Today we’ll see ninety-five competitors throw down across seven rounds of Swiss competition, to determine a Top 16 that will compete in elimination rounds tomorrow!  Here in Round 1 we were sitting at Table 1 for the first Feature Match of our Dragon Duel weekend.  Ten year-old Kevin Froman hails from Saint Louis, Missouri: he’s piloting a Batteryman deck filled with powerful combos that can end the Duel in an instant. His opponent is Michael Sakowicz, a thirteen year-old Duelist from Naperville, Illinois playing a HERO Deck with Skill Drain.  Froman has huge, powerful moves, and Sakowicz packs a lot of defense, so this one is anybody’s game.

Sakowicz kicked off our day with a hand of Pot of Duality; Solemn Judgment; Miracle Fusion; Skill Drain; Hero Blast; and Mirror Force.  He activated Duality to reveal the top three cards of his Deck: another Hero Blast; another Duality; and a Gemini Spark, which he added to his hand.  He Set Mirror Force, Solemn Judgment, and Skill Drain.

Froman Set a monster, then a single card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.

Sakowicz drew and Summoned Elemental HERO Neos Alius, attacking into the 1900 DEF of Batteryman D!  The Batteryman survived, as the battle was a draw, leaving Sakowicz to Set two more cards to his back row.

Froman blasted Sakowicz’s face-down Skill Drain with Mystical Space Typhoon, then Tributed Batteryman D to Summon Batteryman Charger.  Charger’s effect let Froman Special Summon Batteryman AA from his Deck with 1000 ATK.  Froman then responded to his own Summon, by activating Inferno Reckless Summon!  He Special Summoned two more copies of Batteryman AA, and all four of his monsters suddenly had 3000 ATK each!  Sakowicz Special Summoned two more Neos Alius from his Deck.  Before Froman could move into his Battle Phase, Sakowicz Tributed a Neos Alius for Gemini Spark, destroying Froman’s one Set card – Solemn Judgment!  Froman attacked, and lost all of his monsters to Mirror Force! Still, Froman pressed on: in Main Phase 2, he Special Summoned a Batteryman AA from his Graveyard with Battery Charger, then activated the last card in his hand: another Inferno Reckless Summon!  It was a devastating threat, but Sakowicz had the answer: Hero Blast.  He Chained it to destroy the on-field Batteryman AA, so when Inferno Reckless Summon resolved Froman couldn’t Special Summon anything!  Sakowicz Special Summoned back all of his Neos Alius monsters, and Froman ended his turn with no cards left in his hand.  Sakowicz had turned Froman’s biggest combo against him!

Sakowicz drew Bottomless Trap Hole and Set it, then Normal Summoned Crusader of Endymion.  He stacked two copies of Elemental HERO Neos Alius to Xyz Summon Blade Armor Ninja, then detached a Neos Alius for the Ninja’s effect, letting it attack twice this turn.  That gave him a Neos Alius in his Graveyard, and he banished it alongside the remaining Neos Alius on his field for Miracle Fusion.  When it resolved, Sakowicz unleashed Elemental HERO The Shining!  The Shining, Crusader, and Blade Armor Ninja then attacked to finish the first Duel.

Michael Sakowicz captures the first contest of this Match, beating not one, but two Inferno Reckless Summon combos to take a thunderous win with Xyz and Fusion Monsters!  Both Duelists were eager to get to the second Duel.

“Batteryman was the first Deck I played, and I’m still playing it,” remarked Froman as he shuffled up.  “I’ve played alot of Decks in between, but I came back to this one.”

“How long have you been playing?” asked Sakowicz, as he did a bit of Side Decking.

“I’ve been playing since I was about five,” replied Froman.  Friendly conversation continued as both Duelists prepared for Duel 2, exchanging the histories of their Dueling careers.

Froman Set a monster to get things started.

Sakowicz had Thunder King Rai-Oh; Mirror Force; Snowman Eater; Gemini Spark; Book of Moon; and Solemn Warning.  He Summoned Thunder King, and ran over Froman’s Set Batteryman AA.  Sakowicz then Set Mirror Force and Warning.

Froman destroyed Thunder King by activating Dark Hole, and Normal Summoned another AA to attack for 1000 Battle Damage.  He Set a Spell or Trap Card.

Sakowicz drew Reinforcement of the Army and Set Snowman Eater.

Froman Tributed Batteryman AA for Batteryman Charger just as he did last Duel, but Sakowicz responded by negating the Summon with Solemn Warning.  He dropped to 5000 Life Points, stopping Froman from getting Charger’s effect.

Sakowicz drew Hero Blast, and activated Reinforcement to search his Deck for Elemental HERO Stratos.  He Summoned it, activating its effect, and Froman chained Torrential Tribute to destroy Stratos and Snowman Eater.  Sakowicz got Elemental HERO Neos Alius from his Deck with Stratos’ ability and set Book of Moon.  He had Mirror Force Set, with three cards in hand.

Froman drew to four cards and Summoned his third Batteryman AA, Summoning it to attack for another 1000 damage.

Sakowicz drew Super Polymerization, and Normal Summoned Elemental HERO Neos Alius to attack over Batteryman AA.  He Set two cards to his back row.

Froman destroyed Sakowicz’s Super Polymerization with Mystical Space Typhoon and ended.

Sakowicz drew another Super Polymerization.  He Set it and attacked again with Neos Alius.

Froman passed.

Sakowicz attacked again, knocking Froman down to 3300 Life Points.  Sakowicz had 4000 Life Points.

Another Mystical Space Typhoon let Froman destroy Sakowicz’s Set Hero Blast.

Sakowicz drew Beast King Barbaros and made another attack with Neos Alius.  One more attack like that would end the Duel, and the Match!

Froman Set a monster.

Sakowicz drew E – Emergency Call, and attacked with Neos Alius to destroy Froman’s face-down Deep Diver.  Its effect let Froman search his Deck for Batteryman Micro-Cell, placing it on top of his Deck.  In Main Phase 2, Emergency Call let Sakowicz grab another Neos Alius from his Deck.  He Normal Summoned it.

Froman drew the Micro-Cell next turn, and Set a monster – likely Micro-Cell.  He Set another Spell or Trap.

Sakowicz attacked with Neos Alius.  The attack hit Micro-Cell, and Froman Special Summoned Batteryman D.  He wanted to activate Inferno Reckless Summon, but couldn’t, because Micro-Cell’s effect activates and resolves during the Damage Step (when Reckless Summon can’t be activated).  Neos Alius wouldn’t be able to power through Batteryman D with an attack, but Sakowicz had that second Super Polymerization, and he discarded another Emergency Call to activate it!  He sent the Neos Alius that already attacked to the Graveyard along with Batteryman D, fusing them to Summon Elemental HERO The Shining, and attacked with The Shining to destroy the Batteryman!  Neos Alius then attacked to finish the Match!

Kevin Froman pulls off some stunning combos, but Michael Sakowicz fends them off move by move to take a hard-fought 2-0 victory!  Both competitors shook hands and congratulated eachother on a top-notch Match!