Top 16: Invader Robert Boyajian vs. Moises “Maximus” Rodriguez
Robert Boyajian is the only Worm Duelist left in the tournament, and Moises Rodriguez, a YCS first-timer, is the last remaining Gladiator Beast Duelist left in the tournament. Only one of them can move on. One of these Duelists will be eliminated, and either Worms or Gladiator Beasts will advance to the Top 8.
Boyajian drew Book of Moon, Offering to the Snake Deity, Mystical Space Typhoon, Evil Dragon Ananta, and 2 copies of Worm Xex in his opening hand. He Summoned a Xex and activated its effect to send Worm Yagan from his Deck to his Graveyard. Then he activated Yagan’s effect to Special Summon it face-down on the field. Boyajian Set Mystical Space Typhoon, Offering to the Snake Deity, and Book of Moon before ending his turn.
Rodriguez Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh next turn and attacked Xex, but Boyajian activated Book of Moon to put Rai-Oh face-down and protect his Worm. Rodriguez Set 2 cards to his back row before ending.
Boyajian drew Pot of Duality next turn. He attacked the face-down Rai-Oh with Xex, and Rodriguez flipped Dimensional Prison; Boyajian Chained Offering to the Snake Deity, and Rodriguez negated it with Seven Tools of the Bandit so that Xex was removed by Dimensional Prison. Boyajian activated Pot of Duality in Main Phase 2, revealing Bottomless Trap Hole, Dimensional Prison, and Worm King from the top of his Deck, and added the Bottomless Trap Hole to his hand. He Set it in Main Phase 2 and ended his turn.
Rodriguez Flip Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh and lost it to Bottomless Trap Hole, then Summoned another Rai-Oh. He attacked and destroyed Yagan, and Rai-Oh went back to Rodriguez’s hand due to Yagan’s effect.
Boyajian drew Worm Cartaros and then Normal Summoned Xex to kick a Yagan from his Deck to his Graveyard. Xex attacked directly to drop Rodriguez down to 5200. Next, Boyajian activated Yagan’s effect to Special Summon it from the Graveyard, face-down on the field.
Rodriguez Normal Summoned Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind next turn and activated its effect to halve the ATK and DEF of Xex. He attacked Xex to destroy it in battle and then Set 2 cards to his back row.
Boyajian drew Genex Ally Birdman next turn. He Special Summoned Evil Dragon Ananta in Defense Position with 600 ATK and DEF by removing Worm Xex from his Graveyard, and then Set Worm Cartaros. He ended his turn and used Ananta’s effect to destroy Gale in the End Phase.
Rodriguez Summoned another Thunder King Rai-Oh next turn, and used it to attack and destroy Ananta. He Set a Dimensional Prison that he lost to Mystical Space Typhoon in the End Phase.
Boyajian drew Worm Cartaros next turn and then flipped Yagan to return Rai-Oh to Rodriguez’s hand. Next, he Flip Summoned Worm Cartaros and used its effect to add a Worm Xex from his Deck to his hand. Next, he tried to return Yagan to his hand in order to Special Summon Ally Genex Birdman, and Yagan was removed from play due to its effect instead. He Tuned Birdman with Cartaros to Synchro Summon Black Rose Dragon, and then activated its effect to destroy Rodriguez’s face-down Smashing Ground and Gladiator Proving Ground. Boyajian Summoned Worm Xex next, and activated its effect send another Worm Yagan from his Deck to his Graveyard. He used Yagan’s effect to Special Summon it to the field before ending his turn. (Unfortunately, the Duelists did not realize that Boyajian could not return the Yagan to Summon Birdman because it couldn’t actually return to the hand. Play continued anyways.)
Rodriguez Summoned Rai-Oh next turn and attacked Xex to destroy it.
Boyajian drew Evil Dragon Ananta and then Flip Summoned his Yagan to send Thunder King Rai-Oh back to Rodriguez’s hand. Then he removed his on-field Yagan along with the Cartaros, Ananta and Xex in his Graveyard to Summon a 2400 ATK Ananta. He Normal Summoned Worm Cartaros next, and direct attacks from Cartaros and Ananta wiped out Rodriguez’s last 3400 Life Points!
Robert Boyajian defeats Moises Rodriguez before even giving him the chance to Summon a Gladiator Beast monster! Rodriguez will be going first in Duel 2!
Rodriguez started off the second Duel by Summoning Thunder King Rai-Oh, activating Dimensional Fissure, and Setting a card to his back row.
Boyajian opened up with Rivalry of Warlords, Worm Yagan, Worm King, Offering to the Snake Deity, and 2 copies of Bottomless Trap Hole. He Set all of his Trap Cards and then ended his turn.
Rodriguez passed without making a play.
Boyajian drew Worm Xex next turn. He Summoned Yagan to the field and Rodriguez flipped Solemn Warning, giving up 2000 Life Points to negate Yagan’s Summon.
Rodriguez attacked directly with Thunder King Rai-Oh next turn. He Set a card in his back row and then passed to Boyajian.
Boyajian drew Seven Tools of the Bandit. He Normal Summoned Worm Xex and then Set Seven Tools of the Bandit, ending his turn.
Rodriguez attacked Xex with Thunder King Rai-Oh, and Boyajian flipped Offering to the Snake Deity. He destroyed his own Xex along with Rodriguez’s Rai-Oh and Dimensional Fissure.
Rodriguez passed without doing anything.
Boyajian drew Monster Reborn next turn. He activated it to Special Summon Thunder King Rai-Oh from Rodriguez’s Graveyard and then attacked directly to drop Rodriguez down to 4100 Life Points.
Rodriguez Special Summoned Cyber Dragon next turn, but lost it to Boyajian’s Bottomless Trap Hole. He Special Summoned another Cyber Dragon next, but this time, Boyajian ditched his Rai-Oh to negate the Summon. Rodriguez Normal Summoned Gladiator Beast Equeste afterwards, but lost his Gladiator to another Bottomless Trap Hole. He Set a card to his back row before ending his turn.
Boyajian drew Mystical Space Typhoon and Set it.
Rodriguez activated Gladiator Proving Ground next turn in order to grab Gladiator Beast Laquari from his Deck. He Summoned it to the field and then used it to attack Boyajian directly. Boyajian took the damage and then Rodriguez ended his turn.
Boyajian drew Worm Xex and activated Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Rodriguez’s Solemn Judgment. Then he Normal Summoned Worm Xex and activated its effect to send a Yagan from his Deck to his Graveyard. He Special Summoned Yagan face-down and then attacked Laquari with Xex, destroying them both.
Rodriguez activated Nobleman of Crossout next turn to remove Boyajian’s Yagan from the Duel. He Set a card to his back row before passing.
Boyajian drew and activated Pot of Duality next turn. He revealed Dimensional Prison, W Nebula Meteorite, and Solemn Warning from the top of his Deck and chose to grab the Solemn Warning while shuffling the other 2 cards back into his Deck. He Set the Solemn Warning and ended his turn.
Rodriguez activated Dimensional Fissure and passed.
Boyajian drew and Set Worm Cartaros.
Rodriguez Set a card to his back row and ended his turn.
Boyajian drew Chain Whirlwind next turn. He Flip Summoned Worm Cartaros and used its effect to add Worm Xex to his hand. Next, he attacked with Cartaros, and Rodriguez dropped down to 2900 Life Points. Boyajian Set Chain Whirlwind before ending his turn.
Rodriguez flipped his face-down Smashing Ground next turn in order to destroy Cartaros, and then activated Monster Reborn to try to Special Summon Gladiator Beast Laquari from his Graveyard; but Boyajian flipped Solemn Warning and negated the Summon!
Boyajian drew Dimensional Prison next turn. He Summoned Worm Xex and attacked with it to drop Rodriguez down to 1100 Life Points. He Set Dimensional Prison in Main Phase 2 and then ended his turn.
Rodriguez activated Dark Hole to destroy Xex and then Normal Summoned Gladiator Beast Laquari. He attacked with it, but Boyajian flipped Dimensional Prison to remove Laquari from the Duel.
Boyajian drew Rivalry of Warlords and Set it.
Rodriguez drew and Summoned Gladiator Beast Murmillo. He attacked directly with it, and then Boyajian flipped Rivalry of Warlords.
Boyajian drew Mystical Space Typhoon and Set it.
Rodriguez attacked with Murmillo and Set a card to his back row.
Boyajian drew Offering to the Snake Deity next turn and conceded with only 700 Life Points remaining.
Robert Boyajian is unable to pull his draws together and is eventually defeated by Gladiator Beast Murmillo! Boyajian will be going first in Duel 3!
Boyajian opened up with Dimensional Prison, Seven Tools of the Bandit, Cyber Dragon, Mirror Force, Worm King, and Royal Oppression. He Set Seven Tools and Dimensional Prison before ending his first turn.
Rodriguez Summoned Gladiator Beast Retiari and attacked with it, but Boyajian flipped Dimensional Prison to remove it from the Duel. In Main Phase 2, Rodriguez Set 2 cards to his back row.
Boyajian drew W Nebula Meteorite and then Set it along with Royal Oppression and Mirror Force.
Rodriguez activated Gladiator Proving Ground next turn in order to search his Deck for Gladiator Beast Hoplomus and add it to his hand. He Summoned it to the field and declared a direct attacked, dropping Boyajian to 7300 Life Points. When Hoplomus tried to tag out, Boyajian flipped Royal Oppression and paid 800 Life Points to try to negate Hoplomus’s effect; but Rodriguez flipped Solemn Judgment and paid 4000 Life Points to negate the Royal Oppression! He tagged in Bestiari in Hoplomus’s place and used its effect to destroy Boyajian’s face-down Mirror Force. Rodriguez Set a card to his back row before ending his turn.
Boyajian drew Worm Cartaros next turn. He Special Summoned Cyber Dragon and attacked over Bestiari with it. He ended his turn after Setting Worm Cartaros.
Rodriguez activated Dark Hole to clear the field and then Normal Summoned Gladiator Beast Darius. He attacked with Darius to drop Boyajian down to 4800 Life Points and then tagged out Darius to Special Summon Gladiator Beast Equeste and shift Bestiari from his Graveyard to his hand.
Boyajian drew Offering to the Snake Deity next turn and Set it.
Rodriguez flipped his face-down Gladiator Beast’s Respite next turn in order to return Gladiator Beast Bestiari and Gladiator Beast War Chariot from his hand to his Deck and draw 3 cards. Then he Normal Summoned Darius and attacked directly with Darius and Equeste to drop Boyajian down to 1500 Life Points. Darius tagged out to Special Summon Equeste in its place, and Rodriguez used Equeste’s effect to return Respite to his hand. Then he tagged out his other Equeste to Summon Bestiari, and used its effect to destroy Boyajian’s face-down Offering to the Snake Deity. Next, he fused Bestiari with Equeste to Summon Gladiator Beast Gyzarus, and activated its effect to destroy Boyajian’s face-down Meteorite.
Boyajian drew Dimensional Prison next turn and Set it.
Rodriguez attacked directly with Gyzarus next turn, and when Boyajian flipped Dimensional Prison to try to remove Gyzarus from the Duel, Boyajian activated Forbidden Lance to protect Gyzarus and allow it to make the Duel-ending attack!
Moises Rodriguez is moving on to the Top 8 with Gladiator Beasts!