Round 4 Feature Match: Andrew Fredella vs. Austin Kulman
Austin Kulman won the U.S. National Championship in 2006 in San Francisco, and represented the United States at the World Championship that year in Tokyo. He’s back once again to compete for entrance into the 2010 Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG World Championship. His opponent is Andrew Fredella, who took 3rd place at the recent YCS in Chantilly, Virginia. Fredella took that 3rd place spot with his X-Saber Deck, and he’s back using it again today against Kulman’s X-Sabers.
Fredella won the dice roll and chose to go first. He Set a card to each zone and ended his turn.
Kulman opened up with Book of Moon, Sangan, Gold Sarcophagus, Gottoms’ Emergency Call, Thunder King Rai-Oh, and XX-Saber Fulhelmknight. He Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh to the field and attacked Fredella’s Set X-Saber Airbellum, destroying it and sending it to the Graveyard. In Main Phase 2, Kulman activated Gold Sarcophagus to remove Cold Wave from his Deck so he could reclaim it in 2 turns. He Set Book of Moon to his back row and ended his turn.
Fredella Set a card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone and ended his turn.
Kulman drew Rescue Cat next turn! He attacked directly with Rai-Oh and Fredella took the damage. Then Kulman Set Gottoms’ Emergency Call and passed.
Fredella looked displeased with his draws. He thought for a while and then passed without making a play.
Kulman drew XX-Saber Faultroll and then reclaimed his Cold Wave. He activated it and Fredella had no response. Then he Summoned Rescue Cat and Tributed it to Special Summon X-Saber Airbellum and XX-Saber Darksoul from his Deck. Next, he Special Summoned XX-Saber Faultroll. He Tuned Darksoul to Airbellum to Synchro Summon Goyo Guardian and then activated Faultroll’s effect to Special Summon X-Saber Airbellum back from his Graveyard. Goyo Guardian, Faultroll, Airbellum, and Rai-Oh attacked Fredella directly, ending the Duel in victory for Kulman!
Fredella will be going first in Duel 2. He Summoned Rai-Oh, Set a back row, and ended his turn.
Kulman opened up with Torrential Tribute, Bottomless Trap Hole, Gottoms’ Emergency Call, XX-Saber Fulhelmknight, Book of Moon, and Mind Control in his hand. He started things off by Summoning XX-Saber Fulhelmknight to the field. Then he activated Mind Control to take control of Thunder King Rai-Oh. He Tuned Fulhelmknight and Rai-Oh together to Synchro Summon X-Saber Urbellum. X-Saber Urbellum scored a direct attack, and with exactly 4 cards in Fredella’s hand, he was forced to randomly send one of them to the top of his Deck due to Urbellum’s effect. Kulman Set Book of Moon and Bottomless Trap Hole in Main Phase 2 before ending his turn.
Next turn, Fredella drew the card he put on top of his Deck. Then he Summoned Fulhelmknight, Set a card to his back row, and ended his turn.
Kulman drew and Summoned X-Saber Airbellum next turn. He attacked Fulhelmknight with Urbellum and Fredella negated the attack. Then X-Saber Airbellum attacked directly and destroyed it. “What am I doing?” Kulman asked, realizing he could’ve attacked with Airbellum before Urbellum to deal an extra 600 damage. He Set Gottoms’ Emergency Call in Main Phase 2 and ended his turn.
Fredella Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh next turn, but lost it to Kulman’s Bottomless Trap Hole. Then he Set a back row and passed.
Kulman attacked directly with X-Saber Urbellum and X-Saber Airbellum next turn. Fredella lost a copy of X-Saber Airbellum from his hand, due to the effect of Kulman’s Airbellum. In Main Phase 2, Kulman activated Gold Sarcophagus to remove Rescue Cat from his Deck. Then he Set Torrential Tribute to his back row and ended his turn.
Fredella drew and Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh next turn. Then he activated Brain Control, paying himself down to 900 Life Points, to take control of Kulman’s Airbellum. Kulman chained Book of Moon to put Rai-Oh face-down. Fredella attacked X-Saber Urbellum with Airbellum anyway, to get it off the field at the cost of another 600 Life Points. He ended his turn, knowing it would soon be over.
Kulman Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh next turn and attacked Fredella’s Rai-Oh. Then X-Saber Urbellum scored a direct attack and ended the Match.
Some rough draws for Andrew Fredella allow Austin Kulman to dominate the Match with a 2-0 victory and advance in the tournament with a perfect 4-0 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)
Fredella clearly had a tough hand in Duel 1, but he played it off as strong anyways, Setting a monster that isn’t usually Set: X-Saber Airbellum. Against many opponents, this would’ve been a successful bluff – it was certainly better than doing nothing. Kulman was unfazed by it and attacked anyways, but Fredella’s priority was blocking attacks to try and draw something to save his skin, and he made the right choices to try and do that. Remember, when your hand is truly awful, think twice before holding back. Sometimes, the best tactic is to bluff and play like you have a better hand.
Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
Kulman did a great job ignoring the card Fredella had Set in his back row in Duel 2. Fredella Set a card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone on his first turn, and Kulman managed to Summon XX-Saber Fulhelmknight, take control of Thunder King Rai-Oh, Synchro Summon X-Saber Urbellum, and score a direct attack, all while it was face down! This allowed Kulman to determine that Fredella’s face-down card was a bluff. Then, when Fredella Set another card to his back row on his next turn, Kulman knew it wouldn’t pose a threat since Fredella was forced to draw a card he had in his hand the turn before. If Fredella had a card to Set on his first turn that wasn’t a bluff, he probably would’ve Set it. Kulman knew he was safe to Summon X-Saber Airbellum despite Fredella’s 2 back rows and used his Airbellum to get Fredella’s Fulhelmknight off the field. This aggression allowed Kulman to quickly win the Duel. It’s important to pay attention to which of your opponent’s Spell and Trap Cards were face-down during each of your moves, to determine how much of a threat each one poses.
Michael McTavish (Top 8 Finalist – 2009 Canadian National Championship)
Kulman played this match very intelligently, in game 1 he had Gold Sarcophagus in his hand as well as Sangan. He knew that he could get his all-important Rescue Cat using Sangan so he activated the Sarcophagus in order to search Cold Wave to his hand. This way he had easy access to both these cards, which when combined, are an absolutely devastating force. He ended up drawing the Cat next turn regardless, but if he hadn’t, he was ready to get it.
P.J. Tierney (Duelist from across The Pond)
Sometimes a Duelist would know the right plays to make, but their minds would slip when they’re about to make those plays. In Duel 2 Kulman attacked Fredella’s XX-Saber Fulhelmknight first with X-Saber Urbellum, and then X-Saber Airbellum, destroying the Fulhelmknight and dealing 300 points of damage to Fredella. Had he attacked with Airbellum first instead of Urbellum he would have hit Fredella for 900 instead of 300, and he realised his mistake right after he made it. While 600 Life Points might not seem like much of a difference, it could end up with you leaving your opponent on as little as 100 Life Points later on in the Duel, giving them a chance to make a comeback.
