Side Event Play-Off Feature Match: Jackson Baum vs. Jonathan Torres
Jackson Baum just came off an undefeated streak in the Dragon Duel competition, and after scoring a Regional Binder and X-Saber Game Mat, luck has given him a chance to play for an even greater prize: a copy of “Dark End Dragon”! His opponent is Jonathan Torres, who competed in the main event Day 1, and switched over to side events here today, competing in everything from 16-Player Regionals to Win-A-Mats and the “Attack of the Giant Card!!” tournaments.
Baum is playing Destiny Hero Deck focused on “Elemental Hero Absolute Zero,” while Torres is running Blackwings with “Doomcaliber Knights” and “Skill Drain.”
Baum opened with a hand of “Allure of Darkness,” “Miracle Fusion,” “Bottomless Trap Hole,” “Treeborn Frog,” “Spined Gillman,” and “Mind Control.” He Set “Treeborn Frog,” Set Bottomless, and ended.
Torres Summoned “Doomcaliber Knight,” and lost it to Baum’s “Bottomless Trap Hole.” He Set a Spell or Trap Card, then Set and almost immediately flipped “Trap Dustshoot.” But Baum’s only monster was “Spined Gillman,” so it was sent back to his Deck. On his turn, Baum activated “Reinforcement of the Army,” searching out “Elemental Hero Stratos” and Summoning it. He tried to activate its search effect, but Torres Chained “Skill Drain”! Statos hit Torres for 1800 damage.
Torres Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone, took another hit from Stratos, and Set another Spell or Trap next turn. When Stratos attacked again, Torres responded with “Enemy Controller” to turn Stratos to Defense Position.
Torres Set another Spell or Trap, then lost his field on Baum’s turn to “Heavy Storm”! “Allure of Darkness” let Baum use his “Destiny Hero – Malicious” to get 2 more cards, but he couldn’t find anything else to Summon. Stratos made another attack, and Torres dropped to 1600 Life Points.
He Summoned “Blackwing – Bora the Spear” next turn, piercing through “Treeborn Frog” before Setting 2 cards to his Spell & Trap Card Zone. He activated his last card, “Allure of Darkness,” and removed “Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame.” A Set Spell or Trap finished his turn.
Baum took Bora with “Mind Control,” and Torres couldn’t stop Stratos’ attack! One more shot from Stratos drew the first Duel to a quick close! Both Duelists quickly moved to Duel 2.
Torres started the game off by Summoning “Doomcaliber Knight,” then Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone. Baum had “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness,” “Dust Tornado,” “Future Fusion,” “Reinforcement of the Army,” “Allure of Darkness,” and “Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude.” He activated Allure, got “Dark Armed Dragon” and “Miracle Fusion,” and removed “Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude.” He used “Reinforcement of the Army” to get another Diamond Dude, Summoned it, activated its effect, and lost it to “Doomcaliber Knight.” He Set “Dust Tornado” and flipped it in his opponent’s Standby Phase next turn, destroying Torres’ “Book of Moon” and leaving Baum with an empty field.
Torres Summoned “Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame,” attacked, and Baum Summoned “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness.” Torres Set 2 cards to his back row. Baum activated “Future Fusion” on his turn declaring “Elemental Hero Absolute Zero” to send “Treeborn Frog” and “Destiny Hero – Malicious” to his Graveyard. He removed Malicious from his Graveyard to Special Summon another from his Deck, and Summoned “Deep Sea Diva” with nothing in his Deck to Summon with her effect. He Tuned Diva to Malicious, Synchro Summoned “Stardust Dragon,” and attacked Shura with Gorz. Torres activated “Dimensional Prison,” and Gorz was removed from play. Baum attacked with “Stardust Dragon,” Torres responded with “Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow,” and Stardust was destroyed! Torres Special Summoned “Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind” from his Deck, and when the “Emissary of Darkness Token” attacked Gale, Torres flipped “Mirror Force”! Baum used “Miracle Fusion” to Special Summon “Elemental Hero Absolute Zero” in Main Phase 2.
Torres Tuned Gale to Shura, and Synchro Summoned “Black Rose Dragon” to clear the field! He Set a card to his back row, lost his Set card (“Royal Oppression”) to “Mystical Space Typhoon” next turn, and Baum Special Summoned “Treeborn Frog.” Torres Set 2 cards to his back row, his last 2 cards, and Baum hit him with “Spined Gillman.” Torres Summoned “Banisher of the Radiance,” and attacked and removed “Treeborn Frog” from play, but Gillman took it down a turn later.
Baum activated “Gold Sarcophagus,” removing his “Heavy Storm” from his Deck. The Duel stood at 5500 Life Points to 6200, and Torres Set a monster.
“Spined Gillman” attacked the Set monster, which turned out to be Kalut, and Gillman took it down in battle. Torres flipped “Black Whirlwind” next, Summoned “Blackwing – Bora the Spear,” and searched out “Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North”! Bora attacked Gillman, and when Baum retrieved his “Heavy Storm” next turn, he lost his “Plaguespreader Zombie” in his hand to “Trap Dustshoot.” Torres pressed his advantage next turn by Synchro Summoning “Goyo Guardian” for an attack. Baum had to concede a turn later, unable to stop “Goyo Guardian.”
Jonathan Torres fights back to take the second Duel. Both competitors spent a bit more time using their Side Decks than they had after the first Duel – only one Duelist could move on to the Finals, and for the other, this was the end of the road in Nashville.
Baum started with “Book of Moon,” “Sangan,” “Destiny Hero – Fear Monger,” 2 copies of “Allure of Darkness,” and “Bottomless Trap Hole.” He activated Allure, drawing “Gold Sarcophagus” and “Deep Sea Diva,” and removed Fear Monger from play. “Gold Sarcophagus” let him remove “Dark Armed Dragon” from his Deck, and he Set “Sangan” and Book. Torres attacked with “Banisher of the Radiance” next turn, but the attack was stopped by “Book of Moon.” He Set a Spell or Trap, Set Dustshoot, and flipped it next turn to send “Deep Sea Diva” back to Baum’s deck.
Baum pressed on, attacking with “Sangan” to destroy the Defense Position Banisher. He Set “Bottomless Trap Hole,” and Torres activated “Allure of Darkness” during his turn, removing “Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow.” He activated “Black Whirlwind,” Summoned another Kalut, and got “Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North” with Whirlwind’s effect. Kalut attacked “Sangan,” Baum got “Mystic Tomato,” and Torres Set another Spell or Trap.
Baum drew, and got his “Dark Armed Dragon” that he had removed for “Gold Sarcophagus.” He activated “Allure of Darkness,” drew 2 cards, and removed “Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind.” He Set Tomato, then Set a card to his back row. Torres Summoned Gale, attacked Tomato with Kalut, and Baum Special Summoned “Plaguespreader Zombie” with “Mystic Tomato’s” effect. Gale attacked to destroy it. Baum was at 6900 Life Points, while Torres had 8000.
Baum tried to Special Summon “Dark Armed Dragon” next turn, but Torres activated “Royal Oppression” to negate the Summon! Baum Set “Mirror Force,” Torres attacked with Kalut, and when Baum tried to fight back with “Mirror Force” Torres negated that too, this time with “Solemn Judgment”! The Duel stood at 3600 Life Points to 3800.
Baum discarded “Destiny Hero – Malicious” for “Destiny Draw,” drew 2 cards, and activated “Giant Trunade”! He had “Future Fusion,” “Deep Sea Diva,” “Bottomless Trap Hole,” and “Trap Dustshoot” in-hand, with “Plaguespreader Zombie” and Malicious in his Graveyard.
He Summoned “Deep Sea Diva,” Special Summoned “Spined Gillman,” and used them to Synchro Summon “Magical Android.” He removed “Destiny Hero – Malicious,” Special Summoned another, and set a card on top of his Deck to Special Summon “Plaguespreader Zombie.” That let him Synchro Summon “Colossal Fighter.” He sent it at Gale, destroyed it, and “Magical Android” destroyed Kalut. Torres had just 1000 Life Points remaining. Baum Set 2 cards to his Spell & Trap Card Zone.
He flipped “Trap Dustshoot,” shuffled back Torres’ Blizzard, and Torres set 3 of his 5 cards to his back row. Baum turned “Colossal Fighter” to Defense Position, tried to attack for the win with “Magical Android,” and Torres destroyed Android with “Mirror Force.”
Torres played all his remaining cards to the field: 2 “Black Whirlwind” and a Bora. But Baum had “Bottomless Trap Hole,” Bora was removed from the game, and Torres knew it was over – he immediately conceded, knowing he couldn‘t stop “Colossal Fighter”!
Jackson Baum takes a narrow 2-1 victory, and moves on to the Finals to compete for a “Dark End Dragon”!
See what our panel of experts had to say after the Duel.
Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
In Duel 2, Baum Summoned “Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude” and activated its effect to get Torres’s “Doomcaliber Knight” off of the field. He may have been better off activating “Future Fusion” instead to get “Treeborn Frog” into his Graveyard. Then, by simply passing his turn, he would be able to activate the effect of “Treeborn Frog” from his Graveyard on his next Standby Phase, triggering “Doomcaliber Knight” to Tribute itself. After that, he’d still be able to Special Summon “Treeborn Frog” from his Graveyard, too!