Johnny Nagel traveled here this weekend from Colorado, competing with a flashy Crystal Beast Deck to finish out his run in the March 1^st 2011 F&L era. His opponent is Toronto’s 14 year-old Jordan Grant! If you’re not familiar with Grant’s track record, he’s undefeated in his Feature Matches over the past two years, scoring impressive showings in both YCS main events and Dragon Duels. This is a cool matchup because Grant’s piloting Six Samurai. That means both of these Decks have explosive Special Summoning effects, and powerful negation effects that can shut down opposing Spells and Traps.

Nagel opened our day with a hand of Solemn Judgment, Mirror Force, Horn of the Phantom Beast, Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger, Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth, and Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus. He Summoned Pegasus. “Surprise!” Pegasus’ effect got Nagel another Pegasus from his Deck, which he crystallized to his back row. He Set Solemn, Mirror Force, and Horn.

Grant activated Gateway of the Six! He Summoned Legendary Six Samurai – Kageki, and activated its effect to Special Summon Kagemusha of the Six Samurai. He Special Summoned Grandmaster of the Six Samurai to place a fifth and sixth Bushido Counter on his Gateway, then Tuned Kagemusha and Kageki together for Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En! Nagel responded with Solemn Judgment, negating the Summon. Grant pressed on. He removed 4 Bushido Counters from his Gateway to get Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan from his Deck, then Special Summoned it. He attacked with Grandmaster, and Nagel flipped Horn of the Phantom Beast when Grandmaster collided with Sapphire Pegasus, boosting Pegasus to 2600 ATK. Grandmaster was destroyed, and Nagel drew Monster Reborn. Grant moved to Main Phase 2 and used his Gateway to get another Kageki. He Set a card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.

Nagel drew Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins. He tried to Summon Topaz Tiger, but Grant negated the Summon with Solemn Warning. Topaz Tiger was sent to the Graveyard. Nagel attacked over Kizan with Sapphire Pegasus, drawing Torrential Tribute with Horn. He Set it.

Grant Summoned Kageki next turn, and used it to Special Summon another Kagemusha. Nagel responded with Torrential. Grant got a third and fourth Bushido Counter for Gateway, and his Samurais (plus Sapphire Pegasus) were destroyed. Nagel crystallized the second Pegasus, losing the attached Horn, and Grant used Gateway to go get another Kagemusha. He ended his turn with 2 cards in hand.

Nagel drew Crystal Promise! He Summoned Amber Mammoth, and activated Promise to Special Summon a Sapphire Pegasus. Pegasus crystallized Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle from Nagel’s Deck. He activated Monster Reborn next, Special Summoning Topaz Tiger from the Graveyard, and attacked with all three monsters to end the Duel.

A strong start allows Johnny Nagel to overcome Jordan Grant’s two attempts at Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En, and a flurry of Crystal Beasts let him capture the first Duel! Grant would start Duel 2.

The second contest began with Grant Summoning Hand of the Six Samurai, and Special Summoning Grandmaster of the Six Samurai. He Set 3 cards to his back row.

Nagel was holding Mirror Force, Crystal Blessing, Crystal Abundance, Horn of the Phantom Beast, Torrential Tribute, and Mystical Space Typhoon. No Crystal Beasts in sight! He Set everything but Abundance.

Grant smelled blood in the water. He Summoned Kagemusha of the Six Samurai. Nagel responded with Torrential Tribute, and Grant Chained Musakani Magatama to negate it! He Tuned his Kagemusha to Hand of the Six for Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En, and this time the Synchro Summon stuck. He attacked with Grandmaster. Nagel tried to force Shi En’s effect by flipping Mystical Space Typhoon, but Grant just let it go, losing his Mirror Force. That kept Nagel from safely activating his own Mirror Force, and Grandmaster and Shi En each made direct attacks.

Nagel drew Compulsory Evacuation Device. He Set it, and Set Abundance.

Grant Summoned another Kagemusha, and attacked with Grandmaster. Nagel flipped Compulsory Evacuation Device to target Shi En, and Grant changed the target to Kagemusha, letting Compulsory resolve to bounce Kagemusha away. Nagel immediately conceded.

Musakani Magatama and expert use of Kagemusha of the Six Samurai’s re-targeting ability makes victory Academic for Jordan Grant, as Johnny Nagel just can’t draw a Crystal Beast. This Match moved to a third Duel!

This time around Nagel had a hand of Pot of Duality, Thunder King Rai-Oh, Book of Moon, Solemn Warning, Crystal Promise, and Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins. He activated Duality to reveal 3 cards from the top of his Deck: Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth, Crystal Blessing, and Crystal Abundance. He took the Mammoth and shuffled the rest back. He Summoned Thunder King, then Set everything but Mammoth and Ancient City.

Grant activated Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying Nagel’s Set Crystal Promise. He activated Six Samurai United, and followed up with Gateway of the Six! “Dang… Dang dang dang,” laughed Nagel. Grant tried to Summon Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan, and Nagel negated the Summon with Solemn Warning. Grant Set a card to his back row.

Nagel drew Horn of the Phantom Beast. He Summoned Amber Mammoth and attacked, scoring a direct attack for 1700 Battle Damage, and then attacking directly with Thunder King. He Set Horn to finish out, ready to boost the Mammoth.

Grant Summoned Spirit of the Six Samurai, adding Bushido Counters to his two continuous Spells. He tried to Special Summon Grandmaster of the Six Samurai. Nagel negated the Summon with Thunder King, and Grant took back Kizan with its effect. Nagel responded with Book of Moon, turning the Spirit face-down to stop Grant from Special Summoning Kizan.

Nagel drew Torrential Tribute. He attacked Spirit with Amber Mammoth, then flipped Horn of the Phantom Beast! Spirit went down, and Nagel drew Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus with Horn’s effect. He tried to Summon Pegasus in Main Phase 2, but Grant had Solemn Warning! Nagel Set Torrential.

Grant Summoned Kagemusha, and Nagel let it go. That let Grant add a second Bushido Counter to his United, and took his Gateway to 4 Counters. Grant had one card left in-hand: Kizan. He removed 2 Counters from United and 2 from Gateway to go get another Grandmaster from his Deck. He Special Summoned it, putting Gateway at 4 Counters and United at 1. He Special Summoned Kizan next, but Nagel didn’t flip Torrential Tribute. Grant used United to draw 2 more cards. Grant now had 6 Counters on his Gateway, and he activated a freshly-drawn Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Nagel’s Torrential! Nagel had held back a moment too long! Grant Tuned Kagemusha and Kizan together to Synchro Summon Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, and then dropped his Gateway to 2 Counters to get another Kizan from his Deck. He Special Summoned it, and then searched out Kagemusha. He discarded Royal Oppression to bounce away Amber Mammoth, and attacked to finish the Match!

Johnny Nagel scores the first win with some hard-hitting Crystal Beasts, but a tough hand in Duel 2 and a war of topdecks in the final contest let Jordan Grant score the first win here today! Grant moves on with Six Samurai, and retains his pristine Feature Match record.