Varun Dewan is 5-1 here in Round 7, and may be the highest-ranked Fabled Duelist in the tournament.  His opponent is Ryan Low, an Agent Duelist playing a build keyed towards Synchro Summoning.  This Match pits an unusual and often misunderstood strategy against the popular Agents. Which one will come out on top?

Low started the Match with The Agent of Creation – Venus, using its effect three times to Summon three copies of Mystical Shine Ball from his Deck.  He bounced a Shine Ball to Special Summon Genex Ally Birdman, then paid 500 Life Points to Special Summon the Ball back again.  He Tuned Birdman to a Shine Ball and Venus to bring out Stardust Dragon, then stacked the two remaining Shine Balls to Xyz Summon Gachi Gachi Gantetsu.  He Set 3 cards to his back row to finish out a huge turn.

Dewan had Glow-Up Bulb; Solemn Warning; The Fabled Cerburrel; Reborn Tengu; Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning; and Monster Reborn.  He Normal Summoned Reborn Tengu, then Set Warning.

Low attacked Tengu with his 2900 ATK Stardust Dragon, and Dewan Summoned another from his Deck.

Dewan drew Bottomless Trap Hole.  He Normal Summoned The Fabled Cerburrel, Tuning it to Tengu to try and Synchro Summon Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier: Low negated the Summon with Solemn Warning.  Dewan Special Summoned his last Tengu from his Deck, and activated Monster Reborn to Special Summon Cerburrel.  He Tuned Cerburrel to Tengu again, this time bringing out Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth; moved to his Battle Phase; and slammed it right into the boosted Stardust, forgetting about Gachi Gachi.  Gaia Knight was destroyed, and Dewan Set another Spell or Trap, verbally kicking himself.

Low Summoned Tour Guide from the Underworld, Special Summoning Sangan from his Deck with her effect.  He stacked Sangan with Tour Guide to Xyz Summon Leviair the Sea Dragon; used its effect to Special Summon Birdman; and Dewan banished Leviair with Bottomless Trap Hole on the Chain.  Low attacked with Birdman and Stardust Dragon, dropping Dewan to 1800 Life Points.

Dewan Set a monster and a Spell or Trap.

Low Tributed Gachi Gachi and Birdman for Archlord Kristya next turn, then attacked with Stardust Dragon!  Dewan’s Set monster was Glow-Up Bulb – no help there – and Kristya made a direct attack to end the Duel!

Ryan Low opens the Match with three Set back rows, protected by the all-important Stardust Dragon.  It was a tough situation made even tougher by Dewan’s misplay, and Low achieves victory in a matter of minutes.  One more like that, and Low would be well on his way to Day 2.  Varun Dewan would start the second Duel.

Dewan opened with Mind Control; The Fabled Ganashia; Maxx “C”; Monster Reborn; Tour Guide from the Underworld; and Fabled Grimro.  He Summoned Tour Guide to get Fabled Kushano from his Deck in Attack Position, then sent Grimro from his hand to his Graveyard to go get The Fabled Cerburrel from his Deck.  He then stacked his two Level 3’s to Xyz Summon Number 17: Leviathan Dragon, boosting it to 2500 ATK by sending Kushano to the Graveyard.

Low Special Summoned Cyber Dragon; Normal Summoned Venus; and activated its effect, giving Dewan the opportunity to activate the effect of Maxx “C”.  Low got his Mystical Shine Ball, and Dewan drew a card with Maxx “C”.  Low ended.

Dewan drew Reborn Tengu, and Summoned it.  He discarded Cerburrel to get Kushano back to his hand, Special Summoning Cerburrel with its effect. Mind Control let him take Venus, and he tuned it to Tengu and Cerburrel to unleash Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier!  Trishula’s effect banished Mystical Shine Ball from the field; Tour Guide from Low’s hand; and the Venus from Low’s Graveyard.  He Special Summoned another Tengu from his Deck, and attacked over Cyber Dragon with Leviathan.  Tengu and Trishula each made direct attacks, and Low was down to 2700 Life Points.  Low conceded a turn later.

Varun Dewan fights back to take the second Duel, making a strong opening play with Tour Guide from the Underworld and Fabled Kushano, setting up a quick win!  The Match would be decided by one final Duel!

Low opened with Tour Guide from the Underworld, activating her effect; Dewan Chained the effect of Maxx “C”, drawing a card when Low Special Summoned Sangan in Defense Position.  Low Set a Spell or Trap.

Dewan had a hand of Reborn Tengu; The Fabled Chawa; Dandylion; Foolish Burial; Pot of Avarice; and Dark Hole.  He Normal Summoned Tengu, and attacked to destroy Tour Guide.  Dewn Set Foolish, bluffing a defense.

Low wasn’t buying the bluff, and he had another Tour Guide!  He activated her effect to Special Summon his third copy, then stacked them together to Xyz Summon Leviair the Sea Dragon.  He followed up with Gold Sarcophagus, banishing The Agent of Creation – Venus from his Deck, and activated Leviair’s effect to Special Summon Venus.  He Special Summoned two copies of Mystical Shine Ball from his Deck by paying a total of 1000 Life Points, and stacked those together to Xyz Summon Gachi Gachi Gantetsu in Defense Position.  Another 500 Life Points got Low his third Mystical Shine Ball from his Deck, and he bounced Sangan to his hand to Special Summon Genex Ally Birdman.  He Tuned Birdman, Venus, and Shine Ball together to Synchro Summon Stardust Dragon, and attacked with the Stardust to destroy Tengu.  Dewan Special Summoned another, and Leviair destroyed it.  Dewan Summoned his last copy.

Dewan drew The Fabled Ganashia.  He flipped his Set Foolish Burial to send Fabled Kushano to his Graveyard, then discarded Ganashia to get Kushano to his hand.  That triggered Ganashia’s ability, and it was Special Summoned.  Dewan Normal Summoned Kushano, and he Tuned it to Ganashia to try and Synchro Summon Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier.  Low negated the Summon with Solemn Warning.  That left Dewan to activate Pot of Avarice, sending Brionac; Kushano; 2 Tengus; and Maxx “C” back to his Deck, drawing Mind Control and another Ganashia.  He discarded it to Special Summon Chawa, then Special Summoned Ganashia with its own effect.  He tuned both to Tengu to Synchro Summon Scrap Dragon; Special Summoned another Tengu; and activated Mind Control to take Stardust Dragon!  Dewan destroyed Stardust Dragon and Leviair with Scrap Dragon’s effect, then attacked Gachi Gachi with Scrap Dragon, detaching one of its Xyz Materials.  He still couldn’t get through Gachi Gachi’s powerful defense.

Low drew to 3 cards in hand, and banished The Agent of Creation – Venus to Special Summon Master Hyperion!  He banished a Shine Ball to destroy Scrap Dragon, then Tributed Hyperion and Gachi Gachi for Archlord Kristya!  Kristya destroyed Reborn Tengu, and negated Tengu’s effect with its own!

But Dewan drew Tour Guide from the Underworld!  He destroyed Kristya with Dark Hole, then Special Summoned Kushano with Tour Guide.  Low had 3800 Life Points left, and Dewan had 2 Ganashias banished from the Duel.  If he Xyz Summoned Leviair and Special Summoned a Ganashia, it wouldn’t be enough damage to finish the Duel.  He stacked Kushano and Tour Guide to Xyz Summon Leviathan instead; detached Kushano; and struck with Leviathan for 2500 Battle Damage.

Low Set a monster.  Dewan drew Monster Reborn; used it to Special Summon Scrap Dragon; and Set Dandylion, destroying it and Low’s set Sangan to clear the way for a Match-winning attack!

Varun Dewan loses the first Duel, but comes back to win the second and third, pulling the Match out of the fire and moving on 6-1 with his Fabled Deck!