Bobby Barone made the top cut at 3 YCS tournaments, including the one right here in Philadelphia in 2008, and is back today running Gladiator Beasts. But his opponent, Hang Cheong Wu is running an anti-meta Deck full of high ATK Level 4 monsters, which may make this a tough Match for Barone.

Barone opened up with Dark Hole, Gladiator Proving Ground, Dimensional Prison, Test Tiger, and 2 copies of Book of Moon. He activated Gladiator Proving Ground and searched his Deck for Gladiator Beast Laquari to add to his hand. He Summoned it to the field and then Set Book of Moon and Dimensional Prison before ending his turn.

Wu Summoned Doomcaliber Knight and attacked Laquari, but lost his monster to Dimensional Prison. He used Smashing Ground in Main Phase 2 to try to destroy Laquari, but Barone chained Book of Moon to save it. Wu used Nobleman of Crossout next to remove Laquari from the game.

Barone drew Solemn Judgment, Set 2 Spell or Trap Cards, and ended his turn.

Wu activated Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Barone’s Set Solemn Judgment. Then he Summoned D.D. Warrior Lady and attacked directly.

Barone drew Trap Stun, Set it, and ended his turn.

Wu attacked directly again with D.D. Warrior Lady, dropping Barone to 5000 Life Points.

Barone drew Gladiator Beast Murmillo next turn. He Summoned it to the field and then Special Summoned Test Tiger. He Tributed the Tiger to send Murmillo back into his Deck and Special Summon it again, in order to destroy D.D. Warrior Lady with its effect. Then he attacked directly with Murmillo and tagged it out for Laquari at the end of the Battle Phase. He ended his turn.

Wu Set a card to his back row and passed, seemingly frustrated.

Barone drew Seven Tools of the Bandit and then attacked directly with Gladiator Beast Laquari, dropping Wu to 5100 Life Points. He Set Seven Tools in Main Phase 2 and ended his turn.

Wu Set a monster and a Spell or Trap Card.

Barone drew Torrential Tribute next turn. He attacked Wu’s face-down monster with Laquari and when Wu flipped Dimensional Prison, Barone chained Trap Stun! Laquari attacked over Doomcaliber Knight, destroying it, and then tagged out for Gladiator Beast Bestiari to destroy Wu’s Set Torrential Tribute. He Set his own Torrential Tribute and ended his turn.

Wu Set a monster and quickly passed his turn.

Barone drew Mirror Force and attacked the Set monster with Gladiator Beast Bestiari. It was a D.D. Warrior Lady. Wu removed both monsters from the game with his Warrior Lady’s effect.

Wu Set a monster and passed back to Barone.

Barone drew Bottomless Trap Hole and passed his next turn.

Wu flipped his face-down Doomcaliber Knight next turn and Barone activated Torrential Tribute to destroy it. Next, Wu Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh and attacked directly, dropping Barone down to 3000 Life Points.

Barone drew Gladiator Beast Secutor next turn. He Set Mirror Force and Bottomless Trap Hole before ending his turn.

Wu attacked with Thunder King Rai-Oh, and Barone destroyed it by activating Mirror Force. Wu Set a card to his back row and passed.

Barone drew Test Tiger next turn. He Summoned Secutor to the field and then Special Summoned Test Tiger. He Tributed the Tiger to send Secutor back to his Deck and Special Summon it again. Then he attacked directly with Secutor and Wu took the damage. Barone Special Summoned Gladiator Beast Laquari and Gladiator Beast Hoplomus from his Deck with Secutor’s effect at the end of the Battle Phase, and ended his turn, choosing not to Fusion Summon Gladiator Beast Heraklinos.

Wu activated his face-down Allure of Darkness next turn to draw 2 cards and remove Breaker the Magical Warrior from his hand. Then he Special Summoned Cyber Dragon and Barone flipped Bottomless Trap Hole to remove it from the game. Wu activated Reinforcement of the Army next, adding a copy of D.D. Warrior Lady from his Deck to his hand. He Summoned the Warrior Lady to the field and then attacked Secutor. Wu only had 2 cards in his hand, so Barone decided to flip Book of Moon to put the D.D. Warrior Lady face-down. Wu Set a card to his back row and ended his turn.

Barone drew Cyber Dragon next turn. He Tributed Gladiator Beast Hoplomus to Summon it, and Wu flipped Bottomless Trap Hole, but Barone negated it with Seven Tools! Cyber Dragon attacked the face-down D.D. Warrior Lady, and Wu removed both monsters from the game. Then Secutor and Laquari attacked directly, dropping Wu down to 2200 Life Points. Secutor’s effect Special Summoned Gladiator Beast Equeste and Gladiator Beast Darius from the Deck. Equeste returned Hoplomus from Barone’s Graveyard to his hand, and then there was nothing left in the Graveyard for Darius to Special Summon. In Main Phase 2, Barone fused his Secutor, Equeste, and Laquari together to Summon Gladiator Beast Heraklinos! He ended his turn with 2 cards in his hand.

Wu drew his next card and immediately conceded, unable to destroy Barone’s Heraklinos.

Hang Cheong Wu will be going first in the Duel 2! Wu started things off by Setting a card to each zone.

Barone opened up with Enemy Controller, Book of Moon, Test Tiger, Smashing Ground, Trap Stun, and Gorz the Emissary of Darkness. He ended his turn, clearly hoping to make a play with Gorz on Wu’s next turn. “Gorz?” Wu asked when he ended. “In GB?” Barone replied, trying to bluff Wu.

Wu flipped Doomcaliber Knight and then Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh. He attacked with Doomcaliber Knight and Barone tried to Summon Gorz. Wu negated it with Doomcaliber Knight and then Rai-Oh attacked Barone directly.

Barone drew Solemn Warning next turn. He activated Smashing Ground to destroy Rai-Oh and then Set Solemn Warning, Book of Moon, and Trap Stun.

Wu Summoned Breaker next turn and Barone was forced to flip Solemn Warning to negate its Summon.

Barone drew Seven Tools next turn. He Set it and ended his turn.

Wu Summoned D.D. Warrior Lady. He attacked directly with it, dropping Barone down to 700 Life Points.

Barone drew Smashing Ground next turn and activated it to destroy Wu’s Warrior Lady. Then he Set Enemy Controller and ended his turn.

Wu Summoned Beast King Barbaros and attacked, but Barone used Enemy Controller to block the attack by switching it to Defense Position. Wu Set a Spell or Trap Card and passed.

Barone drew Gladiator Beast Laquari. He activated Trap Stun and then Summoned Gladiator Beast Laquari to the field. Laquari attacked and destroyed Wu’s Defense Position Beast King Barbaros, and Barone tagged out for Gladiator Beast Bestiari at the end of the Battle Phase, using its effect to destroy Wu’s face-down Solemn Warning. Then he Special Summoned Test Tiger and Tributed it to send Bestiari back into the Deck. He Special Summoned Bestiari to the field again in order to re-use its effect, this time destroying Wu’s Set Skill Drain.

Wu Special Summoned Cyber Dragon next turn and attacked, but Barone flipped Book of Moon to put Cyber Dragon face-down. Wu Set a Spell or Trap Card and ended his turn.

Barone drew Solemn Judgment and then attacked Wu’s face-down Cyber Dragon with Bestiari. Wu flipped Skill Drain, and with only 600 Life Points remaining, Barone couldn’t negate it with his Seven Tools. Barone tagged out Bestiari to Summon Gladiator Beast Hoplomus at the end of the Battle Phase. (Returning the Gladiator Beast to the Deck is a cost, so it isn’t face-up on the field when the effect resolves. This effectively allows it to dodge Skill Drain.) He Set Solemn Judgment in Main Phase 2 and ended his turn.

Wu switched Cyber Dragon into Attack Position and passed.

Barone drew Bottomless Trap Hole, Set it, and passed.

Wu Set a Spell or Trap and passed.

Barone drew Cyber Dragon and in his End Phase, Wu flipped Call of the Haunted to try to Special Summon Beast King Barbaros from his Graveyard. But Wu flipped Solemn Judgment to negate it, dropping down 300 Life Points.

Wu Set a card to his back row and passed to Barone.

Barone drew Gladiator Beast Murmillo and ended his turn.

Wu passed his turn without a play.

Barone drew Gladiator Beast Bestiari and ended his turn.

Wu Summoned Doomcaliber Knight next turn before passing back to Barone.

Barone drew Gladiator Beast Darius, adding it to his hand of Bestiari, Murmillo, and Cyber Dragon. He chose not to make a play.

Wu drew and activated Smashing Ground next turn! Barone immediately conceded after losing his Hoplomus, his only line of defense from the attacks of Cyber Dragon and Doomcaliber Knight.

 

Gladiator Beast Hoplomus keeps Bobby Barone in the Duel for a while, but it wasn’t long enough for Barone to make a comeback! The Match pressed on to a third Duel!

Barone opened up with Dimensional Prison, Solemn Warning, Cyber Dragon, Smashing Ground, and 2 copies of Trap Stun. He Set Trap Stun, Dimensional Prison, and Solemn Warning before ending his turn.

Wu Set 4 Spell or Trap Cards and passed.

Barone drew Gorz and then Set Trap Stun.

Wu Summoned Beast King Barbaros next turn and used it to attack Barone directly. But Barone flipped Dimensional Prison to remove Barbaros from the game.

Barone drew a second copy of Cyber Dragon and passed.

Wu ended his turn without making a play.

Barone drew another copy of Smashing Ground and passed.

Wu ended his turn without making a play once again.

Barone drew Gladiator Beast War Chariot and Set it.

Wu passed without making a play for his third consecutive turn.

Barone drew Dark Hole and ended his turn.

Wu Summoned Doomcaliber Knight on his next turn. He attacked directly with it, dropping Barone down to 6100 Life Points.

Barone drew a third copy of Cyber Dragon! With Doomcaliber Knight on the field, he’d finally be able to Summon them! He tried to Special Summon one copy, but Wu flipped Solemn Warning and paid 2000 Life Points to negate the Summon! Next, Barone Special Summoned another copy of Cyber Dragon. He used it to attack and destroy Wu’s Doomcaliber Knight, dropping him down to 5800 Life Points. Barone ended his turn.

Wu Special Summoned his own copy of Cyber Dragon next turn. Barone flipped Solemn Warning and paid 2000 Life Points to negate the Summon. Then Wu Special Summoned another copy of Cyber Dragon! He activated Smashing Ground next, to destroy Barone’s Cyber Dragon. Then he attacked directly with Cyber Dragon, dropping Barone to 2000 Life Points. Wu Set cards to his back row until all 5 Spell and Trap Card Zones were filled, then ended his turn.

Barone drew Test Tiger next turn. He activated Trap Stun and Wu chained Mind Crush naming Test Tiger. Barone revealed his hand and sent his Tiger to the Graveyard. Barone Special Summoned Cyber Dragon and then fused his Cyber Dragon with Wu’s to Summon Chimeratech Fortress Dragon with 2000 ATK! Chimeratech attacked directly, dropping Wu down to 3800 Life Points.

Wu Summoned Doomcaliber Knight next turn. He attacked Chimeratech Fortress Dragon and then flipped Skill Drain. Barone chained Trap Stun, but Wu flipped Solemn Judgment to negate it! Chimeratech’s ATK went down to 0, and Doomcaliber Knight pierced right through it, bringing Barone down to 100 Life Points.

Barone drew Test Tiger and Set it. He activated Smashing Ground and passed.

Wu Set a Spell or Trap and passed.

Barone drew Bottomless Trap Hole and Set it.

Wu Set a Spell or Trap and ended his turn, again.

Barone drew Mirror Force, Set it, and passed.

Wu Summoned Beast King Barbaros next turn, but Barone flipped Bottomless Trap Hole to remove it from the game. Wu chained Torrential Tribute to take down Barone’s face-down Test Tiger with it.

Barone drew Torrential Tribute, Set it, and ended his turn.

Wu Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh and Barone flipped Torrential Tribute to destroy it.

Barone drew Gladiator Beast Laquari and Summoned it, but Wu removed it from the game with Bottomless Trap Hole.

Wu drew a card and Set it to his back row.

Barone drew Seven Tools of the Bandit. It would be no help with only 100 Life Points left. He ended his turn without Setting it.

Wu Summoned D.D. Warrior Lady next turn and attacked, but Barone flipped Mirror Force to destroy it. Next, Wu flipped Call of the Haunted to return Beast King Barbaros to the field, and used it to attack directly for game. Barone’s face-down cards offered no help!

Hang Cheong Wu uses his big attackers to triumph over Bobby Barone’s Gladiator Beasts and clinch his favorable matchup!

 

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)
When Wu opened Duel 3 by Setting a monster, Barone passed his next turn, hoping to bring out Gorz.  Wu Flip Summoned Doomcaliber Knight, Summoned Thunder King, and Barone ate an attack from Doomcaliber since he lost his Gorz to Doomcaliber’s effect, and took another attack from Thunder King afterwards.  By your second turn, the odds of drawing a card you run 3 of in a 40 card deck is 45%,which was the chance of Wu having the Doomcaliber he needed to get past Barone’s obvious Gorz.  If Barone had Set his Book of Moon, he could have avoided the damage from Doomcaliber and Special Summoned Gorz and its Emmisary of Darkness Token.  He would’ve cut his damage in half, and been able to attack both of Wu’s monsters next turn. 

Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
Doomcaliber Knight is always a great card to lead with in the Battle Phase, and Wu used it effectively in Duel 2. By attacking directly with Doomcaliber Knight on his first attack, Wu was able to deal 1900 points of damage to Barone, while allowing his Knight to take down Barone’s Gorz the Emissary of Darkness. That cleared the way for a direct attack from Thunder King Rai-Oh. Starting your attack order with Doomcaliber Knight lets you make sure that it attacks before an opponent’s monster activates an effect that forces the Knight to Tribute itself. 

P.J. Tierney (Duelist from across The Pond)
Barone made a questionable play in Duel 1, given the information he would have already had on Wu’s Deck from playing against it so far. He knew that Wu’s Stun Deck was running D.D. Warrior Lady yet still attacked into a Set one with Gladiator Beast Bestiari, which then got removed from play. Losing Bestiari means losing Gladiator Beast Gyzarus (one of the Deck’s best cards) as well and I believe it would have been the better play to not attack into it. Wu would then have to Flip Summon D.D. Warrior Lady next turn and try to attack Bestiari (as Barone could Summon Gyzarus at any time and destroy Wu’s cards), which would have been stopped by Barone’s Set Mirror Force.

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