Round 2 Feature Match – Matthew Lenihan vs. Joshua Thomas
Joshua Thomas traveled here this weekend from Decatur, Illinois, and he’s piloting a Deck we haven’t seen in a YCS Feature Match before. Chaos Piper. You may remember Thomas from previous Deck Profile in 2009, where he played a strategy that also revolved around Kinka-byo (http.//yugiohblog.konami.com/?p=1037).
His opponent hails from Jackson, North Carolina. Matthew Lenihan is a Gravekeeper Duelist, which may give Thomas some problems. Without access to his Graveyard, Thomas might have some trouble. Lenihan can shut down his Chaos Sorcerers and his Kinka-byo tricks with Necrovalley alone.
Lenihan opened the Match with a Set monster, and a Set card in his Spell and Trap Card Zone.
Thomas had Reborn Tengu, Mystical Space Typhoon, Kinka-byo, Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, One for One, and Allure of Darkness. He activated Mystical Space Typhoon to clear Lenihan’s Typhoon, then Summoned Tengu to attack Lenihan’s Gravekeeper’s Spy. Spy survived the attack, and Lenihan Special Summoned Gravekeeper’s Descendant from his Deck.
Lenihan activated Necrovalley, and Tributed Gravekeeper’s Spy to destroy Reborn Tengu. Thomas Summoned another in Defense Position. Descendant attacked, and Thomas Summoned his third Tengu. Lenihan Set another monster, and Set a Spell / Trap.
Thomas drew Mystic Piper. He activated Allure of Darkness to draw Pot of Duality and Genex Ally Birdman, and banished Kinka-byo from his hand. He Normal Summoned Birdman, and Tuned it to Tengu for Black Rose Dragon. Its effect destroyed Necrovalley, Gravekeeper’s Descendant, a Set Gravekeeper’s Spy, and a Set Dark Bribe!
Lenihan drew to 3 cards in hand, and activated Gravekeeper’s Stele to return Spy and Descendant to his hand. He Set a monster, then Set a back row card.
Thomas drew Effect Veiler. He Normal Summoned Mystic Piper, and Tributed it to draw Mystical Space Typhoon.
Lenihan Summoned Gravekeeper’s Descendant and attacked for 1500 Battle Damage. When Thomas tried to Summon Gorz, Lenihan responded with Solemn Warning to negate the Summon! The Duel stood at 6200 Life Points to 6000. Lenihan Set a Spell or Trap.
Thomas drew Battle Fader. He activated Pot of Duality to reveal Mind Control, Creature Swap, and Chaos Sorcerer from the top of his Deck, and he took the Sorcerer. He blasted Lenihan’s Set Torrential Tribute with Mystical Space Typhoon.
Lenihan drew to 2 cards, with Descendant face-up and a Set monster. He took a moment to check his Extra Deck, and Normal Summoned Gravekeeper’s Assailant. It attacked, and Thomas Special Summoned Battle Fader to end the Battle Phase. Lenihan destroyed Fader with Gravekeeper’s Descendant in Main Phase 2, Tributing Assailant.
Thomas drew another Piper. He banished Gorz and Piper from his Graveyard, and banished Descendant from the game with Chaos Sorcerer. He Summoned his second Piper and Tributed it, drawing Creature Swap. He ended with 3 cards in hand: One for One, Swap, and Veiler.
Lenihan drew to 2 cards in-hand with Gravekeeper’s Spy still Set. He Flip Summoned it, and Special Summoned Descendant from his Deck. He Summoned Gravekeeper’s Recruiter, and Tributed it for Descendant, trying to destroy Sorcerer. Lenihan negated Descendant’s effect with Effect Veiler. Lenihan got Gravekeeper’s Commandant from his Deck with Recruiter’s ability, and pitched Commandant to get Necrovalley, which he then activated.
Thomas drew Caius the Shadow Monarch and activated Sorcerer’s ability to banish Descendant. He Tributed Sorcerer for Caius, banishing Necrovalley, and then attacked over the Spy.
Lenihan Summoned Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind, using its effect to attack over Caius. He Set his last card to his back row.
Thomas drew Sangan. He Set it, and then used Creature Swap to trade it for Lenihan’s Gale! Gale attacked Sangan, and Lenihan turned it face-down with Book of Moon.
Lenihan Flip Summoned Sangan to attack and destroy Gale, then Set a Spell / Trap.
Thomas drew and Set Book of Moon.
Lenihan drew and activated Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying Book, then attacked with Sangan.
Thomas drew Caius and passed.
Lenihan attacked again with Sangan, dropping Thomas to 4100 Life Points. Lenihan had 4800 left.
Thomas drew Tragoedia. He discarded it for One for One, but Lenihan responded with Royal Oppression! The Summon was negated.
Lenihan Summoned Gravekeeper’s Recruiter, and activated Necrovalley. He attacked with Recruiter and Sangan. Thomas drew a dead Creature Swap next turn and immediately conceded.
A back-and-forth Duel winds up falling in Matthew Lenihan’s favor. Did Thomas have the right Side Deck cards to tackle the matchup and win Duels 2 and 3? We were about to find out.
Thomas opened Duel 2 with 2 Royal Decree, Mind Control, Caius the Shadow Monarch, Mystical Space Typhoon, and Breaker the Magical Warrior. He Set 2 Decrees and Mystical Space Typhoon, and Summoned Breaker.
Lenihan activated Pot of Duality, revealing Gravekeeper’s Commandant, Necrovalley, and another Duality from his Deck. He took the Commandant and pitched it to get Necrovalley. He Set a monster, then Set 4 cards to his back row. He activated Necrovalley, and Thomas Chained Typhoon to destroy it. Thomas flipped Royal Decree in the End Phase!
Thomas drew Gorz the Emissary of Darkness. He activated Breaker’s effect to destroy Lenihan’s Set Dimensional Prison, then Tributed Breaker to remove Lenihan’s Set Gravekeeper’s Spy. Caius attacked for 2400 Battle Damage.
Lenihan passed.
Thomas drew Chaos Sorcerer and made another direct attack with Caius. His opponent was down to 2200 Life Points.
Lenihan activated another Duality, this time choosing between Thunder King Rai-Oh, Chain Disappearance, and Gravekeeper’s Assailant. No help there, as Disappearance was dead under Royal Decree, and both monsters were too small to take on Caius. Lenihan took Thunder King and Summoned it.
Thomas drew Mystic Piper. He took Thunder King with Mind Control, and Lenihan revealed his cards: Mirror Force, Royal Oppression, Dark Bribe, and a Royal Tribute he no longer had a Necrovalley for. Lenihan conceded.
A one-two punch of Mystical Space Typhoon and Royal Decree gives Joshua Thomas the easy win in the second Duel, and play quickly progressed to the third!
Lenihan activated Pot of Duality, revealing Cyber Dragon, Dark Hole, and Mystical Space Typhoon from his Deck. He added Typhoon to his hand, and Set 4 cards to his back row
Thomas had Pot of Duality, 2 Royal Decrees, Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, Reborn Tengu, and Creature Swap. He activated Duality to reveal Allure of Darkness, Book of Moon, and Mystic Piper, taking the Piper. He Summoned it, and Tributed it to draw Dark Hole. He Set one Decree, but didn’t Set the other.
Lenihan activated Necrovalley, and Summoned Gravekeeper’s Commandant. It attacked, and Thomas flipped Royal Decree. Lenihan Chained Mystical Space Typhoon. When Commandant hit, Thomas tried to Summon Gorz, but lost out to Solemn Warning.
Thomas drew Breaker the Magical Warrior. He tried to Summon it, but Lenihan had another Warning!
Lenihan attacked with Commandant again, bringing the Duel to 3800 Life Points to 4000. Linehan Set a monster. Thomas flipped Decree in the End Phase.
Thomas activated Dark Hole, destroying Commandant and Lenihan’s set Gravekeeper’s Spy! Thomas Summoned Reborn Tengu, and made a direct attack. Thomas had Swap and Glow-Up Bulb in hand.
Lenihan drew to 2 cards in hand, with Necrovalley and a Set Spell or Trap on the field. He Summoned Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind, halved Tengu’s ATK and DEF, and attacked. Thomas got another Tengu and Special Summoned it.
Thomas drew Mystical Space Typhoon. He Normal Summoned Glow-Up Bulb, Tuned it to Tengu for T.G. Hyper Librarian, and Special Summoned his last Tengu. Typhoon destroyed Necrovalley, Thomas Special Summoned the Bulb with its effect, and Swapped it to Lenihan for the win!
Joshua Thomas meets his worst matchup early here in Round 2, but fights back after losing the first Duel to take two more back-to-back. Victory for Chaos Piper!
