Here are some interesting Duels we saw in Round 3.

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Table 1: Carl Geer ‘s Dino-Rabbits defeat Jordan Stempel’s Lightsworn

After some back and forth, the first Duel came down to Evolzar Dolkka versus Judgment Dragon. When Stempel attacked Dolkka with his Judgment Dragon, Geer had Forbidden Lance to seal the Duel in his favor.

Forbidden Lance is extremely powerful when combined with Evolzar Dolkka, allowing Dolkka to take out monsters while it’s safe from Spells and Traps. Lance’s ability to swing a battle by 800 points in either direction is just  icing on the cake.

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In Duel 2, Stempel was able to get a few monsters in the Graveyard early on, but Geer used Macro Cosmos to prevent any more from going there! Deprived of his usual Lightsworn strategy, Stempel switched gears and used Jain and Garoth to Summon Number 39: Utopia, and took down Geer’s Evolzar Laggia. Stempel finally took down Macro Cosmos with Mystical Space Typhoon, but Tour Guide From the Underworld helped bring a Wind-Up Zenmaines into play for Geer, and repeated attacks took away Utopia’s materials. When Stempel tried to use Beckoning Light to make a comeback, Geer had another Macro Cosmos! Stempel had his in-hand Judgment Dragon banished, and couldn’t recover.

Macro Cosmos is very potent against many decks, especially Lightsworn. Dino Rabbit decks are mostly unaffected by having their cards banished, so it can be especially deadly in a strategy like that.

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Table 2: Jason Jadofsky’s HEROes defeat David Hopfensperger’s Dino-Rabbits

Duelists sometimes forget that Super Polymerization is a Quick-Play Spell Card. This opens up all kinds of possibilities. We saw a couple instances this round, courtesy of Jason Jadofsky’s HERO Deck.

When Hopfensperger used Smashing Ground to try and destroy Jadofsky’s Elemental HERO Neos Alius, Jadofsky Chained Super Polymerization to fuse Neos Alius with Hopfensperger’s Evolzar Laggia and Summon Elemental HERO Nova Master! Smashing Ground continued to resolve, however, and Nova Master was destroyed. (Remember, Smashing Ground doesn’t target. It will destroy whatever monster has the highest DEF when it resolves). This did get rid of Evolzar Laggia, but Jadofsky was still unable to recover from losing his hefty monsters.

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In Duel 2, when Jadofsky’s Neos Alius attack brought Gorz the Emissary of Darkness out of Hopfensperger’s hand, Super Polymerization fused the Emissary of Darkness Token with Neos Alius, summoning Elemental HERO The Shining to take down Gorz in a follow-up attack! Hopfensperger tried to come back with Dark Hole, but Jadofsky had Miracle Fusion for a second copy of The Shining!

Super Polymerization during the Battle Phase can be a powerful maneuver, easily catching opponents off guard.

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Table 3: Daniel Santana’s Inzektors defeat Mitchell Nguyen’s Wind-Ups

Game 2 was a back and forth Duel, with each player destroying each other’s cards. Santana held onto both Dark Hole and Heavy Storm nearly the entire Duel however. Nguyen was able to summon Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity with the aid of Instant Fusion, but when it summoned Wind-Up Rat Santana use Chain Disappearance! Santana then used Dark Hole and Heavy Storm to blow open the field, and Nguyen couldn’t come back.

In Duel 3, Santana had no monsters except a Cyber Dragon for almost the whole Duel! Nguyen, however, quickly established a field of Thunder King Rai-Oh, Wind-Up Rabbit, and Wind-Up Magician. After Rai-Oh negated Cyber Dragon’s summon, Santana used Call of the Haunted to revive it and begin taking out Nguyen’s field. Nguyen tried to go for Zenmaity, but Compulsory Evacuation Device returned it to the Extra Deck before it could use its effect (Once again, this is now possible due to the updated rules for fast effects.). Cyber Dragon and Inzektor Hopper were able to finish the Duel for Santana.