Two Fish Decks are still alive here in the Quarterfinals, but only 1 X-Saber Deck remains in the tournament!  Billy Brake could take X-Sabers to the Semifinals, but to do that, he’ll need to overcome the vicious power of Tahan’s Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth.  A win here would for Tahan would be a huge leap forward for Fish Duelists!

Tahan opened the Match with a Set monster.

Brake had 2 XX-Saber Darksoul; XX-Saber Boggart Knight; Solemn Warning; Torrential Tribute; and Call of the Haunted.  He Set a Darksoul, and Set 3 cards to his back row.

Tahan activated Moray of Greed, sending Fishborg Blaster and Ronintoadin back to his Deck.  Tahan Summoned Swap Frog, activated its effect, and Brake responded with Torrential Tribute.  Tahan sent Ronintoadin to his Graveyard from his Deck, then Set a Spell or Trap.  Brake got X-Saber Airbellum from his Deck with his Darksoul. (Moray of Greed lets you return 2 WATER monsters from your hand to the Deck, then draw 3 cards.)

Brake drew Mirror Force and Summoned Boggart Knight, Special Summoning Airbellum.  Tahan shifted Airbellum to Defense Position with Enemy Controller to stop it from attacking, and Boggart Knight made a direct hit.  Brake brought back Darksoul with Call of the Haunted in Main Phase 2, then Synchro Summoned XX-Saber Hyunlei and Set a Spell or Trap.  Darksoul got him XX-Saber Faultroll in his End Phase.

Tahan Special Summoned Treeborn Frog in his Standby Phase, and Tributed it for Enemy Controller. He took control of Hyunlei, then Special Summoned back his Treeborn.  He Tributed both monsters for Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth!  Brake negated the Summon with Solemn Warning, and Tahan ended.

Brake drew XX-Saber Fulhelmknight.  He Normal Summoned Darksoul, Special Summoned Faultroll, and Special Summoned Airbellum: it attacked, making Tahan discard Allure of Darkness.  Brake attacked with Darksoul, Boggart Knight, and Faultroll, dropping Tahan to 2000 Life Points.  In Main Phase 2 he Synchro Summoned XX-Saber Gottoms and Tributed off 2 X-Sabers to discard the rest of Tahan’s hand: Snowman Eater and Enemy Controller.  Brake got XX-Saber Boggart Knight in his End Phase.(XX-Saber Gottoms lets you Tribute X-Sabers to discard cards from your opponent’s hand.)

Tahan Special Summoned Treeborn Frog, and removed Swap Frog to bring out Ronintoadin.  Next turn, Brake Summoned Boggart Knight and Fulhelmknight, and was swinging for game moments later.

What appears to be a sub-par hand for Tahan leaves him desperate to make a play with Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth, and Brake’s Solemn Warning was the beginning of the end.  Billy Brake wins the first Duel.

“I’ve never Torrential’d Swap Frog before,” remarked Brake.

“Yeah!  I was wondering!” grinned Tahan.

“I really needed that Darksoul, to get things going.”

Tahan started the second Duel by discarding Fishborg Blaster to Special Summon Swap Frog, sending Treeborn Frog to the Graveyard!  Promising.  He bounced Swap Frog back to his hand and Set a monster.

Brake had Pot of Duality; XX-Saber Darksoul; Effect Veiler; XX-Saber Emmersblade; Chain Disappearance; and Enemy Controller.  Duality got him Chain Disappearance, Gozen Match, and X-Saber Pashuul: he took Gozen Match.  Brake Set Darksoul, Chain Disappearance, and Gozen Match.

Tahan Tributed his Set Snowman Eater for Caius the Shadow Monarch, targeting Darksoul with Caius’ effect: Brake shut it down with Effect Veiler.  Caius attacked into Darksoul, destroying it, and Tahan ended.  Brake got XX-Saber Fulhelmknight from his Deck.

Brake drew another Emmersblade and Set it, then Set Enemy Controller.

Tahan attacked Emmersblade with Caius, and Brake Special Summoned Darksoul.  In Main Phase 2, Tahan Normal Summoned Swap Frog, and Brake flipped Gozen Match to get rid of Swap Frog. Swap Frog sent Ronintoadin to the Graveyard. (While Gozen Match is active, both players can only control monsters of 1 Attribute. Monsters of any other Attribute are sent to the Graveyard.)

Brake drew and Set Trap Dustshoot, and Set a monster.

He flipped Dustshoot next turn, revealing Tahan’s hand of Moray of Greed; Reasoning; Enemy Controller; Battle Fader; and Treeborn Frog.  Brake sent Fader back to his opponent’s Deck.  Tahan attacked Emmersblade with Caius, and Brake Special Summoned Pashuul from his Deck.  Tahan ended.

Brake drew Dark Hole.  He Tuned Pashuul and Darksoul to Synchro Summon Naturia Beast, then Normal Summoned Fulhelmknight.  He turned Caius to Defense Position with Enemy Controller, attacked it with Fulhelmknight, and Special Summoned Darksoul! Naturia Beast made a direct attack, and in Main Phase 2 Brake Synchro Summoned Naturia Barkion!  He ended his turn and searched out both XX-Saber Fulhelmknight and XX-Saber Faultroll from his Deck with Darksoul effects.

Tahan Special Sumoned Treeborn Frog: he had 5800 Life Points left.  “Alright, this is fun,” he laughed.  “I’m just deciding how to troll you right now.”

“Sure!  Take your time,” Brake grinned.

Tahan discarded Moray to Special Summon Fishborg Blaster, and when Brake responded with Chain Disappearance Tahan Chained Enemy Controller, just to get Fishborg back into the Graveyard.  He discarded again to bring it back, before realizing that Gozen Match would keep him from Synchro Summoning Formula Synchron.  He ended and chuckled.  “That’s okay: I don’t need a hand.”

Brake Summoned Fulhelmknight, attacked with it, and Special Summoned another.  He attacked with that Fulhelmknight, Special Summoned Emmersblade, and Emmersblade, Naturia Beast, and Naturia Barkion finished the Match!

Billy Brake is headed to the Semifinals!