Douglas Johnson Jr. is currently 4-0 with a Quickdraw Dandywarrior Deck running Snyffus. His opponent, Robert Leight is running a Monarch Deck that uses Super-Nimble Mega Hamster and Dandylion to Set up Tribute Summons. Both Duelists agreed that this was the best they’ve ever done in a tournament and were excited to be getting this Feature Match for going undefeated!

Johnson won the dice roll and opened up with Bottomless Trap Hole, Cyber Valley, Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, Pot of Avarice, Dimensional Prison, and Quickdraw Synchron. He Set Ryko and Dimensional Prison, ending his turn.

Leight activated Solar Recharge by discarding Lyla. He drew 2 cards and sent the top 2 cards from his Deck to his Graveyard. Then he Special Summoned Cyber Dragon and Tributed it to Summon Caius. He activated Caius’s effect to remove Johnson’s Set Ryko from the game. Caius attacked but got removed by Johnson’s Dimensional Prison. He Set a back row card and passed to Johnson.

Johnson who Set a card to each zone and ended.

Leight Set a card to each zone next turn and passed back to Johnson, who Flip-Summoned Super-Nimble Mega Hamster to Special Summon Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter from his Deck face-down. Johnson Set Book of Moon and then attacked with his Hamster. Leight activated Dimensional Prison to remove the Hamster from play.

Leight Flip-Summoned Dandylion on his turn and attacked Johnson’s Set Ryko. Ryko destroyed Leight’s Set Book of Moon and Johnson sent the top 3 cards from his Deck to his Graveyard. Leight Set a back row and ended his turn.

Johnson Summoned Cyber Valley and passed to Leight, who activated Brain Control! He paid 800 Life Points to take control of Cyber Valley. He activated its effect to remove it and Dandylion from the game, drawing 2 cards. Then he Set 1 monster and ended his turn.

Johnson drew another Pot of Avarice next turn and passed immediately.

Leight drew a card and then Summoned Sangan to the field. Sangan attacked directly, dropping Johnson to 7000 Life Points.

Johnson drew Torrential Tribute and passed.

Leight flipped his face-down Super-Nimble Mega Hamster and Special Summoned Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter from his Deck. Sangan and the Hamster attacked Johnson directly, dropping him to 4900 Life Points. Leight Set a card and ended his turn.

Johnson Summoned Cyber Valley next turn and Set Bottomless Trap Hole. He ended his turn.

Leight flipped Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter on his next turn and targeted Johnson’s Torrential Tribute with its effect. Johnson activated it. All monsters were destroyed, including Johnson’s Sangan and Set Treeborn Frog. Leight grabbed Card Trooper from his Deck with the effect of Sangan, Summoned it, and sent the top 3 cards of his Deck to his Graveyard to boost it to 1900 ATK. He attacked directly with it, dropping Johnson to 3000 Life Points.

Next turn, Johnson activated Mind Control to take control of Card Trooper, and activated its effect to send the top 3 cards of his Deck to his Graveyard. One of the 3 cards was a Dandylion, which let him Special Summon 2 Fluff Tokens in Defense Position. He activated Pot of Avarice next, to send 5 monsters from his Graveyard back to his Deck and draw Starlight Road and Sangan. Johnson Set Sangan and Starlight Road face-down, ending his turn and giving Card Trooper back to Leight.

Leight activated the effect of his Card Trooper to send the top 3 cards from his Deck to his Graveyard. Then he Tributed Card Trooper to Summon Caius the Shadow Monarch, targeting Johnson’s Set Sangan with its effect. Johnson chained Bottomless Trap Hole to remove Caius from play. Johnson lost Sangan and dropped down to 2000 Life Points thanks to Caius’s effect. Next, Leight activated Pot of Avarice to send 5 monsters from his Graveyard back to his Deck and draw 2 cards. He Set 1 card to his back row and ended his turn.

Johnson Set Super-Nimble Mega Hamster and a back row card before passing right back to Leight.

Leight activated another copy of Pot of Avarice next turn, sending 5 more monsters from his Graveyard to his Deck to draw another 2 cards. Then he Summoned Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress, but lost it to Johnson’s Bottomless Trap Hole. He ended his turn.

Johnson flipped up his Super-Nimble Mega Hamster next turn and Special Summoned a Ryko from his Deck with its effect. Then he Tributed Super-Nimble Mega Hamster to Summon Quickdraw Synchron, and Tuned it with a Fluff Token to Synchro Summon Turbo Warrior. Leight flipped Bottomless Trap Hole to remove it from play, and Johnson ended his turn.

Leight activated Phoenix Wing Wind Blast next turn by discarding Super-Nimble Mega Hamster. He returned Johnson’s Set Ryko back to the top of his Deck. Then he Set a card to each zone and ended his turn.

Johnson drew Ryko next turn and Summoned it in Attack Position! Ryko attacked Leight’s face-down monster. It was a Ryko, which destroyed Johnson’s Set Starlight Road with its effect. After Leight sent the top 3 cards from his Deck to his Graveyard, Johnson Set 1 more back row card and ended his turn.

Leight Summoned Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind next turn and attacked Ryko. Johnson flipped Book of Moon and used it to turn Ryko face-down before the attack resolved. Ryko’s effect activated when it was flipped by the attack, and Johnson destroyed Gale and sent 3 cards from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard. One of the cards was a Dandylion, which let him Special Summon 2 Fluff Tokens.

On his next turn, Johnson Tributed a Token to Summon Caius, and removed Leight’s Set Phoenix Wing Wind Blast from the game with its effect. He ended his turn.

Leight Special Summoned Treeborn Frog from his Graveyard during his next Standby Phase. Then he activated Heavy Storm to destroy Johnson’s Set Pot of Avarice. He Summoned Debris Dragon next, Special Summoning Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter from his Graveyard. He Tuned all of his monsters together to Special Summon Black Rose Dragon and activate its effect to destroy all cards on the field! He ended his turn.

Johnson Set Cyber Valley and passed to Leight, who Set a monster and ended his turn.

Johnson Summoned Lonefire Blossom next turn and Tributed it to Special Summon Dandylion from his Deck. Dandylion attacked Leight’s Set Ryko, which destroyed his Cyber Valley. Johnson ended and Leight passed his next turn.

On his next turn, Johnson Tributed Dandylion for Quickdraw Synchron and Tuned it to a Fluff Token to Special Summon Drill Warrior. He attacked directly, but Leight Special Summoned Gorz the Emissary of Darkness!

On his turn, Leight Tributed his Emissary of Darkness Token to Summon Caius, removed Drill Warrior from the game with Caius’s effect, and attacked over Johnson’s Fluff Token with Caius. Then Gorz attacked directly and ended the Duel!

Johnson will be going first in Duel 2! He opened up with Dandylion, Debris Dragon, Lonefire Blossom, Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, Call of the Haunted, and Pot of Avarice. He Set Dandylion and ended his turn.

Leight activated Solar Recharge by discarding Ryko. He drew 2 cards and sent 2 cards from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard. Then he Set a card to each zone and ended his turn.

Johnson drew Foolish Burial next turn. He activated it 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 it to Special Summon another Lonefire Blossom in Defense Position from his Deck. Then he used that Lonefire Blossom to Tribute a Fluff Token and Special Summon Tytannial from his Deck. Leight activated Bottomless Trap Hole to remove Tytannial from the game. Johnson ended his turn.

Leight Tributed his face-down Dandylion next turn to Summon Caius the Shadow Monarch and removed Johnson’s Set Dandylion from play with Caius’s effect. He Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens and then attacked Lonefire Blossom with Caius.

He passed to Johnson, who drew Dust Tornado and Summoned Debris Dragon. Debris Dragon Special Summoned Dandylion from his Graveyard. He Tuned Dandylion, Debris Dragon, and a Fluff Token together to Special Summon Stardust Dragon! He Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens, attacked over Caius with Stardust Dragon, Set a back row card, and ended his turn.

Leight Set 2 back row cards and ended his turn. In his End Phase, Johnson destroyed his Set Torrential Tribute with Dust Tornado.

Johnson Set a monster and attacked a Fluff Token with Stardust Dragon on his next turn. Then he Set a back row card and passed back to Leight.

Leight Tributed his Fluff Token to Summon Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch. Thestalos knocked Mind Control out of Johnson’s hand and then Leight ended his turn.

Johnson drew Pot of Avarice. He flipped Ryko to destroy Leight’s Set Royal Oppression and send the top 3 cards of his Deck to his Graveyard. Then he activated Pot of Avarice, but was stopped when Leight’s D.D. Crow removed his Dandylion from the game. Johnson flipped Call of the Haunted next, to Special Summon Lonefire Blossom, but soon realized he had no Plant-Type monsters left in his Deck to Tribute it for. Instead, he attacked Thestalos with Stardust Dragon and attacked directly with Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter. Leight Special Summoned Gorz, and Lonefire Blossom attacked the 200 DEF Emissary of Darkness Token.

Leight activated Pot of Avarice next turn to send 5 monsters from his Graveyard back to his Deck and draw 2 cards. Then he attacked Stardust Dragon with Gorz, dropping Johnson down to 7800 Life Points. Leight Set a monster and ended his turn.

Johnson activated Pot of Avarice next turn. He sent 5 monsters from his Graveyard back to his Deck and drew Debris Dragon and Lonefire Blossom. He Summoned Debris Dragon and Tuned it to Ryko and 2 Fluff Tokens in order to Synchro Summon Red Dragon Archfiend! Red Dragon Archfiend attacked and destroyed Gorz. Lonefire Blossom attacked Leight’s face-down Ryko, which destroyed Red Dragon Archfiend. Johnson Set Bottomless Trap Hole and ended his turn.

Leight Special Summoned Cyber Dragon next turn!  Johnson flipped Bottomless Trap Hole, but Leight chained Book of Moon to turn it face-down! He Tributed Cyber Dragon for Caius, removed Lonefire Blossom from the game with Caius’s effect, and attacked directly, dropping Johnson down to 5400 Life Points.

Johnson drew Dimensional Prison next turn and Set it along with a Lonefire. He passed to Leight, who attacked with Caius but lost it to Dimensional Prison. Leight Summoned Lyla and ended his turn, sending the top 3 cards of his Deck to his Graveyard in the End Phase.

Johnson drew and Set Super-Nimble Mega Hamster next turn.

Leight drew Caius and Tributed Lyla to Summon it. Caius removed Johnson’s Super-Nimble Mega Hamster with its effect and then Caius attacked and destroyed Lonefire Blossom.

Johnson drew Sangan next turn, Set it, and ended his turn.

Leight attacked Sangan with Caius next turn. Sangan was destroyed, and Johnson searched his Deck for Debris Dragon to add to his hand. He drew Morphing Jar next turn and Summoned Debris Dragon to the field. He activated the effect of Debris Dragon, but lost his target to Leight’s D.D. Crow. Leight attacked and destroyed Debris Dragon with Caius and ended his turn.

Johnson Set Morphing Jar next turn and passed back to Leight.

Leight Summoned Jain, Lightsworn Paladin! He attacked Johnson’s Set Morphing Jar with it, activating its effect. Both players discarded their hands and drew 5 cards. Then he attacked directly with Caius, dropping Johnson to 1600 Life Points. Leight Set a card and ended his turn, sending 2 cards from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard for the effect of Jain, including a Dandylion that let him Special Summon 2 Fluff Tokens.

Johnson Tributed the 2 Tokens to try to Special Summon Reptillianne Vaskii next turn, but Leight negated the Summon by flipping Royal Oppression and paying 800 Life Points. Time was called in the round and Johnson Set 2 more cards before ending his turn.

Leight activated Mystical Space Typhoon next turn to destroy Johnson’s Set Dust Tornado, but Johnson Chained it to destroy Leight’s Set Mystical Space Typhoon.

Play passed to Johnson, who Set a card and passed back to Leight.

Leight ended his next turn and won on time, standing strong with 6200 Life Points compared to Johnson’s 1600 Life Points.

A long Duel ends in time with a 2-0 victory for Robert Leight! He’s moving on with a perfect 5-0 record, doing better than he had anticipated in today’s tournament!

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)
On turn 2 of the second Duel, we saw Johnson with a Set Dandylion to his opponent’s Set monster and Set Spell or Trap. Johnson used Foolish Burial to get his second Dandylion into the Graveyard, but then Normal Summoned Lonefire Blossom, leading to a Tytannial that Leight removed with Bottomless Trap Hole. If Johnson had Summoned Debris Dragon instead of Lonefire, he could’ve Synchro Summoned Stardust Dragon and had 3 Fluff Tokens left over. It’s always important to run through the numbers. Stardust Dragon would have stopped almost anything Leight could have had Set. Johnson Summoned Stardust later on, but Leight ran it over with Gorz. If Johnson had Summoned his monsters in a different order, Gorz wouldn’t have been able to destroy his Tytannial.

Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
Turbo Warrior is immune to Leight’s Monarchs, making it a powerful card in this matchup. But Johnson could have Synchro Summoned Drill Warrior instead, since he had Dandylion in his Graveyard and would have been able to use Drill Warrior’s effect to repeatedly return Dandylion to his hand and discard it, flooding the field with Fluff Tokens. Those Fluff Tokens can be invaluable for blocking attacks against Monarchs or setting up plays later in the game. The question of which monster is better to Summon in Johnson’s situation doesn’t have a clear-cut answer, and didn’t even make a difference since Leight removed his Synchro Summoned monster from play with Bottomless Trap Hole. But it’s definitely something to think about if you want to improve your game.

P.J. Tierney (Duelist from across The Pond)
Since Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter is a Flip Effect monster with very low ATK, most players would rather Set it than Summon it, but that’s exactly what Johnson did in Duel 1. He used it to attack his opponent’s Ryko, who didn’t want to waste its effect by destroying the Attack Position Ryko, instead destroying Starlight Road. When Leight attacked the Ryko next turn with Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind though, he fell right into Johnson’s trap. Johnson activated Book of Moon to flip his Ryko down, and since Gale’s attack couldn’t be stopped, Johnson got Ryko’s effect off after all, destroying Gale.

Click here to check out the next feature match.