Last round we saw Noah White accredit his Lightsworn Infernity Side Deck to Alex Vansant. Jerry Wang dispatched White in a 2-1 victory, but now Wang had to Duel Vansant himself! Wang is playing Quickdraw Dandywarrior, while Vansant is running X-Sabers.

Vansant opened the Match with a Set card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone, then Summoned XX-Saber Boggart Knight to Special Summon XX-Saber Darksoul from his hand in Defense Position.

Wang had a hand of Torrential Tribute, Debris Dragon, Dust Tornado, Quickdraw Synchron, Light and Darkness Dragon, and Heavy Storm. He activated Heavy Storm, destroying Vansant’s Solemn Judgment, then Wang Set his own Dust Tornado, Torrential, and Debris Dragon.

Vansant Summoned a second Darksoul, turned his first to Attack Position, and ran Boggart Knight into Debris Dragon, eating 100 damage. Vansant passed.

Wang drew Tytannial, Princess of Camellias and passed.

Vansant Summoned XX-Saber Fulhelmknight, and Wang responded with Torrential Tribute. Vansant lost 4 monsters, 2 of which were copies of XX-Saber Darksoul, while Wang lost his Debris Dragon. Vansant ended his turn, getting XX-Saber Emmersblade and another Fulhelmknight from his Deck.

Wang drew Book of Moon. He Set it and ended, stuck with Tytannial, Light and Darkness Dragon, and Quickdraw Synchron as his only in-hand cards.

Vansant Summoned another Boggart Knight, Special Summoned Fulhelmknight, and Wang turned Fulhelmknight face-down with Book. Boggart Knight attacked for 1900 Battle Damage.

Wang drew Ryko and Set it.

Vansant Flip Summoned Fulhelmknight, then Special Summoned XX-Saber Faultroll. Faultroll Special Summoned Darksoul in Defense Position, and Vansant declared he was going to make “The worst play you’ll see all day!” He Tuned Fulhelmknight to Darksoul, Synchro Summoned Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, and discarded Fulhelmknight to bounce away Ryko. He discarded Emmersblade next, bouncing away Wang’s last Set Spell or Trap Card, and Wang conceded!

Alex Vansant takes the first Duel with Darksoul after Darksoul! A rough set of draws leaves Jerry Wang defenseless, and Vansant is now just 1 win away from total victory.

Wang began Duel 2 with Debris Dragon, D.D. Crow, Super-Nimble Mega Hamster, Bottomless Trap Hole, Pot of Avarice, and Sangan. He Set Bottomless, Set Hamster, and ended.

Vansant Set a monster, then Set 2 cards to his Spell & Trap Card Zone.

Wang drew another Debris Dragon, then Flip Summoned Super-Nimble Mega Hamster. He used its effect to Special Summon a Ryko face-down, and attacked with Hamster, destroying Vansant’s face-down X-Saber Airbellum. He Set Sangan to finish out. Getting a Dandylion was becoming more and more important as Wang continued to draw more copies of Debris Dragon.

Vansant Summoned XX-Saber Fulhelmknight, attacked Sangan, and destroyed it. Wang got Lonefire Blossom from his Deck, and Vansant Special Summoned X-Saber Airbellum. Airbellum attacked Hamster to destroy it, and Vansant Set a third Spell or Trap to finish his turn.

Wang drew Foolish Burial. He Flip Summoned Ryko, but Vansant responded with Saber Hole. Wang activated Foolish Burial, sent Dandylion to his Graveyard, and Special Summoned his Fluff Tokens. He then Normal Summoned Lonefire Blossom, Tributed a Fluff Token for Lonefire’s effect, Special Summoned another Lonefire in Defense Position, and Tributed the last Fluff Token to Special Summon Tytannial, Princess of Camellias. Tytannial attacked, Fulhelmknight’s effect negated the attack, and Wang ended.

Vansant activated Cold Wave! He Summoned Rescue Cat, sent it to the Graveyard, and Special Summoned 2 copies of XX-Saber Darksoul. He Tuned Fulhelmknight to both Darksouls, Synchro Summoned XX-Saber Gottoms, and attacked over Tytannial and the Attack Position Lonefire Blossom with Gottoms and Airbellum. Wang was down to 6100 Life Points. Vansant Tributed Airbellum in Main Phase 2, making Wang discard Debris Dragon! He gave a fist-pump, not realizing Wang had a second Debris Dragon. In the End Phase Vansant grabbed XX-Saber Faultroll and another XX-Saber Darksoul from his Deck with his 2 Darksoul effects.

Wang activated Lonefire Blossom’s effect to Special Summon Dandylion, then Summoned Debris Dragon. He Special Summoned his second Dandylion, Tuned Debris Dragon to it, and Synchro Summoned Black Rose Dragon, destroying Vansant’s XX-Saber Gottoms, Gottoms’ Emergency Call, and Solemn Judgment, plus his own Bottomless Trap Hole. Wang then Summoned 4 Fluff Tokens! He ended his turn with 4 Tokens, plus D.D. Crow, Pot of Avarice, and Caius the Shadow Monarch in-hand.

Vansant drew to 4 cards. He Set 1 card to his back row, then Summoned Darksoul to attack and destroy a Token.

Wang drew Quickdraw Synchron, then activated Pot of Avarice, sending back Black Rose Dragon, 2 Lonefire Blossom, Tytannial, and a Debris Dragon to draw Book of Moon and Super-Nimble Mega Hamster. He Tributed a Token for Caius the Shadow Monarch, removed Darksoul with Caius’ effect, and attacked for 2400 damage. He Set Book to finish out.

Vansant was up. He Summoned Sangan, attacked a Fluff Token, and ended.

Wang drew Torrential Tribute, attacked Sangan with Caius, and Vansant got XX-Saber Fulhelmknight with Sangan’s effect. Wang Set a monster, and lost Book of Moon in his End Phase to Vansant’s Mystical Space Typhoon.

Vansant Summoned XX-Saber Boggart Knight, Special Summoned Fulhelmknight, and Special Summoned XX-Saber Faultroll! Vansant activated Faultroll’s effect to try and Special Summon X-Saber Airbellum, but Wang Chained D.D. Crow’s effect to remove Airbellum. Vansant attacked Wang’s Hamster with Boggart Knight, destroyed Hamster, and Wang Special Summoned Ryko in face-down Defense Position. Fulhelmknight attacked the remaining Fluff Token, and its effect Special Summoned another Fulhelmknight. Faultroll attacked Caius, both monsters were destroyed, and Fulhelmknight attacked Wang’s Ryko. Ryko destroyed a Fulhelmknight, and sent Quickdraw Synchron, Pot of Avarice, and Light and Darkness Dragon to the Graveyard. Vansant Special Summoned Darksoul with Fulhelmknight’s effect and attacked for 100 damage. Vansant ended his turn.

Wang drew Dimensional Prison, adding it to his hand of Quickdraw Synchron and Torrential Tribute. He Set Torrential Tribute.

When Vansant Synchro Summoned XX-Saber Hyunlei next turn Wang cleared the field with Torrential! Vansant Normal Summoned Fulhelmknight, attacked, Set a Spell or Trap, and got Boggart Knight in his End Phase just as time was called.

Wang drew Tytannial and had only 2 turns to win the Duel. He Set Dimensional Prison, discarded Tytannial, and Special Summoned Quickdraw Synchron, walking right into Saber Hole!

Vansant Summoned Boggart Knight, Special Summoned Airbellum, turned Fulhelmknight to Defense position, attacked with Airbellum, and ran Boggart Knight into Dimensional Prison. Vansant had 4200 Life Points, while Wang had 3100, and Wang couldn’t even the score next turn!

Alex Vansant wins a Super Rare copy of Darklord Asmodeus, Darklord Edeh Arae, and Darklord Superbia!

Post-Event Analysis!
See what our panel of experts had to say about this Duel after the event was over. 

Jason Grabher-Meyer (The Old Man of Dueling)
XX-Saber Fulhelmknight really worked overtime for Vansant in this Match. Unlike Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame and Flamvell Firedog, Fulhelmknight’s effect doesn’t require the monster destroyed in battle to go to the Graveyard. That means Token Monsters are fair game as long as they’re in Defense Position. In addition, the timing of Fulhelmknight’s effect means you can still Special Summon a monster, even if Fulhelmknight battles Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter and the opponent uses Ryko’s ability to destroy Fulhelmknight. We saw Vansant use both of these techniques in this Match, and X-Saber Duelists everywhere should be aware of these powerful plays.

Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
In Duel 2, activating Cold Wave while he had Solemn Judgment and Gottoms’ Emergency Call face-down was a risky play for Vansant. It enabled Wang to Synchro Summon Black Rose Dragon and activate its effect without resistance. It also prevented Vansant from using his Gottoms’ Emergency Call when it would have let him overwhelm Wang’s field. He may have been better off just sitting back on his Solemn Judgment, which would have allowed him to maintain a stranglehold on the Duel.

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