Ramon Mera made it into the Top 32 at YCS Charlotte with his Spirit Wings Deck – a new and improved Blackwing Deck that Main Decks 2 copies of Spirit Reaper to make up for the cards Blackwings lost when the March 1st, 2011 Forbidden & Limited List took effect. Now, Mera is back with his Blackwings and added even some extra tech, including Breaker the Magical Warrior, D.D. Warrior Lady, and Magic Drain! His first round opponent, Kyle Parker, is running a Gemini Deck, complete with Crusader of Endymion and multiple Gemini Sparks. Parker will be looking to take advantage of those Gemini Sparks to deliver Mera a first round loss.

Mera opened up with Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North, Monster Reborn, Royal Oppression, Icarus Attack, Mystical Space Typhoon, and Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame. He Set Icarus Attack, Royal Oppression, and Mystical Space Typhoon to his Spell and Trap Card Zone, then Set Shura to his Monster Card Zone, and ended his turn.

Parker Summoned Elemental Hero Neos Alius and attacked Shura, destroying it in battle! He Set 3 cards to his back row and ended his turn.

Mera drew Allure of Darkness. Instead of using it, he Normal Summoned his only DARK Monster, Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North, and used its effect to Special Summon Shura from his Graveyard. Mera Tuned Blizzard with Shura to Synchro Summoned Blackwing Armed Wing and then used it to declare an attack on Parker’s Alius. In the Damage Step, Parker dropped Honest from his hand, giving his Alius 2300 ATK! Armed Wing was destroyed and Parker lost 1900 Life Points. In Main Phase 2, Mera activated Monster Reborn and Special Summoned Armed Wing back from his Graveyard, in Attack Position.

Parker activated Dark Hole next turn to try to destroy Alius and Armed Wing, and Mera Chained Icarus Attack to Tribute Armed Wing and try to destroy Parker’s face-down Gemini Spark and Dimensional Prison. Parker Chained the Spark to Tribute his Alius and destroy Mera’s Royal Oppression. Parker drew a card and then the Dimensional Prison was destroyed. The field of monsters was cleared! Parker Normal Summoned Crusader of Endymion next, and used it to attack Mera directly, dropping him down to 4200 Life Points. Parker Set a Skill Drain before ending his turn, and Mera destroyed it with Mystical Space Typhoon in Parker’s End Phase.

Mera drew Smashing Ground next turn and activated it, destroying Alius. He Set Allure of Darkness and passed.

Parker Summoned Neo-Spacian Grand Mole and attacked Mera directly, dropping Mera down to 3300 Life Points.

Mera drew Black Whirlwind and Set it.

Parker attacked with Grand Mole again on his next turn, bringing Mera down to 2400 Life Points.

Mera drew Book of Moon. He Set it and passed.

Parker attacked again with Grand Mole, bringing Mera down to 1500 Life Points.

Mera drew Blackwing – Bora the Spear. He flipped his face-down Black Whirlwind and then Normal Summoned Bora, using his Whirlwind’s effect to grab Vayu from his Deck and add it to his hand. Then he flipped Allure of Darkness to draw Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind and Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow from his Deck, and removed his in-hand Vayu from the Duel with Allure’s effect. He Special Summoned Gale next, and attacked Grand Mole with Gale. Parker used Grand Mole’s effect to bounce Grand Mole and Gale back to their owners’ hands, and then Bora attacked directly, dropping Parker down to 6300 Life Points.

Parker activated Mystical Space Typhoon next turn to destroy Mera’s face-down Book of Moon. Then he activated Smashing Ground to destroy Mera’s Bora, and Summoned Grand Mole to attack Mera directly and drop him down to 600 Life Points. He passed without a back row and with 2 cards in his hand.

Mera drew another Bora next turn. He Normal Summoned it from his hand and used his Whirlwind’s effect to search his Deck for a copy of Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North to add to his hand. Then he Special Summoned Gale again, and used Gale to attack Parker’s Mole. Parker bounced both monsters to their owners’ hands once again, and Bora struck Parker directly for another 1700 points of damage, dropping Parker down to 4600 Life Points. Mera Special Summoned Gale back to the field in Main Phase 2 and then ended his turn.

Parker activated Smashing Ground to destroy Bora and then Normal Summoned Grand Mole. He activated Monster Reborn next and revived Neos Alius from his Graveyard. He used Grand Mole to attack Gale and return it to Mera’s hand, and then attacked directly with Alius to finish the Duel!

A pair of Smashing Grounds and a Neo-Spacian Grand Mole for Parker brings about Mera’s demise as he struggles to keep a monster on the field. Ramon Mera will be going first in Duel 2!

Mera opened up with Dark Armed Dragon, Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow, Mystical Space Typhoon, Royal Oppression, and 2 copies of Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North. He Set the Mystical Space Typhoon and Royal Oppression, along with the Kalut, and ended his turn.

Parker used Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Mera’s face-down Mystical Space Typhoon, and then Normal Summoned Honest from his hand. He attacked with Honest and destroyed Mera’s face-down Kalut. In Main Phase 2, Parker returned Honest to his hand and Set 3 cards to his back row.

Mera drew Magic Drain next turn! He Normal Summoned Blizzard and used its effect to Special Summon Kalut from his Graveyard. Then he Tuned Blizzard with Kalut to Synchro Summon Ally of Justice Catastor, and Parker flipped Bottomless Trap Hole to remove Catastor from the Duel. Mera Set Magic Drain before ending his turn.

Parker Summoned Crusader of Endymion next turn and attacked directly with it, dropping Mera down to 6100 Life Points.

Mera drew Solemn Warning. He Normal Summoned Blizzard and activated its effect to Special Summon Kalut from his Graveyard. Then he Tuned Blizzard with Kalut to Synchro Summon Magical Android. Next, he attacked Parker’s Crusader with his Android, and Parker pitched Honest from his hand during Damage Calculation to win the battle and inflict 1900 points of damage to Mera. With 2 Blizzards and a Kalut in his Graveyard, Mera Special Summoned Dark Armed Dragon from his hand. He removed Blizzard from his Graveyard to try to destroy Parker’s face-down Gemini Spark, and Parker Chained it to destroy Dark Armed Dragon by Tributing Crusader. Mera flipped Magic Drain to try to negate the Gemini Spark, but Parker pitched another Gemini Spark from his hand to make sure the one he activated resolved and destroyed Dark Armed Dragon! After Parker drew a card from the effect of his Gemini Spark, Mera Set Solemn Warning and passed.

Parker tried to Summon Thunder King Rai-Oh on his next turn, but lost it to Mera’s Solemn Warning. He Set a card to his back row and passed.

Mera drew Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame and Summoned it. He attacked with Shura, but lost his monster when Parker flipped his face-down Dimensional Prison.

Parker Set 1 card to his back row on his next turn.

Mera drew Icarus Attack and Set it.

Parker drew a card and passed without making a play.

Mera drew Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn and ended his turn.

Parker drew a card and passed to Mera.

Mera drew Mystical Space Typhoon and Set it.

Parker once again drew a card and ended his turn without making a play.

Mera drew Dark Hole and passed.

Parker drew a card and passed without making a play, while holding 4 cards in his hand.

Mera drew Solemn Warning and Set it.

Parker attempted to Normal Summon Elemental Hero Neos Alius next turn, and Mera dropped down to 200 Life Points by paying 2000 Life Points and activating Solemn Warning. But Parker flipped Solemn Judgment and gave up half of his Life Points to negate the Solemn Warning! One direct attack later, Alius wiped out the rest of Mera’s Life Points and he was out of the Match!

A weak opening hand for Ramon Mera in Duel 2 allows Kyle Parker to gain momentum and take a 2-0 sweep! Kyle Parker is moving on to Round 2 with a 1-0 record!

Here’s what our expert(s) had to say:

Erik Mishtar (Modern day pharaoh)

Many Duelists have a hard time picking out the key card in a LIGHT/Gemini Deck. It’s easy to say “Miracle Fusion” and call it a day, but some people don’t even Main Deck it. Take a close look at this Match and you’ll see that Gemini Spark is the real star of the show. Without Gemini Spark, Parker would have been crushed by Dark Armed Dragon. You can replace “Dark Armed Dragon” in the previous sentence with any monster that has more than 1900 ATK or any powerful Continuous Spell or Trap Card and tell the story of every LIGHT/Gemini Duelist for the entire weekend.

When you prepare for your Duels against LIGHT/Gemini Decks, include cards that can protect you from Gemini Spark. Mera used Magic Drain, but it didn’t work out. Forbidden Lance might have been a better choice, as his Dark Armed Dragon would have survived and Parker would not have been able to draw a card because Gemini Spark’s target wasn’t destroyed.

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