Round 7 Feature Match: Tombkeeper Jason Huertas vs. Dragoon Donovan Smith
Heading into Round 7, Donovan Smith and Jason Huertas are both currently 5-1 in the tournament with a great shot at making it into Day 2. Smith got here with a newly constructed Dragunity Deck, and Huertas made it here with a Gravekeeper Deck that techs Malefic Cyber End Dragon in his Deck. With Dragon Ravine or Necrovalley critical to each of these Decks’ success, we’re in for a “Battle of the Field Spells” in this Feature Match!
Huertas started off the Match by activating Pot of Duality, revealing Seven Tools of the Bandit and 2 copies of Gravekeeper’s Assailant from the top of his Deck. He added the Seven Tools to his hand and shuffled the Assailants back into his Deck. Next, Huertas Set 2 cards to his back row and Set a monster.
Smith opened up with Giant Trunade, Monster Reborn, Mystical Space Typhoon, Cards of Consonance, Dragunity Legionnaire, and Terraforming. He activated Giant Trunade to return Huertas’s 2 back rows to his hand, then activated Terraforming to search his Deck for Dragon Ravine and activate it. He pitched Dragunity Legionnaire to search his Deck for Dragunity Phalanx and add it to his hand with the effect of his Ravine. Next, he activated Cards of Consonance, discarding Phalanx to draw Effect Veiler and Dragunity Legionnaire from his Deck. He Summoned the Legionnaire and activated its effect to equip it with the Phalanx in his Graveyard. Next, he activated the Phalanx’s effect to Special Summon it from the Spell and Trap Card Zone, and Tuned it with Dragunity Legionnaire to Synchro Summon Vortex the Whirlwind. Smith attacked Huertas’s face-down Gravekeeper’s Spy with his Vortex, destroying it in battle and triggering its Flip Effect, which allowed Huertas to Special Summon Gravekeeper’s Recruiter from his Deck. In Main Phase 2, Smith Set Mystical Space Typhoon.
Huertas Normal Summoned Gravekeeper’s Descendant next turn and Tributed Gravekeeper’s Recruiter to activate the effect of his Gravekeeper’s Descendant. But Smith discarded Effect Veiler from his hand to negate the Descendant’s effect! Huertas grabbed Gravekeeper’s Commandant from his Deck with the effect of his Recruiter, and then pitched the Commandant to search his Deck for Necrovalley. He activated Dark Hole next, destroying Gravekeeper’s Descendant and Vortex the Whirlwind. Then he activated Necrovalley, displacing Smith’s Dragon Ravine. Huertas Set 3 cards to his back row before ending his turn, and lost his face-down Royal Oppression in the End Phase when Smith activated Mystical Space Typhoon.
Smith drew Cards of Consonance next turn and then Set Monster Reborn.
Huertas activated Pot of Duality, revealing Gravekeeper’s Spy, Gravekeeper’s Assailant, and Gravekeeper’s Stele from the top of his Deck. He added the Stele to his hand and shuffled the other 2 cards back into his Deck. He activated the Stele to return Gravekeeper’s Recruiter and Gravekeeper’s Descendant from his Graveyard to his hand. Next, he Summoned the Recruiter to the field and attacked directly, dropping Smith down to 6300 Life Points.
Smith drew Terraforming next turn. He activated it to search his Deck for Dragon Ravine and then played Dragon Ravine from his hand to replace Necrovalley. Next, he activated the effect of Dragon Ravine to discard Cards of Consonance from his hand and grab Dragunity Dux from his Deck. He Summoned Dux to the field, but lost it to Huertas’s Bottomless Trap Hole. Next, Smith activated Monster Reborn to revive Vortex the Whirlwind, and used his Vortex to attack Huertas’s Gravekeeper’s Recruiter. Huertas lost 900 Life Points in the battle and searched his Deck for Gravekeeper’s Commandant with the effect of Recruiter.
Huertas discarded Gravekeeper’s Commandant from his hand next turn to search his Deck for another Necrovalley, and used it to replace Smith’s Dragon Ravine again. He Set a monster before ending his turn.
Smith drew Icarus Attack and Set it.
Huertas Flip Summoned Gravekeeper’s Spy and activated its effect to Special Summon Gravekeeper’s Recruiter from his Deck. Then he Normal Summoned Gravekeeper’s Descendant and passed. Smith flipped Icarus Attack, but after he Tributed Vortex the Whirlwind, Huertas flipped Seven Tools of the Bandit to negate it! Gravekeeper’s Recruiter, Gravekeeper’s Spy, and Gravekeeper’s Descendant attacked directly, dropping Smith down to 900 Life Points. Huertas Set a card to his back row before ending his turn.
Smith was on total topdeck, with no cards in his hand or on the field. He drew Solemn Judgment on his next turn and conceded, realizing he had no way out.
Donovan Smith just can’t pull his Dragunity Deck together in the first Duel, giving Jason Huertas’s Gravekeeper’s a quick win. Smith will be going first in Duel 2!
Smith opened up Duel 2 with Dragunity Legionnaire, Dragunity Aklys, Effect Veiler, Terraforming, Torrential Tribute, and Solemn Judgment. He activated Terraforming to search his Deck for Dragon Ravine, then activated Dragon Ravine and used its effect to pitch Aklys from his hand and grab Phalanx from his Deck. He Set Solemn Judgment and Torrential Tribute before ending his turn.
Huertas activated Necrovalley to replace Dragon Ravine. Next, he Summoned Gravekeeper’s Assailant, and Smith flipped Torrential Tribute to destroy it. Huertas removed Cyber End Dragon from his Extra Deck to try to Special Summon Malefic Cyber End Dragon next, but Smith flipped Solemn Judgment and paid 4000 Life Points to negate its Summon! Huertas Set a card to his back row and activated Royal Tribute next. He revealed Rivalry of Warlords from his own hand, and forced Smith to discard his entire hand, consisting of Effect Veiler, Dragunity Phalanx, and Dragunity Legionnaire. Suddenly, Huertas was on total topdeck again with no hand or field.
Smith drew Trap Stun and Set it.
Huertas drew a card and passed his turn.
Smith drew Mask of Restrict and Set it.
Huertas drew a card and ended his turn.
Smith drew Dragunity Phalanx and passed to Huertas.
Huertas drew Gravekeeper’s Descendant and Summoned it. He attacked directly with the Descendant, dropping Smith down to 2000 Life Points.
Smith drew Mystical Space Typhoon next turn. He Set it along with his Phalanx and then ended his turn.
Huertas Summoned Gravekeeper’s Commandant next turn and Smith flipped Mask of Restrict. Smith attacked and destroyed Phalanx with Gravekeeper’s Commandant, and then Gravekeeper’s Descendant attacked directly. Smith activated Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Necrovalley before taking the damage, leaving him at 500 Life Points after the attack. In Main Phase 2, Huertas activated another Necrovalley.
Smith drew Effect Veiler next turn and conceded, knowing he wouldn’t be able to survive another turn.
Jason Huertas’s copies of Necrovalley win out over Donovan Smith’s Dragon Ravines, allowing Huertas to take the 2-0 victory and advance to the eighth round with a 6-1 record!
Here’s what our expert(s) had to say:
Erik Mishtar (Modern day pharaoh)
There were a lot of Field Spells played in this Match. If you ever find yourself in a “Battle of the Field Spells”, here’s something important to remember. If you have a Field Spell in play and your opponent tries to replace it with a new one, using Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your opponent’s Field Spell before it resolves will save yours from being destroyed!