Jack Hoyt took down Obelisk the Tormentor with his X-Saber Deck to earn his way to this final Match. His opponent, Alex Vansant, defeated a Blackwing Deck with his Machina Gadgets. Both Duelists are strong competitors, but only one of them will be able to win this Match and take home a set of Darklord Prize Cards.

Hoyt won the dice roll and chose to go first. He opened up with XX-Saber Boggart Knight, XX-Saber Darksoul, X-Saber Pashuul, 2 copies of XX-Saber Faultroll, and Royal Oppression. He Set Pashuul and Oppression before ending his turn.

Vansant Summoned Red Gadget to the field and activated its effect to add a Yellow Gadget from his Deck to his hand. Then he Set 3 cards to his back row and ended his turn without attacking.

Hoyt drew Black Horn of Heaven next turn. He Set it and passed. Vansant flipped Mystical Space Typhoon in Hoyt’s End Phase to destroy the Black Horn of Heaven.

Vansant Summoned Machina Gearframe next turn and activated its effect to add a Machina Fortress from his Deck to his hand. Then he discarded 2 copies of Machina Fortress to Special Summon 1 from his Graveyard, but Hoyt flipped Royal Oppression and negated the Summon by paying 800 Life Points. Vansant attacked Hoyt’s Set Pashuul with Red Gadget and flipped it face-up, but couldn’t destroy it in battle.

Hoyt drew Fulhelmknight next turn. He Set Darksoul and then ended his turn.

Vansant drew a card and Hoyt lost 1000 Life Points due to Pashuul’s effect in his Standby Phase. Vansant Summoned Yellow Gadget next, allowing him to search his Deck for a Green Gadget and add it to his hand. He switched Red Gadget to Defense Position and then ended his turn.

Hoyt drew Gottoms’ Emergency Call next turn and passed.

Vansant drew a card and Hoyt lost another 1000 Life Points due to Pashuul’s effect. Vansant Normal Summoned Machina Peacekeeper next and equipped it to his Yellow Gadget.

Hoyt drew Pot of Duality next turn! He activated it, revealing Dark Hole, Torrential Tribute, and Gottoms’ Emergency Call from the top of his Deck. He added the Torrential Tribute to his hand and shuffled the other 2 cards back into his Deck. Hoyt ended his turn without setting the Torrential Tribute.

Vansant drew another card and Hoyt lost another 1000 Life Points. Vansant passed without making a play. Hoyt needed to draw Cold Wave to break through in this Duel!

Hoyt drew another Fulhelmknight and Summoned Boggart Knight next turn, but lost it to Vansant’s Bottomless Trap Hole. He Set a monster and passed.

Vansant drew another card and Hoyt dropped down to 3200 Life Points due to Pashuul’s effect. Vansant switched Yellow Gadget to Defense Position and then Set a monster. He ended his turn.

Hoyt drew Cold Wave! He activated it and it resolved. Hoyt flipped Darksoul then Normal Summoned Fulhelmknight. Then he Special Summoned 2 copies of Faultroll from his hand! Hoyt Tuned Fulhelmknight with Darksoul to Synchro Summon Hyunlei and destroy Vansant’s Dimensional Prison and the Machina Peacekeeper that was equipped to the Yellow Gadget. Vansant used the Peacekeeper’s effect to search his Deck for Machina Gearframe and add it to his hand. Next, Hoyt Special Summoned Fulhelmknight with the effect of his Faultroll. Then he Tuned Hyunlei with Fulhelmknight to Synchro Summon XX-Saber Gottoms. He Tributed Pashuul and forced Vansant to discard Dimensional Prison from his hand. Then he used his other Faultroll’s effect and Special Summoned Fulhelmknight back from his Graveyard. He attacked Yellow Gadget with Fulhelmknight and Special Summoned Darksoul from his Graveyard in Defense Position. Then the rest of Hoyt’s monsters cleared Vansant’s field with their attacks. Vansant drew a card when his Card Trooper was destroyed in battle. Hoyt Tributed Darksoul and Fulhelmknight next, causing Vansant to discard 2 copies of Machina Gearframe from his hand. Then he Tributed another X-Saber to force Vansant to discard a Green Gadget. Hoyt ended his turn and added Boggart Knight and Faultroll from his Deck to his hand with the effects of his Darksouls. Suddently, Hoyt was in a dominating position.

Vansant was up, but he was still under the effect of Cold Wave. He Summoned Green Gadget from his hand and activated its effect to search his Deck for a Red Gadget to add to his hand. Vansant ended his turn.

Hoyt drew Trap Stun next turn. He attacked Green Gadget with XX-Saber Gottoms and then attacked directly with Faultroll, dropping Vansant down to 2600 Life Points. He Summoned Boggart Knight in Main Phase 2 and Tributed it with the effect of Gottoms to force Vansant to discard Mirror Force. Hoyt Set Trap Stun before ending his turn.

Vansant Set a card to each zone and then activated Smashing Ground to destroy XX-Saber Gottoms.

Hoyt drew and activated Mind Control next turn! He took control of Vansant’s face-down Red Gadget, then Summoned Fulhelmknight to the field. Vansant instantly conceded, knowing that Fulhelmknight and Faultroll would finish him off.

Jack Hoyt is just 1 win away from a set of Darklord Prize Cards!

Vansant chose to go first in Duel 2 and started things off by Summon Thunder King Rai-Oh and Setting 2 cards to his back row.

Hoyt opened up with Darksoul, Emmersblade, Gottoms’ Emergency Call, Cyber Dragon, Mind Control, and Pot of Duality. Hoyt Special Summoned Cyber Dragon and Vansant Tributed his Rai-Oh to negate the Summon. Hoyt Set Emmersblade next. Then he Set Mind Control and Gottoms’ Emergency Call, ending his turn.

Vansant Summoned Banisher of the Radiance next turn. He attacked Hoyt’s Emmersblade and removed it from the game before ending his turn.

Hoyt drew Super-Nimble Mega Hamster next turn! He activated Pot of Duality and revealed Mirror Force, Royal Decree, and XX-Saber Faultroll from the top of his Deck. He added Royal Decree to his hand and shuffled the other 2 cards back into his Deck. Hoyt Set Super-Nimble Mega Hamster and Royal Decree before passing to Vansant.

Vansant Summoned Yellow Gadget next turn. He activated its effect and searched his Deck for a copy of Green Gadget to add to his hand. Then he attacked Hoyt’s Set Hamster with Yellow Gadget. Vansant lost 600 Life Points and Hoyt Special Summoned X-Saber Airbellum from his Deck face-down to the field. Banisher of the Radiance attacked and removed the Airbellum from play. Vansant Set a 3rd card to his back row in Main Phase 2 and then ended his turn.

Hoyt drew Solemn Warning. He Set it in his back row and passed to Vansant.

Vansant tried to Summon D.D. Warrior Lady next turn, but Hoyt flipped Solemn Warning by paying 2000 Life Points and negated the Summon. Vansant switched his Yellow Gadget to Defense Position and play was back to Hoyt.

Hoyt drew Book of Moon, Set it, and ended his turn.

Vansant Summoned Green Gadget next turn. He activated its effect and searched his Deck for a Red Gadget to add to his hand.

Hoyt drew Mirror Force. He Set it and passed, still protected by his Hamster.

Vansant Normal Summoned Effect Veiler on the following turn. Hoyt flipped Book of Moon to put the Effect Veiler face-down.

Hoyt drew Bottomless Trap Hole. Then he activated Mind Control and took control of Vansant’s face-down Effect Veiler! He Tuned Effect Veiler with Hamster to try to Synchro Summon Ally of Justice Catastor, but Vansant flipped Solemn Warning to negate the Summon by paying 2000 Life Points! Hoyt Set Bottomless Trap Hole and ended his turn.

Vansant switched Yellow Gadget into Attack Position next turn. Then he attacked with his Gadget. Hoyt flipped Mirror Force, but Vansant negated it with Solemn Judgment. Hoyt took hits from Yellow Gadget, Green Gadget, and Banisher of the Radiance, dropping down to 1800 Life Points. Vansant Set a back row and ended his turn.

Hoyt drew Royal Oppression on the following turn. He Set it to the field along with his Darksoul and passed.

Vansant activated Nobleman of Crossout to remove the Darksoul from play. Then he attacked directly with Yellow Gadget to drop Hoyt down to 600 Life Points, and attacked directly with Green Gadget to win the Duel!

It all came down to 1 more game! The Match pressed on to a third Duel!

Jack Hoyt chose to go first and opened up with Cyber Dragon, X-Saber Pashuul, Vanity’s Fiend, XX-Saber Faultroll, Trap Stun, and Bottomless Trap Hole. He Set Pashuul along with Bottomless Trap Hole and Trap Stun, ending his turn.

Vansant activated Pot of Duality, revealing Dark Hole, Cyber Dragon, and Mirror Force from the top of his Deck. He added Dark Hole to his hand and shuffled the other 2 cards back into his Deck. Next, he Set a monster and a back row, ending his turn.

Hoyt drew another copy of Faultroll next turn before passing to Vansant.

Vansant flipped his face-down D.D. Warrior Lady into Attack Position and Hoyt activated Bottomless Trap Hole to remove it from the game. Then Vansant Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh to the field. Rai-Oh attacked Hoyt’s Set Pashuul and Vansant ended his turn.

Hoyt drew XX-Saber Fulhelmknight next turn. He Tributed Pashuul to Summon Vanity’s Fiend and Vansant flipped Bottomless Trap Hole to try to remove it from the game, but Hoyt chained Trap Stun to negate it! He attacked over Rai-Oh with Vanity’s Fiend and Vansant dropped down to 7500 Life Points. Hoyt ended his turn.

Vansant activated Dark Hole to destroy Vanity’s Fiend and then ended his turn.

Hoyt drew Cold Wave and passed, with Cyber Dragon, 2 copies of Faultroll, Fulhelmknight, and Cold Wave in his hand.

Vansant activated Monster Reborn next turn to Special Summon Thunder King Rai-Oh from his Graveyard. He used it to attack Hoyt directly, dropping Hoyt to 6100 Life Points.

Hoyt drew Pot of Duality next turn. He Special Summoned Cyber Dragon and Vansant Tributed his Rai-Oh to negate it. Next, Hoyt Summoned Fulhelmknight and attacked Vansant directly, dropping him to 6200 Life Points. Hoyt ended his turn without a back row.

Vansant Special Summoned Cyber Dragon next turn. Then he Normal Summoned Effect Veiler. He Tuned his 2 monsters together to Synchro Summon Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier. Then he discarded Nobleman of Crossout to return Fulhelmknight to Hoyt’s hand and attack directly with Brionac, dropping Hoyt down to 3800 Life Points.

Hoyt drew Gottoms’ Emergency Call next turn and then activated Pot of Duality. He revealed Torrential Tribute, Mirror Force, and Black Horn of Heaven from the top of his Deck, then added Mirror Force to his hand. Time was called in the round, so Hoyt only had 1 more turn after this one to bring Vansant’s Life Points below his own. Hoyt only had 3800 Life Points, while Vansant was standing strong with 6200 Life Points. Hoyt Set Cold Wave, Mirror Force, and Gottoms’ Emergency Call face-down after Summoning Fulhelmknight, then ended his turn.

Vansant Set a back row and passed, hoping Hoyt wouldn’t be able to damage him in his final turn.

Hoyt drew Pot of Duality next turn and activated it. He revealed Darksoul, Boggart Knight, and Effect Veiler from the top of his Deck. None of those cards could help him deal damage to Vansant. It was Hoyt’s last turn, and he knew that Vansant would be able pass the final turn of the Match to gain a victory by having higher Life Points. Hoyt gracefully accepted his defeat.

Jack Hoyt made some amazing plays, but Alex Vansant will be taking home the set of Darklord Prize Cards!

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)
We’ve seen Jack Hoyt Summon Vanity’s Fiend in Feature Matches before, not many Duelists use it (especially in X-Sabers), but Hoyt always seems to run it.  It’s a great choice, because it combos with Royal Oppression to make it really hard for Hoyt’s opponents to Special Summon.  Not only does it defend him from threats like Brionac, Gottoms’ Emergency Call, and Gladiator Beast tag-outs, but it fends off Gorz when Hoyt goes for game. 

P.J. Tierney (Duelist from across The Pond)
Alex Vansant was using the same Machina Gadget Deck that served him so well at YCS Toronto 3 weeks ago. When you stick with a particular Deck week after week you get to learn more of the intricate combos the Deck has, and make fewer mistakes as well. You also get to learn more about how your opponents play against your Deck. If several Duelists are trying out a similar strategy to take on your Deck, then you can expect it every time you Duel, and can adjust your own strategy so that theirs won’t work as well as it would have when you first started using the Deck.

Click here to check out the next feature match.