Round 1 Feature Match: Robbie Stargel VS Daniel Hazoot
Welcome to our first Round of competition here at YCS Philadelphia! Here in Round 1, we’ll see Philadelphia native Daniel Hazoot Duel against Robbie Stargel, in a Match that pits Hazoot’s Machina Gadgets against Stargel’s MPZ – his Merchant Pot Zombie Deck. Stargel is taking a risk here, playing an updated version of an older strategy and packing it with new additions like King of the Skull Servants.
Stargel opened the day with a hand of Giant Trunade, Pot of Avarice, Lonefire Blossom, Beast of the Pharaoh, King of the Skull Servants, and Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter. He Set Ryko.
Hazoot Summoned Red Gadget, got Yellow Gadget from his Deck, and attacked into Ryko: Stargel sent Dandylion, Card Trooper, and The Lady in Wight to his Graveyard, and he destroyed Red Gadget. He Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens, and Hazoot Set 2 cards to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.
Stargel drew Plaguespreader Zombie. He activated Giant Trunade to clear Hazoot’s back row, then Summoned Lonefire Blossom to Tribute it, Special Summon another from his Deck, then Tributed a Fluff Token to Special Summon Tytannial, Princess of Camellias. Tytannial attacked for 2800 Battle Damage.
Hazoot Set a monster, then Set 3 cards to his back row.
Stargel drew Quickdraw Synchron. He Tributed his second Fluff Token for Lonefire’s effect, Special Summoned Dandylion from his Deck in Defense Position, and Special Summoned Quickdraw Synchron by discarding Plaguespreader Zombie: Hazoot flipped Torrential Tribute, destroying his own Machina Peacekeeper and everything on Stargel’s field. Stargel Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens, and Hazoot added Machina Gearframe to his hand from his Deck. Stargel pressed on: he activated Pot of Avarice to send 2 Lonefire Blossom, Tytannial, Card Trooper, and Quickdraw Synchron back to his Deck: that got him Cold Wave and Magical Merchant. He Set Merchant and ended. That Merchant would be key.
Hazoot Summoned Yellow Gadget, got Green Gadget from his Deck, and attacked into Merchant: its effect sent another Merchant, Debris Dragon, Card Trooper, 2 Quickdraw Synchrons, Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, another Merchant, Mezuki, another Quickdraw, Zombie Master, Necro Gardna, Tytannial, Spore, Dark Armed Dragon, King of the Skull Servants, a regular Skull Servant, another Debris Dragon, Chaos Sorcerer, and Lonefire Blossom to his Graveyard on the way to getting Stargel Pot of Avarice!
Stargel drew another King of the Skull Servants. He checked his Graveyard a moment, then activated Cold Wave. He activated Mezuki’s effect, Special Summoned Zombie Master, discarded Beast of the Pharaoh for its effect, and Special Summoned Plaguespreader Zombie. He Tuned it to Zombie Master to Synchro Summon Splendid Rose. (2+4=6) He then removed Lonefire Blossom to Special Summon Spore from his Graveyard as a Level 4 Tuner, and Tuned it to both Fluff Tokens to Synchro Summon Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier. (4+1+1=6) He discarded a King of the Skull Servants to bounce away Yellow Gadget. He then Normal Summoned his other King of the Skull Servants with 4000 Attack Points! Brionac and the King struck for game!
Stargel has a bit of a tough draw to start, but Magical Merchant sets everything off, and a 4000 ATK King of the Skull Servants brings home the first Duel. Hazoot would have his work cut out for him in the second and third Duels, but now had valuable information about Stargel’s strategy: he might not fall for the same tricks twice.
“That was broken,” remarked Hazoot, taking that first defeat with a smile. He started the second Duel by Summoning Yellow Gadget, getting Green Gadget from his Deck. He Set 3 cards to his back row.
Stargel’s hand was 2 Quickdraw Synchron, Tytannial, Princess of Camellias, Chaos Sorcerer, Magical Merchant, and Dandylion. He Set Merchant.
Hazoot Summoned Green Gadget, got Red Gadget, and attacked with Green Gadget into Magical Merchant. This time it sent Quickdraw Synchron, Tragoedia, and Necro Gardna to the Graveyard, getting Pot of Avarice to Stargel’s hand.
Stargel drew and Summoned Fortune Lady Wind next turn, activating her effect to destroy Hazoot’s Trap Hole. He discarded Dandylion to Special Summon Quickdraw Synchron, Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens, and Tuned Quickdraw to Fortune Lady Wind for Junk Destroyer! (5+3=8) Its effect destroyed Hazoot’s Mirror Force, and Stargel activated Pot of Avarice, trying to send 2 Quickdraw, Tragoedia, Fortune Lady Wind, and Dandylion back to his Deck, but Hazoot Chained Dark Bribe: Stargel drew Snowman Eater. He Summoned Chaos Sorcerer, removing Merchant and Tragoedia from his Graveyard, then discarded Tytannial for another Quickdraw. He Tuned it to a Fluff Token for Drill Warrior (5+1=6), attacked Yellow Gadget with it, and stomped over Green Gadget with Chaos Sorcerer. Junk Destroyer then made a direct attack, and Hazoot was down to 3300 Life Points. In Main Phase 2 Stargel discarded his last card, Snowman Eater, to remove Drill Warrior from play with its ability.
Hazoot Normal Summoned Machina Gearframe, used its effect to get Machina Fortress from his Deck, and discarded Red Gadget and Fortress to Special Summon the Fortress. He then discarded Machina Peacekeeper and another Fortress to Summon the second Fortress! One Fortress attacked to destroy itself and Junk Destroyer. The second Fortress attacked Chaos Sorcerer, and Stargel protected it with Necro Gardna. Gearframe destroyed the last Fluff Token, and Hazoot Set his last card to his back row.
Stargel drew Spore. He Special Summoned Drill Warrior and used its effect to return Dandylion to his hand. He removed Drill Warrior again by discarding Dandylion, then Normal Summoned Spore. He tried to remove Fortress from the game with Chaos Sorcerer’s effect, but Hazoot Chained Book of Moon to turn Fortress face-down. Stargel Tuned Spore to a Fluff Token and Sorcerer and Synchro Summoned Scrap Dragon. (1+1+6=8) He destroyed his Fluff Token and Fortress with Scrap Dragon’s effect, then attacked to destroy Machina Gearframe. Hazoot had 2300 Life Points.
Hazoot drew and Set a card to his back row.
Stargel drew King of the Skull Servants. He brought back Drill Warrior, got back Fortune Lady Wind, and discarded the King to remove Drill Warrior. He Summoned Fortune Lady Wind, destroyed Hazoot’s Starlight Road, and attacked with Scrap Dragon to capture the Match.
Robbie Stargel’s MPZ Deck goes off without a hitch, showing us tricks that ranged from Fortune Lady Wind to a Duel-ending 4000 ATK King of the Skull Servants! Stargel moves on with a 1-0 start to his weekend.
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)
Stargel’s “MPZ” Deck was really cool because it countered 2 of the big trends we’re seeing in Championship-level Dueling: popular cards to eliminate Spells and Traps like Trap Stun and Mystical Space Typhoon and the rampant Solemn Warning. Stargel Set no Trap Cards, so Trap Stun and Mystical Space Typhoon were useless against him. And, since he could Special Summon so many times in a single turn, he used the Life Point costs of his opponents’ Solemn Warnings against them. This showed that with a little insight, you can take advantage of ongoing trends.
Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
Old cards often get forgotten, even when they have a chance to shine in tournaments. Magical Merchant is one of those cards. Magical Merchant has seen a lot of play since its release, but slowly faded out of popularity. With the format slowing down and so many Duelists rushing to get monsters into their Graveyards, it may be time for Magical Merchant to rise back up in competitive play.
P.J. Tierney (Duelist from across The Pond)
For every card in the game there’s a certain card or combo that can make it unbelievably stronger. While King of the Skull Servants may not seem too powerful at first glance, one very full Graveyard can change all of that and cause nightmares for your opponent! Stargel found a way to unlock this card’s potential (thanks to Magical Merchant) and it paid off in this match in spectacular fashion.
