Andrew Lindskog and Luis Aldama currently hold 7-1 records heading into Round 9. Lindskog is running a Herald Deck with 3 copies of Upstart Goblin and 3 copies of Hand Destruction to speed through his Deck and Summon Herald of Perfection with Advanced Ritual Art as quickly as possible. His opponent, Luis Aldama, is running a Gladiator Beast Deck with a heavy Trap lineup including 2 copies of Gladiator Beast War Chariot in his Main Deck. Those Chariots may make this a tough matchup for Lindskog, but if he can Summon one of his three copies of Archlord Kristya early enough, he could be able to win the Match.

Luis Aldama won the dice roll and Summoned Gladiator Beast Samnite to the field. He Set 2 cards to his back row and ended his turn.

Lindskog opened up with 3 copies of Archlord Kristya, Herald of Perfection, Cloudian – Smoke Ball, and Honest. He passed without making a play.

Aldama Summoned a second Samnite next turn, attacked with both copies, and tagged them out to Summon Gladiator Beast Laquari in Attack Position and Gladiator Beast Hoplomus in Defense Position.

Lindskog drew and Summoned Mystical Shine Ball next turn before passing back to Aldama.

Aldama Normal Summoned Elemental Hero Prisma, changed its name to Gladiator Beast Bestiari by sending a copy from his Deck to the Graveyard, and fused it with Gladiator Beast Hoplomus to Summon Gladiator Beast Gyzarus from his Extra Deck. He used the effect of Gyzarus to destroy Lindskog’s Shine Ball. Then Gyzarus and Laquari attacked directly! Gyzarus tagged out to Special Summon Gladiator Beast Laquari and Gladiator Beast Darius in its place. Aldama Special Summoned Bestiari from his Graveyard with the effect of Darius and then fused Darius, Laquari, and Bestiari together to Summon Gladiator Beast Heraklinos! He ended his turn in a great position.

Lindskog drew Herald of Orange Light next turn and conceded.

Some rough draws for Andrew Lindskog make it an easy first Duel for Luis Aldama. Lindskog will be going first in Duel 2!

Lindskog opened up with Mystical Shine Ball, Dunames Dark Witch, Preparation of Rites, Archlord Kristya, Herald of Perfection, and Dark Factory of Mass Production. He Summoned Dunames Dark Witch and ended his turn.

Aldama Summoned Gladiator Beast Darius and Set 2 cards to his Spell and Trap Card Zone. He passed right back.

Lindskog drew Solemn Judgment next turn and attacked Darius with Dunames Dark Witch. Darius was destroyed, and Aldama took 100 points of damage. He Set Solemn Judgment and Preparation of Rites before ending his turn. In his End Phase, Aldama destroyed Lindskog’s Set Preparation of Rites with Dust Tornado.

Aldama Set one card to his back row and passed to Lindskog, who drew Sonic Bird and Summoned it to the field. He searched his Deck for Advanced Ritual Art and added it to his hand thanks to the Bird’s effect. He activated Advanced Ritual Art, and Aldama chained Dust Tornado to destroy Lindskog’s Set Solemn Judgment. Lindskog sent Gyakutenno Megami from his Deck to his Graveyard with Advanced Ritual Art in order to Special Summon Herald of Perfection from his hand in Defense Position. Dunames Dark Witch and Sonic Bird attacked directly, dropping Aldama to 4700 Life Points. Lindskog ended his turn.

Aldama Summoned Gladiator Beast Secutor next turn! Then he Special Summoned Test Tiger, Tributed it, and sent Gladiator Beast Secutor back into his Deck with the Tiger’s effect. He Special Summoned Gladiator Beast Laquari in its place. Laquari attacked and destroyed Sonic Bird, dropping Lindskog to 7300 Life Points. Aldama tagged out Gladiator Beast Laquari next, Special Summoning Gladiator Beast Hoplomus in Defense Position.

Lindskog drew Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands next turn. He Summoned it to the field and activated its effect, but its effect was negated by Gladiator Beast War Chariot, and Manju was destroyed. He ended his turn.

Aldama Summoned Elemental Hero Prisma next turn. He activated its effect, and when Lindskog tried to negate it with Herald of Perfection by discarding Mystical Shine Ball, Aldama flipped Gladiator Beast War Chariot to negate and destroy the Herald! Aldama changed Prisma’s name to Bestiari by sending Gladiator Beast Bestiari from his Deck to his Graveyard. Then he fused it with Gladiator Beast Hoplomus in order to Summon Gladiator Beast Gyzarus, and used its effect to clear Lindskog’s field. He attacked directly with Gyzarus and tagged out for 2 copies of Gladiator Beast Equeste, returning 2 Chariots from his Graveyard to his hand. He Set 2 cards in his Spell and Trap Card Zone before ending his turn.

Lindskog drew Heavy Storm next turn and activated it! Aldama’s Set Gladiator Beast War Chariot and Bottomless Trap Hole were destroyed! He activated Dark Factory of Mass Production next in order to return Dunames Dark Witch and Mystical Shine Ball from his Graveyard to his hand. He Summoned Mystical Shine Ball and attacked Gladiator Beast Equeste. It was a desperate play. He was hoping he could get a fourth Fairy into his Graveyard so he could Special Summon Archlord Kristya from his hand. Mystical Shine Ball was destroyed, and at the end of the Battle Phase, Aldama tagged out his Equeste to Special Summon Gladiator Beast Laquari. By not taking Gladiator Beast Retiari, Aldama left a huge opening by leaving 4 Fairy-Type monsters in Lindskog’s Graveyard. Lindskog Special Summoned Archlord Kristya in Main Phase 2 and used its effect to return Manju from his Graveyard to his hand. Suddenly, he wasn’t in such bad shape.

Aldama Set 2 cards to his back row on his next turn and passed to Lindskog.

Lindskog drew another copy of Archlord Kristya next turn before Normal Summoning Dunames Dark Witch. Dunames Dark Witch attacked over Equeste and Kristya attacked over Gladiator Beast Laquari. He ended his turn in great shape.

Aldama drew a card and Set it in his Spell and Trap Card Zone, where it joined 2 cards he already had sitting there.

Lindskog drew Smashing Ground next turn. He attacked directly with Dunames Dark Witch. Next, he tried attacking with Archlord Kristya, but it was removed from the game when Aldama flipped his face-down Dimensional Prison. Lindskog ended his turn.

Aldama drew a card and Set it to his back row before passing to Lindskog, who attacked directly with Dunames Dark Witch.

Aldama drew a card and Set 1 Spell or Trap Card on the following turn.

Lindskog attacked with Dunames Dark Witch next turn. Aldama flipped Mirror Force to destroy it! With 4 Fairies in his Graveyard, Lindskog Special Summoned Archlord Kristya in Main Phase 2 and returned Dunames Dark Witch from his Graveyard to his hand with the effect of Kristya. He Summoned Dunames Dark Witch to the field and ended his turn.

Aldama drew a card and Set a monster before passing to Lindskog.

Lindskog Summoned Manju to the field and activated its effect. He searched his Deck for Herald of Perfection and added it to his hand. Next, he attacked Aldama’s Set Gladiator Beast Hoplomus with Dunames Dark Witch and lost 300 Life Points. Aldama tagged out his Hoplomus to Special Summon Gladiator Beast Equeste in its place, and used the effect of Equeste to return Gladiator Beast Bestiari from his Graveyard to his hand. In Main Phase 2, Lindskog activated Smashing Ground to destroy Gladiator Beast Equeste so that Aldama couldn’t fuse for Gladiator Beast Gyzarus next turn.

Aldama Normal Summoned Gladiator Beast Bestiari instead, and used it to attack over Manju. He tagged out for Gladiator Beast Murmillo at the end of the Battle Phase, and targeted Dunames Dark Witch with Murmillo’s effect. Lindskog discarded Herald of Orange Light and Archlord Kristya to try to negate Murmillo’s effect, but Aldama flipped his Gladiator Beast War Chariot to negate and destroy it!

Lindskog Summoned Manju next turn and activated its effect, but Aldama negated the effect and destroyed the Manju with another Gladiator Beast War Chariot. He Set 1 card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone before ending his turn.

Aldama attacked directly with Murmillo next turn and tagged out for Gladiator Beast Bestiari at the end of the Battle Phase. He used the effect of Bestiari to destroy Lindskog’s Set Hand Destruction and ended his turn.

Lindskog drew Cloudian – Smoke Ball next turn and passed to Aldama, who Summoned Gladiator Beast Samnite. Aldama attacked directly with Bestiari and Samnite, wiping out Lindskog’s remaining Life Points and ending the Match!

Luis Aldama takes advantage of his favorable matchup to triumph over Andrew Lindskog and advance in the tournament with an 8-1 record!

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)
How good was Dunames Dark Witch in this Match!? In the second Duel we saw Lindskog make attack after attack with Dunames, and when she was finally destroyed, he took her back with Dark Factory of Mass Production, continuing the onslaught by attacking over Gladiator Beast Equeste, making 2 direct attacks, and finally forcing Aldama to flip Mirror Force a turn later! That let Lindskog Special Summon Kristya, get back Dunames, and Summon her for a third time! It’s definitely a card you should consider if you play Herald of Perfection.

Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
In Duel 2, Lindskog used the effect of his Herald of Orange Light to negate the effect of Gladiator Beast Murmillo after it tagged in. This left Aldama able to activate Gladiator Beast War Chariot and negate the Herald’s effect, since he had a Gladiator Beast monster on the field. Lindskog would have been better off negating the tag-out of Gladiator Beast Bestiari instead. Since Gladiator Beast Bestiari is sent back into the Deck as a cost of tagging out, if Lindskog had negated the tag-out with Herald of Orange Light, Aldama wouldn’t be able to activate his Gladiator Beast War Chariot to negate the Herald’s effect. Bestiari would be in his Deck and Aldama wouldn’t have a Gladiator Beast monster on the field to meet the activation requirement of Gladiator Beast War Chariot. 

P.J. Tierney (Duelist from across The Pond)
Gladiator Beast War Chariot is a Herald Deck’s worst nightmare, since it can negate the activation of any monster effect, even ones from your hand like Herald of Orange Light and Honest. When you activate a Herald’s effect against a Gladiator Beast Deck, you’re hoping that you won’t see a Chariot get flipped over, as it will get rid of 2 of your cards (your Herald and the Fairy you discarded) while they only lose 1 (the Chariot) and still get their intended effect off. Aldama seemed to have a Gladiator Beast War Chariot each and every time Lindskog tried to make a critical play, and they were a big factor in him winning the Match.

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