Daniel Avila and Nicholas Wei are both 9-1 with their Blackwing Decks heading into the 11^th and final Swiss pair round at this event, and are about to face-off in a Blackwing Mirror-Match! Skillful use of Icarus Attack and strong plays with Sirocco may be key to either Duelist’s success in this Match, and with a guaranteed spot in the Top 32 for the victor, both Duelists will be giving this Match their all!

Wei started things off by Summoning Blackwing – Bora the Spear to the field and Setting a card to his back row.

Avila opened up with Thunder King Rai-Oh, Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North, Blackwing – Bora the Spear, Monster Reborn, Icarus Attack, and Solemn Judgment. He Set the Icarus Attack and then ended his turn, aiming to play around a potential Icarus Attack by not leaving 2 cards on his field.

Wei Summoned Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor next turn. This was a strong indicator that he did in fact have the Icarus Attack face-down. He attacked directly with Vayu and Bora, costing Avila his first 2500 Life Points.

Avila drew another copy of Bora next turn. He Summoned it to the field and then attacked Wei’s Vayu. Wei flipped Icarus and Tributed Vayu to destroy Bora and Avila’s face-down Icarus, and Avila Chained his Icarus to take down Wei’s Bora and already-activated Icarus Attack. Avila Set Solemn Judgment in Main Phase 2 and ended his turn.

Wei Summoned Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame next turn and attacked Avila directly, dropping Wei down to 3700 Life Points. He Set a card to his back row and ended his turn.

Avila Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh next turn and attacked Shura with it, but Wei flipped Icarus Attack. He Tributed Shura and destroyed Avila’s Rai-Oh and Solemn Judgment. In Main Phase 2, Avila activated Monster Reborn and revived Thunder King Rai-Oh.

Wei activated Dark Hole next turn to destroy Thunder King Rai-Oh. Then, with exactly 3 DARK monsters in his Graveyard, Wei Special Summoned Dark Armed Dragon. After a Normal Summon of Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North, Avila conceded.

A strong start for Nicholas Wei allows him to take a quick win in Duel 1! Daniel Avila will be going first in Duel 2!

Avila opened up with Mystical Space Typhoon, Book of Moon, Solemn Warning, Blackwing – Bora the Spear, Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow, and Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North. He Summoned Bora and then Set Book of Moon, Mystical Space Typhoon, and Solemn Warning in his back row.

Wei activated Pot of Duality next turn, revealing Bottomless Trap Hole, Monster Reborn, and Dark Armed Dragon from the top of his Deck. He added the Dark Armed Dragon to his hand and shuffled the other 2 cards back into his Deck. Next, he tried to Summon Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind to the field. Avila flipped Solemn Warning and paid 2000 Life Points to negate Gale’s Summon. Wei Set Icarus Attack, but lost it to Avila’s Mystical Space Typhoon in his End Phase.

Avila drew another copy of Mystical Space Typhoon next turn and Set it. He attacked directly with Bora and ended his turn.

Wei Summoned Blizzard next turn and activated its effect to Special Summon Gale from his Graveyard. Then he used Gale’s effect to halve the ATK and DEF of Avila’s Bora. Next, he attacked Bora with his Blizzard, destroying it in battle and dropping Avila down to 5550 Life Points. Wei ended his turn without a back row.

Avila drew Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame next turn! He Summoned it to the field and attacked Gale, taking it down in battle and allowing Avila to Special Summon Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow from his Deck in Attack Position. Kalut attacked and destroyed Blizzard, and after Wei dropped a Kalut from his hand, Avila did the same, to win the battle.

Wei activated Giant Trunade next turn! He Normal Summoned Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn and activated its effect to boost it to 5200 ATK. Then he Special Summoned Dark Armed Dragon and removed Blizzard and Gale from his Graveyard to destroy Avila’s Kalut and Shura. Sirocco attacked directly for 5200 points of damage, dropping Avila down to just 350 Life Points.

After drawing his next card, Avila had Allure of Darkness, Mystical Space Typhoon, Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North, and Book of Moon in his hand. He Summoned the Blizzard and used its effect to Special Summon Shura from his Graveyard. Then he Tuned his 2 Blackwings together to Synchro Summon Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier! Brionac attacked and destroyed Wei’s Sirocco, and then Avila pitched Allure of Darkness from his hand to return Dark Armed Dragon to Wei’s hand, with only 2 DARK monsters in Wei’s Graveyard.

Wei Set a monster and passed.

Avila drew Torrential Tribute next turn and discarded it with Brionac’s effect to return Wei’s Set monster to his hand. He attacked directly with Brionac, dropping Wei down to 3600 Life Points.

Wei Set a card in each zone next turn and passed. In his End Phase, he lost his freshly Set Icarus Attack to Avila’s Mystical Space Typhoon.

Avila drew Spirit Reaper next turn, pitched it with Brionac’s effect to return Wei’s Set monster to his hand, and then attacked directly with Brionac. Wei was down to just 1300 Life Points.

Wei Normal Summoned Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn next turn and Avila immediately activated Book of Moon to put it face-down. Wei conceded, knowing that Avila would just pitch the card he drew next turn to activate Brionac’s effect and attack directly with Brionac to finish the Duel.

An all-out Brionac play pays off for Daniel Avila, allowing him to win Duel 2! Nicholas Wei will be going first in the final Duel of the Match!

Wei started things off by activating Pot of Duality, revealing Kalut and 2 copies of Shura from the top of his Deck. He added Shura to his hand and shuffled the other 2 cards back into his Deck. Next, he Summoned Shura to the field, Set 3 cards to his back row, and ended his turn.

Avila opened up with Snowman Eater, Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow, Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind, Icarus Attack, Monster Reborn, and Pot of Duality. He activated Pot of Duality, revealing Cyber Dragon, Blackwing – Bora the Spear, and Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn from the top of his Deck. He added the Sirocco to his hand and shuffled the other 2 cards back into his Deck. Avila Set Snowman Eater and ended his turn.

Wei attacked Avila’s face-down Snowman Eater with his Shura. Snowman Eater destroyed Shura and Wei lost 100 Life Points. Wei ended his turn.

Avila drew and activated Mystical Space Typhoon next turn, destroying Wei’s face-down Torrential Tribute. Wei still had 2 cards in his back row, with no monsters on the field. Avila Summoned Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind next, and attacked directly with it. Wei took the damage, and Avila Set Icarus Attack in Main Phase 2.

Wei Normal Summoned Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn and activated its effect to gain Gale’s ATK. Wei attacked Gale with Sirocco, but Avila flipped Icarus Attack and Tributed Gale to try to destroy Wei’s 2 back rows. But Wei Chained Starlight Road to negate Icarus Attack and Special Summon Stardust Dragon from his Extra Deck! Sirocco attacked Snowman Eater and then Wei Set a card to his back row in Main Phase 2.

Avila drew Royal Oppression next turn. He Normal Summoned Sirocco and activated its effect to boost its ATK to 4000. He attacked Wei’s Sirocco with his own, but Wei flipped Book of Moon to put Avila’s Sirocco face-down and save his own. Avila Set Royal Oppression and ended his turn.

Wei activated Giant Trunade next turn to return Royal Oppression back to Avila’s hand. He Normal Summoned Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North and activated its effect to Special Summon Shura from his Graveyard. Then he Tuned Blizzard with Shura to Synchro Summon Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier. Next, he activated Brionac’s effect by discarding Book of Moon, in order to return Avila’s face-down Sirocco to his hand. Wei activated Monster Reborn next, reviving Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind from Avila’s Graveyard. Gale, Brionac, Sirocco, and Stardust Dragon all attacked directly, wiping out all 8000 of Avila’s Life Points!

A successful Starlight Road allows Nicholas Wei to win the third Duel and triumph in the Blackwing Mirror-Match! Nicholas Wei is moving on to the Top 32 with a 10-1 record!