Top 16 Feature Match: Alex Vansant VS Chris Pittao
In the round of 16, Chris Pittao and his Twilight Deck faced off against Alex Vansant and his Machina Gadgets.
Vansant won the dice roll and decided to go first.
Vansant started by Summoning Red Gadget and using its effect to search for Yellow Gadget from his Deck and add it to his hand. He Set three Spell or Trap Cards and ended.
Pittao’s hand consisted of Book of Moon, Mystical Space Typhoon, Mirror Force, Solar Recharge, Card Trooper, and Pot of Duality. He activated Pot of Duality and added Dark Hole to his hand. He activated Mystical Space Typhoon targeting Vansant’s Bottomless Trap Hole. He Summoned Card Trooper, sent three cards off the top of his Deck to the Graveyard, and then attacked straight into Vansant’s Dimensional Prison.
Vansant drew and Normal Summoned Yellow Gadget, searching for Green Gadget from his Deck to his hand. He activated his own Pot of Duality, choosing to add Machina Gearframe to his hand. Yellow and Red Gadget both attacked directly and Vansant passed. “It’s all you captain!”
Pittao drew and ended.
Vansant drew, Summoned Machina Gearframe and after a quick look at the card by Pittao, Vansant searched for and added Machina Fortress from his Deck to his hand. He then Special Summoned Fortress by discarding two Fortresses from his hand. (You can Special Summon Machina Fortress from your hand or Graveyard by discarding 8 or more Levels worth of Machine-Type monsters from your hand. This can include the Fortress itself!) He attacked with Yellow Gadget, but Pittao activated Mirror Force to destroy all of Vansant’s Attack Position monsters..
Pittao drew and said “I have no follow up”, ending his turn.
Vansant drew for his turn, Summoned Green Gadget, and searched for Red Gadget. He then attacked for 1400 damage directly, leaving Pittao at 4100 life points. He Set one more Spell or Trap Card and ended his turn.
Pittao activated Solar Recharge discarding Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter. He drew Pot of Avarice and Pot of Duality and sent 2 cards from the top of his Deck to the Graveyard. He activated Pot of Duality and considered his choices before selecting Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind. He then Normal Summoned Gale and used its effect to halve Green Gadget’s ATK and DEF before declaring an attack. “Let me do the math”, Vansant said, and did some numbers in his head before activating Dimensional Prison. “That’s no good!” Pittao responded before chaining his Book of Moon on Gale to save it by turning it into face-down Defense Position.
Vansant drew and Normal Summoned Red Gadget, looking for Yellow Gadget from his Deck. He then discarded Yellow Gadget and Machina Gearframe to summon Machina Fortress from his Graveyard. He declared an attack with Green Gadget to destroy Gale, then attacked with Fortress, activating Limiter Removal to double the ATK of all his Machine-Type monsters in the Damage Step, bringing Fortress to 5000 ATK and doing more than enough damage to end the Duel!
Alex Vansant wins the first Duel with a massive Machina Fortress and is one step closer to the Quarterfinals!
Pittao decided to go first in Duel 2. He started with a hand of Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, Mystical Space Typhoon, Solemn Warning, Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress, and Celestia, Lightsworn Angel, he drew Caius the Shadow Monarch in his Draw Phase, Set Mystical Space Typhoon and Solemn Warning as well as Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, and ended his turn.
Vansant drew and Summoned Red Gadget but Pittao responded with Solemn Warning, paying 2000 Life Points. Vansant activated Nobleman of Crossout, destroying and removing Ryko from play along with two others from Pittao’s Deck! (Nobleman of Crossout destroys and removes a Set monster from play. If it’s a Flip Effect monster, all copies are removed from both players’ Decks.) He then passed with nothing on his field.
Pittao drew, activated Solar Recharge and drew two cards before sending two more from the deck to the Graveyard. He then Summoned Lyla and attacked for 1700 Damage. He sent three cards from his Deck to the Graveyard in the End Phase due to Lyla’s effect.
Vansant drew and after checking Pittao’s Graveyard, activated Pot of Duality. He chose Solemn Warning over Green Gadget and Dimensional Prison. He then Summoned Card Trooper and activated its effect, sending the top 3 cards of his Deck to the Graveyard to increase Trooper’s ATK to 1900. He then attacked Lyla with Card Trooper to destroy it and deal 200 damage, then Set 3 Spell or Trap Cards before ending his turn.
Pittao drew and activated Mystical Space Typhoon targeting Vansant’s Set Smashing Ground before Summoning Super-Nimble Mega Hamster and attacking Card Trooper. Vansant drew a card for Card Trooper’seffect and Pittao passed.
Vansant drew for his turn and activated another face down Smashing Ground before summoning Spirit Reaper and attacking for 300 damage. Pittao Chained the effect of Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness to the effect of Spirit Reaper, and Vansant chained Solemn Warning to negate it. Vansant discarded Pot of Avarice from Pittao’s hand with the Reaper’s effect and ended his turn.
Pittao drew and Set a monster.
Vansant drew and changed Spirit Reaper to Defense Position.
Pittao drew and activated Pot of Avarice, returning Gorz, Super-Nimble Mega Hamster, Card Trooper, Gale, and Lyla to his Deck and drawing Solar Recharge and Allure of Darkness. He activated Allure, drew two cards, and removed Caius the Shadow Monarch from play before Setting two Spell or Trap Cards and ending his turn. Vansant activated Mystical Space Typhoon in the End Phase destroying Pittao’s Mirror Force.
Vansant drew and passed.
Pittao drew, Set one Spell or Trap Card, and passed.
Vansant drew and Summoned Yellow Gadget, searching for Green Gadget from his Deck, he then attacked into Pittao’s face down Super-Nimble Mega Hamster which didn’t let Pittao Summon anything because he had no more monsters in his Deck to Summon with it.
Pittao drew another Hamster on his turn, Set it and ended.
Vansant drew and shuffled his hand a bit in thought before attacking into the other Hamster with Yellow Gadget. Vansant then Set one Spell or Trap Card.
Pittao drew Chaos Sorcerer and checked his Graveyard before passing back.
Vansant drew and activated Dark Hole to destroy every monster on the field. He then Summoned Green Gadget, added Red Gadget from his Deck to his hand with its effect, and attacked directly, leaving Pittao at 4100 Life Points.
Pittao drew Monster Reborn and checked both Graveyards before activating it, targeting Vansant’s Card Trooper. After a little thought, Vansant allowed it and Card Trooper was Summoned. Pittao then sent Dark Armed Dragon, Caius the Shadow Monarch, and Book of Moon from the top of his Deck to the Graveyard. He attacked over Green Gadget and ended his turn.
Vansant drew to five cards in hand and Special Summoned Cyber Dragon, which was removed from play by Bottomless Trap Hole. He then Special Summoned another Cyber Dragon! He then sent Card Trooper and Cyber Dragon to the Graveyard to Summon Chimeratech Fortress Dragon from his Extra Deck, which attacked for 2000 Damage. (Chimeratech Fortress Dragon is Summoned from the Extra Deck by sending Cyber Dragon and any number of other Machine-Type monsters from either side of the field to the Graveyard. Its ATK is 1000 times the number of monsters sent to the Graveyard.)
Pittao Drew and Summoned Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind, using its effect to halve the ATK of Fortress Dragon then attacking it for 300 damage. Pittao passed.
Vansant drew and activated Pot of Duality which revealed Green Gadget, Yellow Gadget, and Breaker the Magical Warrior. Vansant chose to add Breaker to his hand and shuffled the Gadgets back into his Deck. “I’m a Breaker Taker!” Vansant said, he then Normal Summoned it and Pittao responded with Book of Moon.
Pittao drew, attacked Breaker, and passed.
Vansant Drew and Summoned another Breaker, destroying Pittao’s Set Solar Recharge. “I’m a Breaker drawer!” he then attacked over Gale for 300 damage and Set a Spell or Trap Card before ending.
Pittao drew and passed.
Vansant drew to 2 in hand and pondered a moment before summoning Effect Veiler. He then Synchro Summoned Magical Android (4+1=5) and attacked directly to end the Match!
Alex Vansant advances to the Quarterfinals!
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)
In the first Duel, Pittao let his Card Trooper get removed by Dimensional Prison, but if he’d played Book there, he could have saved Trooper and used its effect to draw a card when it was destroyed later on. Instead, he used Book to save Gale from another Prison later. Naturally, Vansant just destroyed it in battle. Pittao also could’ve used that Book to stop a bigger monster from attacking, like the Machina Fortress that ended the Duel the next turn. Instead, all he blocked was an attack from Green Gadget.
Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
Solemn Warning is a powerful card that can stop a lot more cards than you may realize. Unlike Solemn Judgment, which can only stop inherent Special Summons, or Royal Oppression, which can’t be used in the Damage Step, Solemn Warning is the best of both worlds. You can use Solemn Warning to stop card effects that neither Solemn Judgment nor Royal Oppression would be able to negate. For example, Vansant used Solemn Warning to negate the effect of Gorz the Emissary of Darkness in Duel 2. Solemn Warning is likely to be a popular card in the upcoming months due to the large variety of cards it can negate.
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