Beau Sherbok traveled here this weekend from Niagara, while Michael is a native of nearby Brantford, Ontario.  While Sherbok is running Blackwings, his opponent Boire is playing a Dragon Deck using Delta Flyer to smooth out his Synchro Summons and Dandylion to make his Debris Dragons even better while fueling the effects of Scrap Dragon and Trident Dragion.  Boire’s Deck is really good at Summoning big monsters, and it’s especially good at Synchro Summoning – but if he overreaches here, he could lose out to cards like Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame and Icarus Attack.  This one was anybody’s game.

Sherbok opened the Match with a Set monster and 2 Set Spell or Trap Cards.

Bore opened with Sangan, Cold Wave, Foolish Burial, Mystical Space Typhoon, Gold Sarcophagus, and Bottomless Trap Hole.  “Not ideal,” he remarked, but he activated Sarcophagus to get Future Fusion from his Deck, removing it so he could add it to his hand 2 turns later.  He Set Sangan, Set Bottomless, and Set Mystical Space Typhoon.

Sherbok drew for his turn, and Flip Summoned Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor.  He activated Delta Crow – Anti Reverse, Boire Chained Mystical Space Typhoon, and Sherbok Chained Icarus Attack, Tributing his Vayu to destroy Sangan and the Bottomless Trap Hole he would’ve destroyed with Delta Crow.  Sangan got Boire Debris Dragon form his Deck.  Sherbok pressed on, Summoning Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame and Special Summoning Blackwing – Bora the Spear.  He attacked with both, then Set a Spell or Trap.

Boire drew Dandylion, now holding Foolish Burial, Debris Dragon, and Cold Wave.  He activated Cold Wave and Set Dandylion, one turn away from claiming his Future Fusion.

Sherbok passed.

Boire drew Dark Hole, and got his Future Fusion!  He cleared the field with Dark Hole and Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens.  He then Normal Summoned Debris Dragon, tried to Special Summon Dandylion, but lost it to D.D. Crow.  He Tuned Debris Dragon to his 2 Fluff Tokens, Synchro Summoned Iron Chain Dragon (4+1+1=6), and attacked, sending 2 Mystical Space Typhoons and Kalut to the Graveyard from Sherbok’s Deck with Iron Chain’s effect.  He activated Future Fusion in Main Phase 2, sending Genesis Dragon, Delta Flyer, Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon (REDMD), and 2 Red-Eyes Wyvern from his Deck to his Graveyard declaring Five-Headed Dragon for Future Fusion’s effect.

Sherbok drew to 2 cards in hand with 1 card Set.  He Set another Spell or Trap Card.

Boire attacked again with Iron Chain Dragon, this time sending Bottomless Trap Hole, another Kalut, and Mirror Force to the Graveyard.  The Duel stood at 3000 Life Points to 3500, with Boire in the lead.  Bore ended, without using a Wyvern.

Sherbok activated Dark Eruption, took back Kalut, and Summoned it.

Boire Summoned Five-Headed Dragon with Future Fusion next turn!  He attacked, but Sherbok Tributed Kalut for Icarus Attack, destroying Five-Headed and Iron Chain.  In the End Phase, Boire removed Red-Eyes Wyvern to Special Summon Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon.

Sherbok Set another Spell or Trap.

Boire drew Trap Stun, Setting it and then attacking with REDMD for 2800 Battle Damage.  He didn’t activate its effect.

Sherbok destroyed the Dragon next turn with Dark Hole.

Boire activated Monster Reborn, targeted REDMD, and Special Summoned it – he attacked to win the Duel moments later!

A bit of a rough start for Michael Boire, but Dark Hole gave him the leverage he needed to take the first Duel with Debris Dragon and Future Fusion.  Both Duelists did a bit of Side Decking before settling in for Duel 2.

Sherbok began with Pot of Duality, choosing between Icarus Attack, Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind, and Dark Eruption.  After a long few moments’ thought, he added Dark Eruption to his hand.

“That makes me terrified,” laughed Boire, wondering why Sherbok wouldn’t take the Gale.

“You should be!” smiled Sherbok, drawing another laugh from Boire.  He Summoned Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame, Set a Spell or Trap and ended.

Boire had Light and Darkness Dragon, Thunder King Rai-Oh, Giant Trunade, Mystical Space Typhoon, Red-Eyes Wyvern, and Gold Sarcophagus.  He activated Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying Sherbok’s Solemn Warning.  He followed up with Gold Sarcophagus, once again removing Future Fusion from his Deck.  He Normal Summoned Red-Eyes Wyvern, attacked, and when Sherbok activated Blackwing – Kalut the Moonshadow’s effect he wasn’t surprised: Wyvern went down, Shura Special Summoned Gale from Sherbok’s Deck, and Bore Set Giant Trunade.

Sherbok Synchro Summoned Black Rose Dragon next turn (4+3=7), destroying both itself and Giant Trunade.  He Special Summoned Dark Armed Dragon, attacked for 2800 Battle Damage, and Set a Spell or Trap.

Boire drew, now holding Light and Darkness Dragon, Thunder King Rai-Oh, and Debris Dragon.  He Set Debris.

Sherbok took it next turn with Mind Control, Flip Summoned it, and Normal Summoned Blackwing – Blizzard the far North.  He Special Summoned Shura and took back his Kalut with Dark Eruption.  He attacked with Dark Armed Dragon, attacked with Blizzard, and activated Kalut’s effect to deal enough damage to win the Duel!

Beau Sherbok takes the second Duel, sending us to Duel 3 to decide the Match!  Dragons or Blackwings – one Deck would move on undefeated!  Both Duelists shook hands before starting the last Duel.

Boire had Sangan, Gold Sarcophagus, Dimensional Prison, Starlight Road, Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, and Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter. He activated Gold Sarcophagus again, removing Future Fusion: for Sherbok, the clock was ticking.  Boire Set Ryko, Starlight Road, and Prison.

Sherbok activated Mind Control!  “It’s a Ryko, isn’t it?”  Yes it was, and Sherbok Flip Summoned it to destroy Starlight Road, sending Caius the Shadow Monarch, Dark Hole, and Blackwing – Blizzard the far North to the Graveyard.  He Summoned Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame, attacked, and Shura was lost to Dimensional Prison.  Sherbok Set 2 Spell or Trap Cards.

Boire drew Debris Dragon.  He Set Sangan and ended, safe with Gorz in his hand.  He’d get Future Fusion next turn.

Sherbok Normal Summoned Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn, and attacked Ryko to destroy it.

Boire drew Red-Eyes Wyvern, got his Future Fusion, and had Sangan Set with Wyvern, Debris Dragon, Future Fusion, and Gorz in hand.  Sherbok had 3 cards on the field, and 2 in hand.  Boire Normal Summoned Debris Dragon, but instead of going for Black Rose Dragon with Sangan, he Special Summoned Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter and Tuned it to Debris for Iron Chain Dragon.  He lost it to Bottomless Trap Hole.  He activated Future Fusion in Main Phase 2, sending Delta Flyer, Genesis Dragon, Koa’ki Meiru Dragon, Wyvern, and Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon to the Graveyard.  Future Fusion would now keep him from Summoning Gorz.

Play was to Sherbok, who Tributed his first Sirocco for another.  That let him Special Summon Dark Armed Dragon, and he removed Blizzard and Caius the Shadow Monarch from his Graveyard, destroying Sangan and Future Fusion.  Sangan got Boire Dandylion.  Sirocco attcked, and when Dark Armed Dragon followed suit Boire Summoned Gorz the Emissary of Darkness and a 2800 ATK Emissary of Darkness Token.  Sherbok destroyed the Token by removing his DARK monster with Dark Armed Dragon in Main Phase 2, and Set another Spell or Trap.

Boire drew and Set Divine Wrath, then attacked into Sirocco – Sherbok Tributed it for Icarus Attack, destroying Gorz and Divine Wrath.  Boire Set Dandylion, barely holding onto his place in this Match.

Sherbok passed.

Boire drew Monster Reborn!  He activated it, targeted REDMD, and Special Summoned it.  He activated its effect, brought back Genesis Dragon, and then discarded Wyvern to get Delta Flyer back to his hand with Genesis.   He Summoned Delta Flyer, Flip Summoned Dandylion, and added a Level to Dandylion.  Boire had wanted to Synchro Summon Scrap Dragon, but in the pressure of the Duel he didn’t realize that he’d misplayed: he was 1 Level short of the Synchro Summon he wanted.  With Dandylion now boosted to Level 4 and his decisions made, all he could do was Synchro Summon Black Rose Dragon (4+3=7).   He Special Summoned his 2 Fluff Tokens and ended.

Sherbok attacked Genesis Dragon with Dark Armed Dragon, then removed Sirocco to destroy REDMD.  He Set a monster and ended.

Boire drew Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter.  He Set it, turned Black Rose Dragon to Defense Position, and ended.

Sherbok Summoned Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame, Flip Summoned Blizzard, and Synchro Summoned Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier (4+2=6).  He discarded Dark Eruption to bounce away Ryko, removed Shura and Blizzard to destroy the 2 Fluff Tokens, and directly with Brionac and Dark Armed Dragon to win the Match!

An unfortunate mistake on Michael Boire’s behalf gives Beau Sherbok the opening he needs, and Sherbok moves on with a 3-0 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)
Boire had a great shot at the win in Duel 3, but miscounting the Levels for that Synchro Summon really cost him.  Bringing back REDMD with Monster Reborn was the right move. With Dandylion on the field though, using REDMD to Special Summon Delta Flyer and tuning it to Dandylion to Synchro Summon Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier would have led to victory.  Brionac would let Boire discard his last card, the Wyvern, to bounce away Dark Armed Dragon.  Since Sherbok couldn’t Special Summon Dark Armed again, Boire would’ve won a turn later.

Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
In Duel 3, Sherbok destroyed Boire’s Future Fusion with Dark Armed Dragon before attacking with his monsters. By clearing Boire’s field, Sherbok gave Boire the option of Special Summoning Gorz the Emissary of Darkness from his hand! If Sherbok had waited until Main Phase 2 to destroy Boire’s Future Fusion with Dark Armed Dragon, Boire would have been unable to Special Summon Gorz that turn.

P.J. Tierney (Duelist from across The Pond)
Sherbock hit Boire with Delta Crow – Anti Reverse in Duel 1, attempting to destroy Boire’s Set Mystical Space Typhoon and Bottomless Trap Hole. Boire Chained the Typhoon, targeting Sherbock’s other card, Icarus Attack. Sherbock wouldn’t have wanted to use his Icarus Attack so early in the Duel, but as it was going to be destroyed anyway he wasn’t going to get a second chance. In the end, Boire came out on top. While both players lost 3 cards in the Chain (Sherbock Tributed Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor for Icarus), Boire’s Sangan gave him a free Debris Dragon. This turn of events highlights the importance of Chaining cards whenever they’re about to be destroyed. If you just let them go, you’ll never get a chance to force your opponent to play something they didn’t want to so soon, like Sherbock had to here.

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