Top 8 Feature Match: Andrew Fredella vs. Russell LaParre
Russell LaParre has brought Herald of Perfection all the way to the Top 8, but his opponent in this round is Andrew Fredella, packing X-Sabers! This one was sure to be interesting!
LaParre opened with a hand of Dimensional Alchemist, Brain Control, Herald of Orange Light, Tethys, the Goddess of Light, Book of Moon, and Dawn of the Herald. He activated Alchemist’s effect, removed Torrential Tribute from his Deck, and Set Book of Moon.
Fredella Summoned XX-Saber Emmersblade and attacked, but Book of Moon stopped the attack. He Set a Spell or Trap.
LaParre drew Skelengel next turn, but when he activated his Alchemist’s effect he still couldn’t hit a monster, and removed Mystical Space Typhoon instead. He Set Skelengel and turned Alchemist to Defense Position, refusing to attack Emmersblade.
Emmersblade attacked the Alchemist next turn, Fredella Set a monster, and Set a Spell or Trap.
LaParre drew another Herald of Orange Light next turn, then Flipped Skelengel and drew Herald of Perfection! He activated Brain Control, took Emmersblade, and Summoned Herald of Orange Light! He Tuned it to Emmersblade, Synchro Summoned Magical Android, and ended without attacking.
Fredella activated Foolish Burial, sending XX-Saber Darksoul to his Graveyard. He Flip Summoned X-Saber Palomuro, then activated Gottoms’ Emergency Call to Special Summon XX-Saber Emmersblade and Darksoul! He Tuned Palomuro to Darksoul to Synchro Summon Armory Arm, then attached Armory Arm to XX-Saber Emmersblade, attacking over Skelengel. Fredella Set another card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone, and got XX-Saber Faultroll from his Deck in his End Phase with Darksoul’s effect.
LaParre drew another Skelengel. He Set it and ended.
Fredella took it with Mind Control, Flip Summoned it, and drew. He Special Summoned Armory Arm, slammed Emmersblade into Magical Android, paid 500 Life Points to bring back X-Saber Palomuro, and Special Summoned XX-Saber Fulhelmknight from his Deck with Emmersblade’s effect. In Main Phase 2 he Special Summoned Faultroll, Tuned Skelengel, Palomuro, and Armory Arm together, and Synchro Summoned X-Saber Urbellum. He Special Summoned Darksoul with Faultroll’s effect, Tuned Faultroll and Fulhelmknight together, and Summoned XX-Saber Gottoms! He Tributed Darksoul for Gottoms’ effect, but LaParre discarded Herald of Perfection for Herald of Orange Light, negating the effect and destroying Gottoms! Fredella got another Faultroll from his Deck in the End Phase.
LaParre attacked Urbellum next turn, but Fredella responded with Gottoms’ Emergency Call and LaParre knew it was over! He immediately conceded and dove for his Side Deck.
Andrew Fredella takes a commanding victory in the first Duel, resolving 2 copies of Gottoms’ Emergency Call and making repeated use of Palomuro and Darksoul! Game 2 was on just moments later.
LaParre opened with Arcane Force 0 – The Fool, Herald of Orange Light, Pot of Avarice, 2 Soul of Purity and Light, and Archlord Kristya. He Set The Fool.
Fredella Set a monster, then a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone.
LaParre Set Bottomless Trap Hole, but lost it to Dust Tornado.
Fredella Set another monster on his turn.
LaParre Set Nova Summoner next.
Fredella Set a second Spell or Trap, and passed play.
LaParre drew Honest, and passed.
Fredella passed again. Neither player wanted to make an aggressive move.
LaParre drew and Set Book of Moon, and Fredella destroyed it with another Dust Tornado.
Fredella passed again.
LaParre drew Dawn of the Herald and Set it.
Fredella Set a second card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone, and passed.
LaParre Set another monster, and passed.
At which point Fredella passed again.
Royal Decree came off the top of LaParre’s Deck, and he Set it.
Fredella Set a third back row card, and LaParre activated Decree in the End Phase!
Next turn LaParre Flip Summoned Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, destroying XX-Saber Darksoul and sending Herald of Orange Light, Bottomless Trap Hole, and Dawn of the Herald to his Graveyard. LaParre Tributed Ryko and Nova Summoner for Archlord Kristya, then attacked, but the attack was stopped by Book of Moon, and LaParre ended.
Fredella Set a third Spell or Trap on his turn.
LaParre drew Ryko, and Flip Summoned Kristya, attacking XX-Saber Darksoul. He Set a third monster and Fredella searched his Deck in the End Phase for XX-Saber Fulhelmknight.
Fredella Summoned Fulhelmknight, activated Saber Slash, and destroyed Royal Decree. He activated Gottoms’ Emergency Call, forgetting about Kristya! He Special Summoned nothing and ended.
LaParre Flip Summoned Ryko, destroyed Fredella’s face-down My Body As A Shield, and sent Honest, Cyber Dragon, and Mystical Space Typhoon to his Graveyard. He activated Pot of Avarice, but Fredella Chained D.D. Crow to remove one of his targets (Herald of Orange Light). LaParre Summoned Dimensional Alchemist, used its effect to remove Nova Summoner from the game, and turned Kristya to Defense position. Alchemist attacked Fulhelmknight, Fulhelmknight’s effect negated the attack, then Ryko attacked over it with an ATK pump from Honest!
Fredella Set a second Spell or Trap and play was back to LaParre.
LaParre attacked with Dimensional Alchemist next turn, not boosting its ATK.
Fredella Set a third Spell or Trap.
Alchemist attacked for another 1300 damage, dropping Fredella to 5200 Life Points.
Fredella Set a fourth Spell or Trap.
LaParre removed Herald of Perfection for Alchemist’s effect, and attacked for 1800 Battle Damage. A third Set Spell or Trap finished the turn.
Fredella passed on his turn.
LaParre removed Brain Control to boost his Alchemist, attacked for another 1800 damage, and play was to Fredella.
Fredella activated Book of Moon from his Spell & Trap Card Zone, turning Kristya face-down. He Special Summoned Cyber Dragon, Normal Summoned Airbellum, and activated Gottoms’ Emergency Call to try and Special Summon 2 copies of XX-Saber Darksoul! It resolved, and both Darksouls were Special Summoned! Fredella then Special Summoned XX-Saber Faultroll! He Tuned Airbellum to the 2 Darksouls for Mist Wurm, but when he activated its effect LaParre Chained Herald of Orange Light’s effect, discarded Tethys, and negated the effect, destroying Mist Wurm! Fredella tried to activate Faultroll’s effect, attempting to Special Summon XX-Saber Fulhelmknight, but lost out to another Herald of Orange Light as LaParre discarded Soul of Purity and Light! Fredella was at a loss. He Set 2 more cards to his back row with 2 cards in-hand and Cyber Dragon on the field. In his End Phase he got XX-Saber Boggart Knight and XX-Saber Ragigura from his Deck. LaParre had stopped him cold with his discard effects.
LaParre had Dimensional Alchemist and Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter face-up, with The Fool and Kristya face-down. He had Dawn of the Herald, Mirror Force, and Solemn Judgment Set, with a hand of Soul of Purity and Light, Manju of the Ten-Thousand Hands, and Herald of Perfection. He activated Dawn of the Herald, but Fredella Chained Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, discarding Brain Control to target Kristya, and Kristya was sent to the top of LaParre’s Deck. He discarded Soul of Purity and Light for Herald of Perfection, but Fredella responded with Bottomless Trap Hole, and LaParre let it go. LaParre next took back his Soul of Purity and Light with Dawn of the Herald, Special Summoned it, and slammed his Alchemist into the stronger Cyber Dragon, destroying his Alchemist but activating its effect to take back Honest. Soul of Purity and Light attacked Cyber Dragon, LaParre discarded Honest, and the resulting damage won the Duel!
Russell LaParre fights back with an overwhelming arsenal of Fairies, winning the second Duel! The winner of the next Duel would proceed to the Top 4 and the chance to play for a set of the new prize cards.
Fredella Summoned XX-Saber Fulhelmknight and Set a Spell or Trap to start.
LaParre had Manju of the Ten-Thousand Hands, Dimensional Alchemist, Book of Moon, Arcana Force 0 – The Fool, Pot of Avarice, Bottomless Trap Hole, and Soul of Purity and Light. He Summoned Alchemist, removed Cyber Dragon for its effect, and attacked Fulhelmknight. The attack was negated, and LaParre Set 2 cards to his back row before ending.
Fredella Summoned XX-Saber Boggart Knight, activated its effect, and LaParre Chained Bottomless Trap Hole. Fredella Chained My Body As A Shield to save his monster! He Special Summoned a second Fulhelmknight with Boggart Knight’s effect. Boggart Knight attacked, Dimensional Alchemist was destroyed, and LaParre used its effect to add Cyber Dragon to his hand. Both copies of XX-Saber Fulhelmknight attacked, and Fredella Set a Spell or Trap.
LaParre Special Summoned Cyber Dragon, but lost it to Bottomless Trap Hole, and Set a monster. He lost his Set Book of Moon to Dust Tornado in the End Phase.
Fulhelmknight attacked next turn, but LaParre had Set Arcana Force 0 – The Fool, so Fulhelmknight couldn’t destroy it! Fredella Set a card to his back row.
LaParre Set a monster, plus a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone.
Fredella Tuned Boggart Knight and Fulhelmknight together for X-Saber Urbellum, attacked LaParre’s Skelengel with XX-Saber Fulhelmknight, and destroyed Skelengel, then Special Summoned another Fulhelmknight. LaParre drew for Skelengel’s effect.
LaParre Summoned Manju of the Ten-Thousand Hands, searching his Deck for Herald of Perfection. He needed to get some action going with his Pot of Avarice, and Manju would help him get there if he could survive long enough. He attacked Fulhelmknight with Manju, and Fredella negated the attack.
Fredella Summoned X-Saber Airbellum, LaParre activated Torrential Tribute, and Fredella used another My Body As A Shield! He activated Saber Slash after turning his Fulhelmknights to Defense Position, destroying The Fool and Manju. Airbellum’s attack then forced LaParre to discard that Pot of Avarice he so badly needed.
Desperate, LaParre Summoned Herald of Orange Light next turn, telegraphing Honest.
Fredella activated Book of Moon to turn Herald face-down, attacked it with XX-Saber Fulhelmknight, Special Summoned Boggart Knight, and the remaining 4 attacks ended the Match!
Andrew Fredella moves on to the Top 4 with X-Sabers! X-Sabers, Infernities, and Gadgets are the only Decks left in this 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)
LaParre had rough draws in the first Duel, but he could have hung in there alot longer if he’d Synchro Summoned differently. When LaParre took control of Fredella’s XX-Saber Emmersblade and Tuned it to Herald of Orange Light, he Synchro Summoned Magical Android. If he’d Summoned Ally of Justice Catastor instead, Fredella wouldn’t have been able to destroy his Emmersblade in battle the next turn, and Fredella would have had to make a big, off-theme Synchro Summon to have a shot at getting through Catastor’s monster-destroying effect. If LaParre was going to play defensively, he should’ve picked the monster that Fredella would’ve had the hardest time battling. Always think about Catastor when you’re playing against X-Sabers.
Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
In Duel 2, instead of destroying Royal Decree with Saber Slash, if Fredella had destroyed Kristya and attacked the face-down Ryko, not only would Kristya get sent from the top of Fredella’s Deck to his Graveyard by Ryko’s effect, LaParre would also be able to Special Summon XX-Saber Darksoul from his Graveyard with the effect of Fulhelmknight! Even if Ryko destroys Fulhelmknight, its effect still activates and resolves to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower X-Saber from the Graveyard.
P.J. Tierney (Duelist from across The Pond)
In Duel 1, we saw Fredella take LaParre’s Skelengel with Mind Control, and then draw a card with its effect. If you’re using a Deck with a lot of Tuners, like Fredella’s X-Sabers, Mind Control is something worth adding to your Deck, since it lets you use your opponent’s monsters for a Synchro Summon. It also lets you take Set monsters like Skelengel and Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, so that you can use their effects when you Flip Summon them. The card that Fredella draw off the Skelengel made up for him losing his Mind Control, and put him in a better position to win the Duel.
