Top 4 Feature Match: Andrew Fredella vs. Steven Harris
Only 4 Duelists remained in this tournament. The Top 4 consisted of 2 X-Saber Duelists, 1 Gadget Duelist, and 1 Infernity Duelist. Andrew Fredella is playing X-Sabers, while Harris is the remaining Infernity Duelist. This was a common matchup of this tournament, and now we’d see which Deck reigned supreme, here near the top.
Fredella started the Match by Setting 2 cards to his Spell & Trap Card Zone, then setting a monster.
Harris had D.D. Crow, Infernity Avenger, Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, Plaguespreader Zombie, Compulsory Evacuation Device, and Infernity Inferno. He Set Avenger, Set Inferno and Compulsory, and ended, losing Compulsory to Mystical Space Typhoon in his End Phase.
Fredella Set a second monster.
Harris drew Dust Tornado, and he Set Plaguespreader, then Tornado.
Fredella Set a second Spell or Trap, Set a monster, and his face-down Upstart Goblin was destroyed in the End phase by Dust Tornado.
Harris drew Infernity Archfiend. He Summoned it, Flip Summoned Infernity Avenger, and Synchro Summoned Ally of Justice Catastor. Catastor attacked and Fredella revealed Morphing Jar! Each Duelist got a new hand: Harris had Infernity Beetle, 2 Infernity Necromancer, Infernity Archfiend, and Infernity Launcher. He ended his turn, bogged down with monsters but still alive thanks to Infernity Inferno and Plaguespreader Zombie.
Fredella Normal Summoned XX-Saber Fulhelmknight, and took Catastor with Brain Control. He Tuned them together to Synchro Summon Stardust Dragon, and attacked Plaguespreader Zombie. He Set 2 cards to his back row.
Harris drew a second Infernity Launcher! He activated Infernity Inferno, discarded Archfiend and Beetle, and sent Necromancer and another Archfiend to his Graveyard from his Deck. He Activated Infernity Launcher, Fredella Chained Dust Tornado, and he activated the second Launcher! Fredella discarded X-Saber Palomuro for Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, sending the Launcher back to the top of Harris’ Deck! Harris Summoned Necromancer, then placed his last card on top of his Deck to Special Summon Plaguespreader Zombie. He activated Necromancer’s effect, brought back Infernity Archfiend, and used it to get Infernity Launcher from his Deck. He tuned Plaguespreader Zombie to Archfiend, Synchro Summoned Goyo Guardian, and activated Launcher, sending it to the Graveyard to Special Summon Infernity Avenger and Infernity Beetle. He Tuned Beetle to Goyo for Colossal Fighter, Tuned Avenger to Necromancer, and Synchro Summoned Armory Arm! Next, he attached Armory Arm to Fredella’s Stardust Dragon! That boosted its ATK to 3500, and Colossal Fighter’s ATK was 2900. From there, Harris attacked Stardust Dragon with Colossal Fighter, destroying his Fighter and triggering Armory Arm’s effect to deal 2900 damage to Fredella! He Special Summoned Colossal Fighter back, slammed it into Stardust Dragon again, and kept doing it until Fredella was out of Life Points!
Steven Harris takes a spectacular win with the Colossal Fighter + Armory Arm combo, overcoming Dust Tornado and Phoenix Wing Wind Blast on his first 2 copies of Infernity Launcher to win with a third copy! Harris was now just 1 Duel away from winning a set of three prize cards!
Fredella started things off in Duel 2 with a Set monster and a Set Spell or Trap.
Harris had Infernity Mirage, Infernity Beetle, Infernity Archfiend, 2 Infernity Necromancer, and Dark Grepher. He Set Necromancer.
Fredella Flip Summoned XX-Saber Emmersblade, Normal Summoned XX-Saber Fulhelmknight, and Special Summoned XX-Saber Faultroll! He Synchro Summoned Goyo Guardian, Special Summoned Fulhelmknight with Faultroll’s effect, and ran Fulhelmknight into Infernity Necromancer. Goyo destroyed the Necromancer in battle, took control of it, and Faultroll made a direct attack. Fredella Set another Spell or Trap.
Harris drew and Set Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter.
Fredella Special Summoned XX-Saber Emmersblade with Faultroll’s ability, and after a moment of thought Harris, conceded.
With a hand full of monsters and no way out, Steven Harris concedes the Duel early, not eager to waste any time on the way to Duel 3! Both competitors did a careful job shuffling their Decks thoroughly before the last Duel.
Harris opened with a hand of Giant Trunade, Torrential Tribute, Book of Moon, Mind Crush, Plaguespreader Zombie, and Dark Grepher. He Set Torrential and Plaguespreader Zombie.
Fredella Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh and Harris activated Torrential Tribute, clearing the field. Fredella Set 2 cards to his Spell & Trap Card Zone.
Harris Drew Phoenix Wing Wind Blast. He Summoned Grepher and attacked for 1700 damage, then Set all 4 of his remaining cards to his back row. Fredella Summoned XX-Saber Boggart Knight, activated its effect, and Harris had no response. Fredella Special Summoned X-Saber Airbellum, took Grepher with Mind Control, and Harris flipped Airbellum face-down with Book of Moon to stop Fredella from Tuning it to Grepher! Boggart Knight attacked, and Fredella handed back the Grepher.
Grepher destroyed Airbellum in battle next turn, and Harris Set a monster.
Fredella attacked Grepher with Boggart Knight, destroyed it, and Set a monster.
Harris drew Infernity Beetle. He activated Giant Trunade, Fredella Chained Dust Tornado, and it destroyed Harris’ Set Phoenix Wing Wind Blast. Harris Flip Summoned Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, destroyed Fredella’s Set Morphing Jar, and sent Necromancer, Heavy Storm, and Dust Tornado to the Graveyard to finish Ryko’s effect. He Set a card to his back row, Summoned Beetle, Tributed it for 2 more, and Synchro Summoned Armory Arm. He Tuned Beetle to it, Synchro Summoned Goyo Guardian, and attacked Boggart Knight to take it!
Fredella Summoned Airbellum to attack Boggart Knight, then Set 2 cards to his Spell & Trap Card Zone.
Goyo attacked Airbellum next turn, Summoning it.
Fredella Set a card to his back row with 4200 Life Points left.
Harris drew Mystical Space Typhoon, and destroyed Fredella’s Set card from last turn, which turned out to be Book of Moon. Harris attacked with Airbellum, and Fredella responded with Gottoms’ Emergency Call! He brought back Airbellum and Boggart Knight, leaving Goyo to attack, destroy, and Summon the Knight.
Fredella attacked Boggart Knight next turn.
Next up, Harris drew Infernity Launcher! He sent it to his Graveyard, Special Summoned Infernity Beetle and Necromancer, and Tuned Beetle to Goyo for Stardust Dragon. Necromancer brought back Beetle, Tuned to it to Synchro Summon Ally of Justice Catastor, and Fredella responded with Bottomless Trap Hole. Harris Tributed Stardust to negate Bottomless Trap Hole’s effect. Ally of Justice Catastor destroyed Airbellum, and Harris Special Summoned Stardust Dragon in the End Phase! Fredella couldn’t save himself and it was all over a turn later.
Steven Harris guarantees himself a set of Darklord Asmodeus, Darklord Edeh Arae, and Darklord Superbia. Now he moves on to compete in the Finals to see if he would receive the Ultra Rare prize card set, or one of the Super Rare prize card sets!
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)
Harris pulled off an awesome win in Duel 1 by repeatedly ramming his Colossal Fighter into Stardust Dragon until Fredella’s Life Points were depleted. With so many cards in his hand and 1 copy of Infernity Launcher already gone, it would be hard for Harris to pull off the typical Infernity strategy and swarm the field with Synchro monsters. Instead, he was able to use the many cards in his hand to Synchro Summon Armory Arm and Colossal Fighter, pulling off an unusual win. The ability to modify your game-plan and come up with new tactics like Harris did in his Duel is the mark of a strong Duelist.
P.J. Tierney (Duelist from across The Pond)
Infernity Launcher is often the card that kicks off the Infernity Deck’s long string of combos, but it has a weakness. Since it’s a Continuous Spell Card, it has to remain face-up on the field before it can be sent to the Graveyard. If you can Chain a card to the activation of Infernity Launcher to remove it from the field, your opponent won’t be able to send it to the Graveyard for its effect. Harris activated 2 Infernity Launchers in a single turn during Duel 1, but Fredella was able to get rid of them by Chaining Dust Tornado and Phoenix Wing Wind Blast to each one. That kept Fredella in the Duel, but Harris played a third Launcher soon after and Fredella couldn’t stop it.
