Round 7 Feature Match: Undead Andres Ochoa vs. Angelic Alexander Zai
Heading into Round 7, the top tables are packed with Samurai, Gravekeepers, and X-Sabers, but Table 1 is a different story! Andres Ochoa is undefeated with Zombies, while his opponent Alexander Zai is undefeated with Counter Fairies. We haven’t seen either of these Decks performing so well in over a year, so this might be a Match to remember!
Zai opened the Match with a hand of 2 Dark Bribes; Pot of Duality; Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter; Freed the Brave Wanderer; and Bountiful Artemis. He used Duality to reveal Book of Moon and 2 Thunder King Rai-Oh, adding the Book to his hand and shuffling the Thunder Kings back. He Summoned Artemis, then Set Book and both copies of Bribe.
Ochoa fired back, Setting a monster and 2 cards to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.
Zai drew Thunder King Rai-Oh! He Summoned it, and attacked with it. When Ochoa activated Mirror Force, Zai negated it with Dark Bribe, drawing Solemn Judgment with Artemis’ effect. Ryko’s effect destroyed Artemis when Ryko flipped face-up from the attack, and Ochoa sent 2 Bottomless Trap Holes and Mezuki to his Graveyard.
Ochoa activated Book of Life, Special Summoning Mezuki in Defense Position and removing Artemis from Zai’s Graveyard. He Tributed Mezuki for Caius the Shadow Monarch, but lost out to Solemn Judgment as Zai negated his Summon!
Zai drew another Ryko. He attacked with Thunder King, then Set a Ryko.
Ochoa activated Dark Hole, but Zai negated it with Dark Bribe. Ochoa Set a mosnter.
Zai drew Reinforcement of the Army. He Flip Summoned Ryko to destroy Ochoa’s Ryko, then sent Solemn Warning, Bottomless Trap Hole, and Freed to his Graveyard from his Deck. Ryko and Thunder King attacked, and Zai Set a monster, then a card to his back row.
Ochoa activated Allure of Darkness, drawing 2 cards and removing Tragoedia from his hand. He activated Monster Reborn to target Freed the Brave Wanderer, Special Summoning it. He removed his 2 Rykos from his Graveyard to destroy Thunder King, then Summoned Goblin Zombie. Goblin Zombie attacked Zai’s face-up Ryko: Zai responded with Book of Moon, turning Ryko face-down. Ryko flipped to destroy Ochoa’s face-down Burial from a Different Dimension. Freed attacked into Zai’s next Ryko, and Zai destroyed Freed. Ochoa had 2 cards left in hand and he Set it to his back row.
Zai drew Dark Bribe. He activated Reinforcement of the Army to get D.D. Warrior Lady from his Deck, and he Set Warrior Lady and Dark Bribe.
Ochoa drew and activated Foolish Burial, sending Plaguespreader Zombie to his Graveyard. He activated Call of the Haunted, targeted Plaguespreader, and Zai negated Call with Dark Bribe. Ochoa removed Mezuki to Special Summon Plaguespreader, then Tuned it to Goblin Zombie to Synchro Summon Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier. He got Zombie Master with Goblin Zombie’s effect, and activated Charge of the Light Brigade, but sent his last Ryko to the Graveyard as part of Charge’s cost! He now had nothing left but the on-field Brionac, and his in-hand Zombie Master. He Summoned Zombie Master; attacked into D.D. Warrior Lady to remove both monsters; and made a direct attack with Brionac.
Zai had Freed in-hand, and drew Mirror Force. He Summoned Freed to destroy Brionac, then attacked for 1700 Battle Damage! He Set Mirror Force.
Ochoa Set a monster.
Zai attacked into it with Freed. It was Spirit Reaper. Zai Set another Spell or Trap.
Ochoa passed.
Zai drew another Freed. He Summoned it and ended.
Ochoa passed.
Zai drew Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind! He Summoned it, and when he used its effect to target Spirit Reaper, Reaper destroyed itself with its effect and Zai attacked directly to win the Duel!
A hard-fought first Duel sees both Duelists make some impressive moves, but Alexander Zai comes out on top! Both competitors spent some serious time debating their Side Deck choices before heading into the second Duel.
Ochoa started the second Duel with a Set monster and a Set card in his back row.
Zai had a hand of Freed the Brave Wanderer; Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer; Divine Wrath; Thunder King Rai-Oh; D.D. Warrior Lady; and Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo. He Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh and attacked into Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, sending Allure of Darkness, Zombie Master, and another Ryko to the Graveyard. Thunder King was destroyed. Zai Set Divine Wrath.
Ochoa attacked with Spirit Reaper next turn, and when it made a direct attack Zai tried to stop its effect by discarding D.D. Warrior Lady to activate Divine Wrath. Ochoa negated Wrath with Seven Tools of the Bandit! Spirit Reaper robbed Zai of Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer.
Zai got Book of Moon with Pot of Duality next turn, Set it, and Set Fossil Dyna.
Ochoa Normal Summoned Zombie Master, then discarded Glow-Up Bulb for the Master’s effect. He targeted the Zombie Master in his Graveyard and Special Summoned it. Ochoa sent the Special Summoned Master to attack into Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo, destroying Fossil Dyna. Dyna’s effect destroyed Zombie Master. Ochoa attacked into Book of Moon with Spirit Reaper, and the other Zombie Master made a direct attack.
Zai Summoned Freed next turn, removing 2 LIGHT monsters to destroy Zombie Master.
Ochoa Summoned Goblin Zombie, then Special Summoned Glow-Up Bulb from his Graveyard with the Bulb’s effect. He Tuned Bulb to Goblin Zombie to try and Synchro Summon Magical Android, but Zai negated the Summon with Solemn Warning. Goblin Zombie’s effect let Ochoa get Mezuki from his Deck, and he Special Summoned back Zombie Master with Monster Reborn. He discarded Mezuki to Special Summon Goblin Zombie, then attacked over Freed with Zombie Master. Goblin Zombie made a direct attack, and Zai was conceding a turn later.
Andres Ochoa scores a huge opening with Spirit Reaper and Seven Tools, forcing his opponent to give up half his opening hand in a single turn! One more Duel stood between these 2 competitors and an undefeated 7-0 record.
Zai opened with a hand of Dark Bribe; Bottomless Trap Hole; Nobleman of Crossout; Dark Hole; Thunder King Rai-Oh; and Neo-Spacian Grand Mole. He Summoned Thunder King, then Set everything but Grand Mole to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.
Ochoa Set a monster, then Set 3 cards to his back row.
Zai drew Magic Drain. He Summoned Grand Mole, then attacked to send Grand Mole and Ochoa’s Set monster back to their controllers’ hands. Thunder King made a direct attack.
Ochoa activated One for One, discarding Goblin Zombie: Zai Chained Magic Drain, and Ochoa discarded Book of Life to Special Summon Glow-Up Bulb from his Deck. Ochoa flipped Call of the Haunted to target Goblin Zombie, Special Summoning it. He Tuned it to Glow-Up in an attempt to Synchro Summon Magical Android, and Zai removed it with Bottomless Trap Hole! Ochoa Set a monster, stymied.
Zai drew Honest! He Summoned Grand Mole and attacked to clear away Ochoa’s monster, then made a direct attack with Thunder King.
Ochoa was down to 4200 Life Points. He Set a monster again, then Set another Spell or Trap.
Zai Summoned Grand Mole again, and attacked into Malevolent Catastrophe. Zai negated it with Dark Bribe. Grand Mole’s effect kicked in again, and Thunder King attacked once more to drop Ochoa to 2300 Life Points.
Ochoa drew to 3 cards in hand, with 2 more cards Set in his Spell and Trap Card Zone. He activated Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying Zai’s Set Dark Hole. He then Summoned Goblin Zombie, and sent a card from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard to Special Summon Glow-Up Bulb. Ochoa attempted to Synchro Summon Magical Android, and Zai let it go. Magical Android attcked, and Zai dropped Honest to destroy Android! Ochoa had just 400 Life Points left. He Set another Spell or Trap.
Zai drew bountiful Artemis, and attacked with Thunder King Rai-Oh. Ochoa activated Return from the Different Dimension to Special Summon back his Magical Android, blocking the attack! Zai Set a Spell or Trap and ended: Android was removed by Return’s effect.
Ochoa Set a Spell or Trap, then Set a monster.
Zai Summoned Grand Mole again, and 1 more attack bounced Ochoa’s monster off the field! Thunder King sealed the deal with a direct attack.
Alexander Zai takes it, as Counter Fairies triumph over Zombies on Table 1!
Here’s what our expert(s) had to say:
Erik Mishtar (Modern day pharaoh)
The final Duel of this Match demonstrates the incredible lockdown power of Neo-Spacian Grand Mole. If you have a strong monster on the field and your opponent doesn’t, Grand Mole will ensure it stays that way. Since both players are limited to one Normal Summon per turn, your opponent has to spend theirs to Set a monster to protect their Life Points. You can then use yours on Grand Mole and attack to remove the obstacle without flipping it face-up, leaving your opponent open to a direct attack.
If you’re on the receiving end of the Grand Mole treatment, you’ll need to rely on Spell and Trap Cards to take care of the Grand Mole and Special Summons to let you put more than one monster on the field in the same turn. Stay away from Synchro Summons though, because if you can’t stop the Mole your Synchro Monster will go right back to the Extra Deck!
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