Round 5 Feature Match: Austin Kulman vs. Alex Vansant
Alex Vansant has made the top cut of 2 Championship-level tournaments, and won a set of the Darklord Prize Cards in the Public Event Playoffs at the YCS in Washington, D.C. But his opponent is Austin Kulman, the Dueling prodigy who won the U.S. Championship in 2006 at age 12! Both of these Duelists are skilled competitors, and both are playing X-Sabers, so get ready for another X-Saber mirror match!
Kulman opened with a hand of Sangan, X-Saber Pashuul, Gottoms’ Emergency Call, Dust Tornado, Summoner Monk, and Starlight Road. He Set Sangan, Set Dust Tornado, and ended.
Vansant Set a monster and did nothing else in his turn.
Kulman drew Mystical Space Typhoon, and discarded it after Summoning Summoner Monk. The Monk’s effect got him Rescue Cat. “That’s the only way to get 8000 damage with this Deck,” remarked Vansant. Kulman sent Rescue Cat to the Graveyard, Special Summoned 2 copies of Airbellum, and Tuned 1 to his Monk to Synchro Summon Arcanite Magician in Defense Position. He removed one of its Spell Counters to destroy Vansant’s face-down monster: X-Saber Pashuul! Next, Kulman Flip Summoned Sangan, attacked with X-Saber Airbellum to force Vansant to discard XX-Saber Faultroll, then attacked for 1000 damage with Sangan. In Main Phase 2, he Tuned Airbellum and Sangan together, and Synchro Summoned XX-Saber Hyunlei. He searched his Deck, grabbed XX-Saber Fulhelmknight with Sangan’s effect, and Set Starlight Road and Gottoms’ Emergency Call.
Vansant Set another monster in his turn but had no other plays.
Kulman drew XX-Saber Boggart Knight, destroyed Vansant’s face-down XX-Saber Darksoul with Arcanite’s effect, and Kulman activated Gottoms’ Emergency Call to Special Summon both X-Saber Airbellums again. He Normal Summoned XX-Saber Fulhelmknight, attacked, and Vansant revealed his hand: 2 X-Saber Airbellum, X-Saber Palomuro, and XX-Saber Faultroll – none of which could help him.
Alex Vansant draws a fistful of Tuners and simply can’t put up a fight against Austin Kulman in a brief first Duel! Both competitors made use of their Side Decks before heading to Game 2.
Vansant started the second Duel with Thunder King Rai-Oh and a Set Spell or Trap.
Kulman had 2 XX-Saber Fulhelmknights, Thunder King Rai-Oh, Gottoms’ Emergency Call, Mystical Space Typhoon, and Rescue Cat. He activated Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying Vansant’s face-down Trap Hole. He Summoned his Thunder King, attacked, and both monsters were destroyed. He Set Gottoms’ Emergency Call.
Vansant Summoned XX-Saber Boggart Knight, then used its effect to Special Summon X-Saber Pashuul. He Special Summoned XX-Saber Faultroll, Tuned Pashuul and Boggart Knight together for XX-Saber Hyunlei, and Kulman chained Gottoms’ Emergency Call to Special Summon Vansant’s Boggart Knight and Pashuul in Defense Position to his own side of the field! Vansant was not happy. He now had no target for Faultroll’s effect, and couldn’t get through the Defense Position Pashuul. He destroyed Boggart Knight by attacking it with Faultroll, Special Summoned it in Main Phase 2 with Faultroll’s effect, and ended with nothing in his back row.
Kulman drew Mind Control! He started running numbers, and Vansant sighed, “Oh god, he’s doing math again!” Vansant was being a good sport, but was clearly unhappy about the beating he was about to take.
Kulman Summoned Rescue Cat and Vansant groaned again. Rescue Cat Special Summoned X-Saber Airbellum in Attack Position and XX-Saber Darksoul in Defense, and Kulman took Vansant’s Faultroll with Mind Control. He Tuned Darksoul and Airbellum together for Goyo Guardian, Special Summoned Airbellum back with Faultroll, then Tuned Pashuul to Faultroll to Synchro Summon Colossal Fighter with 3000 ATK! Goyo Guardian attacked Hyunlei to take control of her, Colossal Fighter stampeded over Boggart Knight, and Airbellum made a direct attack to force Vansant to discard another Boggart Knight! In Main Phase 2, Kulman Tuned Hyunlei to Airbellum, Synchro Summoned XX-Saber Gottoms, and Tributed it for its own effect to make Vansant discard his last card: XX-Saber Darksoul. Kulman’s own Darksoul got him Faultroll in the End Phase. He ended controlling Goyo Guardian and Colossal Fighter, with Faultroll and 2 other cards in hand. Vansant had nothing.
“If I draw Raigeki you’re pretty screwed,”* quipped Vansant. He drew, Set his draw to his Spell & Trap Card Zone, and ended. Kulman attacked with both monsters next turn, and Vansant revealed his Set card: Nobleman of Extermination. No help there, and this match was over!
Austin Kulman takes a quick 2-0 victory over Alex Vansant, to move on with a 5-0 record!
*Editor’s Note: While Raigeki would have destroyed Kulman’s Synchro Monsters, it would have still left Vansant with no monsters on the field, no Spells or Traps on the field, and nothing in the hand, while Kulman was sitting with 3 cards in his hand and would have drawn a 4th.
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)
Be sure to read the Synchro Material requirements of your Synchro Monsters carefully. While some Synchro Monsters require specific Tuners, others require particular non-Tuners instead. For XX-Saber Hyunlei, you can use any Tuner as its Synchro Material, but the non-Tuners have to be X-Sabers. Both Kulman and Vansant missed this in Game 2, when Kulman mistakenly Tuned Airbellum and Sangan to Summon Hyunlei. That didn’t really hurt Vansant, whose hand was so rough that he couldn’t recover anyways, but it’s something to watch out for in your Duels.
Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
In Duel 1, Kulman had Sangan and X-Saber Airbellum attacking against Vansant’s open field. He attacked with Airbellum first, knocking a Faultroll out of Vansant’s hand, and then attacked for 1000 points of damage with Sangan after. Choosing this attack order was a great play, because it made sure that Kulman would strip a card from Vansant’s hand, whether or not Vansant Special Summoned Gorz the Emissary of Darkness from his hand. Many Duelists have gotten used to attacking with either weakest monsters first, so that the stronger ones can pick off the Emissary of Darkness Token if their opponent Special Summons Gorz. But when cards like X-Saber Airbellum are involved, there’s sometimes an advantage to attacking with a monster that his more ATK first.
P.J. Tierney (Duelist from across The Pond)
During Duel 1, Kulman mentioned that Summoner Monk is the only way to get 8000 Damage with his X-Saber Deck, and with a XX-Saber Faultroll in-hand, Summoner Monk is capable of dishing out 8000 damage against a clear field. First you would play Summoner Monk, and Special Summon Rescue Cat with its effect, getting 2 X-Saber Airbellums with the Cat. Next, you Summon Faultroll, and Tune Monk to an Airbellum for Arcanite Magician. Finally, you Special Summon Airbellum again with Faultroll’s effect and attack with Faultroll (2400), Arcanite (2400) and the 2 Airbellums (3200) for exactly 8000 Life Points.
