Round 2 Feature Match: Joe Bogli vs. Jessy Samek
Jessy Samek is 1-0 with his Herald Deck heading into round 2. He’s fresh off a win over a Lightsworn Deck, even after drawing 4 Normal Monsters in one of his opening hands last round. Samek is on his way to bringing Happy Lover and Mokey Mokey a Day 2 appearance. But Joe Bogli won’t make it easy – he’s determined to take down Samek’s Deck.
Bogli won the dice roll and chose to go first. He activated Foolish Burial to send Dandylion from his Deck to his Graveyard and Special Summon 2 Fluff Tokens in Defense Position. Then he Normal Summoned Lonefire Blossom and Tributed a Token to Special Summon Lonefire Blossom from his Deck in Defense Position. He used that Lonefire Blossom to Tribute the other Token and Special Summon Tytannial from his Deck in Attack Position. He Set a back row and ended his turn.
Samek opened up with Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, Sonic Bird, 2 copies of Happy Lover, and 2 copies of Dark Factory of Mass Production. He Summoned Sonic Bird and activated its effect to search his Deck for Advanced Ritual Art. Then he attacked the Attack Position Lonefire Blossom with Sonic Bird, destroying it and bringing Bogli down to 7100 Life Points.
Bogli Tributed his other Lonefire Blossom next turn to Special Summon Dandylion, and then Tributed Dandylion to Summon Caius the Shadow Monarch and remove Sonic Bird from the game. He Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens from the effect of Dandylion and attacked with all of his monsters before ending his turn.
Samek drew another Sonic Bird next turn. Then he Summoned Manju and activated its effect, grabbing Herald of Perfection from his Deck. He played Advanced Ritual Art in a last-ditch effort to gain control of the Duel, but Bogli negated it with Solemn Judgment. Samek used Manju to attack and destroy a Fluff Token before setting his Dark Factory as a bluff and ending his turn.
Bogli didn’t fall for it! He attacked with his Caius and Tytannial, ending the Duel!
Samek was up first in Duel 2! Both Duelists wished each other luck and drew their opening hands.
Samek started off with Preparation of Rites, Archlord Kristya, Honest, Sonic Bird, Mokey Mokey, and Happy Lover. He Summoned Sonic Bird, searched his Deck for Advanced Ritual Art, then used Preparation of Rites to search his Deck for Herald of Perfection. Then he used Advanced Ritual Art to send 2 copies of Mokey Mokey, a copy of Happy Lover, and a Mystical Shine Ball from his Deck to his Graveyard and Summon Herald of Perfection. Next, he Special Summoned Archlord Kristya and returned Happy Lover from his Graveyard to his hand.
Bogli Set 2 back rows and a monster, and on Samek’s next turn, he activated Preparation of Rites and Bogli instantly conceded. He knew he wouldn’t be able to handle Samek’s Herald of Perfection and Archlord Kristya.
Bogli chose to begin Duel 3. He Summoned Lonefire Blossom, Tributed it to Special Summon another Lonefire Blossom from his Deck, and then Tributed that one to Special Summon Dandylion from his Deck in Defense Position. Next, he Set 2 cards to his back row and ended his turn.
Samek opened up with Mirror Force, Preparation of Rites, Herald of Perfection, Senju of the Thousand Hands, Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, and Pot of Avarice. A strong starting hand! He Summoned Manju and then activated its effect, searching his Deck for Advanced Ritual Art. He activated it and sent 2 copies of Mokey Mokey and 2 copies of Happy Lover from his Deck to his Graveyard to Special Summon Herald of Perfection in Defense Position! Bogli used Call of the Haunted to Summon Lonefire Blossom from his Graveyard and Samek chose not to negate it. Next, Samek activated Preparation of Rites to grab Herald of Perfection from his Deck and Advanced Ritual Art from his Graveyard. Then he attacked Lonefire Blossom with Manju and Bogli flipped Mirror Force! Samek discarded Herald of Perfection to negate the Mirror Force, and then activated Pot of Avarice in Main Phase 2 to send all 5 monsters in his Graveyard back to his Deck. He drew Herald of Perfection and Dark Factory of Mass Production with the effect of Pot of Avarice. Samek activated Advanced Ritual Art again and sent 2 copies of Happy Lover and 2 copies of Mokey Mokey from his Deck to his Graveyard to Special Summon Herald of Perfection from his hand. He activated his Dark Factory to bring back 2 of his Normal Fairies, Set Mirror Force, and ended his turn.
Bogli Summoned Debris Dragon next turn and Tuned it to Dandylion to Synchro Summon Ancient Fairy Dragon in Defense Position. Then he Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens in Defense Position, Set 2 back row cards, and ended his turn.
Samek switched both of his Heralds to Attack Position next turn and then attacked over both Fluff Tokens with Herald and Manju. The other Herald of Perfection attacked Ancient Fairy Dragon next, and Samek dropped Honest from his hand to make sure Ancient Fairy Dragon got destroyed.
Bogli Set a monster next turn and passed back to Samek, who Summoned Senju of the Thousand Hands to grab Herald of Perfection from his Deck. One of Samek’s on-field Heralds of Perfection attacked Bogli’s Set Legendary Jujitsu Master, and Samek negated its effect and destroyed the Legendary Jujitsu Master by discarding Happy Lover. Next, the other Herald of Perfection, Manju, and Senju attacked directly, dropping Bogli to 2500 Life Points.
Bogli Set 1 back row and 1 monster next turn and passed back to Samek, who Special Summoned Archlord Kristya to return Honest to his hand. Bogli looked stunned by the field he was facing down. He flipped Bottomless Trap Hole, but Samek negated it by discarding a Fairy. Kristya attacked Bogli’s Set Morphing Jar and Samek’s remaining monsters finished Bogli off.
Jessy Samek advances undefeated with his Herald of Perfection Deck!
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)
Knowing your cards always pays off, and Jessy Samek got a huge opening move in the second Duel because he knew his! Preparation of Rites is a Spell Card with 2 effects, but only the first effect (searching your Deck for a Ritual Monster) is mandatory. That let Samek search his Deck for Herald of Perfection on turn 1 even though he didn’t have a Ritual Spell in his Graveyard; a legal play that many Duelists don’t know about.
Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
In Duel 2 and Duel 3, Samek Summoned Herald of Perfection on his first turn, effectively locking Bogli out of the Match! Once Herald of Perfection hits the field, it can be nearly impossible to destroy. Samek’s copies of Dark Factory of Mass Production make his Herald of Perfection even harder to take down, since they replenish his hand with Normal Fairy-Type Monsters to discard with his Herald’s effect. One of the best ways to destroy Herald of Perfection is with a Counter Trap like Divine Wrath, Infernity Barrier, or Gladiator Beast War Chariot, which Herald of Perfection can’t negate.
P.J. Tierney (Duelist from across The Pond)
Duel 2 shows how quickly things can go when you draw an amazing hand. Samek was able to Summon Herald of Perfection and Archlord Kristya on his very first turn, and have enough Fairy-Types in his hand to negate whatever Bogli threw at him. Kristya also made sure that Bogli couldn’t Special Summon any monsters, and the Honest in Samek’s hand would cut off any surprise attacks. Bogli conceded the Duel on Samek’s next turn, knowing there was nothing he could do.