One of these two Duelists would leave this table with a set of the Darklord prize cards!  Jack Hoyt is playing X-Sabers, while his opponent Hernan Roman is running Anti-Meta Beatdown, a Deck built specifically to defeat X-Sabers.  This one was going to be a tough Match for Hoyt.

Roman started the Match by Setting 2 Spell or Trap Cards.

Hoyt had XX-Saber Darksoul, XX-Saber Boggart Knight, XX-Saber Fulhelmknight, Debris Dragon, Dark Hole, and Monster Reborn.  He Set Darksoul.

Roman Normal Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh, attacking to destroy Darksoul and deprive Hoyt of its effect.

Hoyt drew Cold Wave.  He Normal Summoned Boggart Knight, Special Summoned Fulhelmknight with Boggart’s effect, and Roman responded with Book of Moon, turning Boggart Knight face-down.

He destroyed Fulhelmknight with Smashing Ground next turn, then attacked to destroy Boggart Knight. He Set another Spell or Trap.

Hoyt drew Mind Control, and blasted Thunder King with Dark Hole.

Roman Special Summoned it next turn with Monster Reborn, and Normal Summoned Banisher of the Radiance.  Hoyt was down to 4500 Life Points.  Roman Set a third card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.

Hoyt drew another Boggart Knight and Summoned it.  He attacked Thunder King, Roman blocked with Book of Moon, and Hoyt ended.

Roman Summoned Doomcaliber Knight, attacked Boggart Knight with Banisher of the Radiance to remove it from the game, and made direct attacks with Thunder King and Doomcaliber.

Hoyt drew Vanity’s Fiend.  He activated Monster Reborn, Roman revealed Royal Oppression, and Hoyt conceded.

One more win like that, and Hernan Roman would be the proud owner of a set of Darklords!  His use of his Side Deck was quick and systematic, while Hoyt needed to take some time to figure out what he was going to do.

Hoyt started with a hand of Royal Decree, Mind Control, Monster Reborn, Saber Slash, XX-Saber Darksoul, and XX-Saber Faultroll.  He Set Darksoul, Set Decree, and ended.

Roman activated Pot of Duality, revealing his top 3 cards: Cyber Dragon, Smashing Ground, and Thunder King Rai-Oh.  He took Cyber Dragon and shuffled the remaining cards into his Deck.  He tried to Special Summon Cyber Dragon, but was reminded about his Pot of Duality: since he activated Pot, he couldn’t Special Summon this turn.  He Normal Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh, attacked, and Set 2 cards to his back row: Hoyt activated Royal Decree in the End Phase.

He activated Monster Reborn next turn to Special Summon Darksoul.  He activated Saber Slash, but Ronan turned Darksoul face-down with Book of Moon: Saber Slash couldn’t destroy Thunder King.

Roman Summoned King Tiger Wanghu, attacked with it to destroy Darksoul, and attacked directly with Thunder King.

Hoyt drew Enemy Controller and Set it.

Roman attacked with King Tiger and Thunder King, and Hoyt blocked Thunder King’s attack with Enemy Controller.  He had 4400 Life Points left.

Hoyt drew Book of Moon, holding Mind Control and 2 XX-Saber Faultroll he couldn’t Summon.  He Set Book of Moon.

Roman attacked with his 2 monsters again, and Hoyt blocked King Tiger with Book of Moon.  He conceded after seeing his next card: Gold Sarcophagus.

Hernan Roman is the winner of the Prize Card Playoffs, and takes home a set of Super Rare Darklord 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)
Thunder King is an awesome monster, and we saw Roman use it in this Match to deny Hoyt his Darksoul searches.  Thunder King also stops your opponent from activating Pot of Duality.  It’s easy to fit into a variety of Decks, so if you’re looking for a monster to round out your lineup, give it a try!

P.J. Tierney (Duelist from across The Pond)
Roman made a slight mistake in Duel 2 by choosing Cyber Dragon with Pot of Duality. As he was reminded moments later when he tried to play his Cyber Dragon, you can’t Special Summon during the turn you activate Pot of Duality. With that in mind, Smashing Ground would have been the best choice, as Roman already had a Thunder King Rai-Oh in his hand at the time.