Top 8 Feature Match: Jeff Jones vs. Jerry Wang
We’ve seen plenty of Quickdraw Dandywarrior Decks in action this weekend, but this is the first time we’ve seen a Quickdraw mirror Match! Three of the Top 8 Duelists left in this tournament are playing Quickdraw, far and away the most successful Deck today. Now, we’re going to see what happens when 2 of the world’s best Duelists go head-to-head with this exciting new Deck-type.
Jones opened the Match with a hand of 2 Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, 2 Quickdraw Synchron, Caius the Shadow Monarch, and Debris Dragon. He Set Ryko and ended. He needed a Dandylion fast.
Wang Set a monster, Set a Spell or Trap Card, and ended. Jones drew that Dandylion he needed! He Flip Summoned Ryko to target Wang’s Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, Wang Chained it discarding Dandylion, and returned Ryko to the top of Jones’ Deck. Ryko’s effect then sent Ryko itself, Lonefire Blossom, and Dust Tornado off the top to the Graveyard.
Jones discarded Dandylion to Special Summon Quickdraw Synchron and 2 Fluff Tokens. He Tuned 1 Token to Quickdraw and Synchro Summoned Drill Warrior, then Normal Summoned Debris Dragon. It brought back Dandylion, Jones Synchro summoned Stardust Dragon, and Stardust Attacked Ryko. Wang didn’t use Ryko’s destruction effect, but sent 3 cards off the top of his deck to the Graveyard. Drill Warrior attacked a Token, and Jones discarded Ryko to remove the Warrior from the game until his next Standby Phase.
Wang Tributed for Caius the Shadow Monarch, removed Jones’ Stadust Dragon, set a card to his back row, and attacked one of Jones’ Fluff Tokens.
Jones Brought back his Drill Warrior, took back Dandylion, then discarded it to remove Drill Warrior form play to get 2 more Fluff Tokens. He Tributed 1 for another Caius, targeting Wang’s Caius, and Wang Chained Torrential Tribute to clear the field. Jones Set a Spell or Trap with 1 card left in hand and Drill Warrior removed from the game.
Wang drew to 3 cards in hand and Set a monster. Jones drew Torrential Tribute, Special Summoned Drill Warrior, and brought back his Dandylion. He attacked directly for 1200 damage, discarded Dandylion again to remove Drill Warrior and Special Summoned 2 more Fluff Tokens.
Wang Set a monster, then Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone. Jones drew Solemn Judgment, brought back his Drill Warrior again, and returned Debris Dragon to his hand. He Summoned Debris Dragon, Special Summoned Dandylion, and then Synchro Summoned another Stardust Dragon, winding up with 3 Fluff Tokens. Stardust Dragon attacked one of Wang’s face-down monsters, another Ryko, and Wang sent Debris Dragon and 2 Quickdraw to his Gaveyard without destroying anything. Drill Warrior then attacked into Morphing Jar and both Duelists got new hands: Jones had Starlight Road, Heavy Storm, Pot of Avarice, Caius, and Mystical Space Typhoon.
He activated Pot of Avarice, sending Debris Dragon, Lonefire Blossom, Caius, Ryko, and Quickdraw Synchron to his Deck to draw Book of Moon and Call of the Haunted. He discarded Caius to remove Drill Warrior, Set everything but Heavy Storm, and ended. Things looked pretty great for Jones, and pretty grim for Wang, who was now facing down a 5-card Spell & Trap Card Zone, 3 Fluff Tokens, and a Stardust Dragon.
Wang Set a monster, then Set 2 cards to his back row. Jones destroyed Wang’s freshly-Set Bottomless Trap Hole in the End Phase with Mystical Space Typhoon, then returned his Caius to his hand next turn with Drill Warrior. He Tributed a Fluff Token for Caius and Wang had to negate the Summon with Solemn Judgment. He dropped to 3400 Life Points.
Jones pressed on, activating Call of the Haunted to bring back Quickdraw Synchron. He Synchro Summoned Junk Archer, and Wang conceded the first Duel!
Jeff Jones opens with an all-monster hand, but everything opens up when he draws Dandylion on Turn 2! From there Jones ground down his opponent every turn, using Drill Warrior while Jerry Wang struggled to put together combos that never happened. Jones needed 1 more win to reach the Top 4, and while he quickly finished using his Side Deck, Wang took a lot more time before starting the second Duel.
Wang got us started with a Set monster, then Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone.
Jones had Mystical Space Typhoon, Dandylion, Caius the Shadow Monarch, Dimensional Prison, Heavy Storm, and Lonefire Blossom. He activated Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying Torrential Tribute. He then Summoned Lonefire Blossom, Tributed it, and searched his Deck for another. He Tributed that one and Special Summoned Tytannial, Princess of Camellias! She attacked, and Wang’s Sangan was destroyed, getting him Lonefire Blossom from his Deck. Jones Set Heavy Storm and Prison to end.
Wang activated Foolish Burial, sending Dandylion to his Deck. Jones groaned: “I even thought to myself: I hope he doesn’t have Foolish.” Wang Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens, Normal Summoned Lonefire Blossom, and Tributed a Token for another Lonefire in Defense Position. Wang Tributed the second Token to Special Summon Tytannial, then attacked Jones’ Tytannial with his own – when Jones flipped Dimensional Prison Wang negated it by Tributing his Attack Position Lonefire Blossom for Tytannial’s effect. Both Tytannials were destroyed in battle and Wang Set a Spell or Trap to End.
Jones drew Book of Moon, Set it, and Set Dandylion. Wang used his Lonefire Blossom to bring out his own Dandylion, and Set a total of 2 cards to his back row. He lost it all next turn.
Jones activated Heavy Storm to clear the field, Tributed his Dandylion for Caius the Shadow Monarch to remove Wang’s Dandylion, and attacked for 2400 damage! Jones had 2 Tokens on the field and Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone.
Wang Set 3 cards to his back row, and Jones attacked with Caius again, dropping Wang to 3200 Life Points. Wang Set a monster, and Jones drew for his turn: he was left holding Foolish Burial and Pot of Avarice. Caius attacked, destroying Wang’s Set D.D. Crow. Wang was clearly desperate at this point, throwing away cards to stay in the game.
Wang activated Pot of Avarice, sending his Crow, 2 Lonefire, Tytannial, and Sangan back to his Deck. He drew 2 cards, then Summoned Debris Dragon. It brought back Dandylion, and Wang Tuned them together to Synchro Summon Black Rose Dragon. He didn’t use its destruction effect, but attacked to destroy Caius and the Dragon.
Jones activated Pot of Avarice next turn, trying to send all 5 of the monsters in his Graveyard back to his Deck, but Wang shut him down with Solemn Judgment, leading Jones to Set a monster and end. Wang Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone, and Jones Flip Summoned Mega Hamster next turn. He Special Summoned Ryko face-down, attacked, and lost the Hamster to Dimensional Prison. He Set Bottomless Trap Hole and lost it and Torrential Tribute to Heavy Storm next turn.
Jones had 1 in-hand card, 2 Fluff Tokens, and a Set Ryko. Wang had 3 cards in-hand. The Duel stood at 8000 Life Points to 1600 with Jones in the lead. Wang Summoned Debris Dragon, brought up Dandylion, and attacked Ryko with Debris. Debris was predictably destroyed by Ryko’s effect. Jones activated another Pot of Avarice next turn, sending back his Caius, Crow, 2 Lonefire Blossoms, and Tytannial. Jones drew Hamster and Solemn Judgment.
Wang Tributed Dandylion for Caius next turn, but lost out to Solemn Judgment. He Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens and ended. Jones topped Debris Dragon and it was over!
Jones Normal Summoned Debris Dragon, Special Summoned Dandylion, Synchro Summoned Black Rose Dragon, and used the Dandylion to turn one of Wang’s Fluff Tokens to Attack Position. An attack through a Fluff Token ended the Duel, the Match, and knocked Jerry Wang out of the tournament!
Jeff Jones is headed to the Top 4!
See what our panel of experts had to say after the Duel.
Jason Grabher-Meyer (The Old Man of Dueling)
No matter what Deck you play, it’s always important to know everything your Deck is capable of. One of the reasons Jeff Jones was so dominant in Edison was that he knew the Quickdraw Deck inside out, and took advantage of options a lot of other Duelists either disregarded, or weren’t familiar with. For instance, while the most common monster to return to your hand with Drill Warrior’s effect is Dandylion, the first Duel alone saw Jones using Drill Warrior to bring back Caius the Shadow Monarch and Debris Dragon as well. That Duel ended with him Synchro Summoning Junk Archer (a card many Quickdraw Duelists didn’t even play), using its effect to remove Wang’s face-down monster and attack for the win. Practice makes perfect, and the ability to see all the angles is one of the most valuable skills in Dueling.
Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
In Duel 2, Wang used Foolish Burial to send Dandylion to the Graveyard and Special Summon 2 Fluff Tokens to the field. Then, with just a single copy of Lonefire Blossom, he was able to turn those 2 Fluff Tokens into another Lonefire Blossom and a Tytannial. This was a strong play that put a lot of pressure on Jones, since each of Wang’s monsters posed a serious threat. The field of Plants also provided Wang with monsters to Tribute if he wanted to activate Tytannial’s effect.
Michael McTavish (Top 8 Finalist – 2009 Canadian National Championship)
It’s always important to look for game in odd ways at all times. Jones was able to remember about Black Rose Dragon’s effect to turn an opponent’s monster into face up Attack Position and because of that, he was able to win the Match on that turn instead of making a different play that would have prolonged the Match.
P.J. Tierney (Duelist from across The Pond)
Dandylion is the key card in a Quickdraw Dandywarrior Deck, as most of the Deck’s big plays make the most of the Fluff Tokens it Summons. Jeff opened up with what seemed to be a bad hand but it suddenly turned into a great one when he drew Dandylion on his second turn.
