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard and drew 1 card off of Garoth’s effect.

Paura opened up with “Zombie Master,” “Goblin Zombie,” “Necro Gardna,” “Charge of the Light Brigade,” “Mirror Force,” and “Tragoedia.” He began by activating Charge to send “Plaguespreader Zombie” and 2 Spell Cards from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard before adding Lyla from his Deck to his hand. Then he Normal Summoned “Zombie Master” and discarded “Necro Gardna” to activate its effect and Special Summon “Plaguespreader Zombie” from his Graveyard in Attack Position. He Tuned his 2 monsters together to Special Summon “Revived King Ha Des” from his Extra Deck. He attacked Lumina with Ha Des, but Urbahns negated the attack by removing a “Necro Gardna” from his Graveyard. Paura Set “Mirror Force” and ended his turn.

Urbahns started his next turn by Tributing Garoth for “Celestia, Lightsworn Angel” and sending “Plaguespreader Zombie,” Celestia, “Honest,” and “Judgment Dragon” to the Graveyard to pay the cost of its effect. “Mirror Force” and Revived King were destroyed by Celestia! Then Urbahns discarded Wulf to activate Lumina’s effect and Special Summon Garoth back from the Graveyard. With exactly 4 Fairy-Type Monsters in the Graveyard, Urbahns Special Summoned “Archlord Kristya” to the field and returned “Honest” to his hand with its effect. Urbahns attacked with Lumina, Garoth, Celestia, and “Archlord Kristya.” Kristya had its attack negated by “Necro Gardna,” but Paura took the rest of the damage and dropped down to 2950. In the End Phase, Urbahns sent the Top 5 cards of his Deck to his Graveyard and didn’t draw any cards from Garoth’s effect.

Paura Set a “Necro Gardna” next turn before ending. Urbahns Summoned Ehren to attack the Gardna before finishing Paura off with his other 4 monsters.

An awesome hand for Wyatt Urbahns makes the first Duel an easy victory. Paura would be starting Duel 2. Both players made some changes with their Side Decks before Game 2 began.

Paura opened up the second Duel with “Trap Dustshoot,” “Bottomless Trap Hole,” “Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter,” “Necro Gardna,” “Goblin Zombie,” and “Burial from a Different Dimension.” He Set both of his Trap Cards and “Goblin Zombie” before ending his turn.

Urbahns activated “Solar Recharge” next turn to discard Lumina and draw 2 cards. “Judgment Dragon” and “Plaguespreader Zombie” were sent from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard by the effect of “Solar Recharge.” Next, he Summoned Lumina to the field. Paura flipped “Trap Dustshoot” and Urbahns revealed “Bottomless Trap Hole,” “Brain Control,” 2 copies of Lumina, and 2 copies of “Honest.” Paura chose to send a copy of “Honest” back to his Deck. Then Urbahns attacked with Lumina and hit a face-down “Goblin Zombie.” He took 50 points of damage and lost a “Mirror Force” from the top of his Deck due to the effect of “Goblin Zombie.” He Set “Bottomless Trap Hole” face-down and then ended his turn, sending “Bottomless Trap Hole,” “Charge of the Light Brigade,” and “Honest” from thee top of his Deck to his Graveyard.

Paura drew “D.D. Crow” next turn and switched “Goblin Zombie” into Attack Position. Then he attacked Lumina with his “Goblin Zombie” and Urbahns discarded “Honest” from his hand during Damage Calculation to keep his Lumina on the field. “Goblin Zombie” was destroyed and Paura searched his Deck for “Zombie Master” to add to his hand with its effect. Paura Set a Ryko before ending his turn.

Urbahns attacked the Ryko with Lumina and Ryko’s effect destroyed Urbahns’s Set “Bottomless Trap Hole.” Paura also sent 3 cards from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard. Then Urbahns activated Lumina’s effect to try to Special Summon another copy of Lumina from his Graveyard, but lost out to a “D.D. Crow” that Paura discarded from his hand to remove the Lumina in the Graveyard from the game.

On his next turn, Paura Normal Summoned “Zombie Master” and discarded “Necro Gardna” from his hand to Special Summon “Plaguespreader Zombie” from Urbahns’s Graveyard. He tuned them together for “Doomkaiser Dragon” and activated its effect to Special Summon “Plaguespreader Zombie” from Urbahns’s Graveyard again. Then he tuned “Doomkaiser Dragon” with “Plaguespreader Zombie” to Synchro Summon “Stardust Dragon.” “Stardust Dragon” attacked over Lumina and Urbahns dropped to 6450 Life Points.

Urbahns was up. He Set a back row and ended his turn. Paura Summoned Lyla next turn and attacked with both “Stardust Dragon” and Lyla. Urbahns took the damage and dropped to 2250. In Main Phase 2, Paura switched Lyla to Defense Position to destroy Urbahns’s Set “Solar Recharge.” Paura sent the top 3 cards of his Deck to his Graveyard in the End Phase for Lyla’s effect.

On Urbahns’s next turn, he activated “Charge of the Light Brigade” by sending Aurkus, “D.D. Crow,” and Jain from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard. Then he searched his Deck for Lyla and added it to his hand with the effect of Charge. Urbahns activated “Brain Control” next to take control of “Stardust Dragon.” He attacked Paura’s Defense Position Lyla with it and Lyla was destroyed. In Main Phase 2, Urbahns Special Summoned “Judgment Dragon” and activated its effect to destroy “Stardust Dragon” and Paura’s Set card. He chained the Set “Bottomless Trap Hole,” but Urbahns Tributed “Stardust Dragon” to negate it. Urbahns ended his turn and Paura forgot to Special Summon “Stardust Dragon” back to the field in his End Phase.

On Paura’s next turn, he had “Spirit Reaper,” “Mezuki,” and “Burial from a Different Dimension” in his hand after drawing a card for his turn. He Set the Reaper and Burial before he ended his turn.

Urbahns activated “Monster Reincarnation” next turn by discarding Lyla. He brought Ehren back to his hand with the effect of “Monster Reincarnation.” He Summoned her to the field and attacked Reaper, but the attack was negated by “Necro Gardna.” Urbahns sent 7 cards from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard in the End Phase.

On Paura’s next turn, he activated “Brain Control” to take control of “Judgment Dragon.” Then he Summoned “Mezuki” and attacked Ehren with “Judgment Dragon.” Urbahns negated the attack with “Necro Gardna.” Then “Mezuki” destroyed Ehren in battle and Reaper attacked directly, dropping Urbahns to 50 Life Points!

Paura switched his Reaper and Mezuki into Defense Position on his next turn. Urbahns was quickly running out of cards in his Deck and without 1000 Life Points to pay for Judgment, he just couldn’t clear Paura’s field fast enough.

On Urbahns’s next turn, he Summoned “Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind” and activated its effect to target and destroy Paura’s “Spirit Reaper.” Then Urbahns conceded, knowing he’d be unable to finish Paura off before he lost the rest of the cards in his Deck to the effect of “Judgment Dragon” in his End Phase.

Urbahns would be starting off Game 3!

He Set a card to each zone and ended his turn.

Paura opened up with “Allure of Darkness,” “Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer,” “Chaos Sorcerer,” “D.D. Crow,” “Mind Crush,” and “Necro Gardna.” He activated “Allure of Darkness” to draw “Mystical Space Typhoon” and Lyla, then removed “Necro Gardna” from the game with the effect of “Allure of Darkness.” Next, he Normal Summoned Lyla and activated its effect to destroy Urbahns’s Set “Mirror Force.” Paura Set “Mind Crush” and ended his turn, sending “Bottomless Trap Hole,” Jain, and “Charge of the Light Brigade” to the Graveyard.

Urbahns flipped “Necro Gardna” next turn and attacked over Lyla to destroy her. Then he Set a monster and ended his turn.

Paura drew “Plaguespreader Zombie” next turn and ended his turn without another play.

On Urbahns’s next turn, he flipped a second “Necro Gardna” and attacked with both copies. Paura took the 1200 points of damage.

Paura drew “Allure of Darkness” next turn and activated it to draw Lumina and “Foolish Burial” from his Deck. Then he removed “Plaguespreader Zombie” from his hand with its effect. Next, he Normal Summoned Lumina and discarded “Mystical Space Typhoon” from his hand to activate her effect. He tried to Special Summon Jain from his Graveyard, but Urbahns removed it from play by discarding “D.D. Crow” from his hand! Paura attacked a “Necro Gardna” with Lumina and Urbahns dropped to 7600 Life Points. In his End Phase, Paura sent “Mezuki,” “Goblin Zombie,” and “Bottomless Trap Hole” from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard with the effect of Lumina.

Urbahns was up. He switched “Necro Gardna” into Defense Position and then Set a monster before passing his turn. Paura drew “Brain Control” next turn and Summoned “Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer” to the field. Next, he discarded “Foolish Burial” to pay for Lumina’s effect and Special Summoned Lyla from the Graveyard. Lyla attacked “Necro Gardna” and then Lumina attacked a face-down honest. In the End Phase, Paura sent the top 6 cards of his Deck to his Graveyard.

On Urbahns’s turn, he activated “Brain Control” to take control of Lyla and then returned “Honest” to his hand with its effect. He tried to destroy “Mind Crush” with Lyla, but Paura chained it and named “Honest” to send 2 copies from Urbahns’s hand to his Graveyard. Urbahns Tributed Lyla for Celestia next, and sent the top 4 cards of his Deck to the Graveyard to clear the field. Celestia attacked directly and Paura dropped down to 3600 Life Points.

Next turn, Paura Special Summoned “Chaos Sorcerer” and removed Celestia from the game. Then he removed “Mezuki” from his Graveyard to Special Summon “Goblin Zombie” in Defense Position.

On Urbahns’s next turn, he Summoned Lyla and then tried to bring “Plaguespreader Zombie” back from the Graveyard by sending a card in his hand to the top of his Deck. But Paura discarded “D.D. Crow” from his hand to remove the “Plaguespreader Zombie” from the game instead. Lyla attacked “Goblin Zombie” and Paura searched his Deck for a “Spirit Reaper” to add to his hand. Urbahns ended his turn, sending 3 more cards from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard.

Paura drew Kycoo next turn! He Summoned it to the field and then removed Lyla from the game with “Chaos Sorcerer.” Kycoo then attacked directly, dropping Urbahns to 5000 Life Points and removing a Jain and a “Necro Gardna” from his Graveyard.

Paura drew Caius next turn and removed Garoth from play with the effect of “Chaos Sorcerer.” Then he Summoned “Spirit Reaper” and tried to attack directly, but his attack was negated by Urbahns’s “Necro Gardna.” Paura ended his turn.

Urbahns Summoned Lumina and attacked Reaper, dropping Paura to 2850 Life Points.

On Paura’s next turn, he removed Mezuki from his Graveyard to Special Summon “Goblin Zombie.” Then he Special Summoned “Dark Armed Dragon” and Urbahns conceded with only 5000 Life Points remaining.

Jeffrey Paura wins the Match 2-1 with his Zombie Lightsworn Deck, still in contention for a spot in the Top 16.

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

Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
In Duel 3, Urbahns activated “Brain Control” on Lyla and before activating its effect, he returned “Honest” from his field to his hand. This allowed Paura to activate “Mind Crush” and nab the “Honest” he returned to his hand. Urbahns should have activated Lyla’s effect before returning “Honest” to his hand, to avoid this scenario. It’s definitely a tough read to make, but since there’s really no downside to activating Lyla’s effect before the effect of “Honest,” I believe it would have been the correct play.

P.J. Tierney

(Duelist from across The Pond)It’s important to remember everything that goes on during a Duel so that you’ll make less mistakes. During Duel 2, Urbahns took Paura’s “Stardust Dragon” with “Brain Control.” When Paura then activated “Bottomless Trap Hole” on “Judgment Dragon’s” Summon, Urbahns negated it with Paura’s “Stardust Dragon.” Paura then drew for his turn, forgetting that he could have Special Summoned “Stardust Dragon” from his Graveyard. Luckily for him he won the Duel, but if Urbahns had enough Life Points to use “Judgment Dragon’s” effect again, he could have beaten Paura before his Deck ran out of cards.

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