Round 10 Feature Match: Juan Antillan vs. Mark Garcia
Mark Garcia and Juan Antillan both won their Feature Matches yesterday and currently hold 8-1 records. A win here will guarantee one of them a spot in the Top 32, while a loss would still leave them with good odds of making it. Antillian is running X-Sabers, while Garcia is piloting his Blackwing Deck.
X-Sabers and Blackwings are two of the strongest and most popular Decks here this weekend, so this is a good example of the kinds of strategies we’re seeing a lot today.
Antillan won the dice roll and opened up with Giant Trunade, Monster Reborn, Gottoms’ Emergency Call, Dark Hole, Mystical Space Typhoon, XX-Saber Emmersblade. He Set Emmersblade and Mystical Space Typhoon, ending his turn.
Garcia Summoned Blackwing – Bora the Spear and Set a back row, ending his turn. Antillan flipped Mystical Space Typhoon in the End Phase to destroy the Set Mirror Force Garcia had put face-down.
Antillan drew X-Saber Pashuul next turn. He flipped Emmersblade, rammed it into Bora, Special Summoned another Emmersblade, and rammed that one into Bora too, losing a total of 800 Life Points. Then he Special Summoned XX-Saber Boggart Knight from his Deck with Emmersblade’s effect, and attacked Bora. But Garcia discarded Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow from his hand to give Bora an extra 1400 ATK. Boggart Knight was destroyed and Antillan dropped down to 6000 Life Points. Antillan activated Monster Reborn in Main Phase 2, Special Summoning XX-Saber Emmersblade in Defense Position. Then he Set Gottoms’ Emergency Call and ended his turn.
Garcia Summoned Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North next turn and activated its effect to Special Summon Kalut from the Graveyard. Then he Tuned Blizzard with Kalut to Synchro Summon Ally of Justice Catastor. Catastor attacked Emmersblade, destroying it with its effect, and then Bora scored a direct hit. Garcia Set a back row and ended his turn.
Antillan drew Solemn Judgment next turn. He Summoned X-Saber Pashuul and then activated Giant Trunade. Garcia didn’t respond, and Antillan chained Gottoms’ Emergency Call to Special Summon 2 copies of XX-Saber Emmersblade from his Graveyard in Attack Position. He rammed one of them into Bora, losing 400 Life Points and Special Summoning XX-Saber Darksoul from his Deck in Defense Position. Then he rammed his other copy of Emmersblade into Bora, losing another 400 Life Points and Special Summoning another copy of Darksoul from his Deck in Defense Position. Antillan Tuned Pashuul with both copies of Darksoul in Main Phase 2, in order to Synchro Summon Colossal Fighter in Attack Position. Then he Set Solemn Judgment and Dark Hole, ending his turn and grabbing XX-Saber Boggart Knight and XX-Saber Fulhelmknight from his Deck with the effects of his 2 copies of Darksoul.
Garcia Summoned Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North next turn. He activated its effect and Special Summoned Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow from his Graveyard in Defense Position. Next, Garcia Tuned Bora, Blizzard, and Kalut together to Synchro Summon Mist Wurm, but Antillan activated Solemn Judgment to negate the Summon, dropping down to 1750 Life Points. Garcia Set 2 back rows and ended his turn.
Antillan drew Bottomless Trap Hole next turn and then attacked Ally of Justice Catastor with his 2900 ATK Colossal Fighter. Catastor was destroyed. Antillan Set Bottomless Trap Hole and ended his turn.
Garcia Summoned another copy of Blizzard next turn and used its effect to Special Summon Bora from his Graveyard. He Tuned his 2 monsters together to Synchro Summon Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, and then discarded Bora from his hand to return Colossal Fighter to Antillan’s Extra Deck. When Antillan tried to remove Brionac from the game with Bottomless Trap Hole, Garcia flipped Seven Tools of the Bandit to negate it, allowing him to attack for victory with Brionac!
Antillan holds onto his Dark Hole for too long, allowing Garcia to earn victory in Duel 1! Antillan will be going first in Duel 2.
Antillan opened up with Legendary Jujitsu Master, Cyber Dragon, X-Saber Airbellum, XX-Saber Boggart Knight, XX-Saber Emmersblade, and XX-Saber Faultroll. He Set Legendary Jujitsu Master and ended his turn.
Garcia activated Pot of Duality, revealing Blizzard, Kalut, and Sirocco from the top of his Deck. He added Blizzard to his hand and shuffled the other 2 cards back into his Deck. Next, he Normal Summoned Sirocco from his hand, then activated Nobleman of Crossout to remove Legendary Jujitsu Master from the game. He attacked directly with Sirocco, then Set a card to his back row and ended his turn.
Antillan drew XX-Saber Darksoul next turn. Then he Special Summoned Cyber Dragon and attacked over Sirocco. He Set Darksoul in Main Phase 2 and ended his turn.
Garcia used another Pot of Duality next turn, this time revealing Seven Tools of the Bandit, Solemn Warning, and Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor from the top of his Deck. He added Vayu to his hand and shuffled Solemn Warning and Seven Tools back into his Deck. He Set a monster before ending his turn.
Antillan drew another Cyber Dragon next turn. Then he tried to Normal Summoned X-Saber Airbellum, but Garcia flipped Solemn Warning to negate the Summon by paying 2000 Life Points. Antillan didn’t attack with Cyber Dragon, and passed his turn.
Garcia Normal Summoned Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North next turn and then Special Summoned Bora from his hand. He Tuned them together to Synchro Summon Goyo Guardian, then attacked Cyber Dragon and gained control of it with Goyo’s effect. He ended his turn without a back row.
Antillan drew Gorz the Emissary of Darkness next turn. Then he flipped up his Set Darksoul and Normal Summoned XX-Saber Emmersblade from his hand. Next, he Special Summoned XX-Saber Faultroll and activated its effect to Special Summon X-Saber Airbellum from his Graveyard. Garcia instantly conceded.
Juan Antillan wins Duel 2 without drawing a single Spell or Trap Card!
Mark Garcia will be going first in Duel 3!
Garcia started things off by Setting a back row and Summoning Bora to the field.
Antillan opened up with Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, 2 copies of XX-Saber Fulhelmknight, 2 copies of Mystical Space Typhoon, and Giant Trunade. He Set both copies of Mystical Space Typhoon and ended his turn.
Garcia attacked directly with Bora and Antillan took the hit. He Set a second card to his back row and ended his turn.
Antillan drew and passed.
Garcia attacked with Bora and Antillan used both copies of Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy a Set Seven Tools and a Set Deck Devastation Virus. Then he Special Summoned Gorz after taking the 1700 points of damage, Special Summoning an Emissary of Darkness Token in Attack Position! Garcia Set a card to his back row before ending his turn.
Antillan attacked over Bora with Gorz on his next turn, then attacked directly with his Emissary of Darkness Token, dropping Garcia down to 5300 Life Points. Antillan Summoned XX-Saber Fulhelmknight in Main Phase 2 and ended his turn.
Garcia activated Dark Hole next turn, destroying Gorz, the Token, and the Fulhelmknight! Then he Normal Summoned Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North and activated its effect to Special Summon Blackwing – Bora the Spear from his Graveyard. He Tuned Bora with Blizzard to Synchro Summon Goyo Guardian, then used Monster Reborn to Special Summon Gorz from Antillan’s Graveyard. Goyo Guardian and Gorz attacked directly, wiping out Antillan’s remaining 4600 Life Points.
Some poor draws for Antillan allow Garcia to defeat him quickly in Duel 3!
Mark Garcia is guaranteed a spot in the Top 32 with Blackwings thanks to his 9-1 record, while Juan Antillan is still left with a good chance of making it there with X-Sabers.
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)
When Garcia had Bora and Catastor against Antillan’s face-up Emmersblade and Set Gottoms’ Emergency Call, Antillan didn’t respond to Catastor’s attack by activating Call. Instead, he took a direct attack from Bora, and was forced to hope that he could Summon Pashuul next turn to get an X-Saber on the field for Call’s activation. If he’d activated Call earlier, he would’ve taken less damage and made safer plays the following turn.
Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
In Duel 1, Antillan rammed 2 copies of XX-Saber Emmersblade into Garcia’s Attack Position Blackwing – Bora the Spear before Special Summoning XX-Saber Boggart Knight from his Deck. This was a great play for Antillan, because it immediately gave him use of his Gottoms’ Emergency Call.
