Sean Montague and Daniel LaMartina both made it to the top 4 of the World Championship Qualifier in 2010, but have never played against one another. Now, for the first time ever, these 2 World Championship competitors are facing off against each other for a shot at advancing with a 9-1 record in the tournament. Sean Montague, who won the 2010 WCQ with X-Sabers, is using a Synchro Summon Deck in today’s tournament. Daniel LaMartina, who used Gladiator Beasts back in the 2010 World Championship Qualifier, is using a HERO Deck today. The pressure is on!

Montague opened up with Reborn Tengu, Maxx “C”, Tour Guide From the Underworld, One for One, Debris Dragon, and Call of the Haunted. He Summoned Tour Guide and activated her effect to Special Summon Sangan from his Deck in Defense Position. Next, he Set Call of the Haunted and ended his turn.

LaMartina Set 2 cards to his back row and passed.

Montague drew Spore next turn! He Normal Summoned Reborn Tengu and then switched Sangan into Attack Position. He attacked with Sangan, but lost out to LaMartina’s Dimensional Prison. Direct attacks from Tour Guide and Tengu dropped LaMartina down to 5300 Life Points.

LaMartina Set a card to his back row and passed.

Montague drew Mystical Space Typhoon and activated it to destroy the card LaMartina had Set from the first turn; it was Heavy Storm. He attacked with Tour Guide and Tengu again, dropping LaMartina down to 2600 Life Points.

[After the Match, I asked Montague why he targeted the card that has been Set since the first turn, instead of the newly Set card, with Mystical Space Typhoon. He replied, “I read it as Torrential, because why would you Torrential a Tengu and a Sangan? If I hit the Torrential, I could One for One, Librarian… once I saw it was a Heavy, I didn’t do it because I knew the other card could be a Torrential.”]

LaMartina activated Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Montague’s face-down Call of the Haunted and then Normal Summoned Elemental HERO Neos Alius. He attacked and destroyed Tour Guide with his Alius. LaMartina Set a card to his back row in Main Phase 2 and then ended his turn.

Montague drew Tour Guide From the Underworld next turn. He Normal Summoned Spore and Tuned it with Reborn Tengu to Synchro Summon Ally of Justice Catastor and then Special Summoned another Tengu from his Deck. Catastor tried to attack Neos Alius, and LaMartina flipped Gemini Spark. He Tributed Neos Alius to destroy Catastor and draw a card. Tengu attacked directly, dropping LaMartina down to 900 Life Points.

[After the Match, I asked Montague why he didn’t use One for One to discard Spore and Special Summon Glow-Up Bulb, instead of Normal Summoning Spore. He replied, “He plays 2 Maxx “C”, and I wanted to save the One for One for later. And if he had Solemn Warning, I didn’t have a Plant in the Graveyard, so I’d have no play.”]

LaMartina Summoned Elemental Hero Ocean next turn. He activated Miracle Fusion, and Montague Chained Maxx “C”. LaMartina fused the Alius in his Graveyard with the Ocean on his field to Summon Elemental HERO Absolute Zero, and Montague drew a card. Next, Absolute Zero attacked and destroyed Tengu, allowing Montague to Special Summon his last copy of Tengu from his Deck.

Montague Normal Summoned Tour Guide From the Underworld next turn and activated its effect. LaMartina Chained Maxx “C”. Montague Special Summoned Tour Guide from his Deck and LaMartina drew a card. Montague Set Call of the Haunted before ending his turn.

LaMartina activated Pot of Duality next turn, revealing Thunder King Rai-Oh, Starlight Road, and Effect Veiler from the top of his Deck. He added Rai-Oh to his hand and shuffled the other 2 cards back into his Deck. He Summoned Rai-Oh and then attacked Tengu with Absolute Zero and attacked Tour Guide with Rai-Oh.

Montague drew Enemy Controller next turn! He activated Call of the Haunted to Special Summon Ally of Justice Catastor from his Graveyard and then attacked Rai-Oh with it. Next, he activated Enemy Controller by Tributing Tour Guide, and took control of Elemental HERO Absolute Zero! A direct attack from Absolute Zero wiped out LaMartina’s last 900 Life Points!

Daniel LaMartina doesn’t draw Elemental HERO Stratos, and can’t seem to pull his Deck together in Duel 1, giving Sean Montague the quick win. LaMartina will be going first in Duel 2!

LaMartina started off Duel 2 by activating Reinforcement of the Army to add Elemental HERO Stratos from his Deck to his hand. He Normal Summoned it and used its effect to grab an Elemental HERO Neos Alius. He Set a card to his back row before ending his turn.

Montague opened up with Mystical Space Typhoon, Mirror Force, Tour Guide from the Underworld, Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning, Reborn Tengu, and Torrential Tribute. He activated Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy LaMartina’s face-down Skill Drain and then Normal Summoned Tour Guide From the Underworld. He used its effect to Special Summon Sangan from his Deck in Defense Position. Next, he Set Torrential Tribute and ended his turn.

LaMartina Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh next turn and Montague flipped Torrential Tribute! The field was cleared, and Montague searched his Deck for a Lonefire Blossom to add to his hand with Sangan’s effect. LaMartina Set a card before ending his turn.

Montague drew Enemy Controller. He Summoned Reborn Tengu and attacked directly. Montague Set Mirror Force before passing.

LaMartina Normal Summoned Elemental HERO Neos Alius and attacked Reborn Tengu with it; but Montague flipped Mirror Force. LaMartina Chained Gemini Spark from his hand, Tributing Neos Alius to destroy Tengu and draw a card. Montague Special Summoned another Tengu from his Deck. LaMartina Set a card to his back row in Main Phase 2.

Montague drew Thunder King Rai-Oh next turn. He Normal Summoned Lonefire Blossom and Tributed it to Special Summon Spore from his Deck. Then he Tuned Spore with Tengu to try to Synchro Summon T.G. Hyper Librarian; but LaMartina flipped Solemn Warning to negate the Summon. Montague Special Summoned another Tengu from his Deck and attacked directly with it.

LaMartina activated Miracle Fusion next turn! He banished Stratos and Neos Alius from his Graveyard to Special Summon Elemental HERO The Shining and then attacked Reborn Tengu to destroy it and deal 1500 points of damage to Montague. LaMartina Set 2 cards to his back row before ending his turn.

Montague drew Book of Moon next turn and LaMartina flipped Trap Dustshoot in his Standby Phase! Montague revealed Book of Moon, Enemy Controller, Thunder King Rai-Oh, and Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning, and LaMartina sent Thunder King Rai-Oh back to Montague’s Deck. Next, Montague banished Lonefire Blossom from his Graveyard to Special Summon Spore. He Tributed it with Enemy Controller to try to steal The Shining and wipe out LaMartina’s last 2600 Life Points, but LaMartina flipped Book of Moon to put The Shining face-down. Montague Set Book of Moon before ending his turn.

LaMartina Flip Summoned The Shining and attacked directly, dropping Montague down to 3300 Life Points. He Set the last 2 cards in his hand to his back row and then ended his turn.

Montague drew Foolish Burial next turn. He activated it to send Thunder King Rai-Oh to the Graveyard and then banished Thunder King Rai-Oh and Sangan from his Graveyard to try to Special Summon Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning; but LaMartina flipped Solemn Warning to negate its Summon by dropping down to 600 Life Points.

LaMartina Summoned Elemental HERO Neos Alius next turn and attacked directly with it. When he attacked with The Shining, Montague flipped Book of Moon to stay in the Duel.

But when Montague drew Solemn Judgment on his next turn, he conceded, knowing he wouldn’t survive another turn!

Daniel LaMartina turns Duel 2 around by Summoning Elemental HERO The Shining and continuously attacking. Sean Montague will be going first in Duel 3!

Montague opened up with Mirror Force, Trap Dustshoot, Smashing Ground, Reborn Tengu, Tour Guide From the Underworld, and Glow-Up Bulb. He Summoned Tour Guide and activated her effect to Special Summon Sangan from his Deck in Defense Position. Then he Set Trap Dustshoot and Mirror Force, ending his turn.

LaMartina drew a card and Montague flipped Trap Dustshoot in his Draw Phase. LaMartina Chained Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Montague’s face-down Mirror Force. LaMartina revealed Thunder King Rai-Oh, Cyber Dragon, Torrential Tribute, Elemental HERO Neos Alius, and Honest. Montague sent Rai-Oh back to the Deck. LaMartina Special Summoned Cyber Dragon and attacked Tour Guide to destroy it. He Set Torrential Tribute and passed.

Montague drew Solemn Judgment next turn and Set it. He Normal Summoned Reborn Tengu, activated Smashing Ground to destroy Cyber Dragon, and then attacked directly with Sangan and Tengu, dropping LaMartina down to 5300 Life Points.

LaMartina Normal Summoned Elemental HERO Neos Alius and attacked Reborn Tengu to destroy it. Montague Special Summoned another copy.

Montague drew Thunder King Rai-Oh next turn. He Normal Summoned Glow-Up Bulb and Tuned it with Reborn Tengu to Synchro Summon Ally of Justice Catastor. Then he Special Summoned another Tengu from his Deck with his Tengu’s effect. LaMartina flipped Torrential Tribute to clear the field, and Montague Special Summoned another Tengu from his Deck. He also grabbed a Lonefire Blossom from his Deck with the effect of his Sangan.

[After the Match, I asked Montague why he didn’t plan to use just the Solemn Judgment on the Torrential Tribute, and swarm the field with Synchros. He replied, “I wanted to save my Solemn Judgment. I knew he had Torrential, so I wanted to save my Solemn setup to go for game next turn. I knew he had an Honest, so I was afraid he’d draw Miracle Fusion, and that’d be game if I paid 2650 Life Points.”]

LaMartina Normal Summoned Honest and attacked, then returned Honest to his hand in Main Phase 2. He Set Compulsory Evacuation Device before ending his turn.

Montague drew and activated Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying the Compulsory Evacuation Device. He Normal Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh and attacked directly with it, dropping LaMartina down to 3400 Life Points.

LaMartina tried to Special Summon Cyber Dragon next turn, but Montague sent Thunder King Rai-Oh to the Graveyard to negate its Summon. Next, he tried to Normal Summon Thunder King Rai-Oh, but Montague flipped Solemn Judgment and negated its Summon. LaMartina passed with only an Honest in hand.

Montague drew Dandylion next turn and Set it.

LaMartina drew Thunder King Rai-Oh and Summoned it. He attacked the face-down Dandylion with it, and Montague Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens.

Montague drew Mind Control next turn! He activated it to take control of Rai-Oh, then Summoned Lonefire Blossom and Tributed it to Special Summon Spore from his Deck. He Tuned Spore with Rai-Oh to Special Summon T.G. Hyper Librarian, then activated the effect of Glow-Up Bulb by sending Heavy Storm from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard. He Tuned Glow-Up Bulb with a Fluff Token to Synchro Summon Formula Synchron and draw 2 cards. Next, he activated the effect of Spore to Special Summon it in Attack Position. Montague attacked directly with Spore and T.G. Hyper Librarian, dropping LaMartina down to 600 Life Points.

LaMartina Set a card to each zone and passed. Montague knew that the monster was an Honest, since he emptied his hand.

Montague Tuned his T.G. Hyper Librarian with Formula Synchron and a Fluff Token to Synchro Summon Scrap Dragon and used its effect to destroy his own Spore and LaMartina’s back row Solemn Warning. Next, he activated Monster Reborn and LaMartina offered the handshake!

Sean Montague defeated Daniel LaMartina 2-1 and advances with a 9-1 record!