Joshua Bequette and Noah Cumming are both currently 6-2 in the tournament, so they’ll be counting on a victory in this Match to bring them into Day 2 with a shot at the Top 32. Noah is just one of Grapha’s many Dark World Duelists that have been pushed to the Top 10 tables by Grapha himself, and he’s facing off against Joshua’s T.G. Deck, which techs Ape Fighter.

Joshua activated Pot of Duality, revealing Reborn Tengu, Monster Reborn, and Thunder King Rai-Oh. He added Reborn Tengu to his hand and shuffled the other 2 cards back into his Deck. He Set 3 cards to the back row and Normal Summoned Tengu.

Noah opened up the Match with Mystical Space Typhoon, Dragged Down into the Grave, Tour Guide From the Underworld, Trap Dustshoot, and 2 copies of The Gates of Dark World. He Normal Summoned Tour Guide From the Underworld and activated her effect to Special Summon Sangan from his Deck in Defense Position. Then he Set Mystical Space Typhoon and Trap Dustshoot, ending his turn. He lost Trap Dustshoot to Joshua’s Mystical Space Typhoon in the End Phase.

Joshua Normal Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh. He attacked Sangan with it, preventing Noah from getting his Sangan’s effect, and then attacked Tour Guide with Tengu, flipping Horn of the Phantom Beast in the Damage Step to deal an extra 800 points of damage and draw a card.

Noah drew another Tour Guide next turn. He Normal Summoned it and activated its effect to Special Summon Broww from his Deck. Next, he tried activating The Gates of Dark World; but Joshua flipped Solemn Judgment and paid 4000 Life Points to negate it! Noah combined his Tour Guide with his Broww in Main Phase 2 in an attempt to Xyz Summon Number 17: Leviathan Dragon, but Joshua negated its Summon by sending Thunder King Rai-Oh to the Graveyard. Noah Set Dragged Down into the Grave before ending his turn.

Joshua activated Pot of Duality next turn, revealing Bottomless Trap Hole, Ape Fighter, and T.G. Striker from the top of his Deck. He added Ape Fighter to his hand and shuffled the other 2 cards back into his Deck. Next, he Normal Summoned Ape Fighter. Joshua attacked directly with Ape Fighter and Reborn Tengu, and Noah flipped Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy the Horn of the Phantom Beast and reduce the damage by 800 points. He fell down to 2900 Life Points.

Noah drew Mystical Space Typhoon next turn and activated Dragged Down into the Grave. He discarded Dark Hole from Joshua’s hand of T.G. Striker, Pot of Avarice, and Dark Hole, and Joshua discarded Mystical Space Typhoon from Noah’s hand. Each player drew a card. Noah drew Mind Crush. He Set it face-down and passed.

But it was all over on Joshua’s next turn! Direct attacks from Ape Fighter and Reborn Tengu finished Noah off!

Noah Noah never gets the chance to discard a Dark World monster, enabling Joshua Joshua to take a quick victory in Duel 1! Noah will be going first in Duel 2!

Noah opened up Duel 2 with Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning, Bottomless Trap Hole, Torrential Tribute, Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World, and 2 copies of Broww, Huntsman of Dark World. He Set Bottomless Trap Hole and Torrential Tribute, Set Brrow, and ended his turn.

Joshua Set 2 cards to his back row and Set a monster.

Noah drew Mystical Space Typhoon and Set it.

Joshua Set a card to his back row and Summoned T.G. Warwolf. He attacked Noah’s face-down Brrow with it, and used Horn of the Phantom Beast in the Damage Step to give his Warwolf 800 ATK and draw a card upon Brrow’s destruction.

Noah drew Dark Hole next turn. He tried to Summon Beiige, but Joshua activated Solemn Warning to negate its Summon.

[After the Match, I asked Joshua why he used Solemn Warning to negate the Summon of a 1600 ATK Beige, even though his on-field 2000 ATK Warwolf was already stronger. He replied, “I just wanted to get it off the field to attack.” He wanted to deal a lot of damage early on in order to take a quick victory.]

Joshua drew and Summoned Reborn Tengu. He Flip Summoned Glow-Up Bulb and then Tuned his Glow-Up Bulb with a Reborn Tengu to Synchro Summon T.G. Hyper Librarian. His Tengu’s effect activated, and Joshua Special Summoned another Tengu from his Deck. When it hit the field, Noah activated Torrential Tribute, destroying all of Joshua’s monsters! Noah Special Summoned his third Tengu from his Deck with the effect of his fallen one, and Noah banished it with Bottomless Trap Hole! Joshua activated Monster Reborn to Special Summon T.G. Hyper Librarian from his Graveyard and then attacked directly with it to reduce Noah down to 5600 Life Points. In the End Phase, Noah used Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Joshua’s face-down Fiendish Chain. With all of the destruction going on during the turn, Joshua forgot to use his Warwolf’s effect to get another T.G. monster from his Deck.

Noah drew another copy of Beiige next turn, activated Dark Hole, and then Summoned the Beiige. He attacked directly to drop Joshua down to 4400 Life Points and then passed his turn.

Joshua Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh next turn and attacked over Beiige with it. Then he Set a card to his back row and passed.

Noah drew Fabled Raven next turn. He activated its effect to discard Brrow, drawing Tour Guide From the Underworld from his Deck with Brrow’s effect. He passed his turn with just a Raven in Attack Position and 2 cards in hand.

Joshua activated Pot of Avarice next turn, returning Glow-Up Bulb, T.G. Warwolf, T.G. Hyper Librarian, and 2 copies of Reborn Tengu from his Graveyard to his Deck to draw 2 cards. He Set another card to his back row and Summoned another Thunder King Rai-Oh next. One Rai-Oh attacked over Raven and the other one attacked directly, dropping Noah down to 2800 Life Points.

Noah drew Dark World Lightning next turn. He Normal Summoned Tour Guide From the Underworld and used its effect to Special Summon Sangan from his Deck. But with 2 Rai-Ohs on the field, all hope of Summoning Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning was essentially extinguished. Noah combined his Sangan and Tour Guide to Xyz Summon Number 17: Leviathan Dragon, but Joshua flipped Bottomless Trap Hole to banish Number 17: Leviathan Dragon from the Duel. Desperate, Noah banished Fabled Raven and Beiige from his Graveyard to try to Special Summon Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning, and Joshua sent his Thunder King Rai-Oh to the Graveyard to negate its Summon.

Joshua Normal Summoned King Tiger Wanghu next turn and wiped out Noah’s last 2800 Life Points with direct attacks from Wanghu and Rai-Oh!

Noah Cumming never manages to make effective use of a Dark World discard, allowing Joshua Bequette to take a quick win. Joshua Bequette is moving on to Day 2 with a 7-2 record!

(Editor’s Note: Take that, Grapha!)