This Match sees 2 of the weekend’s most successful Duelists using Lightsworn monsters go head-to-head, as Adric High takes Zombie Lightsworn against Dan Rose’s Kristya Twilight. “Archlord Kristya” and “Chaos Sorcerer” are going to be a big factor in this Duel: High may have to outspeed Rose’s control-oriented cards, but with so many Special Summon effects in the mix it’s really anybody’s game. Rose and High wasted no time getting right to it!

High’s opening hand was “Bottomless Trap Hole,” “Burial From a Different Dimension,” “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast,” “Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress,” “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner,” and “Chaos Sorcerer.” He Summoned Lyla, Set Bottomless, and Sent “Allure of Darkness,” “Dark Armed Dragon,” and “Caius the Shadow Monarch” to his Graveyard.

Rose passed, leaving High to activate “Allure of Darkness,” getting “Jain, Lightsworn Paladin” and “My Body As A Shield.” He removed “Chaos Sorcerer” for Allure’s effect, then Summoned Jain, attacked for 1700 damage, and Rose Special Summoned “Tragoedia.” High sent “Solar Recharge,” “Foolish Burial,” “Burial From a Different Dimension,” “Charge of the Light Brigade,” and “Brain Control” to the Graveyard in the End Phase. He had just lost some of his strongest Spell Cards to the Graveyard.

Rose attacked Lyla with “Tragoedia,” packing 3600 ATK. It hammered 1900 Battle Damage through the Sorceress, then Rose Set a card to his back row, then Set a monster.

High attacked Rose’s “Necro Gardna” with Jain, then sent “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner” and “Waboku” to his Graveyard. Rose attacked Jain with “Tragoedia,” destroyed her, and dealt another 1200 damage. He Summoned Lumina, then sent “Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter,” Lyla, and “Pot of Avarice” to his Graveyard.

High dew, holding “Necro Gardna,” “Mezuki,” Wulf, “My Body As A Shield,” and “Burial From a Different Dimension.” He Summoned Lumina, discarded “Necro Gardna,” and Special Summoned Lyla. He Flip Summoned “Goblin Zombie,” sent it at Lumina, and Rose let her go to the Graveyard before Sending “Solar Recharge” there as well. He activated Lyla’s effect in Main Phase 2, destroying Royal Deree, and ended, sending 6 cards to the Graveyard, including “Mezuki,” and a Wulf that he Special Summoned in Defense Position.

Rose discarded “Necro Gardna,” taking his opponent’s Lumina before spending some time considering his next move. “Can I see your Graveyard?” High passed it over, and Rose discarded another “Necro Gardna” to Special Summon Lyla from his Graveyard. “I opened with three Necros.” High removed the Lyla with “Bottomless Trap Hole.” He Tributed Lumina for Celestia, sending “Heavy Storm,” “Chaos Sorcerer,” “Judgment Dragon,” and another Celestia to his Graveyard, only to get nailed with “My Body As A Shield”! Celestia was destroyed, her effect negated, and High dropped to 3400 Life Points. Rose had 6200. “Tragoedia” attacked Wulf, and High removed “Necro Gardna” to block the attack.

He discarded another Wulf for “Solar Recharge” next turn, drawing “Heavy Storm” and “Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress.” That got another Recharge, and another “Necro Gardna” to the Graveyard. High had 9 cards left in his deck. He removed “Mezuki” to Special Summon “Zombie Master,” attacked “Tragoedia” with Wulf, and Rose removed “Necro Gardna” to stop the attack and keep “Tragoedia” on the field. “Zombie Master” attacked as High tried to trade off in battle, and Rose blocked that with a “Necro Gardna,” too. High sent “Caius the Shadow Monarch,” “Foolish Burial,” and “Mezuki” to his Graveyard in the End Phase, leaving just 6 cards left in his Deck.

Rose Summoned Lyla. Tragoedia” attacked “Goblin Zombie,” High searched his Deck for “Plaguespreader Zombie,” and Rose’s Lyla attacked High’s Lyla, but High kept it on the field with another “Necro Gardna.” Rose turned Lyla to Defense Position for her effect, High Chained the targeted “Burial From a Different Dimension,” and he returned 2 “Necro Gardnas” and “Mezuki” to his Graveyard.

Rose Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone and ended.

High drew, now down to 4 cards left in-Deck. Rose had 6200 Life Points. High turned Lyla to Attack Position, activated her effect, and Rose Chained “Beckoning Light” to trade his “Dark Armed Dragon” for “Judgment Dragon.” High Normal Summoned “Plaguespreader Zombie,” Tuned it to “Zombie Master,” and Summoned “Revived King Ha Des.” He removed “Mezuki,” Special Summoned “Zombie Master,” then discarded “Goblin Zombie” for “Plaguespreader Zombie.” He Tuned it to Lyla, Synchro Summoned “Goyo Guardian,” then removed his second “Mezuki” for “Plaguespreader Zombie.” Plaguespreader attacked Lyla, destroying her. “Goyo Guardian” attacked, Rose removed “Necro Gardna” to stop it, and Revived King destroyed “Tragoedia,” and “Zombie Master” and Wulf made direct attacks. Rose had 450 Life Points left – not enough to pay for his “Judgment Dragon’s” effect. High finished out by Synchro Summoning “Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier” with “Plaguespreader Zombie” and “Zombie Master,” before Setting a card to his back row.

Rose Special Summoned “Judgment Dragon,” but with 2 “Necro Gardna” in High’s Graveyard there was nothing he could do. “Judgment Dragon” attacked, lost out to Gardna, and Rose Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone. Next turn High cleared the field with “Heavy Storm” and Brionac’s effect, then attacked for the win!

A disastrous opening that included 3 “Necro Gardnas” leaves Dan Rose struggling from the beginning, and Adric High grinds away to capture the first Duel! Both competitors made extensive use of their Side Decks before heading into Duel 2.

Rose opened up with a Set monster. High had “Dark Armed Dragon,” “Jain, Lightsworn Paladin,” “Caius the Shadow Monarch,” “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast,” “Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer,” and “Charge of the Light Brigade.” He activated Charge, sending “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner,” “Bottomless Trap Hole,” and “Necro Gardna” to his Graveyard, searching a Lumina from his Deck. He Summoned Lumina, discarded Jain to Special Summon her, then attacked into Rose’s “Necro Gardna.” Lumina made a direct attack for 1000 damage, and High sent “Foolish Burial” 2 “Goblin Zombies,” “Mezuki,” and another Charge to the Graveyard.

Rose activated Charge, sending “Solar Recharge,” “Tragoedia,” and “Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter” to his Graveyard. He plucked “Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior” from his Deck, discarded it for “Solar Recharge,” drew 2, and sent “Mobius the Frost Monarch” and “Mirror Force” to his Graveyard. “Brain Control” let him take his opponent’s Lumina, he discarded “Shiny Black “C”” to Special Summon Garoth, and Tributed Lumina for “Celestia, Lightsworn Angel,” sending “Charge of the Light Brigade,” “Chaos Sorcerer,” “D.D. Crow,” and “Necro Gardna” to the Graveyard! High lost Jain to Celstia’s effect, and took 2 direct attacks from Garoth and Celestia. That Caius in his hand had seemed so promising moments ago.

Next turn High Summoned “Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer,” Special Summoned “Dark Armed Dragon,” and Special Summoned “Chaos Sorcerer”! He cleared Rose’s field with “Dark Armed Dragon’s” effect, then attacked with “Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer” and “Dark Armed Dragon.” When the Dragon hit, Rose Special Summoned “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness” in Defense Position, and High removed the “Emissary of Darkness Token” in Main Phase 2 with “Chaos Sorcerer.” High had forgotten to remove any of Rose’s “Necro Gardnas” with Kycoo’s effect.

Rose drew to 3 cards in hand and turned Gorz to Attack Position. Gorz attacked Kycoo, destroyed it, and Rose Set a card to his back row, ending his turn.

High drew: he had “Necro Gardna,” Caius, and Wulf in-hand, with “Dark Armed Dragon” and “Chaos Sorcerer” on the field. He removed Kycoo to destroy “Torrential Tribute” with “Dark Armed Dragon,” removed Gorz with “Chaos Sorcerer’s” effect (he was out of DARK monsters for “Dark Armed Dragon”), and Summoned “Necro Gardna.” He tried to attack with “Chaos Sorcerer,” forgot he couldn’t, was corrected, and attacked with “Necro Gardna” and “Dark Armed Dragon” instead. Play was back to Rose.

After confirming that High didn’t have any DARK monsters in his Graveyard, Rose discarded “Honest” for “Monster Reincarnation,” taking back “Chaos Sorcerer” from his Graveyard. He removed “D.D. Crow” and the “Honest” to Special Summon the Sorcerer, removed his opponent’s Sorcerer, and ended. High Tribute Summoned “Caius the Shadow Monarch” for victory next turn!

Adric High takes a 2-0 victory over Dan Rose, and moves on to the Top 4!

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

Michael McTavish (Top 8 Finalist – 2009 Canadian National Championship)
Ignoring the fact that it didn’t matter in the end, forgetting to remove the “Necro Gardnas” from Rose’s Graveyard using the effect of “Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer” could have proved disastrous for High. Fortunately for him, Rose was unable to put up a fight and High was soon victorious regardless.

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

Rose opened with 3 “Necro Gardnas” in Duel 1, something that most Lightsworn and Twilight Decks hate seeing. These Decks work best when they can send “Necro Gardnas” from the Deck to the Graveyard through the effects of other cards, and having them in your hand cuts off that aspect of the Deck. It also makes it harder to protect your monsters, as you’ll be getting those Necros into the Graveyard a lot slower than usual.

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