Round 8 Feature Match: Jordan Grant VS Jarel Winston
Astute Duelfans might remember 13 year-old Jordan Grant from his repeated Feature Match wins at his first YCS just weeks ago, at YCS Indianapolis. While he played Frog Monarchs at Indy, he’s here in his second YCS outing piloting Quickdraw Dandwarrior.
His opponent is Jarel Winston, who has 4 Feature Matches to his name but only 1 Feature Match win! Winston is running X-Sabers with Debris Dragon, and like Grant, he’s 6-1 heading into this Round. Winston is a veteran of Championshi-level events, but hasn’t managed to win one yet. Grant is one of the brighest new rising stars in the Dueling universe, and wants this win just as much as Winston.
Winston opened the Match with a hand of XX-Saber Emmersblade, Book of Moon, 2 XX-Saber Fulhelmknight, Mirror Force, and Super-Nimble Mega Hamster. He Set Hamster, Set Mirror Force, and ended.
Grant fired back with a Set monster and a Set Spell or Trap.
Winston drew Monster Reborn and Set Emmersblade.
Grant Set another Spell or Trap.
Winston drew XX-Saber Boggart Knight and Flip Summoned XX-Saber Emmersblade. He Normal Summoned XX-Saber Fulhelmknight, Tuned it to Emmersblade, and Synchro Summoned XX-Saber Hyunlei, (3+3=6) targeting both of Grant’s Spell and Trap Cards for destruction: Grant Chained Torrential Tribute, destroying Winston’s Hyunlei and Super-Nimble Mega Hamster, as well as his own Hamster. Hyunlei’s effect then resolved, and destroyed the Torrental and Grant’s Dimensional Prison. Winston ended with 4 cards in hand and 1 Set Spell or Trap Card.
Grant drew to 5 cards in hand. He Normal Summoned Lonefire Blossom, Tributed it to Special Summon another, and then Tributed that to Summon Dandylion in Defense Position. (Lonefire Blossom lets you Tribute any Plant to Special Summon any Plant from your Deck) He Set a Spell or Trap Card and ended his turn.
Winston drew Mystical Space Typhoon, activated it immediately, and destroyed Grant’s Set Pot of Avarice. He Normal Summoned Boggart Knight used its effect to Special Summon his second Fulhelmknight, and attacked Dandylion with the Fulhelmknight to destroy it: Grant Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens, while Winston Special Summoned another Fulhelmknight from his Graveyard! He sent that second Fulhelmknight to attack a Fluff Token, Special Summoned Emmersblade from his Graveyard, and made a direct attack with Boggart Knight for 1900 Battle Damage. He ended with 4 monsters face-up, Mirror Force Set, and a hand of Book of Moon and Monster Reborn.
Grant drew and now had a 4 card hand. He Summoned Debris Dragon, used its effect to Special Summoned Dandylion, and Synchro Summoned Black Rose Dragon (4+3=7) to destroy all of Winston’s cards! The tables had once again turned, and Grant Special Summoned two more Fluff Tokens. Still, he’d need to defend them: Winston was ready with that Monster Reborn, and could Summon multiple Fulhelmknights yet again. Grant activated Pot of Avarice, returning Lonefire Blossom, Dandylion, Debris Dragon, Hamster, and Black Rose from his Graveyard to his Deck to draw 2 cards. (Black Rose Dragon returned to the Extra Deck) He ended his turn by Setting 3 cards to his Spell and Trap Card Zone!
Winston drew Boggart Knight, with Book of Moon and Monster Reborn in hand. He activated Reborn, Special Summoned Fulhelmknight. He attacked, and Grant activated Mirror Force, destroying Fulhelmknight! Winston Summoned Boggart Knight, Set Book of Moon, and lost it in his End Phase to Mystical Space Typhoon.
Next turn, Grant Tributed a Fluff Token for Caius the Shadow Monarch. Caius’ effect removed Boggart Knight from play, which let Grant attack directly for 2400 Battle Damage. He Set another Spell or Trap.
Winston passed.
Grant hit him for another 2400 Battle Damage with Ciaus.
Winston drew and Set X-Saber Airbellum, just trying to stay in the Duel.
Grant examined Winston’s Graveyard for a moment, then activated his Set Dark Hole! He lost his Caius and Fluff Token to destroy Winston’s Airbellum. He then Normal Summoned Super–Nimble Mega Hamster, activated Monster Reborn to bring back Caius: Winston had just 3200 Life Points left, and Grant finished him off with a pair of attacks.
Jordan Grant takes the first Duel over Jarel Winston! Jarel would now have to take 2 back-to-back wins to fight out of this first loss. Both competitors made extensive use of their Side Decks before starting Duel 2.
Winston had Bottomless Trap Hole, Mind Control, X-Saber Airbellum, XX-Saber Faultroll, XX-Saber Darksoul, and Book of Moon. He Set Darksoul and Bottomless.
Grant Set 3 cards to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.
Winston drew Malevolent Catastrophe and Set it.
Grant Set a fourth Spell or Trap Card.
Winston drew Effect Veiler, passing.
Grant Set a monster.
Winston drew Solemn Warning, and activated Mind Control to take Grant’s Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter. He Flip Summoned it, targeted the first Spell or Trap Grant had Set, and destroyed Dimensional Prison. Ryko sent Trap Stun, Giant Trunade, and Enemy Controller to the Graveyard. He followed up, Normal Summoning X-Saber Airbellum, but Grant responded with Trap Hole, destroying it. He Set a third card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone and ended, handing Ryko back.
Grant Set a third Spell or Trap.
Winston drew XX-Saber Emmersblade, adding it to his hand of Book of Moon, Veiler, and Faultroll. He Summoned Emmersblade, attacked Ryko, and Grant activated Book of Moon to turn Ryko face-down! Emmersblade’s attack flipped Ryko over, its Flip Effect activated, and Grant destroyed Winston’s Bottomless Trap Hole, sending Lonefire Blossom, Dark Hole, and Starlight Road to the Graveyard from his Deck.
Grant Set a third Spell or Trap again.
Winston attacked directly with Emmersblade, scoring 1300 Battle Damage.
Grant Set a fourth Spell or Trap.
Winston drew Mystical Space Typhoon, activated it, and destroyed Grant’s freshly-Set Dimensional Prison before making another attack with Emmersblade.
Grant flipped Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying Winston’s Malevolent Catastrophe and leaving Winston with just 1 remaining Spell or Trap card. Grant seemed to do some math, before Normal Summoning Debris Dragon: or at least he tried to, as Winston negated the Summon with Solemn Warning.
Winston was up, and drew X-Saber Pashuul. He attacked with Emmersblade, Grant flipped Mirror Force, and Winston saved his Emmersblade with Book of Moon. He then Flip Summoned Darksoul, Normal Summoned Pashuul, and Synchro Summoned Naturia Beast (3+2=5)! In the End Phase Winston got XX-Saber Fulhelmknight with his Darksoul effect.
Grant drew to 4 cards in hand, with 1 card still Set in his back row. Winston had 4 cards in hand, with Emmersblade face-down and Naturia Beast face-up. Grant started looking through his Extra Deck: he sent his in-hand Quickdraw Synchron to the Graveyard to Special Summon another copy, Normal Summoned Ryko, and Tuned them together to Synchro Summon Nitro Warrior (5+2=7). It attacked Naturia Beast, destroying it, and Grant activated his last card in Main Phase 2: Pot of Avarice. He sent 2 Quickdraw Synchron, Lonefire Blossom, Ryko, and Debris Dragon back to his Deck to draw 2 cards.
Winston drew XX-Saber Fulhelmknight. He had 2 Fulhelmknights, Effect Veiler, Faultroll, and Monster Reborn, with Emmersblade still Set. The Duel was tied at 5400 Life Points, but Winston had some big Synchro plays at his disposal. He Flip Summoned XX-Saber Emmersblade, Normal Summoned XX-Saber Fulhelmknight, and Grant activated Gottoms’ Emergency Call, Special Summoning Winston’s Darksoul and Airbellum from his Graveyard and leaving him with nothing but Pashuul. Winston Special Summoned Pashuul with Faultroll’s effect, tuned it to Emmersblade, and Synchro Summoned Ally of Justice Catastor (3+2=5). Fulhelmknight attacked Darksoul, Special Summoning it. Faultroll attacked Airbellum for 800 damage, and Catastor attacked to destroy Nitro Warrior with its effect. Winston then Tuned Fulhelmknight to Faultroll in Main Phase 2, Synchro Summoned XX-Saber Gottoms (6+3=9), and Tributed Gottoms and Darksoul to make Grant discard his last 2 cards: Hamster and Lonefire Blossom. Winston finished out by using Monster Reborn to bring back Naturia Beast, and got Fulhelmknight from his Deck with Darksoul.
Grant drew Pot of Avarice, activated it, and Naturia Beast negated it. It was all over a turn later, as Winston attacked with Catastor, Naturia Beast, and Fulhelmknight to win the Duel!
Two hard-fought Duels leave these Duelists with one Duel-win apiece, and everything rested on this next Duel. Both competitors had 6-1 records, and would likely need an 8-1 record at the end of the day to have a guaranteed seat in the Top 16. A win here would keep the dream alive, while the defeated Duelist would have to win their next Round and have great tiebreakers to make it.
Grant opened with Lonefire Blossom, and Tributed it to Special Summon Tytannial, Princess of Camellias from his Deck. He Set 3 Spell or Trap Cards.
Winston had Effect Veiler, Mystical Space Typhoon, Debris Dragon, Torrential Tribute, XX-Saber Fulhelmknight, and XX-Saber Emmersblade. He activated Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying Grant’s Set Monster Reborn. He Set Emmersblade and Torrential Tribute.
Grant activated his own Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying Torrential. He Normal Summoned Debris Dragon, activated its effect, and Winston shut him down by Chaining Effect Veiler. Tytannial attacked Emmersblade, Winston Special Summoned XX-Saber Darksoul in Defense Position with Emmersblade’s effect, and Grant attacked it with Debris Dragon. Grant ended with 1 Spell or Trap Card still Set. Winston got Boggart Knight with Darksoul’s effect.
Winston drew Mind Control. He had Fulhelmknight, Debris Dragon, and Boggart Knight to Grant’s 2 in-hand cards, Set Spell or Trap, Debris Dragon, and Tytannial. He Summoned Debris Dragon, Special Summoned Darksoul, and Synchro Summoned Black Rose Dragon (4+3=7). He activated its effect, and Grant immediately Chained Starlight Road! He Special Summoned Stardust Dragon and Winston ended his turn, getting XX-Saber Faultroll from his Deck.
Grant attacked with Stardust Dragon as time was called. Winston took 2500 Battle Damage from Stardust, 2800 from Tytannial, and 1000 from Debris Dragon. He dropped to 1700 Life Points. Five turns remained.
Winston drew Dust Tornado. He Normal Summoned XX-Saber Boggart Knight, Special Summoned Fulhelmkngiht, and Special Summoned Faultroll. He Special Summoned Darksoul with Faultroll’s effect, Tuned Fulhelmknight and Faultroll together, and Synchro Summoned XX-Saber Gottoms (6+3=9). He Tributed Darksoul for Gottoms’ effect, and Grant discarded Quickdraw Synchron. He sent Boggart Knight to attack Debris Dragon, attacked Stardust with Gottoms, and Set his last card to his back row. He ended, getting Fulhelmknight from his Deck with Darksoul.
Grant drew to 3 cards, with Tytannial still on the field. He didn’t have nearly as many cards as Winston, but he had a huge lead in Life Points. He attacked Boggart Knight with Tytannial, and Winston dropped to 800 Life Points. Things looked grim for Grant, but he moved to Main Phase 2, Tributed his Tytannial, Summoned Caius the Shadow Monarch, and targeted it with its own effect to remove it and deal the last 1000 damage to win the Duel and the Match!
Thirteen year-old Jordan Grant brings the final Duel to a sudden screeching halt, winning what may be the most exciting Match of the day! One more win and he’d be a lock for Day 2.
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)
The turning point in the third Duel was Winston’s Black Rose Dragon, which triggered Grant’s Starlight Road. Winston should have been more careful: he knew that Grant had felt comfortable Setting Monster Reborn: a really strange play that should immediately say that one of the cards Set is Starlight. If Winston had Synchro Summoned Scrap Archfiend instead of Black Rose, he could have attacked Grant’s Debris Dragon, then used Gottoms next turn to destroy Tytannial.
Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
Thanks to some rapid Special Summoning from XX-Saber Fulhelmknight, Winston was able to bring 4 X-Sabers onto the field in a single turn! But just when it looked like Winston was going to win, Grant wiped out all of his cards with Black Rose Dragon! Before building a huge field, it’s important to make sure you have some defense from your opponent’s big plays. Solemn Warning and Starlight Road, for example, will stop monsters like Black Rose Dragon and Judgment Dragon from clearing your field. If Winston had Set his Book of Moon on the turn before Grant Summoned Debris Dragon, he could have used it to protect his field by preventing Grant from Synchro Summoning Black Rose Dragon.
P.J. Tierney (Duelist from across The Pond)
In Grant’s Deck Debris Dragon can Summon Dandylion to Synchro Summon Black Rose Dragon and destroy everything. In Winston’s, he uses Debris Dragon to Special Summon XX-Saber Darksoul, doing the same thing. The difference between these 2 is that while Grant gets 2 Fluff Tokens to use for Synchro Summons later on, Winston can add any “X-Saber” monster from his Deck to his hand in the End Phase. Winston can also Special Summon X-Saber Pashuul if he needed more than 1 Tuner to set him up for more Synchro Summons in a turn, and having an extra “X-Saber” on the field also makes Special Summoning XX-Saber Faultroll (the Deck’s trump card) a lot easier.
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