This is the first Infernity mirror match we’ve had as a feature! Both of these Duelists are playing Infernities, so not only is it anybody’s game, but each Duel could end on any given turn!

Anderson opened the Match by Setting 2 cards to his Spell & Trap Card Zone.

Harris had a hand of Infernity Avenger, Infernity Necromancer, Dark Grepher, Infernity Beetle, Torrential Tribute, and Trap Dustshoot. He Set Dustshoot and Torrential, then Summoned Dark Grepher, discarding Avenger to send Infernity Archfiend from his Deck to his Graveyard. Dark Grepher made a direct attack.

Next turn Harris flipped Trap Dusthoot, revealing Anderson’s hand of 2 Infernity Necromancer, Dark Armed Dragon, Infernity Barrier, and Infernity Mirage. He sent Anderson’s Mirage back to his Deck. Anderson activated Dust Tornado, destroying his opponent’s Set Torrential Tribute. He activated Infernity Inferno, discarding Infernity Barrier and Infernity Necromancer to send Infernity Beetle and Infernity Archfiend from his Deck to his Graveyard. He Special Summoned Dark Armed Dragon, Normal Summoned Necromancer, turned it to Defense Position, and activated its effect to Special Summon Infernity Archfiend! That got him Infernity Launcher, he activated it, sent it to the Graveyard, and Special Summoned Necromancer and Beetle. He Tuned Beetle, Archfiend, and his first Necromancer together to Synchro Summon Mist Wurm, sending Dark Grepher back to Harris’s hand. Necromancer brought back Anderson’s Infernity Archfiend and Harris conceded.

A huge Infernity Inferno lets Nick Anderson explode on Turn 2 despite Trap Dustshoot! One more win like that and Nick Anderson would be in the Top 8! Both competitors used their Side Decks, but Anderson presented his Deck long before Harris was ready to present his.

Harris started the second Duel, holding Infernity Archfiend, Giant Trunade, Autonomous Action Unit, Dust Tornado, Infernity Beetle, and Gorz the Emissary of Darkness. Autonomous Action Unit is a great tech card in the mirror match, letting Harris use his opponent’s Infernity Archfiend. Harris Set Archfiend and Dust Tornado.

Anderson Set a monster, then Set Infernity Inferno. He lost it to Dust Tornado in the End Phase.

Harris drew another Infernity Beetle, Flip Summoned Infernity Archfiend, and Normal Summoned a Beetle to Synchro Summon Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier. He discarded his second Beetle to bounce away Anderson’s face-down monster, and made a direct attack.

Anderson Set a monster, then Set 2 cards to his Spell & Trap Card Zone.

Harris drew D.D. Crow, activated Giant Trunade, and Anderson picked up his 2 Spell or Trap Cards. Harris discarded Gorz to bounce away the monster, attacked to drop Anderson to 3400 Life Points, and ended.

Anderson Set a monster and 2 cards to his back row again.

Harris drew Trap Dustshoot. He discarded Action Unit to bump away Anderson’s monster and made another direct attack, dropping Anderson to 1100 Life Points. Harris Set Dustshoot, flipped it next turn as Anderson drew to 4 cards (which Harris engineered by using Brionac’s effect last turn), and Anderson conceded!

Steven Harris fights back, taking the second Duel with an impressive nerve and a lone Brionac to push this Match to one more game! Both competitors quickly shuffled and moved to the last Duel.

Anderson opened with Reinforcement of the Army, searching his Deck for Dark Grepher. He didn’t find one – either he’d Side Decked out all his copies and forgotten the Reinforcement, or already had his Grepher in hand. He was issued a warning for an illegal play, and added Reinforcement back to his hand, before Setting a monster, then a Spell or Trap Card.

Harris had Threatening Roar, Infernity Beetle, Infernity Archfiend, Mystical Space Typhoon, Brain Control, and Infernity inferno. He Set Inferno, Roar, and Mystical Space Typhoon, then Set Archfiend.

Anderson Set a monster, a Spell or Trap, and ended, losing his Reinforcement of the Army to Mystical Space Typhoon in the End Phase.

Harris Drew Dust Tornado. He Flip Summoned Infernity Archfiend, Normal Summoned Infernity Beetle, Set his remaining cards, and Synchro Summoned Goyo Guardian. Goyo attacked the first monster Anderson had Set, Anderson responded with Mirror Force, and Goyo was destroyed.

Anderson Flip Summoned Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, destroying Harris’ Brain Control and sending Divine Wrath, Infernity Mirage, and Plaguespreader Zombie to his Graveyard. He Normal Summoned Beetle, Flip Summoned Infernity Necromancer, and Tuned all three together to Synchro Summon Black Rose Dragon! Harris Chained Threatening Roar, but lost his Dust Tornado and Inferno. Anderson had 3 cards left, Set 1 to his Spell & Trap Card Zone, and Harris had no cards left.

Harris drew and Set a Spell or Trap Card.

Anderson Set a monster, then a card to his back row.

Harris Summoned Infernity Necromancer, used its effect to Special Summon Archfiend, and Anderson Chained Torrential Tribute to Archfiend’s effect. Anderson lost his Set Infernity Necromancer, Harris’ Necromancer and Archfiend were destroyed, and as the Chain resolved Harris got Infernity Mirage from his Deck. Anderson had just 1 Set Spell or Trap; by not choosing to get Infernity Launcher from his Deck and go for the win from there, Harris was betting that Anderson had Dust Tornado or Raigeki Break. If he was right, it was a brilliant read. If he was wrong, he just threw away the Match. Anderson was up.

Sure enough, Anderson activated Raigek Break, discarding Infernity Mirage to destroy Harris’ Set Mind Crush! If Harris had gone for the win last turn he would’ve lost everything! Each Duelist had 1 card left. Anderson’s was Infernity Launcher! He activated it, sent it to the Graveyard, and brought back Infernity Beetle and Infernity Necromancer, but he couldn’t get an Archfiend to the Graveyard! Harris clapped once, full of relief and seeing his win playing out next turn. Anderson Tributed 1 Beetle to get 2 more from his Deck, Tuned a Beetle to Necromancer, and Synchro Summoned Magical Android. He attacked with the Android and Beetle to finish his turn.

Harris revealed Infernity Mirage and his draw for the turn – Torrential Tribute! It was all over! Anderson needed Harris to draw another monster so that Harris wouldn’t be able to use Infernity Mirage’s effect, but Harris Summoned Mirage, Set Torrential, and started up the combo that’s defined the weekend!

Anderson extended the handshake, Harris accepted, and he was off to the Top 8! What a huge finish to this Match!

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)
Harris knew it was extremely unlikely that Anderson would be able to end the Duel on Anderson’s next turn. He also knew that if Anderson had Dust Tornado or Raigeki Break Set, he’d be wasting his time searching out Infernity Launcher, since Anderson would just destroy it. Harris also probably knew that the odds of him drawing another monster on his next Draw Phase were low. With those three facts in mind Harris passed on a quick grab for victory, took his chance, and was right on all three accounts!

Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
In Duel 2, Harris made an awesome decision when he Synchro Summoned Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier. He had some bad draws and his hand was loaded up with cards for Brionac to discard, like Gorz and an extra copy of Infernity Beetle. He knew that he probably wouldn’t be able to get a quick win on  Anderson before Anderson could defeat him, so he utilized an alternate strategy that paid off. He scored 4 direct attacks with Brionac!

P.J. Tierney (Duelist from across The Pond)
In Duel 3, Anderson played Reinforcement of the Army, and was handed a warning when he found no Warriors in his Deck. This should serve as a lesson to Duelists to keep track of everything you Side Deck in and out. Anderson made the most of his mistake though, Setting the Reinforcement as a bluff, and was rewarded when Harris wasted a Mystical Space Typhoon on it.

Click here to check out the next feature match.