Jim Martz and Byron Martz are both Washington natives. Both are also playing Mermail/Atlantean Decks. Besides sharing names and strategies, they have something else in common: Jim is Byron’s dad! This Father-Son Feature should be an awesome Match!

Duel 1

Byron began with Mystical Space Typhoon, Genex Undine, Atlantean Heavy Infantry, Salvage, Dimensional Prison, and Torrential Tribute. He Normal Summoned Undine, sending Dragoons to the Graveyard. Undine and Dragoons gave him Genex Controller and Deep Sea Diva. He Set Prison.

Jim Normal Summoned Mermail Abysspike. He activated it, discarding Atlantean Marksman to add Undine from his Deck to his hand. Marksman destroyed Byron’s Prison, and then Abysspike destroyed Byron’s Undine in battle.

Byron drew Mermail Abysslinde. He Normal Summoned it, then crashed it into Abysspike. Abysslinde Special Summoned Mermail Abyssmegalo, which then destroyed Abysspike in battle. In Main Phase 2, he Set Torrential Tribute.

Jim Summoned Undine and sent Atlantean Heavy Infantry to the Graveyard. Undine added Genex Controller to Jim’s hand, then Infantry destroyed Abyssmegalo. Undine attacked directly.

Byron drew Dimensional Prison. He played Salvage, returning Undine and Abysslinde to his hand. He Normal Summoned Abysslinde, and it destroyed Undine in battle.

Jim played his own Salvage! He returned Undine and Infantry to his hand, then Normal Summoned Undine, sending Dragoons to the Graveyard, and Byron Chained Torrential Tribute! Undine added Controller to Jim’s hand, Abysslinde Special Summoned Abyssmegalo to Byron’s field, and Dragoons added Abyssmegalo to Jim’s hand. Jim discarded Infantry and Dragoons to Special Summon his Abyssmegalo. Abyssmegalo searched out Abyss-sphere, Dragoons searched out Deep Sea Diva, and Infantry destroyed Byron’s Abyssmegalo. Jim’s Abyssmegalo attacked directly. He Set 2 cards to his back row.

Byron drew another Abyssmegalo. He played Mystical Space Typhoon, and Jim Chained the targeted Abyss-sphere! It Special Summoned Abysslinde. When Abyss-sphere was destroyed, Abysslinde was also destroyed, and it Special Summoned Abysspike. Byron continued by Normal Summoning Undine, sending Dragoons to the Graveyard to add Genex Controller to his hand. Dragoons added Moulinglacia the Elemental Lord to his hand! He Special Summoned Moulinglacia, and it forced Jim to discard Genex Controller and Abysslinde. Moulinglacia destroyed Abyssmegalo in battle, and Byron Set Dimensional Prison.

Jim Normal Summoned Diva, then Special Summoned Marksman with its effect. He tuned Diva to Abysspike to Synchro Summon Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier! He activated Abyss-sphere, Special Summoning Abyssmegalo from his Deck. Next, Dewloren returned Abyss-sphere and Abyssmegalo to the hand to increase its ATK to 3000! Then he Special Summoned Abyssmegalo from his hand, discarding Dragoons and Abysslinde. Abyssmegalo added Abyss-sphere to his hand, and Dragoons added Diva. When Dewloren attacked, Byron banished it with Dimensional Prison. Marksman destroyed Undine in battle, and Marksman’s effect Special Summoned Heavy Infantry in defense position. He Set two back row cards. (Jim could have used Abyssmegalo’s effect in Main Phase 1, Tributing Marksman. That would have destroyed the Dimensional Prison. He had decided to risk it to try for Marksman’s other effect, though)

Byron drew Marksman. He discarded Marksman and Infantry to Special Summon Abyssmegalo. Infantry targeted Abyssmegalo, Marksman targeted a back row, and Abyssmegalo activated; then Jim Chained the targeted Abyss-sphere. The Chain resolved thusly: Abyss-sphere Special Summoned Abysspike, Abyssmegalo added Abyss-sphere to Byron’s hand, Marksman failed to destroy Abyss-sphere because it was now face-up, and Infantry destroyed Abyssmegalo. Byron Normal Summoned Deep Sea Diva and it Special Summoned Marksman. He Tributed Diva for Abyssmegalo’s effect, and it attacked Abysspike. It attacked again, destroying Infantry. Moulinglacia destroyed Marksman. Marksman attacked directly, and it Special Summoned Dragoons from Byron’s Deck. Dragoons attacked directly as well, dropping Jim to 1100, while Byron had 3700. Byron Set Abyss-sphere to finish up the turn. Jim’s Abyss-sphere destroyed itself.

Jim played Mystical Space Typhoon during his Draw Phase, and Byron Chained his Abyss-sphere. It Special Summoned Abysslinde, which was destroyed when Abyss-sphere was destroyed. Abysslinde’s effect Special Summoned Abysspike. Next, Jim activated his last Abyss-sphere! He Special Summoned Abyssmegalo from his Deck. He Normal Summoned Diva and Special Summoned another from his Deck. he stacked the Divas for Gachi Gachi Gantetsu! His Abyssmegalo took down Byron’s.

Byron drew Abysslinde. He Normal Summoned Genex Controller, and Jim conceded when Byron Synchro Summoned Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier!

Byron Martz overcomes his father in a grueling first Duel! Both Duelists are moving to their Side Decks. They both know how the other plays, so this should be an interesting second Duel!

Duel 2

Jim Set two back row cards, then played Prohibition, declaring Heavy Storm.

Byron had Marksman, Abysslinde, Salvage, Torrential Tribute, and Abyssmegalo. He drew his sixth card… Heavy Storm! He Normal Summoned Abysslinde. It attacked directly, and Jim activated Abyss-sphere to Special Summon his own Abysslinde! Byron cancelled his attack, then Set Torrential Tribute in Main Phase 2. At the end of Main Phase 2, Jim flipped up his Compulsory Evacuation Device, returning Byron’s Abysslinde to the hand. At the End Phase, Abyss-sphere destroyed itself and Abysslinde, which then Special Summoned Abysspike. Abysspike discarded Marksman to add Abysslinde to his hand, and Marksman destroyed the newly Set Torrential Tribute.

Jim Normal Summoned Deep Sea Diva. It Special Summoned another Diva, and he tuned the new one to Abysspike for Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier! He returned Diva and Prohibition to his hand for Dewloren, then attacked directly for 3000 damage! In Main Phase 2 he played Prohibition again, this time declaring Mermail Abysslinde.

Byron drew Pot of Avarice. He activated Heavy Storm to get rid of Prohibition, then discarded Marksman and Abysslinde to Special Summon Abyssmegalo. He played Salvage next, returning Marksman  and Abysslinde to his hand. He Normal Summoned Abysslinde next, and Tributed it for Abyssmegalo’s effect. Abyssmegalo destroyed Dewloren, then attacked directly.

Jim Normal Summoned Abysslinde, then played Dark Hole! Abysslinde Special Summoned Abyssmegalo, and it attacked directly.

Byron drew Abysslinde. He Set it and passed.

Jim played Salvage, and Byron conceded. Time was running out in the round and he knew Jim would be able to deal enough damage to win anyway. He wanted to start the third Duel before time ran out.

“Good luck Byron. Even if you beat me I’ll still love you,” Jim said, and Byron laughed.

Duel 3

Byron began the final Duel with Abysspike, Heavy Infantry, Salvage, Dragoons, Mind Control, and Torrential Tribute. He Normal Summoned Abysspike, discarding Dragoons. With his two effects, he added Abysslinde and Moulinglacia to his hand. He Set Torrential Tribute.

Jim Normal Summoned Genex Undine. It sent Dragoons to the Graveyard. With Undine and Dragoons, he added Genex Controller and Abyssmegalo to his hand. Next, he Special Summoned Abyssmegalo by discarding Abysspike and Abysslinde. Abyssmegalo activated its effect, and Byron Chained Torrential Tribute! Jim still got Abyss-sphere with Abyssmegalo’s effect. He Set three cards to his back row.

Byron drew Heavy Infantry. He Normal Summoned Abysslinde. When it attacked directly, Jim activated Abyss-sphere to bring out his own Abysslinde. Byron continued his attack, crashing his Abysslinde into Jim’s. Jim Special Summoned Abysspike, and Byron did the same. Byron used his Abysspike, discarding Heavy Infantry. Abysspike added Diva to Byron’s hand, then Infantry destroyed Jim’s Abyss-sphere (Jim was not able to use his own Abysspike because its Summon was not the last thing to resolve). Just then, time in the round was called. Byron crashed his Abysspike into Jim’s. Now that he had five WATER monsters, he Summoned Moulinglacia the Elemental Lord! Jim played Torrential Tribute, but still lost his Undine and Genex Controller to Moulinglacia’s effect!

Jim flipped Abyss-sphere to Special Summon Abyssmegalo from his Deck. Next, he Normal Summoned Deep Sea Diva to Special Summon Marksman. He Tributed Diva for Abyssmegalo’s effect. Marksman attacked directly, and it Special Summoned Dragoons. Dragoons attacked, and Abyssmegalo attacked twice to seal the Duel!

Jim Martz takes down his son to move on in the tournament! Both Duelists put up a great fight!

(WARNING: Abyss-sphere negates the on-field effects of whatever it Special Summons. In this last turn, Abyssmegalo should not have been able to attack twice. Neither Duelist caught this until after they’d picked up their cards. Jim could have used his Abyss-sphere in Byron’s turn to get Abysslinde, which would have been destroyed in the End Phase and brought out an Abyssmegalo that wasn’t negated, getting this same end result. Either way, make sure you’re always aware of all of your opponent’s and your own cards effects.)