Samuel Pedigo is a former World Championship competitor, and he’s looking to add “YCS Champion” to his credentials! He came today from Dallas, Texas with his Machina Geargia deck. We saw Manuel Latorre all day yesterday at the top tables. He came from Cleveland, Ohio and is using Geargia as well, but with a bit of a twist – he’s playing one copy of Jinzo in his Deck!

Duel 1

Pedigo Set a monster and three back row cards.

Latorre opened with Monster Reborn, Geargiaccelerator, Mystical Space Typhoon, Jinzo, Tragoedia, and Geargiarsenal. He Normal Summoned Geargiarsenal, using it to Special Summon Geargiarmor from his Deck. He turned it face-down and Set Typhoon.

Pedigo Normal Summoned Geargiarmor, then Flip Summoned Karakuri Watchdog mdl 313 “Saizan”. He Special Summoned Geargiaccelerator, flipped Geargiarmor face-down, then Synchro Summoned Karakuri Steel Shogun mdl 00X “Bureido”! It summoned Karakuri Strategist mdl 248 “Nishipachi” from his Deck. Nishipachi flipped up Geargiarmor, which added Geargiaccelerator to his hand. He Special Summoned it, and tuned Geargiarmor to Nishipachi to summon Burei, which gave him another Saizan. Burei put Saizan in defense position so Pedigo could draw a card with Bureido, then he tuned Saizan to Geargiaccelerator for Scrap Dragon! He Set  Dark Hole and targeted it with Scrap to destroy Latorre’s Geargiarmor. Latorre activated Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Compulsory Evacuation Device, bluffing that he had Gorz the Emissary of Darkness. Pedigo attacked anyway with Burei, and Latorre summoned Tragoedia with 1800 DEF. Bureido destroyed it, and Pedigo opted not to attack with Scrap Dragon. Pedigo Set another back row.

Latorre drew Geargiarmor. He Normal Summoned it, then Special Summoned his Geargiaccelerator. He played Monster Reborn to try stealing Pedigo’s Nishipachi, but Pedigo chained Call of the Haunted to take it back first! When it was summoned, Bureido gave Pedigo another free draw. Latorre knew he wouldn’t be able to fight back against all this now that his Monster Reborn had been countered, and conceded.

Samuel Pedigo takes  the first Duel! The Duelists Side Decked very quickly, each clearly having a plan for this matchup.

Duel 2

Latorre began with a hand of 2 Cyber Dragons, Effect Veiler, Machina Gearframe, Geargiarsenal, and Forbidden Lance. He summoned Geargiarsenal, then tributed it to get Geargiarmor from his Deck. He turned it face-down and ended his turn.

Pedigo stole Latorre’s new Geargiarmor with Mind Control! He Flip Summoned it, and Latorre used Veiler to negate it. Pedigo continued by Special Summoning Geargiaccelerator, then Xyz Summoned Gear Gigant X! It detached Geargiaccelerator to add Geargiaccelerator from Pedigo’s Deck to his hand. He Set a monster and a back row card.

Latorre drew Tragoedia. He Special Summoned Cyber Dragon, and Pedigo had to negate the Summon with Solemn Warning to prevent Latorre from using Chimeratech Fortress Dragon. Little did he know, Latorre had a second Cyber Dragon! He Special Summoned it and fused it with Gear Gigant X to Summon Chimeratech with 2000 ATK, then Normal Summoned Machina Gearframe. Gearframe added Machina Fortress to his hand. Latorre had Chimeratech attack Pedigo’s face-down monster, destroying Geargiarmor. It added Geargiarsenal to Pedigo’s hand. Gearframe attacked directly. He equipped Gearframe to Chimeratech and Set Forbidden Lance. The score was 8000 to 4200, with Latorre in the lead.

Pedigo Summoned his Geargiarsenal, then used its effect to Special Summon Geargiarmor from his Deck. He Special Summoned Geargiaccelerator, then overlayed both monsters to Xyz Summon Maestroke the Symphony Djinn! Maestroke used its effect to turn Chimeratech face-down, causing the Equip Spell Machina Gearframe to fall to the Graveyard. Because it was turned face-down, Chimeratech’s effect reset, dropping it to 0 ATK and DEF. Maestroke destroyed it, and Pedigo Set two back row.

Latorre drew Jinzo! He discarded it along with Fortress to Special Summon Fortress. When it attacked, Pedigo activated Dimensional Prison. Latorre used Forbidden Lance on Fortress, weakening it enough to lose the battle against Maestroke, but keeping it from being banished by Prison. Pedigo Chained Call of the Haunted to revive Geargiaccelerator. Latorre’s Fortress continued into Maestroke, targeting it with its effect. Maestroke survived by detaching a material.

Pedigo activated Pot of Duality, choosing between Monster Reborn, Call of the Haunted, and Geargiano Mk-II. He picked Reborn and put the others back into his Deck. Geargiaccelerator attacked directly, but Maestroke did not.

Latorre drew Monster Reborn! He brought his Machina Fortress back to play, then sent it to destroy Maestroke.

Pedigo Set a back row card, then turned Geargiaccelerator to defense position.

Latorre drew and Summoned Machina Gearframe. It added Machina Cannon to his hand. Gearframe took down Geargiaccelerator, which gave Pedigo a Geargiarsenal. Fortress attacked directly, leaving Pedigo with only 1000 Life Points. Latorre still had 6500.

Pedigo played his Monster Reborn to bring his Geargiarmor back into play, then Normal Summoned Geargiarsenal. Geargiarsenal attacked Gearframe, and Latorre summoned Tragoedia with only one card in his hand. In Main Phase 2, Pedigo used Geargiarsenal’s effect to get another Geargiarmor from his Deck into play, then flipped both of them face-down.

Latorre drew and Normal Summoned Geargiaccelerator. He changed Tragoedia’s level to 4, then Xyz Summoned Photon Papilloperative! Its effect flipped up Pedigo’s Geargiarmor, allowing Lattore to wipe out Pedigo’s remaining Life Points!

We are moving on to a third Duel!

Duel 3

Pedigo began the final Duel with two Set back row cards.

Latorre began with Effect Veiler, Machina Gearframe, Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, Torrential Tribute, Smashing Ground, and Mystical Space Typhoon. He destroyed Pedigo’s Solemn Warning with Typhoon, then Normal Summoned Gearframe. It added Fortress to Latorre’s hand, then attacked directly. Latorre Set Torrential Tribute and passed.

Pedigo used Pot of Duality to take Effect Veiler, shuffling Compulsory Evacuation Device and Geargiano Mk-II back into his Deck. He Set a second back row and passed.

Latorre drew Tragoedia. He attacked with Gearframe and passed.

Pedigo blew away Torrential Tribute with Mystical Space Typhoon. He Normal Summoned Genex Ally Birdman, then followed that with Mind Control! He stole Gearframe, then Synchro Summoned Karakuri Shogun mdl 00 “Burei”, but Latorre negated it with Effect Veiler! Pedigo passed.

Latorre drew Cyber Dragon! He Special Summoned it, then destroyed Burei with Smashing Ground. Cyber Dragon attacked directly.

Pedigo Set a back row and a monster.

Latorre drew Geargiaccelerator and Normal Summoned it. Cyber Dragon attacked Pedigo’s face-down Effect Veiler, then Geargiaccelerator attacked directly.  He fused Cyber Dragon and Geargiaccelerator in Main Phase 2 for Chimeratech Fortress Dragon, preventing Pedigo from doing the same to him next turn. When Chimeratech was Special Summoned, Pedigo played Torrential Tribute.

Pedigo Set a monster.

Latorre drew Dark Hole and blew away Pedigo’s Geargiaccelerator.

Pedigo Set a back row card.

Latorre drew Veiler and passed.

Pedigo Set a monster and passed.

Latorre drew another Veiler and passed.

Pedigo Set another monster.

Latorre drew Machina Cannon. He discarded Cannon to summon Fortress from his hand, and time in the round was called! Latorre had 8000 Life Points still, but Pedigo only had 900! Pedigo banished Fortress with Bottomless Trap Hole and Latorre ended his turn.

Pedigo Normal Summoned Geargiarmor. He Flip Summoned Karakuri Watchdog mdl 313 “Saizan”, then Synchro Summoned Karakuri Steel Shogun mdl 00X “Bureido”, only for Latorre to negate its effect with Veiler. Pedigo continued, flipping up his Pot of Avarice to return four monsters to his Deck, as well as returning Burei to his Extra Deck. Pedigo flipped up his Karakuri Strategist mdl 248 “Nishipachi”, then entered his Battle Phase. Nishipachi attacked, then when Bureido attacked Latorre played his Gorz! It summoned a 2800 ATK/DEF Emissary of Darkness Token. Pedigo Set two more back row, now with four total.

Latorre drew Forbidden Lance on his last turn in the End of Match procedures. He sent Gorz to attack Nishipachi, Pedigo played Dimensional Prison, and Latorre saved Gorz with Lance. Nishipachi switched itself to defense position and Bureido gave Pedigo another draw. But it wasn’t enough, because when Pedigo drew his next card, he had no way to deal enough damage to win!

Manuel Latorre is moving to the top 8 with Machina Geargia!