Public Event Raffle Playoffs Finals: Zach Olmer Versus Rick Gratton
At every YCS, 4 Duelists are chosen by raffle out of all the Duelists who played in Public Events for a chance to win a Super Rare set of the Darklord Prize Cards. To claim them, they must win a 4-player single elimination tournament. In the finals, Zach Olmer was playing Dragons, while Rick Gratton was playing Quickdraw: the winner of this Match would walk away from this table with a set of the Darklord Prize Cards. Neither Duelist was wasting time, and the Match started immediately!
Olmer opened the Match with a hand of 2 Masked Dragon, Vice Dragon, Pot of Duality, Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon (REDMD), and Mystical Space Typhoon. Pot of Duality let him choose between Burial, Book of Moon, and REDMD, and he chose Book. “This is going to be different!” laughed Gratton, good-naturedly. Olmer Set Masked Dragon, Mystical Space Typhoon, and Book.
Gratton Set a monster, then Set a card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone: it was Book of Moon, and it was destroyed by Mystical Space Typhoon in the End Phase.
Olmer drew Exploder Dragon. He Flip Summoned Masked Dragon, attacked into Snowman Eater, and the Snowman’s effect destroyed his Dragon. He Set Exploder.
Gratton discarded Dandylion to Special Summon Quickdraw Synchron, and Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens with Dandylion’s effect. Olmer flipped Book of Moon to flip Quickdraw face-down, and Gratton Set a Spell or Trap.
Olmer Normal Summoned Masked Dragon, removed it to Special Summon REDMD, and Special Summoned a Masked Dragon back from his Graveyard with REDMD’s ability. REDMD attacked Quickdraw, the attack was blocked with Book of Moon, and Masked Dragon destroyed a Fluff Token.
Gratton Flip Summoned Quickdraw Synchron and Tuned it to Snowman Eater for Junk Destroyer: Solemn Warning negated the Summon, but Gratton followed up with Dark Hole to clear the field. He Set a monster with 1 card left in-hand.
Olmer drew to 2 cards in hand, and Set 1 to his back row.
Gratton Flip Summoned Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, sending Book of Moon, Mystical Space Typhoon, and Solemn Judgment to his Graveyard to destroy Olmer’s Set Trap Stun. Ryko made a direct attack, and Gratton Set another monster.
Olmer drew Burial from a Different Dimension, holding Vice Dragon. He Summoned Vice Dragon, attacked through Ryko, and ended.
Gratton Summoned Card Trooper, sent 3 cards to his Graveyard to power it up to 1900 ATK (including Spore), and attacked to destroy Vice Dragon.
Olmer drew Pot of Duality. He activated it, revealing 2 Bottomless Trap Hole and Genesis Dragon: he took a Bottomless, Set it, and Set Burial.
Gratton boosted Card Trooper up to 1900 ATK again, and attacked for 1900 Battle Damage. Olmer was down to 2500 Life Points, and Gratton ended.
Olmer drew Gold Sarcophagus: he activated it, removing Red-Eyes Wyvern from his Deck to claim it 2 turns later. He didn’t have to wait that long, though! He activated Burial from a Different Dimension to get Wyvern to his Graveyard, removed it, and Special Summoned REDMD.
But Gratton had Snowman Eater Set! He Flip Summoned it to destroy REDMD, Summoned Sangan, and attacked with everything to end the Duel!
Rick Gratton was just 1 Duel away from winning a set of the Darklord Prize Cards! Zach Olmer would need to win 2 Duels back-to-back to triumph and take home the Darklords.
Olmer started off with a hand of Red-Eyes Wyvern, REDMD, Masked Dragon, Rivalry of Warlords, Burst Breath, and Book of Moon. He Set 3 Spell or Trap Cards and Summoned Wyvern.
Gratton Set a monster, then Set a card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.
Olmer drew Prime Material Dragon, removed Wyvern for REDMD, and used REDMD’s effect to Special Summon Prime Material Dragon. Prime Material attacked into Snowman Eater, Olmer discarded Masked Dragon to negate Snowman Eater’s effect, and REDMD made a direct attack.
Gratton Summoned Debris Dragon, Special Summoned Snowman Eater, and Olmer responded to its successful Summon with Rivalry of Warlords. Snowman Eater went back to the Graveyard and Gratton Set 2 cards to his back row.
Olmer Special Summoned Masked Dragon in Defense Position with REDMD, attacked into Dimensional Prison with Prime Material Dragon, and saved his Dragon with Book of Moon. REDMD attacked Debris Dragon.
Gratton Set a mosnter and 2 Spell or Trap Cards.
Olmer Flip Summoned Prime Material Dragon, Gratton flipped Bottomless Trap Hole, and Olmer Chained Material Dragon’s effect, discarding Vice Dragon. Gratton Chained Effect Veiler! Prime Material was removed by Bottomless. When Olmer activated REDMD’s effect, Gratton blasted it with Solemn Warning. He shifted Masked Dragon to Attack Position, attacked, and destroyed Gratton’s Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter. Ryko destroyed Rivalry of Warlords in turn.
Gratton Set a monster.
Olmer pulled Nobleman of Crossout off the top of his Deck, activated it, removed Super-Nimble Mega Hamster from the game, and attacked to win the Duel with Masked Dragon!
Zach Olmer evens the score, taking us to 1 more Duel here today! Could Dragons reign victorious over Quickdraw?
Gratton started Duel 3 by discarding Dandylion to Special Summon Quickdraw Synchron. He Special Summoned his 2 Fluff Tokens, Tuned 1 of them to Quickdraw, and Synchro Summoned Drill Warrior. He then discarded Debris Dragon to remove Drill Warrior from the field with its effect, and Set a Spell or Trap.
Olmer had a hand of Pot of Duality, Book of Moon, Bottomless Trap Hole, Rivalry of Warlords, Delta Flyer, and Dread Dragon. He activated Duality, revealing Solemn Warning, Red-Eyes Wyvern, and Burial from a Different Dimension: he added Warning to his hand. Olmer Set 4 cards to his back row, Normal Summoned Dread Dragon, and ended.
Gratton drew for his turn, and Olmer flipped Rivalry of Warlords in his Draw Phase, keeping Drill Warrior from returning to the field! Gratton Set a second card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone, then Set a monster.
Olmer drew Gold Sarcophagus. He activated it, removed Future Fusion from his Deck, and would add it to his hand 2 turns from now. He Normal Summoned Delta Flyer, attacked, and ran into Debris Dragon: Rivalry of Warlords sent Debris Dragon to the Graveyard, and Dread Dragon destroyed the Fluff Token.
Gratton Set a monster.
Olmer drew Exploder Dragon, Summoned it, and activated Delta Flyer’s effect to bump up Exploder Dragon to Level 4. He Tuned them together for Exploder Dragonwing, and when Gratton tried to remove Dragonwing with Bottomless Trap Hole, Olmer Chained Book of Moon to turn it face-down. Dread Dragon attacked into Gratton’s Super-Nimble Mega Hamster, and when its effect activated Olmer Chained Solemn Warning to negate it and destroy the Hamster!
Gratton Set a Spell or Trap Card.
Olmer drew another Rivalry, and claimed his Future Fusion. He shifted Dread Dragon to Defense Position, Flip Summoned Exploder Dragonwing, and made a direct attack with it! Gratton was down to 5600 Life Points. In Main Phase 2 Olmer activated Future Fusion, sent Red-Eyes Wyvern, Prime Material Dragon, REDMD, and Totem Dragon to his Graveyard, and removed Wyvern in his End Phase to bring out REDMD.
Gratton Set a monster.
Olmer drew Burst Breath. He activated REDMD’s effect to Special Summon Prime Material Dragon, Tuned it to Dread Dragon, and Synchro Summoned Stardust Dragon! Exploder Dragonwing attacked, Gratton flipped Stardust face-down with Book of Moon, and Dragonwing hit Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter. Ryko destroyed Rivarly, and REDMD made a direct attack. Gratton now had just 2800 Life Points left. Olmer Set 2 Spell or Trap Cards.
Gratton activated Foolish Burial, sending Dandylion to his Graveyard to Special Summon 2 Fluff Tokens. He Set a monster.
Future Fusion’s effect kicked in, and Olmer Summoned Five-Headed Dragon! He Flip Summoned Stardust Dragon, attacked Gratton’s Set monster with Exploder Dragonwing, and Gratton activated Book of Moon to turn Stardust Dragon face-down in response. Dragonwing hit Ryko, Ryko destroyed Future Fusion, and Five-Headed Dragon was lost! But Olmer Tributed Exploder Dragonwing for Burst Breath; destroyed the remaining Fluff Tokens, and made the Match-ending attack with REDMD!
Zach Olmer wins a set of the Darklord Prize Cards with Dragons!
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)
If you play a Deck that runs just a single Monster-Type (like Olmer’s Dragons), Rivalry of Warlords can give you a big advantage against Decks that use a variety of monster Types. Keep it in your Side Deck, and you can bring it in against Quickdraw, Gladiator Beasts, Synchro Dog, and lots of other popular strategies.
Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
Olmer was able to dominate Duel 2 by getting Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon and Prime Material Dragon onto the field at the same time. It’s tough to combat these 2 monsters together, since Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon Special Summons another Dragon each turn, and Prime Material Dragon protects it. When facing a Dragon Deck, be prepared to break through this field in case your opponent manages to pull it off.
