Both of these competitors are playing Decks that are relatively new at this tournament.  Jerry Wang is playing the Synchro-free Miracle Gemini strategy this weekend, while his opponent Thomas Luebke is running the Synchro-heavy Karakuri Machina Plants Deck.  While Luebke will try to explode with a series of Special Summons, Wang will try to pin him down with cards like Thunder King Rai-Oh and Gemini Spark.

Wang opened the Top 32 with a hand of Elemental Hero Stratos; Gemini Spark; Hero Blast; Solemn Judgment; Torrential Tribute; and Mirror Force.  He Summoned Stratos to search his Deck for Elemental Hero Neos Alius, then Set 3 cards to his back row.

Luebke Summoned Machina Gearframe and got Machina Fortress from his Deck.  He activated Pot of Duality, revealing Trap Stun, Dandylion, and another Gearframe: he took Trap Stun.  He then attacked Stratos with Gearframe, destroying both monsters.  He finished his turn by Setting 2 cards to his back row.

Wang Summoned Neos Alius next turn, and attacked for 1900 Battle Damage.  He Tributed Gemini Spark in the Battle Phase, destroying Trap Stun and letting him draw. Pot of Duality got him Cyber Dragon in Main Phase 2, and he Set a fourth Spell or Trap.

Luebke Set a monster.

Wang drew E – Emergency Call and activated it to get Elemental Hero Ocean from his Deck.  He Summoned it and ended.

Luebke activated Instant Fusion, paying 1000 Life Points to Special Sumon Cyber Saurus from his Extra Deck!  He Normal Summoned Karakuri Strategist mdl 248 “Nishipachi”, and Wang destroyed Cyber Saurus in response with Hero Blast, taking back his Neos Alius.  Luebke followed up with Monster Reborn, Special Summoning his Machina Gearframe, and Wang cleared the field with Torrential Tribute!  Luebke lost his 2 face-up monsters, plus his face-down Mind Master. (Instant Fusion lets you Summon a Level 5 or lower Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, but it can’t attack and is destroyed at the end of the turn. It’s considered to be a Fusion Summon even though you don’t use any materials.)

Wang hit him with Neos Alius next turn and Set 2 more cards to his back row, filling his  Spell and Trap Card Zone.

Luebke Normal Summoned Machina Gearframe next turn, getting another Fortress.  He discarded 2 copies of Fortress to special Summon 1, then swung into Mirror Force. (Machina Fortress can be Special Summoned from your hand or Graveyard by discarding Machines whose Levels add to 8 or more. Since Fortress can be Summoned from the hand or the Graveyard, you can discard it to count for 7 Levels towards its own Summon.)

Wang got another Neos Alius next turn with Reinforcement of the Army, attacked with both, and that was it for the first Duel!

Jerry Wang uses Hero Blast to keep Thomas Luebke from Synchro Summoning, then follows up with Torrential Tribute and some quick attacks to take the Duel!  Luebke would have to pull out all the stops to mount a comeback.

Luebke opened Duel 2 in a huge way, using Instant Fusion to bring out Cyber Saurus.  He Tuned it to Karakuri Strategist mdl 248 “Nishipachi” and Synchro Summoned Karakuri Steel Shogun mdl 00X “Bureido”!  Bureido’s effect Special Summoned another Nishipachi, and Luebke turned it to Attack Position with its own effect to draw a card with Bureido.  He Set a Spell or Trap.

Wang had E – Emergency Call; Thunder King Rai-Oh; Elemental Hero Neos Alius; Skill Drain; Solemn Warning, and Bottomless Trap Hole.  He searched out Elemental Hero Stratos with Call; Summoned it; and got Neos Alius from his Deck with Stratos’ effect.  He Set 3 cards to his back row and ended, but lost his Skill Drain to Mystical Space Typhoon in the End Phase!  That could be a big turning point for this Match.

Luebke turned Nishipachi to Defense Position to draw another card next turn, then Summoned Lonefire Blossom!  He activated its effect and Wang let it resolve, not using his Warning.  Luebke got another Lonefire and Tributed that for Dandylion in Defense Position.  He Tuned Nishipachi to Dandylion and tried to Synchro Summon Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier: Wang let the Synchro Summon happen, then activated Bottomless Trap Hole.  Since Dandylion’s Special Summon effect had activated, Luebke had no chance to use Brionac’s effect before it was removed by Bottomless.  Luebke Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens and attacked over Stratos with Bureido, Setting a Spell or Trap to end.

Wang Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh to attack a Fluff Token next turn, then Set another Spell or Trap.

Luebke Normal Summoned Glow-Up Bulb, and Tuned it to his Fluff Token for Formula Synchron to draw a card.  Bureido attacked, and Wang destroyed it with Mirror Force.

Wang attacked Formula Synchron with Thunder King and Set another Spell or Trap.

Luebke tried to Special Summon Cyber Dragon, but Wang negated the Summon with Royal Oppression.  Luebke Set a second Spell or Trap.

Wang scored a direct hit with Thunder King Rai-Oh next turn, and Luebke dropped to 5100 Life Points.

Luebke tried to Special Summon another Cyber Dragon, and used Trap Stun to force it past Royal Oppression.  It attacked Thunder King, and Wang dropped Honest to destroy Cyber Dragon and drop Luebke to 3200 Life Points!  Luebke Set a monster.

Wang attacked to destroy Luebke’s Set Spore.

Luebke Summoned Machina Gearframe, not getting its effect, and attacked Thunder King Rai-Oh.  He dropped Limiter Removal to get Gearframe over Thunder King, then flipped his Set Pot of Duality in Main Phase 2 to reveal Karakuri Ninja mdl 919 “Kuick”, Instant Fusion, and One for One: he took the Kuick. Machina Gearframe exploded in the End Phase due to Limiter Removal.

Wang Summoned Neos Alius next turn; attacked; and Luebke lost his attempted Gorz to Solemn Warning!  Wang Set 2 Gemini Spark to his back row.  Luebke had just 1300 Life Points left, while Wang had 1700.

Luebke Summoned Karakuri Muso MDL 818 “Haipa”, and activated Spore’s effect by removing Lonefire Blossom from his Graveyard.  He Synchro Summoned Stardust Dragon, and when Wang responded with Royal Oppression Luebke had the Mystical Space Typhoon to Chain!  Stardust hit the field, and attacked to destroy Neos Alius.

Wang topped Dimensional Prison!  He Summoned Neos Alius and Set Prison.

Luebke Normal Summoned Machina Gearframe, getting Machina Fortress from his Deck.  He discarded Kuick and Fortress to Special Summon Fortress, and Wang conceded!

A strong opening from Thomas Luebke leads to a back-and-forth mid-game followed by a war of wits and topdecking!  Luebke succeeds in taking the Match to 1 more Duel!

Wang started Duel 3 with a hand of 2 Elemental Hero Neos Alius; Thunder King Rai-Oh; Mystical Space Typhoon; Book of Moon; and Dimensional Prison.  He Summoned Thunder King and Set 3 cards to his back row.

Luebke Set a single Spell or Trap, then another, and then a monster: he lost his Trap Stun to Mystical Space Typhoon in the End Phase.

Wang attacked into Dandylion with Thunder King Rai-Oh next turn, and Set another Spell or Trap.

With a field of 2 Fluff Tokens, Luebke passed.

Wang attacked a Fluff Token with Thunder King.

Luebke passed.

Wang attacked the other Fluff Token.

Luebke activated Giant Trunade!  It cleared the field, and he tried to Special Summon Cyber Dragon: Wang negated the Summon with Thunder King Rai-Oh’s effect.  Unfettered by Thunder King’s negation ability, Luebke Normal Summoned Machina Gearframe; got Machina Fortress; and activated Foolish Burial to send Spore to the Graveyard.  He removed Lonefire Blossom to Special Summon Spore, Tuning it to Gearframe to bring out Karakuri Steel Shogun mdl 00X “Bureido”!  That got him Karakuri Muso MDL 818 “Haipa” from his Deck, and he attacked with both monsters plus Limiter Removal to clean out Wang’s Life Points with nearly 10000 damage!

Thomas Luebke overcomes a Duel 1 loss to win 2 more Duels back-to-back, taking down Jerry Wang with Karakuri Machina Plants!