The Finals: Thanh Nguyen Versus Kenny Kwan
Only 2 Duelists remained in this tournament: Thanh Nguyen with Plant Synchro, and Kenny Kwan with Quickdraw Dandywarrior. Both of these Decks look similar at first glance, but when pitted head-to-head, the differences were sure to become apparent. The winner here would claim an Ultra Rare set of Darklord Prize Cards, airfare and accommodations to the North American WCQ, a netbook laptop, and the title of Champion. Nguyen won the toss and decided to go first.
Nguyen opened with 2 Set Spell or Trap Cards and a Set monster.
Kwan opened with Book of Moon, Pot of Avarice, Caius the Shadow Monarch, Effect Veiler, Monster Reborn, and Bottomless Trap Hole. He passed.
Nguyen Set a third Spell or Trap.
Kwan drew Mirror Force. He Set Bottomless.
Nguyen Flip Summoned Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter: its effect destroyed Bottomless Trap Hole, and sent Ryko, Cyber Dragon, and Card Trooper to the Graveyard. Ryko made a direct attack, and Nguyen Set a monster.
Kwan drew Card Trooper. He Summoned it, boosted it to 1900 ATK by sending Tytannial, Princess of Camellias, Sangan, and Foolish Burial to the Graveyard, and pressed 1700 Battle Damage through Ryko. He Set 2 Spell or Trap Cards.
Nguyen activated Mystical Space Typhoon, targeted Kwan’s Book of Moon, and Kwan Chained it to put Card Trooper face-down. Nguyen Flip Summoned Dandylion, Normal summoned Spore, and Synchro Summoned Armory Arm with it, leaving 2 Fluff Tokens. Armory Arm was destroyed by Mirror Force.
Kwan drew Solemn Warning, Flip Summoned Card Trooper, and sent Trap Stun, Quickdraw Synchron, and Book of Moon to his Graveyard to boost Card Trooper to 1900 ATK. It attacked a Fluff Token and Kwan Set a Spell or Trap.
Nguyen activated Foolish Burial, sending Dandylion to his Graveyard to Special Summon 2 Fluff Tokens. Nguyen Summoned Lonefire Blossom, Kwan activated Solemn Warning to try and stop the Normal Summon, and Nguyen Chained Seven Tools of the Bandit. He Tributed a Fluff Token for Lonefire Blossom’s effect, but Kwan Chained Effect Veiler’s effect, trying to keep Nguyen from Special Summoning Tytannial! But Nguyen Chained Book of Moon, turning Lonefire Blossom face-down and dodging Effect Veiler’s ability! He Special Summoned another Lonefire, Tributed another Fluff Token for that Lonefire’s effect, and brought out Tytannial! Nguyen attacked Card Trooper with Tytannial for 2400 Battle Damage, and Kwan drew a card for Trooper’s effect.
Kwan drew Dandylion, and activated Pot of Avarice to send Sangan, Tytannial, Quickdraw, Card Trooper, and Effect Veiler back to his Deck. He drew Pot of Duality and Card Trooper, then Summoned Dandylion. He activated Monster Reborn, Special Summoned his opponent’s Spore, and Tuned it to Dandylion to Synchro Summon Armory Arm. He Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens and ran over Lonefire Blossom with Armory Arm. A Set card to the back row finished his turn.
Nguyen Flip Summoned the Lonefire he’d protected with Book of Moon a turn previous, then Special Summoned Spore by removing the other Lonefire from his Graveyard. He Tuned it to Lonefire and a Fluff Token for Stardust Dragon, Normal summoned Debris Dragon, and Special Summoned Dandylion. He Synchro Summoned Black Rose Dragon, removed Spore from his Graveyard to flip a Fluff Token to Attack Position, and pressed 2800 Battle Damage through it with Tytannial. Stardust Dragon then attacked over Armory Arm to win the Duel!
One more win and Thanh Nguyen would be our new Champion! With the entire tournament on the line, tensions were running high.
Kwan opened with a hand of Caius the Shadow Monarch, Dandylion, Doomcaliber Knight, Tytannial, Princess of Camellias, Solemn Warning, and Dark Hole. He Set Dandylion and Warning.
Nguyen tried to Summon Lonefire Blossom, and Kwan negated it with Solemn Warning. Nguyen Set 2 cards to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.
Kwan drew Nobleman of Crossout. He Summoned Doomcaliber Knight, Nguyen responded with Torrential Tribute, and Kwan Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens.
Nguyen Set a monster.
Kwan drew another Warning. He Tributed a Fluff Token for Caius, but Nguyen had Solemn Warning to negate the Summon. Nobleman of Crossout removed Nguyen’s Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter from his field, and 2 more copies from his Deck: Kwan lost 1 from his Deck. Kwan Set his second Warning.
Nguyen Set a Spell or Trap.
Kwan revealed 2 Pot of Avarice and Mirror Force with Pot of Duality next turn, taking Mirror Force. He Set it.
Nguyen flipped Mystical Space Typhoon next turn, destroying Mirror Force, and Summoned Debris Dragon. Kwan negated the Summon with his second Solemn Warning.
Kwan drew Solemn Judgment and Set it, then Set Dark Hole.
Nguyen passed.
Kwan drew Lonefire Blossom. He Tributed a Fluff Token, but lost his effect to Effect Veiler! Lonefire Blossom made a small direct attack.
Nguyen passed.
Kwan Tributed Lonefire Blossom, Special Summoned another Lonefire from his Deck, and attacked again. He then Tributed it for Dandylion in Main Phase 2, putting it in Defense Position and Setting another Spell or Trap.
Nguyen Set a monster. He had 5000 Life Points left.
Kwan attacked with Dandylion, ramming into Spore and taking 500 Battle Damage.
Nguyen activated Mystical Space Typhoon next turn, destroying Solemn Judgment. He tributed Spore for Caius the Shadow Monarch, but Kwan had Effect Veiler to try and negate Caius’s effect. Nguyen had Book of Moon to dodge Effect Veiler yet again, and Caius’ effect removed Dandylion from the game!
Kwan flipped Dark Hole, destroying Caius. He Set another Spell or Trap.
Nguyen passed.
Kwan Set a monster.
Nguyen Summoned Card Trooper, powered it up to 1900 ATK, and attacked Kwan’s Spore to destroy it.
Kwan drew Effect Veiler, adding it to his hand of Tytannial. He had Mystical Space Typhoon and Foolish Burial Set. He Set Veiler.
Nguyen powered up Card Trooper again, attacked to destroy Veiler, and ended.
Kwan drew Cyber Dragon, flipped Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy his opponent’s Dark Hole, and Special Summoned Cyber Dragon to make Chimeratech Fortress Dragon with Card Trooper! Chimeratech attacked for 2000 Battle Damage, reducing Nguyen to 3000 Life Points.
Nguyen Special Summoned his own Cyber Dragon, attacking over Chimeratech! He Set a Spell or Trap.
Kwan drew Pot of Duality, using it to reveal Card Trooper, Torrential Tribute, and Mystical Space Typhoon: he took Trooper and Set it.
Nguyen Set a monster and attacked Trooper with Cyber Dragon next turn.
Kwan drew Debris Dragon, Summoned it, and Special Summoned Dandylion: “Show me the Crow?”
“You got it, kid.” Nguyen Chained D.D. Crow’s effect, removing Dandylion! Kwan attacked Nguyen’s Set Dandylion, and Nguyen got his 2 Fluff Tokens. A Set Spell or Trap finished the turn.
Nguyen Tributed Cyber Dragon and a Fluff Token next turn for Tytannial! He activated Monster Reborn, Special Summoned Sangan, and attacked Debris Dragon with Tytannial. Sangan dropped Kwan to 600 Life Points.
Kwan activated Pot of Avarice, sending Debris Dragon, Doomcaliber Knight, Card Trooper, Caius the Shadow Monarch, and Cyber Dragon back to his deck, drawing another Pot of Avarice and Mystical Space Typhoon. He activated the next Avarice, this time sending Chimeratech Fortress Dragon, 2 Effect Veiler, and 2 Lonefire Blossom back to his Deck! He drew Book of Moon and Effect Veiler. Mystical Space Typhoon forced Nguyen to Tribute a Fluff Token with Tytannial, and Kwan Set Veiler and 2 cards to his back row.
Nguyen activated Foolish Burial, sending Dandylion to his Graveyard for 2 more Fluff Tokens. He removed Lonefire Blossom to Special Summon Spore as a Level 4 Tuner, and Tuned it to Sangan and a Fluff Token for Stardust Dragon! Sangan got Nguyen Effect Veiler, and he attacked with Stardust: Kwan tried to stop the attack with Book of Moon, but Nguyen Chained Tytannial’s effect! He Tributed a Fluff Token, Stardust Dragon destroyed Kwan’s Effect Veiler, and Tytannial made a direct attack to end the tournament!
Thanh Nguyen is our new Champion, and our newest YCS winner! Plant Synchro wins the day making it the 3rd different Deck to win a YCS since September 1st!
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)
Nguyen really worked wonders in this Match to make sure his effects resolved. The most spectacular example of that was his using Book of Moon not once, but twice, to outplay Kwan’s Effect Veiler. When your opponent activates Effect Veiler to try and stop a game-winning effect of yours, remember that you can save the effect with a card like Book, Compulsory Evacuation Device, or even Torrential Tribute.