As the Public Events all closed down, one last Battle Pack Draft was entering its last round.  Two brave Duelists – Jeremy Hurshman and Chase Finley – were left to compete, throwing down for a coveted Battle Pack Starfoil promo.

If ” Chase Finley” sounds vaguely familiar, that’s because you might remember him from YCS Indianapolis last year, where he created the highly amusing alternate play format, Pocket Dueling. Yes, Pocket Dueling.  Some of you just went, “Oh, that guy!”  The rest are just very confused.

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Duel One

Finley opened the Match with a Set monster and a Set card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.

Hurshman had a hand of Gravitic Orb; Harpie’s Feather Duster; Needle Ceiling; Soul Exchange; Graceful Charity; and Zolga.  Graceful Charity let him draw Breaker the Magical Warrior; Enemy Controller; and Obelisk the Tormentor!  He discarded Needle Ceiling and Gravitic Orb, then Summoned Breaker.  Hurshman used its effect to destroy Finley’s Prideful Roar, then attacked into Finley’s Set Botanical Lion.  The Lion survived, and Hurshman Set Enemy Controller to finish the turn.

Finley Set another monster.

Hurshman drew Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite and Set Zolga.  One more turn of passive play from Finley, and Hurshman could unleash Obelisk!

Finley turned Botanical Lion to Attack Position, and when he tried to attack, Hurshman blocked the Lion with Enemy Controller!  Here it comes!

Hurshman drew Card Guard, and activated Soul Exchange to target Finley’s face-down monster.  Hurshman then Tributed Finley’s face-down Mysterious Guard, his Breaker, and his Zolga to bring down Obelisk the Tormentor and gain 2000 Life Points to boot!  He couldn’t attack due to Soul Exchange’s restriction, but Hurshman ended his turn seemingly in full control of the Duel.

Finley Summoned Des Mosquito and ended with no back row.

Hurshman drew Shadow Spell and Summoned Blackwing – Zephyros.  Obelisk attacked Botanical Lion, destroying it, and Zephyros attacked Des Mosquito to remove one of the Mosquito’s counters.  Hurshman Set Shadow Spell.

“May I read Obelisk, to see all the things I can’t do?” laughed Finley.  “I can’t target it… I can’t respond to the Summon… Alright.”  Finley passed Obelisk back and started to investigate his hand, looking for ways out.

Hurshman drew Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, and Normal Summoned Card Guard.  Zephyros attacked to knock the last counter off Des Mosquito, and when Card Guard attacked to try and destroy it, Finley protected his Mosquito by discarding Hedge Guard for its effect!

“Snatch Steal your Card Guard,” announced Finley, taking control of it.  He transferred Card Guard’s counter to his Des Mosquito (which was really working overtime at this point), then sent Card Guard to attack Zephyros: Hurshman let both monsters be destroyed in battle, and Finley ended.

Hurshman drew Alector, Sovereign of Birds.  He activated Shadow Spell, targeting Des Mosquito, and then bounced it back to his hand to Special Summon Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite with Zephyros’ ability.  He Tributed it for Zaborg, blasting a counter off Des Mosquito, and when Zaborg attacked… Hurshman had another Hedge Guard!  That Mosquito was putting in a ton of work to keep Hurshman in this Duel!  Finley Set Shadow Spell again.

Finley Tributed the Mosquito for Skull Archfiend of Lightning, and tried to attack Zaborg.  Hurshman flipped Shadow Spell, and got it past the Archfiend’s effect, stopping the attack.

Hurshman Summoned Goblin Elite Attack Force, then punched through Skull Archfiend with Obelisk.  Zaborg and the Attack Force both made direct attacks, and the Attack Force went to Defense Position.    Finley Set a monster, and Set a Spell or Trap Card.  When Hurshman activated Harpie’s Feather Duster next turn, Finley conceded.

“Freakin’ Obelisk!” laughed Hurshman.  “No wonder Kaiba plays it: it’s so good!”

Obelisk the Tormentor dominates the first Duel, making victory an academic matter for Jeremy Hurshman!  The pressure was on for Finley as we moved into the second Duel.

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Duel Two

Finley Set a monster to get things started.

Hurshman had Needle Ceiling; Shadow Spell; Alector, Sovereign of Birds; Zaborg the Thunder Monarch; The Tricky; and Soul Exchange.  He Set Ceiling and Shadow Spell.

Finley Summoned Injection Fairy Lily and attacked: he paid 2000 Life Points to dish out 3400 Battle Damage!

Hurshman drew Call of the Haunted.  He activated Soul Exchange to Tribute Finley’s face-down Shield Warrior, Summoning Zaborg to destroy Lily!

Finley Set another monster.

Hurshman drew Zolga and Summoned it, attacking with it.  Finley banished his Shield Warrior, revealing his face-down Mysterious Guard and spinning Zaborg back to the top of Hurshman’s Deck.

Finley followed up with another spin effect next turn!  He Tributed the Guard for Raiza the Storm Monarch, placing Zolga on top of Hurshman’s Deck to bury Zaborg, then then attacked for 2400 Battle Damage.  Dictating your opponent’s next draw can be deadly, but determining your opponent’s draws for two turns can be utterly devastating.  It was a great play sequence by Finley.

But Hurshman pressed on!  He discarded Alector to Special Summon The Tricky, then Special Summoned Alector with Call of the Haunted.  He Normal Summoned Zolga, then attacked Raiza with Alector.  Hurshman then reduced Raiza to 1700 ATK with Shadow Spell, destroying it, and made direct attacks with Zolga and Tricky.

Finley Summoned Botanical Lion, then activated Snatch Steal to take control of Alector!  Two attacks wiped Hurshman right off the field, and Hurshman conceded moments later as Finley breathed a sigh of relief.

Snatch Steal allows Chase Finley to mount a surprising comeback, letting him press this Match to a third Duel!

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Duel Three

Hurshman started the last Duel with a hand of Needle Ceiling; Graceful Charity; Zolga; Harpie’s Feather Duster; Breaker the Magical Warrior; and Dark Resonator.  He activated Charity to draw Gilasaurus; Call of the Haunted; and Obelisk the Tormentor!  He discarded Zolga and Needle Ceiling, then Set Dark Resonator and Call.

Finley Summoned Des Mosquito, and attacked Dark Resonator, flipping it over but failing destroy it.  Finley Set a Spell or Trap Card.

Hurshman drew Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite and activated Harpie’s Feather Duster: Finley comedically Chained Book of Moon, to turn Resonator pointlessly face-down, and cringed when Hurshman flipped Call of the Haunted for Zolga!  “Oh no!” Finley clearly knew what was coming.  “I’m gonna get obliterated!”  He thought for a moment, and then added, “Well, on the bright side… His Gorz’ll be dead!”  Gilasaurus joined Zolga and Dark Resonator, and then…

Obelisk hit the field and Finley clutched his face in exaggerated sadness.  “I’m so dea-hea-hea-head!”  Obelisk attacked to knock a counter off Des Mosquito.

Finley set a monster and turned Des Mosquito to Defense Position.

Hurshman drew The Tricky, and discarded Zephyros to Special Summon it.  He then returned Call to his hand to Special Summon Zephyros!  The Tricky attacked Finley’s face-down Gyroid, and Hurshman gave a fist pump – even more defense!  Two attacks later, Gyroid was down and Des Mosquito was alive but out of counters.  Hurshman Set Call again.

Finley shuffled his hand: “I’m trying to think of a way not to die.”  He paused a moment.  “Because I think I’m dead.”  Finley Tributed to Summon Raiza, and spun The Tricky back to Hurshman’s Deck.  He then attacked over Zephyros, and Set another Spell or Trap.

Hurshman drew The Tricky; attacked Raiza; and suddenly Finley exploded with rapture!  “YES!”  He  flipped Prideful Roar, and paid 1600 Life Points to boost Raiza to 4300 ATK!

Obelisk went down!  Hurshman had no rejoinder, and play was to Finley!

Finley drew for his turn, still reeling at the fact that he got past Hurshman’s God Card: “I can’t believe that just happened.”  He Summoned Botanical Lion and attacked with both of his monsters.

Hurshman drew Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, with Call of the Haunted Set.  He had Breaker and The Tricky in-hand, with 4200 Life Points.  Finley had 3900 Life Points remaining: “If you have Hedge Guard in hand, I can’t kill you.  But if you don’t have Hedge Guard, I can win.”  He went for it: Hurshman discarded Breaker to Special Summon The Tricky.  He Tributed it for Zaborg, destroying Raiza.  Zaborg attacked Botanical Lion… and Finley had Hedge Guard!  He discarded it to keep Botanical Lion on the field, but suddenly both Duelists realized it wasn’t enough!  Finley was down to 2450 Life Points, but Hurshman hadn’t been figuring the ATK reduction of Hedge Guard’s effect into his previous calculations!  Seeing that he now had a shot at victory, Hurshman flipped Call of the Haunted to bring back Obelisk the Tormentor for one more attack.  Obelisk erupted from the Graveyard, back for revenge and ready to seal the Match with one mighty blue-fisted punch!!

Chase Finley overcomes Obelisk the Tormentor with a momentous Prideful Roar, but the Egyptian God returns to the field looking for revenge a few turns later, taking out its divine fury on Finley’s last few Life Points, and securing an unforgettable victory for Jeremy Hurshman!

Both Duelists shook hands, and congratulated each other on a stellar Duel.  This is what Battle Pack Dueling is all about!