Round 10 Feature Match: Bobby Chambers vs. Pete Navarro
Both of these competitors are 8-1 so far in this tournament, and with 1 Swiss Round left, they’re extremely likely to make the Top 32 cut. Pete Navarro is running Volcanic Quickdraw Dandywarrior, while Bobby Chambers is running Blackwings. Chambers is a former YCS Champion, having won in Boston in 2006. For Navarro, a win here this weekend would be his first.
Chambers opened the Match with Pot of Duality, revealing Dark Armed Dragon, Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame, and Royal Oppression. He took Oppression and shuffled back the rest. He Set a card to his back row.
Navarro had a hand of Dandylion, Card Trooper, Book of Moon, Volcanic Shell, Royal Decree, and Charge of the Light Brigade. He Summoned Card Trooper, and activated its effect to send Effect Veiler, Lonefire Blossom, and Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter to the Graveyard. He attacked for 1900 Battle Damage, then Set 2 cards to his back row.
Chambers Summoned Blackwing – Kalut the Moonshadow, attacked Card Trooper, and Navarro drew Pot of Avarice. Chambers Set another card and ended.
Navarro drew and Set Sangan, then activated Pot of Duality. He revealed 2 Debris Dragons and Royal Decree, taking a Dragon into his hand.
Chambers Set a monster.
Navarro drew a second Dandylion, and Set it.
Chambers Set a third card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone. In his End Phase, Navarro flipped Royal Decree, but Chambers negated the activation with Solemn Judgment.
Navarro drew Monster Reborn. He activated Charge of the Light Brigade, sending Caius the Shadow Monarch, Foolish Burial, and Pot of Avarice to his Graveyard to get Ryko. He Set it.
Chambers activated Allure of Darkness, drawing 2 cards and removing Blackwing – Blizzard the far North from his hand. He followed up with Pot of Duality. He revealed 2 Shura and Torrential Tribute, taking Torrential. He Set a third and fourth card to his back row and ended.
Navarro drew Raigeki Break, and Chambers activated Icarus Attack in the Draw Phase, Tributing Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor to destroy Navarro’s Dandylion and Book of Moon. Navarro Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens. He Set a monster and a card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.
Chambers Summoned Shura, then responded with Torrential Tribute. It destroyed Navarro’s Volcanic Shell, Sangan, and Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, while Chambers lost his Shura and Kalut. Sangan got Navarro his Quickdraw Synchron, and Navarro was clearly feeling pretty good.
Next turn, Navarro drew Book of Moon, and paid 500 Life Points to get another Volcanic Shell from his Deck to his hand. He discarded the Shell to Special Summon Quickdraw. Chambers activated Royal Oppression, paid 800, and Navarro Chained Raigeki Break, discarding Dandylion. He Summoned the Quickdraw and 2 Fluff Tokens. Another 500 Life Points got him his third Shell from his deck, and he Normal Summoned it to Synchro Summon Junk Destroyer. Chambers responded with his last set card, Bottomless Trap Hole. But Navarro had Monster Reborn, and it brought back Caius the Shadow Monarch, for just enough to finish off Chambers’ remaining 2200 Life Points!
Patience and a Torrential-proof field makes victory a swift affair for Pete Navarro, as he dominates the first Duel with a flurry of Special Summons! One more win like that and Navarro would move to the Top 32 with an impressive 9-1 record. Side Decking was lengthy on both sides of the table.
Chambers got us started with Cards for Black Feathers, removing Blackwing – Bora the Spear to draw 2 cards. He followed up with Allure of Darkness, drawing 2 and removing Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn. That got him Black Whirlwind, and he activated it to Summon another Bora and get Blackwing – Kalut the Moonshadow from his Deck! He Set 2 cards to his back row, finishing out an absolutely huge opening.
Navarro had Royal Decree, Pot of Avarice, Book of Moon, Tytannial, Princess of Camellias, Foolish Burial, and Volcanic Shell. He Set Book of Moon, Royal Decree, and Volcanic Shell. He lost his Book to Mystical Space Typhoon in the End Phase.
Chambers destroyed the Decree next turn with another Mystical Space Typhoon! He Summoned Kalut to get Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind from his Deck with Whirlwind, then attacked through Volcanic Shell with Bora. Kalut attacked next.
Navarro drew Pot of Duality. He activated Volcanic Shell’s effect to get another from his Deck, and activated Duality to reveal Snowman Eater, Caius the Shadow Monarch, and Debris Dragon. He chose the Snowman Eater. He Set it.
Chambers Tributed his Kalut to Tribute Summon Sirocco, getting another Bora from his Deck. He Special Summoned it, Special Summoned Gale, poured all the ATK on the field into Bora with Sirocco’s effect, and attacked for the win with Bora!
Bobby Chambers makes an explosive opening, playing Pot of Duality and Allure of Darkness to get to Black Whirlwind and riding it to a quick victory! It was a great example of the kind of plays that have made Blackwings so successful this weekend.
Navarro started Duel 3 with a rough hand of 2 Books of Moon, 2 Pots of Avarice, Tytannial, Princess of Camellias, and Quickdraw Synchron. He Set both Books.
Chambers activated Pot of Duality, revealing Solemn Warning, Icarus Attack, and Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn. He took Icarus Attack, activated Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy 1 Book, and Summoned Bora to attack into the other Book. He Set a Spell or Trap and ended.
Navarro drew Effect Veiler, Set Pot of Avarice, and ended.
Chambers had another Pot of Duality. This one revealed Sirocco and 2 Warnings, and he added a Solemn Warning to his hand. He Flip Summoned Bora, activated Cards for Black Feathers by removing Sirocco, and drew 2 cards. Mystical Space Typhoon cleared away Navarro’s bluffed Pot of Avarice and Bora attacked for another 1700 damage. Two more back row Sets finished Chambers’ turn.
Navarro Set a Spell or Trap, and Set a monster.
Chambers activated Icarus Attack, Tributing his Bora to destroy Navarro’s Pot of Avarice and Sangan. Sangan’s effect got him Snowman Eater. Chambers activated Pot of Duality, and he used it to reveal Torrential Tribute, Cards for Black Feathers, and Blackwing – Blizzard the far North. He took the Blizzard.
Navarro drew Foolish Burial and Set Snowman Eater.
Chambers destroyed the Snowman Eater with Dark Hole, and Summoned Blizzard, but lost its effect to Effect Veiler. He attacked for 1200 Battle Damage. Navarro was down to 5000 Life Points.
Navarro Set a monster.
Chambers Summoned Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame, attacked Dandylion, and as Navarro Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens Chambers Special Summoned Gale. He wiped out both Fluff Tokens in battle and then Tuned Gale to Shura for Blackwing Armor Master. “I can’t believe I started off with three Pots of Duality in my hand! I’m so happy about that.” Chambers laughed, legitimately happy.
Navarro drew Cold Wave, holding Foolish Burial, Tytannial, and Quickdraw. He activated Foolish, sent Dandylion to his Graveyard, and Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens. He Set Cold Wave.
Chambers destroyed both Fluff Tokens in battle next turn, then Set a third Spell or Trap.
Navarro drew Debris Dragon! He flipped Cold Wave, Summoned Debris Dragon, brought up Dandylion, and destroyed everything with Black Rose Dragon! Chambers lost 5 cards, and now he just had 1 card left. Navarro had 2 cards in hand, plus 2 Fluff Tokens!
Chambers drew to 2 cards and Summoned Blackwing – Blizzard the far North, Special Summoning Shura to Synchro Summon Blackwing Armed Wing. It pierced through a Fluff Token for 2300 Battle Damage. Navarro was down to 2200 Life Points, and Chambers still had 8000. That Black Rose Dragon had been a huge boon for Navarro, but could he really fight back from such a bad position?
Navarro drew another Debris Dragon! He Summoned it, Special Summoned Dandylion, and Synchro Summoned Scrap Dragon plus 2 Fluff Tokens. He discarded Tytannial to Special Summon Quickdraw, and with an empty hand, he Tuned Quickdraw to a Fluff Token, bringing out Turbo Warrior. Turbo Warrior attacked Blackwing Armed Wing, the Blackwing’s ATK was halved, and Scrap Dragon made a direct attack.
“Draw Monster Reborn!” hoped Chambers. No such luck – he Normal Summoned Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn and attacked the Fluff Token. Chambers had needed a Monster Reborn, a Bora, or a Blizzard, but couldn’t draw any of his game-winning cards. When Navarro revealed his topdecked Monster Reborn next turn Chambers conceded!
Pete Navarro mounts a huge comeback with a tremendous Black Rose Dragon, heading into the Top 32 with a 9-1 record. What a turnaround!
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)
While most Duelists will remember Navarro’s Deck for its use of Volcanic Shell, there was another card that made a big impact on his success: Royal Decree. Quickdraw Decks thrive on the opportunity to make combos and either unleash big monsters, or control the Duel across the long term; but if those monsters are destroyed, the Deck can run out of options quick. Decree ensured that Navarro’s big plays went off without a hitch, and went a long way to stopping problem cards like Solemn Warning and Royal Oppression.
Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
In Duel 1, Navarro Set a copy of Sangan in Defense Position and then activated Pot of Duality. If you’re not planning to Special Summon any monsters, you’re better off playing Pot of Duality as your first card for the turn. Looking at the top 3 cards of your Deck and adding one of them to your hand may affect your decision about which monster to Normal Summon or Set that turn. Even if it doesn’t affect your decision, you’ll still be free to use the monster you were going to play before activating Pot of Duality.
P.J. Tierney (Duelist from across The Pond)
Volcanic Shell has many different uses in Navarro’s Quickdraw Deck. First off, it reduces the number of cards remaining in his Deck, giving him better odds of drawing key cards or revealing them with Pot of Duality. Second, it lets him have a card to discard for Quickdraw Synchron, so that he doesn’t have to get rid of something more important like a Debris Dragon. Finally, it also works will with Drill Warrior, providing a ‘free’ discard whenever he wants to remove it from play.