Travis Gibbs is the only Gladiator Beast Duelist to make it to Day 2, and since then he’s advanced to the Top 8 by beating Abel Carrasco’s Lightsworn-based Deck in the Top 16. But his opponent, Satoshi Kato, won’t make his journey to the Top 4 easy. Kato is running a cool Twilight Zombie Deck with “Phantom of Chaos” and “Sky Scourge Norleras” in it. His only Trap Card is “Treacherous Trap Hole,” which will allow Gibbs to make a lot of confident plays in Duel 1. “Gladiator Beast Retiari” and “Gladiator Beast War Chariot” may be problematic for Satoshi in this match-up. We’re about to see how it will play out.

Kato won the dice roll and chose to go first. He activated “Solar Recharge” by discarding Lyla and sent 2 copies of “Burial from a Different Dimension” from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard. He ended his turn with no other play.

Gibbs opened up with “Gladiator Beast Retiari,” “Gladiator Beast Equeste,” “Gladiator Beast War Chariot,” “Dimensional Prison,” “Solemn Judgment” and “Thunder King Rai-Oh.” He Summoned “Gladiator Beast Retiari” and attacked directly, dropping Kato to 6800 Life Points. Then he tagged out for “Gladiator Beast Laquari” and Set “Gladiator Beast War Chariot” along with a “Dimensional Prison” to his Spell and Trap Card Zone. He kept “Solemn Judgment” in his hand.

Kato Set a monster next turn and ended his turn. Gibbs drew “Bottomless Trap Hole” and Summoned “Gladiator Beast Equeste.” He attacked “Necro Gardna” with it. Then “Gladiator Beast Laquari” attacked, Kato tried to negate it with “Necro Gardna,” and Gibbs flipped “Gladiator Beast War Chariot” to negate the effect of “Necro Gardna.” Equeste tagged out for “Gladiator Beast Retiari” to remove Lyla from Kato’s Graveyard and Laquari tagged out for Equeste to return Chariot to Gibbs’s hand. Gibbs Set the Chariot and ended his turn.

Kato activated “Foolish Burial” next turn to send “Mezuki” from his Deck to his Graveyard. Then he activated another copy of “Foolish Burial” to send “Zombie Master” from his Deck to his Graveyard. He removed “Mezuki” from his Graveyard to Special Summon “Zombie Master” to the field in Attack Position. Gibbs chose not to activate his Chariot. Kato attacked “Gladiator Beast Retiari” with “Zombie Master,” but lost his monster to Gibbs’s “Dimensional Prison.” Kato Set a monster in Main Phase 2 and ended his turn.

Gibbs drew “Heavy Storm” and then attacked Kato’s face-down monster with “Gladiator Beast Equeste.” It was a “Necro Gardna.” “Gladiator Beast Retiari” attacked next, and Kato decided not to negate it with “Necro Gardna.” Gibbs tagged out Retiari for Laquari and then tagged out Equeste for Retiari to remove “Necro Gardna” from Kato’s Graveyard. Gibbs Set “Solemn Judgment” and ended his turn.

Kato activated “Charge of the Light Brigade” by sending “Dark Armed Dragon,” Phantom of Chaos, and “Allure of Darkness” to the Graveyard on his next turn. Gibbs negated it by paying half his Life Points with “Solemn Judgment”! Gibbs was down to 4000 Life Points and Kato had 3500 Life Points left. Kato activated “Burial from a Different Dimension” next to return “Zombie Master,” “Mezuki” and Lyla to his Graveyard. He removed “Mezuki” to activate its effect, but Gibbs activated “Gladiator Beast War Chariot” to negate it. Then he removed “Phantom of Chaos” and Lyla from his Graveyard to Special Summon “Chaos Sorcerer” and removed “Gladiator Beast Laquari” from the game by activating its effect.

Gibbs drew “Book of Moon” next turn and attacked “Chaos Sorcerer” with Retiari after putting it face-down with “Book of Moon.” He tagged out for “Gladiator Beast Murmillo” to destroy “Chaos Sorcerer” and then Summoned “Thunder King Rai-Oh” in Main Phase 2. Kato passed his next turn without a play.

Gibbs attacked with both monsters next turn and tagged out Murmillo for Equeste to bring Chariot back to his hand.

Kato Set 2 cards to his back row next turn and passed.

Gibbs activated “Heavy Storm” on the following turn, and Kato chained “Treacherous Trap Hole” to destroy both of Gibbs’s monsters. But it wouldn’t be enough! Gibbs Summoned “Gladiator Beast Darius” to the field and attacked for the win!

Kato will be going first in Duel 2.

Kato Set a monster and ended his turn without a back row.

Gibbs opened up with “Gladiator Beast War Chariot,” “Gladiator Proving Ground,” “Banisher of the Radiance,” “Gladiator Beast Retiari,” “Dust Tornado,” and “Bottomless Trap Hole.”

Gibbs Summoned Banisher and attacked Kato’s face-down “Goblin Zombie.” It was removed from play, so Kato didn’t get to search his Deck for a Zombie to add to his hand. He Set “Bottomless Trap Hole” and “Dust Tornado” before ending his turn.

Kato Summoned “Zombie Master” next but lost it to Gibbs’s “Bottomless Trap Hole” before ending his turn.

Gibbs Summoned “Gladiator Beast Retiari” next turn and attacked with it and his Banisher. Retiari tagged out for “Gladiator Beast Hoplomus” in Defense Position and then Gibbs Set “Gladiator Beast War Chariot” to his back row.

Kato Summoned Lyla and attacked and destroyed Banisher next turn. Then he activated her effect to try to destroy Gibbs’s Set Chariot, but Gibbs chained the Chariot to destroy Lyla. He activated “Charge of the Light Brigade” next, sending “Chaos Sorcerer,” “Mezuki,” and “Solar Recharge” from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard in order to add Lyla from his Deck to his hand. He ended his turn.

Gibbs Summoned a second “Gladiator Beast Hoplomus” next turn and switched his other “Gladiator Beast Hoplomus” into Attack Position. Both copies of Hoplomus attacked and Kato lost 1400 Life Points. Then they tagged out for Equeste and Laquari. Equeste returned “Gladiator Beast War Chariot” to Gibbs’s hand. Gibbs Set the Chariot and ended his turn.

Kato Summoned Lyla next turn and attacked Equeste. Then he activated her effect and Gibbs flipped Chariot to destroy her. Next, Kato Special Summoned “Chaos Sorcerer” and removed Laquari from play.

Next turn, Gibbs drew a card and then had “Gladiator Proving Ground,” “Mirror Force,” and “Gladiator Beast War Chariot” in his hand. He activated “Gladiator Proving Ground”

to search for Hoplomus and Set it with “Mirror Force.”

Kato activated “Allure of Darkness” next turn to draw 2 cards from his Deck and remove “Tragoedia” from his hand. Then he Summoned Lumina and activated her effect to discard Lumina and Special Summon Lyla from his Graveyard. Lyla shifted to Defense Position to destroy Gibbs’s Set “Mirror Force” and then Sorcerer attacked Hoplomus. Lumina attacked Gibbs directly and Kato sent a “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast” and “Plaguespreader Zombie” among other cards from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard in the End Phase. The Wulf was Special Summoned to the field in Attack Position.

Gibbs drew “Dimensional Prison” on his next turn and Set it. Kato removed “Mezuki” from his Graveyard next turn in order to Special Summon “Plaguespreader Zombie.” Then he Tuned it to Lumina and Lyla so he could Synchro Summon “Mist Wurm” from his Extra Deck and return both of Gibbs’s Set cards to his hand. Then he Normal Summoned “Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer” and ended the Duel with attacks from Kycoo, “Mist Wurm,” “Chaos Sorcerer,” and Wulf.

Gibbs will be starting Duel 3!

He opened up with “Heavy Storm,” “Gladiator Beast Laquari,” Gorz, Kycoo, “Light-Imprisoning Mirror,” and “Dust Tornado.” He Set “Light-Imprisoning Mirror” and “Dust Tornado” face-down in his Spell and Trap Card Zone and Summoned “Gladiator Beast Laquari” to the field.

Kato Summoned “Zombie Master” and attacked Laquari on his next turn. Both monsters were destroyed. Then Kato Set “Bottomless Trap Hole.”

Gibbs Summoned “Banisher of the Radiance” next turn and it was removed from play by Kato’s “Bottomless Trap Hole.” The table judge then noticed a “Gladiator Beast Laquari” on the edge of the table that Gibbs had forgotten to shuffle into his Deck before the game began. Unfortunately, this error couldn’t be corrected and Gibbs had to be issued a game loss.

Satoshi Kato advances to the Top 4 of the tournament with his innovative Deck featuring “Sky Scourge Norleras” and “Phantom of Chaos”!

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

Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
In Duel 1, Gibbs opened up with “Solemn Judgment” and 2 other Trap Cards in his hand. He opted to keep “Solemn Judgment” in his hand, but set the other 2 Trap Cards. He should have set the “Solemn Judgment” with them. If Kato had “Heavy Storm,” Gibbs would need to protect his other Trap Cards with “Solemn Judgment.” If Kato didn’t have “Heavy Storm,” Gibbs would still have a “Solemn Judgment” face-down to stop one of Kato’s plays. Gibbs later used his “Solemn Judgment” on a “Charge of the Light Brigade,” when he could have saved it for something he wouldn’t have been able to deal with.

Michael McTavish (Top 8 Finalist – 2009 Canadian National Championship)
During game 1, since he knew there was nothing he could do to stop Gibbs from swapping his “Gladiator Beast Retiari” out for “Gladiator Beast Laquari” and then swap his “Gladiator Beast Equeste” for Retiari once again in order to remove his “Necro Gardna,” there was no reason for Kato not to activate his Gardna on the Retiari’s attack and save himself the 1200 Life Points. While not a large amount, it could have proven game-breaking. Let game 3 be a lesson to everyone to always make sure you have all your cards shuffled in before each game. A good way to assure yourself of this is to shuffle your deck into a certain amount of piles, counting each card you place into each pile. This allows you to make sure you have your entire Deck and are not missing anything prior to presenting your Deck to your opponent.

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

Gibbs lost the final Duel of this Match through a simple mistake that could have been prevented. Since a card was missing from his Deck, he was issued with a Game Loss since his Deck was illegal. It’s always a good idea to check everything before you shuffle up and start the second or third Duel of a Match, just incase a card goes missing from the Deck.

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