Both Edgar Lopez and Michael Balan are currently 6-2 in the tournament. Lopez lost a Round 8 Feature Match yesterday against X-Sabers after time was called. Will he be able to reverse his luck from yesterday and triumph in his Round 9 Feature Match over Balan’s Blackwings today?

Lopez won the dice roll and chose to go first. He opened up with Bottomless Trap Hole, Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, Scrap Chimera, Mystical Space Typhoon, and 2 copies of Scrap Beast. He Set Ryko and Mystical Space Typhoon, ending his turn.

Balan Set a monster and ended his turn.

Lopez drew another copy of Ryko and then flipped his Ryko to destroy Balan’s Set Ryko on his next turn, sending Bottomless Trap Hole, Torrential Tribute, and Mystical Space Typhoon from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard. Then he Normal Summoned Scrap Beast and Tuned it with Ryko to Synchro Summon Goyo Guardian. Goyo attacked directly and Balan took the hit.

Balan activated Black Whirlwind next turn and then Summoned Sirocco to the field, but Lopez flipped Bottomless Trap Hole to remove it from play.

Lopez Summoned Scrap Chimera next turn and activated its effect to Special Summon Scrap Beast in Attack Position. Then he attacked directly with Scrap Beast, Scrap Chimera, and Goyo Guardian to wipe out the rest of Balan’s Life Points!

Lopez scores a quick Duel 1 victory over Balan with his Scrap Deck!

Balan started off Duel 2 by activating Pot of Duality and revealing Mystical Space Typhoon, Solemn Warning, and Bottomless Trap Hole from the top of his Deck. He added Solemn Warning to his hand and shuffled the other 2 cards back into his Deck. Then he Summoned Blackwing – Bora the Spear and Set 4 cards to his back row.

Lopez opened up with Divine Wrath, Mystical Space Typhoon, Scrap Goblin, 2 copies of Dimensional Prison, and Scrapyard. He activated Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Balan’s Set Book of Moon, then Set Scrap Goblin and Divine Wrath.

Balan Special Summoned Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind next turn. Then he attacked Lopez’s Set Scrap Goblin with Bore, inflicted 1200 points of damage to Lopez, and attacked the Goblin again with Gale. It was destroyed at the end of the Battle Phase.

Lopez drew and Set another Scrap Goblin next turn. He Set Dimensional Prison and ended his turn.

Balan attacked the Set Scrap Goblin with Bora next turn, but Lopez activated Dimensional Prison to remove it from the game. Then Gale attacked and flipped it face-up.

Lopez Summoned Scrap Beast next turn, but  lost it to Bottomless Trap Hole. Then he Set a Dimensional Prison and ended his turn.

Balan activated Gale’s effect to halve the ATK and DEF of Scrap Goblin, but Lopez activated Divine Wrath by discarding Scrapyard to negate Gale’s effect and destroy it. Then Balan Normal Summoned Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn and activated Monster Reborn to Special Summon Gale back from the Graveyard. Sirocco attacked the face-up Scrap Goblin, but Lopez used Dimensional Prison to remove Sirocco from the game. Then Balan attacked it with Gale and it was destroyed at the end of the Battle Phase.

Lopez drew and Set a Torrential Tribute.

Balan drew and Set a card before attacking with Gale.

Lopez drew Scrap Beast and Summoned it, but lost his monster when Balan flipped Solemn Warning and gave up 2000 Life Points.

Balan used Pot of Duality next turn, revealing Dark Hole, Black Whirlwind, and Dark Armed Dragon from the top of his Deck. He added Black Whirlwind to his hand and shuffled the other 2 cards back into his Deck. Then Gale attacked directly, inflicting 1300 points of damage to Lopez’s Life Points. Lopez had 4200 Life Points remaining, while Balan had 6000.

Lopez drew a Bottomless Trap Hole and Set it.

Balan scored another direct attack with Gale and Set a back row.

Lopez drew Scrap Golem and passed.

Balan attacked directly with Gale again before ending his turn.

Lopez drew Scrap Golem and Set it next turn.

Balan activated Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Lopez’s Set Bottomless Trap Hole. Then he attacked the Set Scrap Goblin with Gale, flipping it face-up, and halving its stats in Main Phase 2. Balan Set a 4th card to his back row and ended his turn.

Lopez Tributed Scrap Goblin to Summon Scrap Golem next turn and then activated its effect, but Balan flipped Royal Oppression and paid 800 Life Points to negate the effect and destroy the Golem.

Balan Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh next turn, but Lopez flipped Torrential Tribute to clear the field, destroying it and Gale.

Lopez drew and passed with a clear field.

Balan activated Black Whirlwind next turn and then Normal Summoned Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow. He searched his Deck for Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North with the effect of Black Whirlwind and added it to his hand. Kalut attacked directly, dropping Lopez down to 200 Life Points, and Lopez Special Summoned Tragoedia from his hand.

Lopez Normal Summoned Scrap Chimera next turn, but didn’t activate its effect. Balan used Bottomless Trap Hole to remove it from the game. When Lopez tried to use Monster Reborn, Balan paid 800 Life Points to negate it, and Lopez conceded.

Both players dipped into their Side Decks and the Match moved on to Duel 3!

Lopez chose to go first and opened up with Call of the Haunted, Divine Wrath, Scrap Golem, Scrapyard, Tragoedia, and Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter. He Set Ryko and Divine Wrath, ending his turn.

Balan activated Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy the Set Divine Wrath. Then he Normal Summoned Sirocco and Special Summoned Bora. He activated Sirocco’s effect to boost Bora to 3700 ATK, then attacked over Ryko with Bora, inflicting 3600 points of damage to Lopez’s Life Points. Ryko destroyed Bora and Lopez sent Scrap Goblin, Dandylion, and Mirror Force from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard. Lopez Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens to the field in Defense Position with the effect of his Dandylion. He tried to Special Summon Tragoedia, since he had Scrap Golem in his hand and would be able to use it to steal Sirocco, but he already activated Ryko’s effect so it was too late to Special Summon Tragoedia. Balan ended his turn with 1 back row and 2 cards in his hand.

Lopez drew Torrential Tribute and then Tributed a Fluff Token to Summon Scrap Golem from his hand. He activated its effect to Special Summon Scrap Goblin from his Graveyard and when it hit the field, Balan Tributed Sirocco with Icarus Attack to destroy the Goblin and Golem. Balan Set Torrential Tribute and Call of the Haunted before ending his turn.

Balan Summoned Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North next turn. He activated its effect and Special Summoned Blackwing – Bora the Spear from his Graveyard. Lopez flipped Torrential Tribute to clear the field, destroying the Fluff Token, Bora, and Blizzard. Balan ended his turn with a clear field. Lopez activated Call of the Haunted in the End Phase to Special Summon Scrap Golem.

Lopez drew Scrap Chimera and then activated his Golem’s effect to Special Summon a Goblin from the Graveyard. Then he Synchro Summoned Scrap Dragon by Tuning his Golem with his Goblin, then Normal Summoned Chimera and used its effect to Special Summon the Goblin from his Graveyard. He tuned Scrap Goblin with Scrap Chimera to Synchro Summon Scrap Archfiend, then attacked directly with Scrap Archfiend and Scrap Dragon. Balan dropped down to 2500 Life Points and Lopez ended his turn.

Balan drew to 3 cards in his hand and then activated Monster Reborn to Special Summon Sirocco from his Graveyard in Attack Position. Then he Normal Summoned Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame and activated Sirocco’s effect to boost Shura up to 3800 ATK. Shura attacked Scrap Archfiend, inflicting 1100 points of damage to Lopez’s Life Points. Lopez Special Summoned Tragoedia from his hand and the Scrap Archfiend was destroyed. Balan Special Summoned Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind from his Deck with the effect of Shura. In Main Phase 2, Balan Tuned his Sirocco with gale to Synchro Summon Dark End Dragon! He activated Dark End Dragon’s effect by reducing his Dragon’s ATK to 2100, and sent Scrap Dragon to the Graveyard. Since Scrap Dragon wasn’t destroyed, its effect couldn’t activate! Balan Set a card to his back row before ending his turn.

Lopez activated Scrapyard next turn and searched his Deck for a copy of Scrap Beast to add to his hand. Then he discarded it to take control of Shura with Tragoedia’s effect. Next, he Tributed his Tragoedia to try to Summon Scrap Golem, but Balan flipped Solemn Judgment to negate the Summon! Balan was down to 1250 Life Points. Lopez switched Shura to Defense Position and ended his turn.

Balan activated Dark End’s effect next turn, reducing Dark End Dragon’s Attack Position to 1600 points and attacking directly with it. Lopez’s Life Points dropped down to 1700.

Lopez topdecked Cyber Dragon and Special Summoned it! He used it to attack and destroy Balan’s Dark End Dragon before ending his turn.

Balan activated Allure of Darkness next turn and drew 2 cards before removing Sirocco from his hand. Then he Special Summoned Cyber Dragon, Normal Summoned Shura, and fused his own Cyber Dragon with his opponent’s in order to Summon Chimeratech Fortress Dragon. Chimeratech Fortress Dragon and Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame had more than enough ATK to wipe out Lopez’s remaining 1700 Life Points.

Michael Balan takes a close 2-1 victory with Blackwings over Edgar Lopez’s Scrap Deck, advancing in the tournament with a 7-2 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)
It’s pretty common for Scrap Duelists to play Battle Fader and Gorz to defend themselves and create Tributes for Scrap Golem, but Edgar Lopez showed us the power of a different card that fills the same role: Tragoedia.  Tragoedia’s cool, because not only does it make for easy Tribute Summons, it can let a Scrap Duelist get Scrap Goblin or Scrap Beast to their Graveyard with its effect.  Doing so lets the Scrap Duelist take control of an opponents’ monster.

Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
In Duel 3, Dark End Dragon effectively won Balan the Duel. It allowed him to get rid Lopez’s Scrap Dragon, without triggering its effect. Lopez wasn’t able to Special Summon Scrap Golem back from his Graveyard, and had a tough time recovering as a result.

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