Feature Match: Tin Challenge Finals
There were 7 Tin Challenge Side Events held throughout this weekend. In each Tin Challenge, competitors received one Ancient Fairy Dragon or Power Tool Dragon Tin and constructed a Deck out of the packs inside, plus 2 packs of Raging Battle and and 1 pack of Duelist Pack – Yusei 2. Each Tin Challenge Side Event had one winner, and then all 7 winners competed in a tournament for a Dark End Dragon. Joshua Korovesi and Michael Nguyen are the final two competitors of this tournament, now facing off for their chance to take home a Dark End Dragon.
Nguyen won the die roll and Set 2 cards to his back row and a monster in Defense Position to start.
Korovesi opened up with Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame, Star Blast, Double Tool C&D, Against the Wind, Rockstone Wariror, and Half or Nothing. He Summoned Shura and attacked into Nguyen’s face-down Snowman Eater. Snowman Eater destroyed Shura, and Korovesi Set a card to his back row before ending his turn.
Nguyen Tributed Snowman Eater next turn to Summon Brain Golem! Brain Golem attacked directly for 2500 damage and Nguyen ended his turn.
Korovesi drew Hedge Guard next turn and Set Rockstone Warrior in Defense Position.
Nguyen Summoned Twin-Sword Marauder next. Brain Golem attacked Korovesi’s face-down Rockstone Warrior and then the Marauder attacked directly for 1600 damage. Nguyen ended his turn.
Korovesi drew another copy of Double Tool C&D next turn. He activated Against the Wind to try to return Shura to his hand, but Nguyen chained Bone Temple Block by discarding Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis from his hand. Korovesi Special Summoned Snowman Eater from Nguyen’s Graveyard and Nguyen Special Summoned Shura from Korovesi’s Graveyard.
On his next turn, Nguyen Tributed Twin-Sword Marauder and Shura to Summon Master Gig! Nguyen paid 1000 Life Points to destroy Korovesi’s Snowman Eater with the effect of Master Gig, and then attacked directly with both of his monsters. Korovesi flipped Half or Nothing in an attempt to survive the turn, but Nguyen chained Trap Stun to negate it and end the Duel.
Korovesi chose to go first in Duel 2! He started things off by Setting Trap Stun face-down, along with another back row card and Dupe Frog in face-down Defense Position.
Nguyen Summoned Koa’ki Meiru Guardian and attacked into Dupe Frog, costing him 100 Life Points. Then he Set a back row card and destroyed his Guardian in the End Phase because he didn’t have a Rock-Type monster in his hand to reveal.
Korovesi Summoned Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame next turn and attacked with it, dropping Nguyen to 6100 Life Points.
Nguyen Set a monster in Defense Position on his next turn.
Korovesi drew Psychic Emperor next turn. He Summoned Rockstone Warrior and attacked Nguyen’s face-down monster with Shura. It was an 1800 DEF Trap Reactor ・Y FI. Korovesi ended his turn, and Nguyen Set a back row before passing right back to Korovesi.
Koroveski Tributed Rockstone Warrior for Psychic Emperor next turn! He attacked with Psychic Emperor and Nguyen flipped Depth Amulet to discard a card from his hand and negate the attack.
Nguyen Summoned Phoenixian Seed next turn, and Tributed it to Special Summon Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis in Attack Position. Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis attacked Dupe Frog, Korovesi responded with Half or Nothing, Nguyen filled Trap Stun to negate it, and Korovesi flipped Half or Nothing again, ending the Battle Phase!
Korovesi drew Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow next turn and Summoned Blackwing – Fane the Steel Chain to the field. He attacked directly with Fane and switched Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis to Defense Position with Fane’s effect. Shura attacked and destroyed it next, costing Korovesi 800 Life Points due to the effect of Amaryllis. Korovesi Special Summoned Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow from his Deck with Shura’s effect. Then he attacked with Psychic Emperor and Nguyen stopped the attack by discarding a card with Depth Amulet.
Next turn, Nguyen Tributed his Trap Reactor to Summon Rose Tentacles, and used his Rose to attack and destroy Dupe Frog. He Special Summoned Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis in Defense Position in his End Phase by removing Phoenixian Seed from his Graveyard.
Korovesi’s Fane attacked directly next turn and switched Rose Tentacles to Defense Position. Shura destroyed it and then Kalut attacked and destroyed Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis, costing Korovesi 800 more Life Points. Next, Psychic Emperor attacked directly and Nguyen dropped to 2500 Life Points. Nguyen conceded on his next turn, unable to handle Korovesi’s field.
Nguyen would be going first in the second Duel for the Dark End Dragon! He started off the Duel with Rose Tentacles, Sunlight Unicorn, Brain Golem, Phoenixian Seed, Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis, and One for One. He started things off by Summoning Phoenixian Seed and Tributing it to Summon Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis from his hand. He ended his turn.
Korovesi opened up with Psychic Emperor, Blackwing – Fane the Steel Chain, Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow, Hedge Guard, Ancient Crimson Ape, and Against the Wind. He Set Blackwing – Fane the Steel Chain and passed back to Nguyen.
Nguyen drew Bone Temple Block next turn and Set it to his back row. Then he attacked Fane with his Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis, but Korovesi dropped Hedge Guard from his hand to protect it. Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis was destroyed by its own effect and Korovesi lost 800 Life Points.
Korovesi Tributed Fane for Psychic Emperor next turn and used it to attack directly. Nguyen flipped Bone Temple Block by discarding Rose Tentacles from his hand. He Special Summoned Hedge Guard from Korovesi’s Graveyard and Korevesi Special Summoned Phoenixian Seed from Nguyen’s Graveyard. Psychic Emperor destroyed Nguyen’s Hedge Guard and play passed back to Nguyen.
Nguyen drew Depth Amulet next turn. He Set it face-down and then pitched Sunlight Unicorn to activate One for One! He Special Summoned Shiny Black “C” from his Deck and Tributed it to Summon Brain Golem! Brain Golem attacked and destroyed Psychic Emperor. Since Psychic Emperor is a LIGHT monster, Brain Golem was able to attack again! He attacked and destroyed Phoenixian Seed. In his End Phase, Nguyen removed Phoenixian Seed from his Graveyard and Special Summoned Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis in Defense Position.
Korovesi Summoned Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame next turn and attacked and destroyed Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis. He lost 800 Life Points to the Cluster’s effect and chose not to activate the effect of his Shura.
Nguyen attacked with Brain Golem next turn to try to destroy Shura, but Korovesi pitched Kalut from his hand to boost his Shura’s attack and destroy Brain Golem. Nguyen Set Snowman Eater and ended his turn.
Korovesi attacked the Snowman Eater with Shura next turn. He dropped Kalut from his hand to give Shura the boost it needed to destroy it. Snowman Eater destroyed Shura with its effect, and Korovesi flipped Against the Wind in Main Phase 2 to bring Shura back to his hand and Summon it. He Set one card to his back row and passed to Nguyen.
Nguyen quickly ended his turn, reviving his Cluster by removing Rose Tentacles from his Graveyard. Shura attacked it next turn, but Nguyen flipped Depth Amulet and discarded a card to negate the attack.
Nguyen drew a card on his next turn and Set a back row before switching his Cluster to Attack Position.
A few turns passed and Depth Amulet was destroyed. Korovesi stood with a Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame on the field, while Nguyen had Koa’ki Meiru Guardian and Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis. Each player had cards in their Spell and Trap Card Zones, too.
Nguyen used his Koa’ki Meiru Guardian to attack Korovesi’s Shura, and Korovesi flipped Half or Nothing! Nguyen chained Trap Stun, and Korovesi flipped another copy of Half or Nothing. (Sound familiar?) Nguyen chose to halve the ATK of all of his monsters. Then when Guardian attacked Shura, Nguyen flipped Miracle Locus, forgetting that his own Trap Stun would negate it. He lost his Guardian in battle.
Next turn, Korovesi Special Summoned Quickdraw Synchron by discarding Scary Moth, and Tributed two monster to Summon Ancient Crimson Ape. He used his Ape to attack and destroy Nguyen’s Cluster.
Play passed back to Nguyen who Set a card and passed his turn back to Korovesi.
Korovesi’s Ape attacked directly next turn and Nguyen dropped to 3450 Life Points.
Nguyen drew and Set one card to his back row, quickly ending his turn once again.
Korovesi Summoned Flip Flop Frog next turn and attacked with both of his monsters. When play passed back to Nguyen, he drew his next card and conceded, unable to destroy Korovesi’s Ancient Crimson Ape that would finish him off next turn.
Congratulations to Joshua Korovesi for winning a Dark End Dragon in this weekend’s Tin Challenge Playoffs!
See what our panel of experts had to say after the Duel.
Jason Grabher-Meyer (The Old Man of Dueling)
At the end of the third Duel, Korovesi used Quickdraw Synchron’s ability to Special Summon it. That got him a second monster on the field to Tribute for Ancient Crimson Ape, and he used it to take one of the most memorable Dark End Dragon wins we’ve seen. Without cards like Bottomless Trap Hole and Smashing Ground, high-Level monsters like Nguyen’s Brain Golem and Korovesi’s Psychic Emperor got to stick around and make a big impact. Korovesi knew what this format was about: big monsters going head-to-head!
Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
Since Duelists can use as few as 20 cards in their Deck for the Tin Challenge, they can pull off some really cool combos, even if they don’t have several copies of each card in their Deck. Nguyen used both Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis and Phoenixian Seed in his Deck, along with some Plants that let him Special Summon Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis from his Graveyard. This was a great combo to use in the Tin Challenge.
Michael McTavish (Top 8 Finalist – 2009 Canadian National Championship)
With so many cards that very few players recognize, being able to read cards and moves that only come into play in a Tin Challenge tournament helps immensely with earning that victory. Nguyen, unfortunately, forgot about Trap Stun during Duel 3, causing himself to lose the Match. While the Match may not have changed if he hadn’t forgotten, it was still a factor in the loss.
P.J. Tierney (Duelist from across The Pond)
Tin Challenges are totally different to any other type of Yu-Gi-Oh! event. Instead of entering the tournament with a Deck you’ve been working on at home, you build a Deck with the cards you get for entering. If you’re the kind of Duelist who can see interesting combos the second you get your cards from a pack, then this is the event for you! Duelists won’t have access to most of the powerful cards that you usually see in Decks. You can Summon monsters without being afraid of Bottomless Trap Hole, Set Spells and Traps without losing them all to Heavy Storm, and destroy whatever you want without getting hit back by Starlight Road.
Finally, Duelists could use as few as 20 cards in their Decks in the Tin Challenges. While having fewer cards in your Deck means you can get to your stronger cards quickly, it’s easy to deck out when there’s only 20 in there to begin with. That’s why most Duelists chose to go with 25 or 26 card Decks this weekend. I played in this event and pulled a lot of high DEF monsters with the aim of slowing my opponent down long enough to deck him out.
