Round 10 Feature Match: Jon Mak vs. Michael Rossitto
Both of these Duelists are currently 8-1 in the tournament, so a win here would put either one of them in a great position for making Top 32. Jon Mak is running a Gladiator Beast Deck that uses Gladiator Beast’s Respite and Gladiator Beast Octavius. His opponent, Michael Rossitto, is using a Flamvell Deck with Rekindling.
Rossitto won the dice roll and chose to go first. He Set 3 back rows and a monster before ending his turn.
Mak opened up with Heavy Storm, Mystical Space Typhoon, Waboku, Gladiator Beast Equeste, Solemn Judgment, and Bottomless Trap Hole. Rossitto flipped Trap Dustshoot in Mak’s Draw Phase to send Equeste back to his Deck.
Mak Set 2 back rows and ended his turn, losing his Bottomless Trap Hole to Rossitto’s Dust Tornado in the End Phase. Rossitto Set a card with Dust Tornado and was up. He passed without making play.
Mak drew Giant Trunade next turn. He Set Heavy Storm and ended, losing Heavy Storm to Dust Tornado in his End Phase.
Rossitto flipped Gravekeeper’s Spy to Special Summon one from his Deck in Defense Position next turn. Then he Tributed his Attack Position Spy for Caius, targeted Mystical Space Typhoon with Caius’s effect, and Mak chained it to destroy Rossitto’s Set Mirror Force. Caius attacked, dropping Mak to 5600 Life Points. Rossitto Set a back row in Main Phase 2 and ended his turn.
Mak Summoned Elemental Hero Prisma next turn and changed its name to Gladiator Beast Bestiari by sending a Bestiari from his Deck to his Graveyard. Then he Set 2 back rows and ended. Rossitta attacked Prisma with Caius next turn, destroying it and dropping Mak to 4900 Life Points.
Mak activated Giant Trunade next turn, then Summoned Gladiator Beast Samnite to the field. He attacked into Rossitto’s Defense Position Gravekeeper’s Spy, taking 400 damage. Then he tagged out Samnite to Special Summon Gladiator Beast Darius from his Deck. He activated its effect to Special Summon Gladiator Beast Bestiari, then fused them together for Gladiator Beast Gyzarus. Gyzarus’s effect destroyed Rossitto’s Spy and Caius.
Rossitto activated Smashing Ground next turn, but Mak negated it with Solemn Judgment. Rossitto Set 2 cards and ended his turn.
Mak Set a card and ended without attacking. He didn’t want to risk losing his Gyzarus.
Rossitto Set a monster and passed back to Mak, who flipped Dust Tornado in Rossitto’s End Phase to destroy a Set Dimensional Prison.
Having just seen a Dimensional Prison get destroyed, Mak attacked with Gyzarus next turn. Rossitto flipped it face-down with Book of Moon. Mak activated Burden of the Mighty in Main Phase 2 and ended his turn.
Rossitto Tributed Flamvell Firedog for Caius next turn, and activated its effect to remove Mak’s Gyzarus from the game. He attacked with Caius and Mak was forced to flip Waboku to stay in the Duel.
Mak drew Gladiator Beast Hoplomus next turn and Set it. It was a solid topdeck, since Burden of the Mighty prevented Rossitto from attacking over it with Caius.
Rossitto Summoned Sangan on his next turn and attacked the face-down Gladiator Beast Hoplomus with his 1800 ATK Caius. Rossitto dropped to 7700 Life Points. Mak only had 1250 Life Points. Mak tagged out Hoplomus for a 2100 ATK Laquari. Rossitto Set a card in Main Phase 2 and ended his turn.
Mak Special Summoned Test Tiger next turn, but Rossitto flipped Book of Moon when he Tributed it. Laquari was flipped face-down. Mak flipped it back face-up and then attacked Sangan with Laquari. Rossitto dropped to 6600 Life Points. Rossitto searched his Deck for Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind with the effect of Sangan and Mak tagged out his Laquari for Gladiator Beast Murmillo in Defense Position to destroy Rossitto’s monster.
Rossitto drew Flamvell Firedog next turn, Summoned it, and attacked Murmillo. Firedog recruited Flamvell Magician from his Deck, and the Magician hit Mak directly, dropping him to 250 Life Points. Mak Tuned his 2 monsters together in Main Phase 2 to Summon Colossal Fighter with 2900 ATK. Mak drew Laquari next turn and Set it, but it wouldn’t help him survive!
Rossitto Summoned Gale to the field next turn, and when Colossal Fighter attacked Laquari, Mak’s field was clear for Rossitto to end the Duel.
Mak will be going first in Duel 2. He wished his opponent luck and the Duel began! He opened up with Gladiator Beast War Chariot, Bottomless Trap Hole, 2 copies of Gladiator Beast Samnite, and Gladiator Beast Darius. He Set Bottomless Trap Hole and Summoned Gladiator Beast Samnite, ending his turn.
Rossitto Set 4 cards to his back row and ended his turn. Mak drew Giant Trunade next turn. He activated it, sending all Spell and Trap Cards on the field back to their owners’ hands. Then Mak Summoned Gladiator Beast Darius and attacked with Samnite and Darius. Rossitto took the damage, dropping down to 4700 Life Points. He tagged Darius out for an Attack Position Laquari and Samnite out for a Defense Position Hoplomus. Mak Set 2 cards to his back row before ending his turn.
Rossitto Set a monster along with 4 back rows and passed right back to Mak, who drew Gladiator Beast Retiari and ended his turn without attacking or playing any cards.
On Rossitto’s next turn, he Tributed his face-down Flamvell Magician for Caius the Shadow Monarch, targeting Mak’s Hoplomus. Mak flipped Gladiator Beast War Chariot, negating the effect of Caius and destroying it. He ended his turn.
Mak drew Gladiator Beast Equeste next turn. He had a hand consisting of 3 Gladiator Beast monsters and a Gladiator Proving Ground. He could really use a Respite right about now. He attacked with Gladiator Beast Laquari and Rossitto activated Dimensional Prison to remove it from play. Mak Set Gladiator Proving Ground and passed to Rossitto, who Set a monster and passed right back.
Mak drew Dust Tornado and Summoned Gladiator Beast Equeste to the field. He attacked Rossitto’s face-down Legendary Jujitsu Master with Gladiator Beast Equeste, and it was returned to the top of his Deck.
In Main Phase 2, Mak Set Dust Tornado and ended his turn. Rossitto Set a monster and ended.
Mak drew Gladiator Beast Equeste again next turn and used it to attack a second face-down Legendary Jujitsu Master! Equeste was returned to the top of his Deck. Mak ended his turn.
Rossitto drew a card and then Tributed a Legendary Jujitsu Master to Summon Caius the Shadow Monarch on his next turn. He activated Caius’s effect to remove Gladiator Beast Hoplomus from the game, and Mak chained Bottomless Trap Hole to remove Caius.
Mak drew Gladiator Beast Equeste again next turn. He Summoned it and passed to Rossitto.
Rossitto activated Mystical Space Typhoon next turn, destroying Mak’s face-down Gladiator Proving Ground. Then he Summoned Flamvell Firedog, attacked Gladiator Beast Equeste with it, and recruited Flamvell Magician from his Deck with Firedog’s effect. He Tuned his Magician to his Firedog to Synchro Summon Stardust Dragon!
Mak drew Dimensional Fissure next turn. He activated it and Set a monster before ending his turn.
Rossitto Tributed Legendary Jujitsu Master for Caius next turn, targeting Mak’s Dimensional Fissure with its effect. Mak chained Dust Tornado to destroy Rossitto’s Torrential Tribute. Rossitto used Stardust Dragon to attack a face-down Retiari and then used Caius to attack directly, dropping Mak to 3500 Life Points.
Mak Set Gladiator Beast Bestiari next turn, struggling to survive. Rossitto attacked and destroyed it with Caius and then scored a direct hit with Stardust Dragon.
Mak drew Dimensional Prison next turn, and Set it along with his in-hand Samnite. But it wouldn’t keep him alive through Rossitto’s next turn!
Rossitto attacked Samnite with Caius, and then Stardust Dragon attacked directly for the win. Mak even flipped Dimensional Prison to try to stop it, but Rossitto had Solemn Judgment to negate it!
In a 2-0 sweep, Michael Rossitto’s Flamvell Synchro Deck defeats Jon Mak’s Gladiator Beasts!
See what our panel of experts had to say after the Duel.
Jason Grabher-Meyer (The Old Man of Dueling)
The third Duel showed how plays you make can influence your opponent’s perception of your later plays. Early in the Duel, Jon Mak controlled Gladiator Beast Hoplomus and Gladiator Beast Laquari, with Gladiator Beast War Chariot Set. Rossitto had 4 cards in his Spell & Trap Card Zone, so even though Rossitto had a Set monster that Laquari could have attacked, Mak didn’t go for it. Next turn that face-down monster was revealed to be Flamvell Magician, a bluff that let Rossitto Tribute Summon Caius the Shadow Monarch. This wasn’t a risky play on Rossitto’s part: he had 4 cards Set, all of which might have defended his Magician should Mak have attacked. But I think seeing that Magician set the tone for the rest of the Duel. From that point forward Mak played too aggressively, crashing into not 1, but 2 copies of Legendary Jujitsu Master on his way to defeat.
Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
In Duel 2, Mak attacked Rossitto’s face-down Legendary Jujitsu Master while he had other Gladiator Beasts in his hand. Since he didn’t want to redraw the Gladiator Beast that attacked the Jujitsu Master, he should have activated Gladiator Proving Ground to grab a Gladiator from his Deck, and more importantly, shuffle his Deck so he wouldn’t have to draw his Gladiator Beast Equeste again. He lost a lot of momentum by drawing the same copy of Gladiator Beast Equeste 3 times in one Duel.
Michael McTavish (Top 8 Finalist – 2009 Canadian National Championship)
During Game 2, staring down 4 face-down Spells/Traps on his opponent’s side of the field, Jon Mak should have just attacked with his Laquari. He had Gladiator Beast’s War Chariot ready and waiting to negate something, and 3 more Gladiator Beasts in his hand. And those four backrow cards weren’t going to just disappear. All he was doing was giving Rossitto time to build his cards up.
