. Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Event Coverage » Round 2 Recap

Round 2 Recap

February 18th, 2012

Once again I gathered together the undefeated Duelists at the Top 4 tables. Check out how they fared in the second round!

At Table 1, Matthew Lytle Dueled against Enrique Senger and won 2-0 with his Inzektor Deck, defeating Senger’s Ninjas.

In Duel 1, Senger Summoned King Tiger Wanghu and activated Prohibition, naming Inzektor Centipede. He knew that Dragonfly and Hornet couldn’t be Summoned while King Tiger Wanghu was on the field, so he figured he could shut down Lytle’s Deck by stopping the Inzektor engine in its tracks. But Lytle Set Dragonfly (1800 DEF) and Senger attacked it. When Lytle tried to use the effect of Dragonfly to turn the Duel around, Senger activated Ninjitsu Art of Super-Transformation to send his Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo and the Dragonfly to the Graveyard to Summon White Dragon Ninja. But just when it looked like he had gained the upper hand, Lytle used Dark Hole to clear the field and retake the advantage. He eventually won the Duel using his Inzektor Dragonfly, which he searched out with Sangan.

Duel 2 was a slow Duel in which Lytle was attacking directly with an Inzektor Hornet equipped with a Hornet! Senger knew he couldn’t Set cards, because they’d be destroyed by the Hornet. Eventually, Lytle drew Thunder King Rai-Oh and applied pressure with his monsters to win.

At Table 2, Kevin Tran used his Dino Rabbit Deck to Duel against Joseph Capozzi’s Dark Worlds, and triumphed in a 2-1 victory.

In Duel 1, Tran Summoned Rescue Rabbit on his first turn and Xyz Summon Evolzar Laggia. He followed up with Tour Guide From the Underworld on his second turn, securing the victory.

In Duel 2, Capozzi used Trap Dustshoot on Tran’s first turn to reveal Tran’s hand of 3 Trap Cards, a Smashing Ground, and 2 monsters. He sent Tour Guide From the Underworld back to Capozzi’s Deck with Trap Dustshoot. Tran Set all 3 of his Trap Cards that turn, but Capozzi flipped Royal Decree to shut them down! Tran never destroyed the Decree, and couldn’t recover, as Capozzi finally won the Duel thanks to Tour Guide From the Underworld and Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World. The knowledge gained by Trap Dustshoot is sometimes as valuable as the card it returns to the Deck. Knowing that Tran was stuck with a bunch of Traps, Capozzi was able to lean on his Royal Decree to take an aggressive victory.

In Duel 3, Tran won without Summoning Rescue Rabbit. Both Duelists were off to a slow start, but Tran eventually combined Kabazauls and Jurrac Guaiba to Summon Evolzar Laggia and win the Duel. When I asked Capozzi if there were any plays he wished he had done different, he replied, “I kinda wish I Set my whole hand and Dragged Down into the Grave on Turn 1.” If he had done that, Capozzi would’ve been able to get rid of Tran’s Guaiba and draw a card with Broww. “I wanted to save it and go off the next turn,” he continued. “If I had drawn a Grapha I could’ve Summoned the Broww, Dragged down the Grapha, and controlled the board like that.” Using Dragged Down into the Grave on the first turn is a powerful play, and may in fact be one of the best plays a Dark World Deck has at its disposal. Like Trap Dustshoot, Dragged Down into the Grave can dismantle an otherwise functional hand to gain a victory at the onset of a Duel.

At Table 3, Eddie Simon’s Inzektors Dueled against Wendel Lumpkin’s Wind-Ups. Lumpkin took a 2-1 victory.

In Duel 1, Lumpkin pulled off the Wind-Up Hunter loop with Pot of Avarice in his hand! Simon lost his entire hand, and proceeded with his first turn with nothing more than an Mystical Space Typhoon in his hand! He never recovered.

In Duel 2, Lumpkin swarmed the field using Wind-Up Magician to Summon Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon and Number 39: Utopia both in 1 turn. But Simon used Dark Hole to clear the field and turn the Duel around. From there, Simon used his Inzektor Centipede to swarm with Inzektors and wipe out Simon’s Life Points.

In Duel 3, Lumpkin Summoned Number 39: Utopia and Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon both in one turn. (He used Tour Guide to Summon Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity, then used Zenmaity to Summon Wind-Up Magician. He Special Summoned Wind-Up Shark from his hand when it hit the field, and then used Magician’s effect to Special Summon another Magician from his Deck. After activating his Shark’s effect to make it a Level 5 monster, Lumpkin Special Summoned Wind-Up Soldier from his Deck and boosted its Level to 5. He combined the Magicians into Utopia and mixed his Level 5 monsters into Adreus.) Unlike in the previous Duel, Simon didn’t have Dark Hole this time, and couldn’t turn the Duel around.

After the Match, I asked both Duelists if there was anything they wish they had done differently. Lumpkin replied, “I know game 2 I could’ve won. I could’ve attacked with my boats.” At one point in Duel 2, Simon had Dimensional Fissure and Thunder King Rai-Oh on the field together. Lumpkin Xyz Summoned Number 17: Leviathan Dragon, expecting Simon to negate its Summon with Rai-Oh. But he was forgetting that Rai-Oh’s effect requires you to send it to the Graveyard to negate a Summon, so its effect can’t be used to negate a Summon while Dimensional Fissure is active. Leviathan Dragon attacked and destroyed Rai-Oh, which wasn’t a bad result for Lumpkin, but Lumpkin could’ve Summoned 3 copies of Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity before Summoning the Leviathan Dragon, and could’ve won the Duel on that turn. Simon also had one regret. “Instead of siding in Dimensional Fissure, I would’ve sided in D.D. Crows,” he told me.

At Table 4, Antonio Douglas used his Blackwing Deck against Robert Shepard’s Chaos Deck. Shepard took a 2-0 win.

In Duel 1, Douglas Summoned Jinzo (in Blackwings!) to attack over Shepard’s Chaos Sorcerer; but Shepard Special Summoned Cyber Dragon and Tributed it for Caius to banish Jinzo! He dealt 1000 points of damage and then banished a DARK and LIGHT monster from his Graveyard to Special Summon Chaos Sorcerer and end the Duel in one big turn.

In Duel 2, Douglas stalled with Swords of Revealing Light, but when the Swords expired, Shepard began attacking with Cyber Dragon and Card Trooper. Shepard didn’t have Chimeratech Fortress Dragon in his Extra Deck; if he did, he would’ve been able to fuse Shepard’s 2 monsters together to Summon a monster of his own. Shepard finally ended the Duel and the Match by Tribute Summoning Caius the Shadow Monarch and using its effect to banish an on-field Mystic Tomato. The 1000 points of burn damage wiped Douglas out.

After the Match, I asked Douglas if there was anything he wished he had done differently in the Match. He said that he wishes he had destroyed Shepard’s Dimensional Alchemist sooner, because the Alchemist kept fueling the Chaos Deck and posed a constant threat. When a monster has an effect that activates every turn, it’s usually a good idea to get rid of it as quickly as possible.

Matthew Lytle, Kevin Tran, Wendel Lumpkin, and Robert Shepard are moving on with 2-0 records in the tournament!