Raffle Playoffs Feature Match: Min Gao vs. Jesus Santos
At the end of each Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series event, four Lucky Duelists are randomly chosen to compete in a single-elimination tournament for the 3 brand new prize cards. Two of those Duelists this weekend are Jesus Santos and Min Gao. Both Duelists are facing off and will be giving it their all – Santos with his Blackwing Deck running the new Cards for Black Feathers and Blackwing – Breeze the Zephyr, and Min Gao with his X-Sabers. After this Match, only one of them will remain in contention for the prize cards.
Gao won the dice roll and chose to go first. He opened up with XX-Saber Faultroll, Call of the Haunted, X-Saber Airbellum, Brain Control, Dust Tornado, and XX-Saber Darksoul in his hand. He Set Darksoul and Dust Tornado, ending his turn.
Santos Set Torrential Tribute and ended, but lost it to Gao’s Dust Tornado in the End Phase.
Gao drew Trap Dustshoot next turn. He Normal Summoned X-Saber Airbellum and attacked directly for 1600 damage, getting a Burial from a Different Dimension out of Santos’s hand. He Set Trap Dustshoot in Main Phase 2 and ended his turn.
During Santos’s Draw Phase, Gao activated Trap Dustshoot to send Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn from Santos’s hand to his Deck. Santos had 2 copies of Bottomless Trap Hole, Mirror Force, and Cards for Black Feathers left in his hand. He Set 2 back rows and ended his turn.
Santos drew Saber Hole next turn. He flipped Darksoul and then Tuned Airbellum to Darksoul to Synchro Summon XX-Saber Hyunlei. Hyunlei targeted Mirror Force and Bottomless Trap Hole, and Santos chained Bottomless Trap Hole to remove Hyunlei from play. Santos Set Saber Hole and Call of the Haunted before entering his End Phase. In his End Phase, he searched his Deck for XX-Saber Emmersblade and added it to his hand with the effect of Darksoul.
Santos drew a card and then Set 1 card to each zone before ending his turn. In his End Phase, Gao activated Call of the Haunted to Special Summon X-Saber Airbellum from his Graveyard.
Gao drew XX-Saber Fulhelmknight next turn. He Set Emmersblade and ended.
Santos activated Cards for Black Feathers next turn, removing Shura from his hand to draw 2 cards. Then he Set 2 back rows and ended his turn.
Gao drew another Saber Hole and Set it. He Normal Summoned XX-Saber Fulhelmknight and then Flip Summoned XX-Saber Emmersblade. Then he Special Summoned XX-Saber Faultroll from his hand and activated its effect to Special Summon Darksoul from his Graveyard. Santos chained Bottomless Trap Hole to remove Faultroll from play and then Darksoul hit the field in Defense Position. Gao attacked Santos’s face-down Ryko with Emmersblade and Ryko destroyed Fulhelmknight. Santos sent a Vayu from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard with Ryko’s effect. Airbellum attacked and destroyed Santos’s other face-down card, which was a Necro Gardna. Gao passed to Santos.
Santos Summoned Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind , but Gao flipped Saber Hole to negate the Summon. Santos instantly conceded, even though he had 6400 Life Points left.
Santos will be going first in Duel 2! He Set a back row and ended his turn.
Gao opened up with Trap Dustshoot, X-Saber Palomuro, XX-Saber Ragigura, Nobleman of Crossout, and 2 copies of X-Saber Airbellum. Gao Set Palomuro and Trap Dustshoot, ending his turn.
Gao flipped Trap Dustshoot during Santos’s Draw Phase, revealing 2 copies of Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn, D.D. Crow, Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor, Royal Oppression, and Solemn Judgment. He sent Vayu back to Santos’s Deck with Dustshoot’s effect. Santos Normal Summoned Sirocco and then attacked and destroyed Palomuro. He Set 2 back rows and ended his turn.
Gao drew Mirror Force next turn. He Set it along with X-Saber Airbellum and ended his turn.
Santos attacked with Sirocco, destroying Airbellum. Gao paid 500 Life Points to Special Summon Palomuro from his Graveyard when Airbellum was destroyed. Santos Set a copy of Ryko and ended his turn.
Gao activated Nobleman of Crossout next turn to remove the Set Ryko from play. Then both players removed all copies from their Decks. Gao Set Bottomless Trap Hole next and passed to Santos, who attacked Palomuro with Sirocco and passed back to Gao.
Gao drew Rescue Cat next turn. He Set X-Saber Airbellum and passed.
Santos attacked X-Saber Airbellum with Sirocco and Gao paid 500 Life Points to Special Summon Palomuro from his Graveyard.
Gao drew Faultroll next turn and passed to Santos, who attacked Palomuro with Sirocco and Set a monster in Main Phase 2.
Gao drew Starlight Road next turn. He Set Ragigura and Starlight Road, ending his turn.
Santos discarded D.D. Crow to remove Palomuro from Gao’s Graveyard next turn. Then he attacked the face-down Ragigura with Sirocco, destroying it in battle. He Set another back row and passed to Gao, who drew and Set Solemn Judgment before passing back to Santos.
Santos attacked directly with Sirocco next turn, dropping Gao to 5000 Life Points. Then he Set one more card to each zone and ended his turn.
Gao drew for his turn and then Santos activated Icarus Attack, Tributing a Vayu to destroy 2 cards. Gao chained Starlight Road and Santos flipped Solemn Judgment. But Gao had his own Solemn Judgment to activate, and Starlight Road was able to resolve and negate Icarus Attack. Gao Special Summoned Stardust Dragon from his Extra Deck. Then he Normal Summoned Rescue Cat and Tributed it, but Santos flipped Royal Oppression and paid 800 Life Points to negate its effect. Gao ended his turn, without attacking with Stardust Dragon.
Santos flipped Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind next turn and activated its effect to halve the ATK and DEF of Stardust Dragon. Then he attacked Stardust Dragon with Gale and Gao flipped Mirror Force to destroy Gale and Sirocco! Santos ended his turn.
Gao drew Gottoms’ Emergency Call next turn. Santos flipped Threatening Roar when he entered his Battle Phase, and Gao Set Gottoms’ Emergency Call in Main Phase 2 before ending his turn.
Santos Summoned Sirocco next turn and Gao flipped Bottomless Trap Hole to remove it from play. Then he removed Vayu and Sirocco from his Graveyard to Special Summon Blackwing Armed Wing! Armed Wing attacked Fulhelmknight, but Gao negated the attack with the effect of Fulhelmknight. Santos Set a back row and ended his turn.
Gao drew another Gottoms’ Emergency Call next turn. Royal Oppression had him locked down. He Set the Gottoms’ Emergency Call and switched both of his monsters to Defense Position, ending his turn.
Santos used Allure of Darkness next turn, drawing 2 cards and removing Sirocco from his hand. Then he activated Lightning Vortex by discarding Plaguespreader Zombie. Gao negated it by Tributing Stardust Dragon. Santos played Burial from a Different Dimension next, returning 2 copies of Sirocco and a Vayu to his Graveyard. He removed a Vayu and Sirocco to Special Summon Blackwing Armed Wing. When an Armed Wing attacked Fulhelmknight, Gao flipped Gottoms’ Emergency Call to try to bring back Airbellum and Ragigura. Santos chained his own Gottoms’ Emergency Call to try to Special Summon the same 2 X-Sabers, and then Gao used his second Gottoms’ Emergency Call to try to do the same thing. Santos negated it with Royal Oppression and Gao conceded.
Min Gao will be starting off in Duel 3!
Gao opened up with My Body as a Shield, Saber Hole, Crevice into the Different Dimension, Fulhelmknight, Ryko, and Ragigura. He Summoned Fulhelmknight, Set Saber Hole and My Body as a Shield, and ended his turn.
Santos activated Allure of Darkness next turn, drawing 2 cards and removing a D.D. Crow from his hand with the effect of Allure of Darkness. Then he activated Reinforcement of the Army to search his Deck for Dark Grepher and add it to his hand. He activated Mind Control next, taking control of XX-Saber Fulhelmknight. Then, he Normal Summoned Dark Grepher and discarded Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn from his hand to send a Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor from his Deck to his Graveyard. Then he attacked directly with Dark Grepher and Gao dropped down to 6300 Life Points. In Main Phase 2, Santos Tuned Dark Grepher with Fulhelmknight to Synchro Summon Black Rose Dragon! He activated its effect to blow up the field. He Set a back row and ended his turn.
Gao Set a card to each zone and passed to Santos, who Special Summoned Dark Armed Dragon from his hand! He removed Dark Grepher from his Graveyard to destroy Gao’s Set Ryko. Then he removed Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor from his Graveyard to destroy Crevice into the Different Dimension. Dark Armed Dragon attacked directly and Gao dropped down to 3500 Life Points. Santos Set a monster and a Spell or Trap Card in Main Phase 2, passing to Gao.
Gao Set Darksoul next turn, but it wouldn’t be able to protect him.
On Santos’s next turn, he flipped Blackwing – Breeze the Zephyr, removed Sirocco from his Graveyard to destroy Darksoul with the effect of Dark Armed Dragon, and attacked directly with Dark Armed Dragon and Blackwing – Breeze the Zephyr to end the Duel!
Jesus Santos is just one Match away from getting his hands on those 3 new prize cards!
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)
When Gao played Trap Dustshoot in the first Duel, he let Santos keep Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn but sent Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor back to Santos’ Deck. Sirocco was Santos’ only real attacker, and he ended up making a total of 6 consecutive attacks with it. If Gao had sent Sirocco back instead of Vayu, he could have forced Santos to use Solemn Judgment at the cost of thousands of Life Points, or made repeated direct attacks with X-Saber Airbellum. Gao knew Santos had Royal Oppression and Solemn Judgment to back it up – when your opponent has Oppression, your priority has to be stopping them from Summoning big monsters.
Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
In Duel 2, Santos Chained his Gottoms’ Emergency Call to Gao’s, even though Royal Oppression was face-up on the field. This gave Gao the opportunity to negate Santos’s Gottoms’ Emergency Call with Royal Oppression and resolve his own copy. He should have taken that opportunity, instead of Chaining another copy of Gottoms’ Emergency Call and allowing Santos to negate it with Royal Oppression.
P.J. Tierney (Duelist from across The Pond)
If you’re using Trap Dustshoot in your Deck, it’s the one card you always want to see on your opening turn. If you Set it and activate it as soon as your opponent’s turn starts, you get to see their entire opening hand! From there you can plan several turns ahead, and get rid of the strongest monster in their hand as well. Gao opened with Trap Dustshoot in Duel 2, and while Santos was going first, Gao was still able to use his Dustshoot before the number of cards in Santos’ hand fell below 4.
