Jeffrey Daniels is running a Blackwing Deck with the new Blackwing – Breeze the Zephyr in his Deck. His opponent, Evan Petre, is running X-Sabers. Will Daniels be able to use his Blackwings to overcome the X-Saber matchup?

Daniels won the dice roll and opened up with Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North, Blackwing – Bora the Spear, Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow, Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind, Solemn Judgment, and Dust Tornado. He Set Dust Tornado, Summoned Blackwing – Bora the Spear, and ended his turn.

Petre started off his turn by Summoning XX-Saber Boggart Knight and activating its effect to Special Summon XX-Saber Darksoul in Defense Position. He attacked Blackwing – Bora the Spear with Boggart Knight, but Daniels pitched a Kalut from his hand to boost Bora’s ATK. Boggart Knight was destroyed and Petre lost 1200 Life Points. Petre Set a card to his back row and tried ending his turn, but lost his newly Set Mystical Space Typhoon to Daniels’s Dust Tornado in the End Phase.

Daniels drew D.D. Crow next turn. He attacked Darksoul with Bora, dropping Daniels to 5200 Life Points with Bora’s piercing damage. Then he Set Solemn Judgment and ended his turn. Petre grabbed X-Saber Airbellum from his Deck with Darksoul’s effect during the End Phase.

Petre Summoned XX-Saber Boggart Knight next turn and activated its effect to Special Summon X-Saber Airbellum from his hand. Then he activated Mind Control to take control of Bora. Airbellum attacked directly and Daniels lost a D.D. Crow from his hand thanks to Airbellum’s effect. Next, Boggart Knight attacked directly, dropping Daniels to 4500 Life Points. In Main Phase 2, Daniels Tuned his X-Saber Airbellum to Bora to Synchro Summon X-Saber Urbellum.

Daniels drew Icarus Attack next turn! He Summoned Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North and used it to Special Summon Blackwing – Bora the Spear from his Graveyard. Then he Special Summoned Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind from his hand and used its effect to halve the ATK and DEF of Boggart Knight. Next, he Tuned Blizzard with Bora in order to Synchro Summon Goyo Guardian! Goyo Guardian attacked Urbellum and Daniels took control of it. Then Gale attacked over Boggart Knight, and Petre dropped to 4250 Life Points. Daniels Set Icarus Attack and ended his turn.

Petre Summoned Summoner Monk next turn and discarded My Body as a Shield to Special Summon Rescue Cat from his Deck with the Monk’s effect! He Tributed Rescue Cat to Special Summon XX-Saber Darksoul and X-Saber Airbellum from his Deck. Daniels flipped Icarus Attack, Tributing Gale to destroy X-Saber Airbellum and Summoner Monk. Next, Petre activated Pot of Avarice and Daniels negated it with Solemn Judgment! All Petre had left was a Darksoul on the field, destined to be destroyed in the End Phase due to the effect of Rescue Cat. Daniels’s Goyo Guardian and X-Saber Urbellum had more than enough power to take out Petre next turn, and there was nothing Petre could do about it. He conceded, and opted to go first in Duel 2.

Petre opened up the second Duel by activating 2 copies of Gold Sarcophagus, removing Rescue Cat and XX-Saber Faultroll from his Deck to retrieve in 2 turns. He Set a card to his back row and ended his turn.

Daniels opened up the second Duel with Book of Moon, Icarus Attack, Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn, Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North, Blackwing – Bora the Spear and D.D. Crow. He Summoned Bora, but Petre removed it from play with Bottomless Trap Hole. Daniels Set Book of Moon and passed back to Petre, who Set another back row card and passed to Daniels. Daniels drew Skill Drain next turn, Set it, and ended his turn.

On Petre’s next Standby Phase, he retrieved his Rescue Cat and XX-Saber Faultroll. Then he activated Heavy Storm to clear the field! He lost a Set Solemn Judgment, but Daniels lost a Book of Moon and a Skill Drain. He Summoned Rescue Cat next, and Tributed it to Special Summon XX-Saber Darksoul and X-Saber Airbellum from his Deck. Then he Special Summoned XX-Saber Faultroll! He Tuned Airbellum to Darksoul in order to Synchro Summon XX-Saber Hyunlei. Then he activated Faultroll’s effect to try to Special Summon X-Saber Airbellum from his Graveyard, but lost the effect to Daniels’s D.D. Crow. Hyunlei and Faultroll attacked Daniels directly, and he dropped to 3300 Life Points. Petre Set a back row and ended his turn, searching his Deck for XX-Saber Fulhelmknight in the End Phase with the effect of Darksoul.

Daniels drew and activated Heavy Storm next turn, destroying Petre’s Set Mystical Space Typhoon. Then he Set Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North and Icarus Attack, ending his turn.

Petre activated the effect of Faultroll next turn to Special Summon Darksoul from his Graveyard in Defense Position. Then he Normal Summoned Fulhelmknight and Tuned it to Darksoul to Synchro Summon XX-Saber Hyunlei! He tried to destroy Daniels’s Set Icarus Attack, but Daniels Chained it, Tributing Blizzard to destroy Faultroll and a copy of Hyunlei. The other Hyunlei attacked directly, dropping Daniels to 1000 Life Points. Petre grabbed Boggart Knight from his Deck in the End Phase thanks to the effect of Darksoul.

Daniels Summoned Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn next turn and passed, with only a Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow in his hand. But Petre activated Mind Control and attacked directly with Hyunlei, ending the Duel!

The Match pressed on to a third Duel and Daniels would be going first.

Daniels opened up with Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow, Brain Control, Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame, Mirror Force, and 2 copies of Icarus Attack. He Summoned Shura, Set Mirror Force, and ended his turn.

Petre Set a monster and a back row card before passing right back to Daniels.

Daniels drew Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow and then attacked Petre’s face-down monster with Shura. Petre searched his Deck for Summoner Monk to add to his hand with the effect of Sangan, and Daniels Special Summoned Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor with the effect of Shura. Vayu attacked directly, dropping Petre to 7200 Life Points. Daniels Set Icarus Attack and ended his turn.

Petre activated Cold Wave next turn! Daniels chained Icarus Attack to Tribute Vayu and destroy Petre’s face-up Cold Wave and face-down Gottoms’ Emergency Call. Next, Petre Summoned Summoner Monk, switched it into Defense Position, and pitched Brain Control to Special Summon Rescue Cat from his Deck with its effect. He Tributed Rescue Cat to Special Summon 2 copies of X-Saber Airbellum from his Deck. Then he Tuned his Airbellum to Summoner Monk in order to Synchro Summon Arcanite Magician! Petre removed both Spell Counters from Arcanite Magician to destroy Daniels’s Shura and Mirror Force. X-Saber Airbellum attacked directly next, dropping Daniels to 6400 Life Points and discarding a Kalut from his hand. In the End Phase, Petre sent his Airbellum to the Graveyard due to the effect of Rescue Cat.

Daniels ended his next turn without making a play, and Petre Summoned XX-Saber Emmersblade and attacked with it next turn. Daniels dropped to 5100 Life Points. Then Petre activated Gold Sarcophagus to remove XX-Saber Faultroll from his Deck. He Set a back row and ended his turn.

Daniels drew Black Whirlwind next turn! He activated it and Normal Summoned Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow! He searched his Deck for Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind and added it to his hand with the effect of Black Whirlwind. Then he Special Summoned it to the field and activated its effect to halve the ATK and DEF of Arcanite Magician. Next, he activated Brain Control to take control of XX-Saber Emmersblade. He Tuned Emmersblade to Gale in order to Synchro Summon Blackwing Armed Wing! Blackwing Armed Wing attacked and destroyed Arcanite Magician. Then Kalut attacked directly and Petre dropped to 3900 Life Points. Daniels Set 2 cards to his back row and ended his turn.

Petre had 1 back row card with 2 cards in his hand. He’d get Faultroll next turn from Gold Sarcophagus, but things weren’t looking good. Daniels had Blackwing Armed Wing, Kalut, and Black Whirlwind face-up on the field, with Icarus Attack and Royal Oppression face-down. Petre activated Giant Trunade and Daniels chained Icarus Attack. He Tributed Kalut to destroy the face-up Giant Trunade and Petre’s face-down My Body as a Shield. Then Giant Trunade resolved and Petre activated his last card – Pot of Avarice! He sent 5 monsters from his Graveyard back to his Deck and drew 2 cards. He Set 1 of them face-down in his Monster Card Zone and ended his turn.

Daniels attacked Petre’s face-down monster with Armed Wing next turn. It was Darksoul! Petre dropped to 1200 Life Points. Daniels Set 2 back row cards and ended his turn. Petre searched his Deck for XX-Saber Boggart Knight and added it to his hand in the End Phase, thanks to the effect of XX-Saber Darksoul.

On his next turn, Petre Summoned Boggart Knight and passed to Daniels, who Set a back row card and activated Allure of Darkness while he had no hand. He drew Icarus Attack and Dark Armed Dragon, then removed Dark Armed Dragon from the game due to the effect of Allure of Darkness.

Petre conceded next turn, revealing his hand of 3 copies of XX-Saber Faultroll and 1 XX-Saber Emmersblade. There was nothing he could do to survive the next turn.

Jeffrey Daniels wins the Match 2-1! He moves on with a 5-1 record using his Blackwing Deck.

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)
In Duel 1, Daniels activated Solemn Judgment to negate Petre’s Pot of Avarice when Petre had no other cards he could put to use. This was a great play. Pot of Avarice is not usually worth negating with Solemn Judgment, but in this particular situation, Daniels saw that Petre had no other cards that could possibly pose a threat to him. There would be no reason to give Petre a chance to draw 2 cards that might be a problem, since Solemn Judgment could only negate one of those. Daniels realized that negating the Pot of Avarice would actually assure him victory on his next turn.

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