Alistar Constantine and Alexander Martin are both 8-0 in the tournament and sitting at Table 1. With just 2 more rounds of Swiss left, a win here will guarantee one of these Duelists a spot in the Top 32. Constantine’s Blackwing Deck may have an edge over Martin’s Quickdraw Dandywarrior Deck thanks to Blackwing – Bora the Spear, but an early setup on Martin’s field could be trouble for Constantine.

Constantine opened up with Bottomless Trap Hole, Solemn Warning, Dark Hole, Book of Moon, Icarus Attack, and Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North. He Set all of his Trap Cards, plus Book of Moon, and ended his turn.

Martin activated Charge of the Light Brigade, sending Dimensional Prison, Book of Moon, and Dandylion to his Graveyard. He searched his Deck for Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter and Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens with Dandylion’s effect. Then he Summoned Debris Dragon and used its effect to Special Summon Dandylion from the Graveyard. He Tuned Debris Dragon with Dandylion to try to Synchro Summon Black Rose Dragon, but Constantine negated its Summon with Solemn Warning. Martin Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens due to Dandylion’s effect. He Set 2 Spell or Trap Cards and passed.

Constantine drew Bottomless Trap Hole.

Martin Set a monster and passed.

Constantine drew and activated Pot of Duality. He revealed Blackwing – Bora the Spear, Black Whirlwind, and Cards for Black Feathers from the top of his Deck and chose to add Cards for Black Feathers to his hand. He activated it, removing Blizzard from his hand to draw Dark Armed Dragon and Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame. Next, he activated Dark Hole, destroying all 4 of Martin’s Fluff Tokens, plus his face-down Ryko. Constantine Set Shura and passed.

Martin drew and passed.

Constantine drew Mirror Force and then flipped his Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame face-up. He attacked with it, but Martin activated Dimensional Prison to try to remove it from the game. Constantine chained Book of Moon to put Shura face-down and save it.

Martin Set a monster and ended his turn.

Constantine drew Icarus Attack. He flipped Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame. Martin flipped Bottomless Trap Hole to remove it from the game, so Constantine chained Icarus Attack to Tribute Shura and destroy Martin’s Set Bottomless Trap Hole and face-down Spore.

Martin used Pot of Avarice next to send Black Rose Dragon, Ryko, Spore, Dandylion, and Debris Dragon back to his Deck and draw 2 cards. Then he activated Foolish Burial to send Dandylion from his Deck to his Graveyard and Special Summon 2 Fluff Tokens in Defense Position. He Summoned Debris Dragon next, activating its effect to Special Summon Dandylion from the Graveyard. Then he Tuned Debris Dragon with Dandylion and a Fluff Token to Synchro Summon Stardust Dragon and Special Summon 2 Fluff Tokens. He attacked directly with Stardust Dragon, Set 2 Spell or Trap Cards, and ended his turn.

Constantine drew Royal Oppression. He Set Mirror Force, Royal Oppression, and Icarus Attack before passing his turn.

Martin Tributed 2 Fluff Tokens for Tytannial, Princess of Camellias next turn. Constantine flipped Bottomless Trap Hole to try to remove it from the game, but Martin Tributed Stardust Dragon to negate it. Martin attacked with Tytannial next, and Constantine flipped Mirror Force to destroy it. He tried to Special Summon Stardust Dragon in his End Phase, but Constantine flipped Royal Oppression and gave up 800 Life Points to negate the Summon.

Constantine drew Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind and Summoned it to the field. He attacked a Fluff Token, and when Martin used Mirror Force, Constantine Chained Icarus Attack to destroy Martin’s last Fluff Token and his face-down Torrential Tribute.

Martin Summoned Debris Dragon and attacked for 1000 points of damage.

Constantine drew Cards for Black Feathers and passed.

Martin attacked for another 1000 points of damage with Debris Dragon, dropping Constantine down to 700 Life Points. Then he Set a monster and ended his turn.

Constantine drew Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn next turn. He removed it from the game to draw 2 cards with Cards for Black Feathers, then Summoned Shura to the field and attacked over Debris Dragon. He couldn’t use its effect to Special Summon a monster from his Deck, since he activated Cards for Black Feathers that turn.

On his next turn, Martin flipped up his face-down Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter and used its effect to destroy Constantine’s Shura. Then he Tributed Ryko to Summon Quickdraw Synchron, and with 700 ATK, it was exactly strong enough to wipe out Constantine’s Life Points while getting under the Bottomless Trap Hole he Set earlier in the Duel!

Alistar Constantine will be going first in Duel 2!

Constantine opened up with Blackwing – Bora the Spear, Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North, 2 copies of Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow, Mirror Force, and Dark Hole. He Summoned Bora, Set Mirror Force, and ended his turn.

Martin activated Giant Trunade to return Mirror Force to Constantine’s hand, then discarded Dandylion to Special Summon Quickdraw Synchron. He Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens and then Tuned 1 of the Fluff Tokens with Quickdraw Synchron to Synchro Summon Drill Warrior. He halved its attack and attacked directly, dropping Constantine down to 6800 Life Points. Then he Set a card to his back row and discarded a Neo-Spacian Grand Mole from his hand to activate Drill Warrior’s effect and remove it from the game.

Constnatine drew Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn and then attacked the remaining Fluff Token with Bora to deal 1700 points of damage.

Martin Special Summoned Drill Warrior and returned Dandylion from his Graveyard with its effect. Then he halved its ATK and tried to attack directly with it, but lost it to Mirror Force. He Set a monster and ended his turn.

Constantine drew and Summoned Banisher of the Radiance next turn. He attacked with Blackwing – Bora the Spear and Martin flipped Book of Moon to put Banisher face-down. Bora rammed into Ryko, who activated its effect to destroy Bora and send Dimensional Prison, Mystical Space Typhoon, and Charge of the Light Brigade from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard. Constantine ended his turn.

Martin Summoned Dandylion, attacked and destroyed the face-down Banisher, then Set a Spell or Trap.

Constantine drew D.D. Crow. Then he Summoned Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North, Special Summoned Bora with its effect, and attacked Dandylion with Blizzard. Martin flipped Mirror Force to destroy it.

Martin switched Dandylion to Defense Position and ended his turn.

Constantine drew Allure of Darkness and activated it. He drew Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow and Mystical Space Typhoon from his Deck. Then he switched Bora into Attack Position and attacked over Dandylion, sending 3 copies of Kalut from his hand to the Graveyard in the Damage Step to boost its ATK to 5900 ATK! Bora ran over Dandylion’s 300 DEF, inflicting 5600 points of damage to Martin’s Life Points! With only 4700 Life Points remaining, the Duel was over!

A huge play with Bora allows Constantine to win the second Duel by inflicting 5600 points of damage at once!

Martin started off Duel 3 by Setting 2 Spell or Trap Cards and ending his turn.

Constantine opened up with 3 copies of Blackwing – Bora the Spear, Bottomless Trap Hole, Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn, and D.D. Crow. He Summoned Bora and attacked, but lost it to Dimensional Prison. He Set Bottomless Trap Hole and passed.

Martin passed.

Constnatine drew Allure of Darkness and activated it. He drew Book of Moon and Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow, removing Sirocco from his hand. Then he Summoned Bora and attacked, but it was turned face-down by Book of Moon. He Set Book of Moon and ended his turn.

Martin Set a Spell or Trap and passed.

Constantine flipped Bora and lost it to Bottomless Trap Hole. Then he Summoned another from his hand and attacked directly with it. Martin Special Summoned Gorz with a Token in Defense Position after taking the damage. He Set a Spell or Trap and passed.

Martin attacked Bora with Gorz, and Constantine dropped a Kalut from his hand to win the battle. Next, he activated Charge of the Light Brigade to search his Deck for Ryko, and ended his turn by Setting a monster.

Constantine drew Dark Hole. He attacked Martin’s Set monster with Bora, but Martin flipped Book of Moon to put it face-down.

Martin flipped Ryko next turn and destroyed Bora by sending Mystical Space Typhoon, Consecrated Light, and Caius the Shadow Monarch from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard. Then he Tributed Ryko and a Fluff Token to Summon Tytannial, but lost it to Constantine’s Bottomless Trap Hole. Martin ended his turn with 3 cards in his hand and nothing on the field.

Constantine drew Mystical Space Typhoon and Set it. He ended his turn.

Martin Summoned Debris Dragon next turn. He activated its effect to Special Summon Lonefire Blossom from his Graveyard, but Constantine pitched a D.D. Crow from his hand to remove the Lonefire Blossom. Martin used Monster Reborn to revive Constantine’s Kalut next, but Constantine put it face-down with Book of Moon before Martin could Synchro Summon Black Rose Dragon. Debris Dragon attacked and Constantine flipped Mirror Force.

Constantine drew Banisher of the Radiance and Summoned it to attack Kalut, removing it from the game. He Set a back row and passed.

Martin Set a Mirror Force to his back row and lost it to Mystical Space Typhoon in the End Phase.

Constantine attacked directly with Banisher and Set a back row.

Martin Set a back row and passed.

Constantine drew and activated Pot of Duality. He revealed Black Whirlwind, Pot of Duality, and Solemn Warning from the top of his Deck. He added Solemn Warning to his hand and shuffled the other 2 cards back into his Deck. He attacked with Banisher of the Radiance but Martin flipped Book of Moon to put it face-down. Constantine Set Solemn Warning and ended his turn.

Martin discarded Dandylion from his hand to try to Special Summon Quickdraw Synchron, but Constantine negated the Summon with Solemn Warning. Martin Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens in Defense Position and ended his turn.

Constantine Flip Summoned Banisher, attacked a Fluff Token, and then Set a Spell or Trap.

Martin Set a Spell or Trap and passed.

Constantine attacked with Banisher and it was removed from the game by Dimensional Prison. He Summoned Kalut and ended his turn.

Martin Set a Spell or Trap and passed.

Constantine activated Giant Trunade next turn to return all Spell and Trap Cards to their owners’ hands. Then, he Summoned Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind. He Tuned it with Kalut to Summon Armed Wing and attacked over the Fluff Token for 2800 points of damage. He Set a back row and passed.

Martin Set 3 Spell or Trap Cards and ended his turn.

Constantine attacked directly with Armed Wing, finishing the Duel! Martin’s face-down Torrential Tribute, Foolish Burial, and Starlight Road were no help!

Constantine’s triple-Bora opening leads him to victory in the final Duel, allowing him to secure a 9-0 record entering the final round of Swiss!

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 control Gorz and a weaker Emissary of Darkness Token, and you think your opponent might have a trick that can beat either 1 of your monsters (like Kalut or Honest), attack with the Token Monster first.  When Martin had Gorz and its Emissary, and Constantine had Bora face-up, Martin attacked Bora with Gorz. Constantine activated Kalut’s effect and Gorz was destroyed.  Martin could’ve been better off attacking with the Emissary of Darkness Token to force out Kalut. He would’ve kept his Gorz, and forced Constantine to activate Dark Hole.

Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
At the end of Duel 2, Constantine Special Summoned Blackwing – Bora the Spear from his Graveyard in Defense Position with the effect of Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North. Then he attacked Martin’s Dandylion with Blizzard, and Martin flipped Mirror Force to destroy the attacking Blizzard. But this left Martin unable to handle Constantine’s Bora, which turned out to be the real threat! Martin didn’t need to protect his Dandylion from Constantine’s attack. He had no use for the Dandylion and ended up switching it into Defense Position and passing his next turn without making another play. Martin could have been better off saving the Mirror Force with the hope of destroying a more threatening monster on Constantine’s next turn. 

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