Derrick Brewer is our second Karakuri Duelist to get a Feature Match in today’s main event. Brewer is running a Machina variant, with Machina Fortress, Gearframe, and Peacekeeper. Like Dylan Buff before him, he’s aiming to take advantage of the Black Salvo + Machine Duplication combo, unleashing triple Burei. But he’s also got several more ways to win, thanks to his suite of Machina cards. His opponent, James Hames is piloting Blackwings, which could mean trouble for some of Brewer’s combos.

Hames opened the Match with 2 Set cards to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.

Brewer had 2 Machina Peacekeeper, 1 Machina Fortress, 1 Machina Gearframe, Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, and Book of Moon. He Set Dekoichi and Book.

Play was back to Hames, who activated Black Whirlwind, then Summoned Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame. Brewer turned it face-down with Book of Moon, stopping Black Whirlwind’s effect.

Brewer drew Malevolent Catastrophe. He Flip Summoned Dekoichi, drew right into Black Salvo, and attacked to destroy Shura. He then Set Catastrophe and Peacekeeper.

Hames Set a third Spell or Trap.

Brewer drew Pot of Avarice. He tried to Summon Machina Gearframe, but Hames negated the Summon with Solemn Warning. Dekoichi made a direct attack, dropping Hames to 4600 Life Points.

Hames Summoned Blackwing – Kalut the Moonshadow, triggering Whirlwind’s effect and getting Blackwing – Blizzard the far North from his Deck. Kalut attacked Machina Peacekeeper, Brewer responded with Malevolent Catastrophe, and Hames Chained Icarus Attack, tributing Kalut to destroy Dekoichi and Brewer’s facedown Machina Peacekeeper. Catastrophe resolved, destroying Hames’ entire back row. Hames Set 2 cards to his Spell and Trap Card Zone to finish.

Brewer drew Ultimate Offering, and after a few moments’ thought he Summoned Black Salvo. He activated its effect, Special Summoned Dekoichi, and Tuned them together to Synchro Summon Black Rose Dragon. He used its effect, destroying Icarus Attack and Bottomless Trap Hole! He Set a Spell or Trap, activated Pot of Avarice, and sent back all 5 monsters from his Graveyard to his Deck to draw 2 more cards: Machina Force and Solidarity. He ended with Machina Fortress and Peacekeeper in-hand, with Ultimate Offering Set.

Hames Summoned Blizzard, Special Summoned Shura, and Synchro Summoned Goyo Guardian. Goyo attacked, Brewer activated Ultimate Offering, and paid 500 Life Points to Set Machina Peacekeeper. Its effect activated, getting Brewer another Gearframe from his Deck. Hames tried to end his Battle Phase, Brewer activated Ultimate Offering’s effect again before the Phase ended, and Summoned Gearframe to get Machina Fortress from his Deck. Hames Set 1 of his last 2 cards to his back row.

Brewer drew Machine Duplication. He discarded 2 Machina Fortress to Special Summon 1 of them, then activated Solidarity. He had Duplications and Force left in his hand, and Hames had 4600 Life Points left. He attacked with Machina Gearframe – a mistake, as Solidarity wasn’t enough to get it over Goyo Guardian. Goyo smashed it, Hames Special Summoned it, and Brewer attacked Goyo with Machina Fortress to destroy the Guardian.

Could Hames capitalize? He flipped his Set Allure of Darkness next turn, drew 2 cards, and removed Shura. He activated Pot of Duality next, choosing to add Blackwing – Blizzard the far North to his hand over Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind and Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn. He Set a Spell or Trap and ended.

Brewer drew Monster Reborn! He activated it to Special Summon Peacekeeper, wanting to activate Machine Duplication, but the ATK bonus from Solidarity made that impossible. Brewer discarded Machina Force to Special Summon Machina Fortress, and attacked with it to destroy Gearframe. The next Fortress attacked into Dimensional Prison, but Peacekeeper made a direct attack. Hames was down to 1300 Life Points while Brewer still had 6800. He attached Peacekeeper to Fortress to finish out his turn. Drawing a Black Salvo next turn would be great with that Machine Duplication in hand.

Hames Set a Spell or Trap, Summoned Blizzard, brought back Shura, and Tuned them to Synchro Summon Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier. With 1 card left in-hand, he discarded Shura to bounce Machina Fortress back to Brewer’s hand, letting him get Gearframe from his Deck. This Duel now hinged on the single back row card Hames had Set this turn. When Brionac attacked, Brewer paid 500 Life Points to Summon Gearframe, getting another Machina Peacekeeper. Hames conceded, apparently knowing his back row card wouldn’t help him survive.

An early Malevolent Catastrophe followed by a devastating Black Rose Dragon give Derrick Brewer control over the majority of the first Duel! Clever use of Ultimate Offering makes all the difference, as James Hames is stuck playing a game of catch-up he just couldn’t win. One more victory like that and Brewer would leave this Match a winner. The interesting part? Hames hadn’t seen a single Karakuri monster in Duel 1, so he still had no real idea what he was up against.

Hames stared the Match with Pot of Duality, revealing Blackwing – Bora the Spear, Royal Oppression, and another Pot. He took Oppression. He Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh, Set 2 cards, and ended.

Brewer had Fissure, Machine Duplication, Pot of Avarice, Black Salvo, Cold Wave, and Machina Fortress. He blew away Thunder King with Fissure, then Set Pot of Avarice.

Hames Summoned Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame and ended.

Brewer drew Genex Neutron. He activated Cold Wave, discarded Salvo and Machina Fortress to Special Summon the Fortress, then Normal Summoned Genex Neutron. Fortress attacked to destroy Shura in battle, Neutron made a direct attack, and its effect got Brewer another Salvo from his Deck in the End Phase!

Hames Summoned Blackwing – Blizzard the far North, Special Summoned Shura, and Synchro Summoned Goyo Guardian. Goyo ran over Neutron, letting Hames Special Summon it.

Brewer drew Mystical Space Typhoon. He activated Typhoon to destroy his opponent’s Solemn Warning, then attacked Genex Neutron with Machina Fortress, destroying it. He Set Machine Duplication as another bluff, adding to his backrow Pot of Avarice. It was a risky gambit in the face of a possible Icarus Attack.

Goyo Guardian attacked to destroy Fortress, and the Fortress destroyed Goyo with its effect. Hames Summoned Blizzard in Main Phase 2, Special Summoning Shura.

Brewer drew Machina Gearframe. He Summoned it, grabbed Machina Peacekeeper from his Deck with Gearframe’s effect, and attacked to try and destroy Shura. Hames blocked the attempt with Book of Moon.

Hames turned Shura to Attack Position next turn, attacking to destroy Gearframe and to Special Summon Kalut. Blizzard and Kalut each made direct attacks, and Hames Set 2 more cards to his back row.

Brewer drew Karakuri Soldier mdl 236 “Nisamu”. He Normal Summoned it, attacked Kalut, and Hames responded with Icarus Attack, Tributing Kalut to destroy Pot of Avarice and Machine Duplication. Since the original target of the attack was now gone, Brewer had the option of replaying his attack, and sent Karakuri Soldier to attack Shura. Hames Special Summoned another Kalut with Shura, and Brewer Special Summoned another Karakuri Soldier to try and attack the Kalut, but this time Hames turned it face-down with Book of Moon.

Hames drew to 2 cards in hand, with 1 card Set in his Spell and Trap Card Zone, and 3 Blackwing monsters. Hames Tuned Blizzard to Shura, Synchro Summoned Brionac, and another Blizzard later Brewer was conceding the Duel.

James Hames scores a commanding win, taking us to a third and final Duel! Would we see Brewer bust out the triple Burei combo?

Brewer opened with Karakuri Soldier mdl 236 “Nisamu”, Torrential Tribute, Genex Neutron, Bottomless Trap Hole, Machina Geraframe, and Dark Hole. He Summoned Neutron, Set Bottomless, and ended to get Black Salvo with Neutron’s effect.

Hames activated Black Whirlwind, Summoned Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn, and lost his Blackwing to Bottomless! He Set a second Spell or Trap.

Brewer drew Ultimate Offering. He Summoned Black Salvo, Tuned it to Neutron, and Synchro Summoned Black Rose Dragon, destroying Hames’ Mirror Force and Black Whirlwind! Brewer Set Torrential Tribute and Offering.

Hames Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh, prompting Brewer to destroy it with Torrential Tribute. Hames Set 1 of his last 3 cards to his back row.

Brewer drew another Gearframe, getting Machina Fortress from his Deck, and activated Ultimate Offering! He paid 500 Life Points to Normal Summon another Gearframe, got Machina Peacekeeper from his Deck, and attacked for a combined total of 3600 Battle Damage. In Main Phase 2 he paid another 500 Life Points, Normal Summoned Peacekeeper, and attached it to a Gearframe.

Hames drew for his turn and time was called. He Summoned Shura, Special Summoned Gale, and halved the ATK of the Gearframe attached with Peacekeeper. Gale attacked over it to destroy Peacekeeper, getting Brewer his third Gearframe. Shura then attacked over the 900 ATK Gearframe to destroy it, dealing 900 Battle Damage and using Shura’s effect to Special Summon Blackwing – Kalut the Moonshadow. With 1 card Set and 1 card left in hand, Hames Tuned Gale to Kalut and Synchro Summoned Goyo Guardian.

Brewer drew Bottomless Trap Hole: 5 turns remained, including this one. Brewer cleared the field with Dark Hole, Summoned Machina Gearframe, and searched another Peacekeeper from his Deck. He now had 4 cards in hand, Gearframe on the field, and Ultimate Offering active. He discarded Karakuri Soldier to Special Summon Machina Fortress, then attacked with both of his monsters: Gearframe scored a direct hit, but Fortress was removed with Dimensional Prison. In Main Phase 2 Brewer paid 500 Life Points to Normal Summon Machina Peacekeeper: he attached it to Gearframe, and Set Bottomless.

Hames Summoned Blizzard, Special Summoned Gale, and used its effect to halve the ATK of Gearframe. He Special Summoned his last card, Bora, and lost it to Bottomless.

Brewer drew Dekoichi. He Normal Summoned it, Special Summoned Peacekeeper, and attacked with Peacekeeper and Dekoichi to destroy Gale and Blizzard respectively. In Main Phase 2 he attached Gearframe to Peacekeeper.

Hames was up. It was his last turn of the Duel, and all he could do was Set a card. Since he had just 2500 Life Points to Brewer’s 5200 Life Points, Brewer was the winner!

No Burei tricks for Derrick Brewer, but he still takes a solid win in 2 Duels out of 3, claiming victory in the Match!