Dragon Duels are Tournaments for Duelists age 12 and under. After a few rounds against different opponents, the Top 4 players in a Dragon Duel tournament win cool prizes like Game Mats and card binders.

With Sunday’s Dragon Duel tournament coming to a close, two up-and-coming Duelists had perfect undefeated records! Now, they were going to face off against each other, as 12 year-old Jasmine Wood was set to Duel fellow 12 year-old Jackson Baum, in a Match that would pit Wood’s Blackwings against Baum’s Destiny Hero / Absolute Zero Deck! Both Duelists were eager to play their final Duels of the day, and the Match played out really fast.

Baum got things started by Setting a monster, Setting a Spell or Trap card, then ending his first turn.

Wood activated “Black Whirlwind” on her turn, then tried to use it to get another Blackwing from her Deck by Summoning “Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame.” But Baum activated “Bottomless Trap Hole” to destroy and remove Shura from play, so Wood was unable to search for a Blackwing from her Deck. She Set 2 cards to her Spell & Trap Card Zone, and ended.

Baum’s hand had “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness,” “Torrential Tribute,” “Book of Moon,” “Caius the Shadow Monarch,” and “Mystical Space Typhoon.” He Flip Summoned “Mystic Tomato” and attacked. But Wood flipped it face-down again with her “Book of Moon” to stop the attack.  Baum Set two cards to his back row and ended his turn.

Wood Normal Summoned “Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn,” but when she activated the effect of “Black Whirlwind” to search for another Blackwing, Baum Chained “Mystical Space Typhoon” to destroy “Black Whirlwind.” Next, Wood’s Sirocco attacked “Mystic Tomato,” and Baum Special Summoned “Sangan” with Tomato’s effect after it was destroyed.

On his turn, Baum Tributed “Sangan” for “Caius the Shadow Monarch,” removed Wood’s Sirocco with Caius’ effect, and searched his Deck for “Deep Sea Diva” with “Sangan’s” effect. Then he attacked for 2400 damage. He Set another Spell or Trap to finish out his turn.

Wood Set a monster for her turn, with no other plays.

Baum activated “Allure of Darkness” on his next turn to draw 2 cards, then removed Gorz from play to complete Allure’s effect. He attacked with Caius, destroying Wood’s face-down “Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North.”

Wood Set another back row card on her following turn, then passed play back to Baum.

Moments later, during Baum’s turn, Wood activated her face-down “Trap Dustshoot” to reveal Baum’s hand of “Giant Trunade,” “Destiny Draw,” “Bottomless “Trap Hole,” and “Tragoedia.” She chose to send “Deep Sea Diva” back into Baum’s Deck. Baum had Caius attack for another 2400 damage, then he Set a third Spell or Trap.

Wood had to pass during her turn, with no possible plays.

Baum activated “Giant Trunade” in his turn, then Summoned “Deep Sea Diva,” and used her effect to Special Summon “Spined Gillman” from his Deck. He Tuned Diva to Caius, Synchro Summoned “Colossal Fighter,” and attacked for 2800 damage. “Spined Gillman” attacked next to finish the game, and Jasmine revealed her hand: she had nothing but “Icarus Attacks” and a “My Body As A Shield,” which explained her lack of aggression in the latter half of the Duel.

An unfortunate set of draws places Jasmine Wood on the defensive for the first Duel, and Jackson Baum plays aggressively to capitalize. Wood needed to win this next Duel to stay in the game!

Wood started the second Duel by playing “Black Whirlwind,” then Summoning “Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame.” She used the effect of “Black Whirlwind” to search her Deck for “Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind.” She Special Summoned Gale, Tuned it to Shura, and Synchro Summoned “Blackwing Armor Master.” She then Set 3 cards to her Spell & Trap Card Zone.

This was bad news for Baum, whose hand was “Mystical Space Typhoon,” “Reinforcement of the Army,” “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness,” “Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude,” “Mind Crush,” and “Trap Dustshoot.” Since Wood had Set so many cards, “Trap Dustshoot” couldn’t be activated. And since Wood had searched for Gale (and Special Summoned it) instead of Kalut (which she would have kept in her hand), and Baum couldn’t see her hand using “Trap Dustshoot,” that all made “Mind Crush” a lot tougher to play. Baum decided to Summon Diamond Dude, and activated its effect, which sent another “Mind Crush” to the bottom of his Deck. He Set “Mystical Space Typhoon,” “Trap Dustshoot,” and “Mind Crush,” then ended his turn.

Wood drew and now had 2 cards in hand. She activated another “Black Whirlwind,” and Summoned “Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North”! She used the effect of Blizzard to Special Summon Shura back from her Graveyard, and got a Vayu from her Deck with “Black Whirlwind.” She Tuned Blizzard to Shura, then Synchro Summoned “Goyo Guardian.” She attacked Diamond Dude with “Goyo Guardian,” and Baum responded by activating “Mind Crush,” declaring Vayu, so Wood had to discard the Vayu in her hand. He then activated his Set “Mystical Space Typhoon,” destroying his own “Trap Dustshoot.” By clearing the field like this, he was hoping to get Wood to attack with Armor Master so he could Summon Gorz. But she didn’t take the bait, refusing to attack.

Activating “Reinforcement of the Army” got Baum his “Elemental Hero Stratos” next turn. He Summoned Stratos, but Wood destroyed it with “Bottomless “Trap Hole.” Baum did get another Diamond Dude from his Deck, using Stratos’ effect. He ended with a bare field.

Wood Summoned another Shura, then used both of her “Black Whirlwinds” to search her Deck for “Blackwing – Bora the Spear” and “Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow.” She now had 4 on-field monsters, 2 “Black Whirlwinds,” 2 Set Spell or Traps, and the 2 Blackwings in her hand that she just searched for. Baum had nothing on the field and just 3 cards in his hand. Wood turned the Diamond Dude she had taken with “Goyo Guardian” into Attack Position, Special Summoned Bora, and entered her Battle Phase. She attacked with Bora, attacked with Shura, then Diamond Dude, and then Armor Master. Baum Special Summoned Gorz in response to Armor Master’s attack, but lost his “Emissary of Darkness Token” to “Goyo Guardian’s” attack right afterwards.

Baum was up next. He Summoned his other Diamond Dude, this time sending “Tragoedia” to the bottom of his Deck with its effect. Knowing he was in a losing situation, he slammed his Diamond Dude into “Goyo Guardian” to finish the Duel, giving up on this Duel but doing it with a bit of style!

Jasmine Wood opens up huge in Duel 2, outplaying Baum’s “Trap Dustshoot,” “Mind Crush,” and Gorz to take us to a third Duel!

Baum started Duel 3, and he Set a monster, then Set a card to his back row.

On her first turn, Wood Set 3 cards to her Spell & Trap Card Zone, activated “Mind Control” to take Baum’s face-down “Mystic Tomato,” but had to pass after that, not finding the Tomato to be as useful to her as she’d hoped.

When Baum activated “Heavy Storm” on his next turn, Wood lost her “My Body As A Shield,” “Icarus Attack,” and “Trap Hole.” Baum ended his turn, not following up.

Wood passed on her next turn.

Baum attacked during his turn, and Wood took 1400 damage from “Mystic Tomato.” Then Baum Set a card to his back row.

Wood Set a back row card on her next turn, then activated “Brain Control” to take “Mystic Tomato,” attacked, and passed the Tomato back.

Baum attacked her with the Tomato next turn, then discarded “Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude” for “Destiny Draw.” He Set “Threatening Roar” and ended his turn.

Wood Summoned “Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn,” discarded “Book of Moon” for “Lightning Vortex” to destroy Baum’s monster, and attacked for 2000 damage.

The Duel stood at 4400 Life Points to 4600 Life Points, with Baum narrowly leading. He Summoned Stratos and got “Destiny Hero – Malicious” from his Deck, but Wood destroyed Stratos with “Bottomless Trap Hole.” Wood Summoned “Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame,” and attacked, but Baum flipped “Threatening Roar.”

Next turn, Baum drew “Mirror Force,” and Summoned “Deep Sea Diva” to get “Spined Gillman.” He Tuned his 2 monsters together, Synchro Summoned “Magical Android,” and activated “Miracle Fusion” to remove “Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude” and “Spined Gillman” from his Graveyard! That let him Special Summon “Elemental Hero Absolute Zero,” and he attacked Shura with it. “Magical Android” then attacked Sirocco, destroying it and lowering Wood to 3300 Life Points. Baum Set a card to his back row, then gained 600 Life Points with “Magical Android’s” effect.

Wood had just 2 cards left – she Set 1 to her back row, but next turn Baum had “Giant Trunade,” and attacked for the win with Absolute Zero and “Magical Android”!

Jackson Baum wins this match 2-1, and goes undefeated in the Dragon Duel!

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

Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
Wood used her cards a bit too aggressively in this Match. In Duel 1, she used “Book of Moon” to prevent a direct attack from a “Mystic Tomato,” when she may have been better off taking the 1400 points of damage and saving the “Book of Moon” to use later. In Duel 3, she would have been better off waiting to draw a Tuner monster before activating “Mind Control” on Baum’s monster.

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

Wood knew eaxactly what Baum was planning in the second Duel. When Baum started destroying his own cards with “Mystical Space Typhoon,” it was clear that he was trying to empty his field to Special Summon “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness.” Wood knew this and didn’t fall for Baum’s trap.

Wood lost 3 cards to Baum’s “Heavy Storm” at the start of Duel 3, which made the rest of the Duel a lot harder for her. Usually, when you Set a lot of cards like this, it’s a good idea to have some way to protect them as well. “Starlight Road” and “Solemn Judgment” would be able to stop “Heavy Storm” if it’s ever played like this again.