Both of these Duelists are undefeated here entering into Round 4! Chris Hurayt traveled here this weekend from Las Vegas, and is running a teched out Blackwing Deck, packing cards like Cyber Dragon, Spirit Reaper, and Delta Crow – Anti Reverse. His opponent is Anaheim’s Ervin Villagran, an Anti-Meta Duelist playing monsters like Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo and Doomcaliber Knight. This isn’t one of the matchups Villagran has designed his Deck for, so it may be tricky for him.

Hurayt opened the match with a hand of 2 Blackwing – Kalut the Moonshadow, 2 Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame, 1 Blackwing – Bora the Spear, and Monster Reborn. He Summoned Shura.

Villagran Set a Spell or Trap Card, then activated Pot of Duality to reveal Bottomless Trap Hole, Doomcaliber Knight, and Banisher of the Radiance from the top of his Deck. He added Bottomless to his hand and shuffled the monsters back into his Deck.

Hurayt drew Pot of Duality himself. He activated it, and chose Icarus Attack over Solemn Warning and Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor. He attacked, and lost Shura to Dimensional Prison. He Summoned the second Shura and Set Icarus Attack.

Villagran destroyed Icarus Attack next turn with Mystical Space Typhoon, following up by Summoning Banisher of the Radiance and turning Shura face-down with Book of Moon. Banisher attacked Shura, removed it from the game, and Villagran Set a card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.

Hurayt drew Cyber Dragon. He Summoned Blackwing – Bora the Spear to draw out Villagran’s Bottomless Trap Hole, and succeeded in getting Villagran to activate Bottomless, and then Special Summoned Cyber Dragon to run over Banisher.

Villagran drew to 3 cards in hand, Set a monster, and Set a card to his back row.

Hurayt drew Solemn Judgment. He Normal Summoned Kalut, Set his remaining 2 cards to his back row, and attacked with Kalut. It flipped Villagran’s Set Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo, triggering its effect and destroying Cyber Dragon.

Villagran Summoned King Tiger Wanghu, destroyed Kalut with Fissure, and attacked for 1700 Battle Damage.

Hurayt drew Bottomless Trap Hole. He activated Monster Reborn, Special Summoned Cyber Dragon, and attacked to destroy King Tiger. He Set the Bottomless.

Villagran passed.

Hurayt Summoned his second Kalut, and attacked with both of his monsters to drop Villagran to 3600 Life Points. He Set Delta Crow – Anti Reverse.

Villagran Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh, lost it to Bottomless Trap Hole, and ended his turn, losing his Starlight Road to Delta Crow!

Hurayt drew Icarus Attack, and attacked with Cyber Dragon and Kalut into Villagran’s open field to drop him to 100 Life Points. He Set Icarus Attack.

Villagran drew to 2 cards in hand, then Summoned Doomcaliber Knight to attack Kalut. He Set his last card to his back row.

Hurayt drew Mirror Force, attacked with Cyber Dragon, and when Villagran flipped his own Mirror Force Hurayt had Solemn Judgment to negate it! Cyber Dragon destroyed Doomcaliber Knight, Villagran took a final 200 Battle Damage, and the first Duel was over.

Chris Hurayt guides the Duel from the first turn, grinding away at Ervin Villagran to take the win. Villagran did some serious Side Decking before presenting his Deck for his opponent’s shuffle.

“I couldn’t draw any removal that game,” remarked Villagran.

“Pot of Duality helped me out that game,” noted Hurayt in response. “I opened up with 2 Shura, 2 Kalut… drawing the Cyber Dragon helped, getting it out around the Bottomless. Once I saw the matchup I felt better about my opening hand.” The second Duel drew near. “Good luck to you.”

“Yeah, good luck to you too,” replied Villagran. He would have to re-evaluate his strategy to survive the next 2 Duels.

Villagran activated Pot of Duality, revealing King Tiger Wanghu, Solemn Judgment, and Dark Hole. He added Dark Hole to his hand, shuffling the rest back into his Deck. He Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh and Set 2 cards to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.

Hurayt had Blackwing – Kalut the Moonshadow, Solemn Warning, Solemn Judgment, Icarus Attack, Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame, and Bottomless Trap Hole. He Set Kalut, then Set everything else but his Shura.

Villagran attacked Kalut with Thunder King Rai-Oh, and Hurayt Chained Icarus Attack to Tribute Kalut, destroying Thunder King Rai-Oh and Villagran’s Dimensional Prison. Villagran ended, still with 1 card Set in his Spell and Trap Card Zone.

Hurayt drew Seven Tools of the Bandit. He Summoned Shura, Villagran activated Torrential Tribute, and Shura was destroyed. Hurayt Set Seven Tools.

Villagran activated Mystical Space Typhoon, destroyed Seven Tools, and Summoned Banisher of the Radiance, losing it to Hurayt’s Bottomless Trap Hole. Villagran Set another card to his back row.

Hurayt drew Dark Hole and passed.

Villagran Summoned Banisher of the Radiance and attacked for 1600 Battle Damage.

Hurayt drew Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor. He activated Dark Hole, destroying Banisher, and Normal Summoned Vayu to attack for 800 damage.

Villagran Set a Spell or Trap.

Hurayt drew Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn, attacked with Vayu, and Villagran removed Vayu from the game with Dimensional Prison.

Villagran Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh, attacking for 1900 Battle Damage.

Hurayt drew Bottomless Trap Hole, Summoned Sirocco, and Villagran responded with Solemn Warning. Hurayt negated the Warning with Solemn Judgment, leaving himself at 2250 Life Points while Villagran still had 5200. Sirocco attacked and destroyed Doomcaliber.

Villagran destroyed Sirocco with Smashing Ground and Set a Spell or Trap.

Hurayt drew and activated Pot of Duality, revealing Cyber Dragon, Kalut, and Allure of Darkness. He added Kalut to his hand, then Summoned it to attack into Magic Cylinder: he dropped to 850 Life Points.

Villagran activated Dark Hole, Summoned his last card, and it was Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo! It was small enough to get under Hurayt’s Bottomless Trap Hole, and Hurayt didn’t have enough Life Points to pay for his Set Solemn Warning. Fossil Dyna attacked for victory!

Ervin Villagran steals the second Duel with Magic Cylinder and a lucky Fossil Dyna! Both Duelists made friendly conversation as they Sided for the last Duel.

Hurayt started with a hand of Blackwing – Blizzard the far North, 2 Snowman Eater, Icarus Attack, Snowman Eater, Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn, and Spirit Reaper. He Set Snowman Eater and Icarus.

Villagran Summoned Banisher of the Radiance, attacked into Snowman Eater, and Banisher was destroyed by it. He destroyed Snowman Eater in Main Phase 2 with Fissure and Set 1 card to his back row.

Hurayt drew Giant Trunade. He Summoned Spirit Reaper, attacked, and Villagran destroyed Reaper with Magic Cylinder (Cylinder’s effect targets, forcing Spirit Reaper to destroy itself).

Villagran Summoned Doomcaliber Knight next turn for a quick 1900 Battle Damage, then Set a back row card.

Hurayt Drew Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor, and considered his options. He had Icarus Attack Set, while his opponent controlled Doomcaliber Knight and a Set Spell or Trap. After a moment’s thought he activated Giant Trunade, Summoned Sirocco, and attacked to destroy Doomcaliber. He Set Icarus Attack again.

Villagran destroyed Sirocco with Smashing Ground, summoned another Doomcaliber Knight, and attacked for another 1900 damage.

Hurayt Set Vayu.

Villagran attacked with Doomcaliber Knight, then lost his Doomcaliber and Solemn Warning to Icarus Attack! He Set a Spell or Trap, with 1 card left in his hand.

Hurayt drew, and now had Kalut, Blizzard, and Snowman Eater with Book of Moon Set. He Summoned Kalut and attacked for 1400 damage.

Villagran Special Summoned Cyber Dragon, attacked, and Hurayt let it go, not using Book of Moon, and losing his Kalut instead.

Hurayt drew another Book, and removed Vayu and Sirocco from his Graveyard to Special Summon Blackwing Armed Wing with Vayu’s effect. He lost Armed Wing to Bottomless Trap Hole, but Summoned Blizzard to bring back Kalut and Synchro Summon Magical Android. The Android destroyed Cyber Dragon, and Hurayt Set his second Book.

Villagran tried to destroy Android with Fissure next turn, but Book of Moon turned the Android face-down to save it.

Hurayt drew Pot of Duality, and activated it to choose between Allure of Darkness, Torrential Tribute, and Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame. He added Shura to his hand, Flip Summoned Android, and attacked for 2400 Battle Damage. The Duel stood at 3800 Life Points to 3500, with Hurayt narrowly leading. Hurayt Set Snowman Eater.

Villagran activated another Fissure, and Hurayt blocked the attempt with his second Book of Moon! Villagran reeled, conceded, and revealed his last in-hand card. It was Smashing Ground, which was no use against a field of face-down monsters.

Chris Hurayt takes 2 wins to Villagran’s 1, and moves on 4-0 with his Blackwing Deck!

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)
Magic Cylinder is really becoming a sleeper pick for experienced Duelists. The reason?  Solemn Warning.  If you knock your opponent’s Life Points down below 2000 with Magic Cylinder, they can’t activate Solemn Warning.  And if they play a Warning or 2 early on, Cylinder can win the Duel by decimating their remaining Life Points. 

Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
In Duel 3, Hurayt stopped a Doomcaliber Knight’s attack against his Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor by Tributing Vayu with Icarus Attack and destroying Doomcaliber Knight. Since Hurayt already had a copy of Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn in his Graveyard, he could have let Doomcaliber Knight destroy the Vayu in battle, and then activated its effect in the Graveyard on his next turn in order to force Doomcaliber Knight to Tribute itself to negate it. Since Vayu stays in the Graveyard when its effect is negated, he’d still be able to activate its effect again, removing Vayu and Sirocco from his Graveyard to Special Summon Blackwing Armed Wing.

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