Jake Wakid is from 24 years old from Gaithersburg, Maryland, and is running a triple Obelisk the Tormentor Deck with Hardened Armed Dragon you can read about here. His opponent is 17 year old Michael Broderick, from Chippewa, Pennsylvania, who’s running a new Infernity Deck. For Wakid, this was the time to prove his strategy. Would Obelisk really be a silver bullet for Infernities, or would it all come crashing down?

Wakid opened the day with a hand of Morphing Jar, Soul Exchange, Mirror Force, Starlight Road, Dust Tornado, and Bottomless Trap Hole. He Set everything he had and ended.

Broderick Set 2 cards to his Spell & Trap Card Zone. He lost his Dust Tornado to Wakid’s Dust Tornado in the End Phase.

Next turn Wakid Flip Summoned Morphing Jar! He drew Mystical Space Typhoon, Foolish Burial, Dimensional Prison, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, and Obelisk the Tormentor! He then attacked for 700 damage with Morphing Jar and took a peek at Broderick’s Graveyard. Broderick had lost 2 copies of Infernity Launcher, and an Infernity Mirage, to Morphing Jar’s effect. Broderick was in trouble, with so many of his key cards now gone, and things were about to get worse. Wakid activated Foolish Burial, sent Dandylion to the Graveyard, Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens, and ended his turn.

Broderick Normal Summoned Dark Grepher, and discarded Infernity Archfiend for Grepher’s effect, but lost his Grepher to Wakid’s Bottomless Trap Hole. He sent Infernity Beetle to his Graveyard when Grepher’s effect resolved, and Set 2 cards to his back row, but lost his Phoenix Wing Wind Blast to a Mystical Space Typhoon in the End Phase.

Next turn, Wakid Tributed all 3 of his monsters to Summon Obelisk the Tormentor! Broderick tried to activate Bottomless Trap Hole, and was surprised to learn that he couldn’t respond to Obelisk’s Summon. That left Obelisk to attack directly for 4000 damage! Wakid Set 2 more cards to his Spell & Trap Card Zone to finish out his turn. Obelisk was in the Duel!

Broderick Set a monster, and Set another Spell or Trap, but lost his monster to Phoenix Wing Wind Blast in the End Phase.

Next turn Wakid attacked with Obelisk again, landing the second blow of the big, blue, one-two punch! The first Duel was over, captured by Jake Wakid with Obelisk the Tormentor!

“So Obelisk can’t even be Solemned?” asked Broderick. It was confirmed that it could not, and Broderick heaved a sigh, trying to figure out what on earth to Side Deck against Wakid’s terrifying creation.

Broderick started the second Duel with Foolish Burial, sending Infernity Archfiend from his Deck to his Graveyard. He Set a monster, then Set 1 card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone.

Wakid’s hand was Heavy Storm, Gravekeeper’s Spy, Foolish Burial, Super-Nimble Mega Hamster, Debris Dragon, and Consecrated Light. He activated Foolish Burial to send Dandylion to his Graveyard, Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens again, and Summoned Debris Dragon to bring back Dandylion. He Synchro Summoned Stardust Dragon, Summoned 2 more Tokens, and attacked with Stardust. Broderick’s face-down monster was Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, and Stardust Dragon negated its effect. No Obelisk in sight for Wakid.

Broderick Summoned Dark Grepher next turn, discarding another Archfiend to send Infernity Beetle to his Graveyard. He ended his turn.

Wakid drew Obelisk the Tormentor! Broderick had just 1 card in his Spell & Trap Card Zone, and this was the play Wakid had described as his favorite move in his Deck Profile! He Tributed all 3 Fluff Tokens for Obelisk the Tormentor, Broderick activated Threatening Roar, and Wakid passed, now in control of the field!

Broderick discarded his third Archfiend for Dark Grepher’s effect, sending Infernity Necromancer to his Graveyard. He then activated Infernity Launcher and sent it to the Graveyard, Special Summoned Necromancer and Archfiend, and used Archfiend to get another Launcher. He activated it, used Necromancer to bring back Infernity Beetle, then Tributed it to Special Summon 2 more Beetles from his Deck. Broderick spent some time considering his options: Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier and Mist Wurm would be useless, since it can’t be targeted by monster effects. Broderick could clear the field with Black Rose Dragon, but in order to do that, he’d have to get rid of Stardust Dragon first, and that would also leave him with virtually nothing.

(Time for a Valuable Life Lesson: At this point, Broderick was also considering Ally of Justice Catastor as an option. However, the table judge informed him that Catastor’s effect also targets, and would therefore be ineffective against Obelisk. Unfortunately for Broderick, the table judge was incorrect. Catastor’s effect does not target, and since Obelisk isn’t a DARK monster (he’s DIVINE Attribute), Catastor would be a very effective weapon against Obelisk. If you’re ever in a tournament and you think a judge has made a mistake, remember that you can always appeal a judge’s ruling to the Head Judge at the tournament. We checked with the Head Judge after this feature match, and he confirmed that he would have ruled correctly that Catastor could destroy Obelisk, if the appeal had been made.)

As this panned out, Broderick Tuned Beetle to Archfiend, and Synchro Summoned Goyo Guardian instead. He then Tuned the second Beetle to Necromancer, Summoning his Ally of Justice Catastor. He sent his Launcher to the Graveyard to bring back Beetle and Necromancer, Synchro Summoning Iron Chain Dragon in Defense Position, then looked through his Extra Deck, shaking his head, since he thought (incorrectly; see above) he didn’t have a way to get rid of Obelisk. He Special Summoned Beetle with Necromancer, Synchro Summoned Magical Android in Defense Position, and took control of Stardust Dragon by attacking it with Goyo Guardian. He ended his turn and gained 600 Life Points with the Android.

Obelisk attacked Magical Android, destroying it. Wakid also Set Super-Nimble Mega Hamster.

Broderick drew, attacked Super-Nimble Mega Hamster with Goyo Guardian, and Wakid Special Sumoned Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter face-down. Broderick took the Hamster in Defense position, just trying to shield himself from Obelisk’s onslaught.

Wakid Flip Summoned Ryko, targeting Goyo Guardian, and Broderick let it go instead of stopping the effect with Stardust Dragon. Wakid sent Soul Exchange, Pot of Avarice, and Morphing Jar to his Graveyard. He next activated Heavy Storm, Broderick Chained Threatening Roar, and his Reinforcement of the Army was destroyed. Wakid was now holding Light and Darkness Dragon, Consecrated Light, Gravekeeper’s Spy, and another Super-Nimble Mega Hamster. He Set Spy and ended his turn.

Broderick attacked Ryko with Stardust Dragon next turn, pressing home some damage.

Wakid drew another Consecrated Light. He attacked Catastor with Obelisk, destroying Catastor (erroneously; see Valuable Life Lesson, above), and Broderick dropped to 6800 Life Points. Wakid had 5400.

Broderick attacked Wakid’s Gravekeeper’s Spy with Stardust Dragon next turn (Wakid Special Summoned another Spy), Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone, and ended.

Wakid drew Ryko. He attacked Stardust Dragon with Obelisk next, and Set Ryko. He lost Ryko to Infernity Break in his End Phase, as Broderick removed Infernity Launcher from his Graveyard.

During Broderick’s turn, Iron Chain Dragon attacked the face-up Gravekeeper’s Spy.

On Wakid’s turn, Obelisk smashed Iron Chain Dragon, and Wakid Set a monster, which got spun back on top of his deck by Broderick’s Phoenix Wing Wind Blast in the End Phase.

Broderick Set a Spell or Trap during his turn.

Next up, Broderick lost Super-Nimble Mega Hamster to another attack from Obelisk, and Wakid Set another Hamster.

Broderick Set a monster during his next turn.

Wakid Special Summoned another Ryko with his Hamster, then Tributed for Light and Darkness Dragon. He attacked with it, used its ability to negate the effect of Broderick’s Ryko, and then struck for the win with Obelisk the Tormentor!

Jake Wakid takes a fast 2-0 victory over Michael Broderick’s Infernities, due to an unfortunate incorrect ruling, shattering all expectations and taking 2 games straight with Obelisk the Tormentor!

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

Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
Wakid’s observation that Obelisk the Tormentor can single-handedly take down Infernity Decks made for a really cool Deck choice. He knew that Infernities would be popular at the YCS and he expected to smash the many Infernity Decks he faced, by Summoning Obelisk. But more importantly, Wakid’s decision to use the Deck he chose was influenced by the fact that, win or lose, he knew he’d have a blast Summoning Obelisk the Tormentor against his YCS opponents.

P.J. Tierney (Duelist from across The Pond)
Dust Tornado is a great card to have when you’re going first in a Duel. Since most Duelists tend to Set some cards before setting up their big combos, Dust Tornado can get rid of key cards and defences in the End Phase, when the cards that were just Set can’t be Chained. Both Duelists opened up with Dust Tornado in their hands, but Wakid was going first, and got rid of Broderick’s Tornado before he could use it.

The rulings issue with Ally of Justice Catastor and Obelisk the Tormentor should serve as a lesson to Duelists everywhere. It’s always a good idea to check up on the rulings of every card you plan to use before heading to a tournament. Had Broderick known that Catastor could destroy Wakid’s Obelisk, that second Duel could have ended in a totally different way.

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