Top 8 Feature Match: Norberto Leon Versus Simon He
A field of over seven hundred Duelists has been whittled down to just eight competitors! Two of them are running Agents; one is running Inzektors; another is playing Dino Rabbit; one is playing Wind-Ups; and the remaining three are playing Mermails. One of them is Norberto Leon, who you saw disassembling Joseph Giorlando in our Top 32 Feature Match earlier today. His opponent is Agent Duelist Simon He, who’s accredited with the most spectacular win of the tournament thus far, when he defeated Marquis Johnson in Round 6 with a Side Decked copy of Dark Magician. This was going to be another spectacular Match.
He started off the Match with The Agent of Mystery – Earth, getting The Agent of Creation – Venus.
Leon had a hand of Deep Sea Diva; Torrential Tribute; Atlantean Heavy Infantry; Heavy Storm; Mermail Abysspike; and Abyss-sphere. He Summoned Abysspike to discard Heavy Infantry, getting Genex Undine and destroying Agent of Mystery. Abysspike made a direct attack to drop He to 6400 Life Points. Leon Set ‘sphere and Tribute.
He Summoned The Agent of Creation – Venus and paid 500 Life Points to Special Summon a Mystical Shine Ball from his Deck. He activated it again to Special Summon another, then Xyz Summoned Gachi Gachi Gantetsu. He paid 500 one more time to bring out his third Shine Ball.
He sent The Agent of Creation to attack of Abysspike, then Set a single Spell or Trap Card.
Leon drew Mirror Force. He considered his moves for a moment.
“Is it that hard to drop an Undine?” quipped He.
“I don’t know…” mused Leon, unfazed. He Normal Summoned Deep Sea Diva, and it was He’s turn to think about a possible response. “Sure.’ Leon Special Summoned Atlantean Marksman from his Deck, then Synchro Summoned Ally of Justice Catastor to attack Gachi Gachi. He flipped Treacherous Trap Hole in response, destroying Catastor and his own Shine Ball.
“No Starlight Roads for you.” Simon banished The Agent of Mystery – Earth from his Graveyard to Special Summon Master Hyperion, and Leon flipped Torrential Tribute, and He Chained Forbidden Lance to keep Master Hyperion on the field! He detached an Xyz Material from Gachi Gachi and lost Venus. He banished Mystical Shine Ball for Hyperion’s effect, but targeted Leon’s Abyss-sphere: Leon Chained it, but He Chained Mystical Space Typhoon to prevent Special Summoning antics with Mermail Abysslinde. He Normal Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh and made direct attacks with both Thunder King and Hyperion. Leon dropped to 3400 Life Points. He had 4900.
Leon drew a second Genex Undine and Set it. It was useless under Thunder King. He Set Heavy and Mirror Force.
He banished another Shine Ball, destroying Heavy Storm with Hyperion. “It doesn’t work!” shouted Leon to the audience, feigning weakness. He really wanted He to swing as hard as possible into that Mirror Force. Simon had three cards in hand, with Hyperion, Thunder King, and Gachi Gachi on the field.
He turned Gachi Gachi to Attack Position and swung right into Mirror Force! He lost Hyperion and Thunder King, and Gachi Gachi Gantetsu lost its last Xyz Material. He had three cards in hand plus the spent Gachi Gachi on field. Leon had the Set Undine, plus one in hand.
Leon drew Atlantean Heavy Infantry and Normal Summoned Undine, kicking Atlantean Dragoons to his Graveyard to get Genex Controller and Moulinglacia the Elemental Lord with five WATER monsters in the Graveyard! He Special Summoned Moulinglacia to make He discard Chaos Sorcerer and The Agent of Creation – Venus! He Flip Summoned Undine.
“Did you top the other Undine?!” He could barely believe it.
“Yeah, with Thunder King on board!” Leon attacked with the first Undine, destroying Gachi Gachi and dropping He to 4200 Life Points. He attacked with the next Undine, then Moulinglacia, reducing He to 200 Life Points! Leon Xyz Summoned Wind-Up Zenmaines in Defense Position, and He conceded after seeing his next draw.
“That’s what you get when you hit the wrong one,” commented He, referring to his destroying Leon’s bluffed Heavy Storm instead of that clutch Mirror Force. Norberton Leon captures the first Duel, making a big comeback with a little bluffing and one game-changing Mirror Force!
He started the second Duel with Thunder King Rai-Oh.
Leon had Starlight Road; Dark Hole; Mermail Abysspike; Atlantean Marksman; and two Mermail Abyssmegalo. Leon destroyed Thunder King with Abyssmegalo, then attacked with Atlantean Marksman to score a quick hit and Special Summon Atlantean Dragoons for another 1800 Battle Damage. He was down to 4800 Life Points. Leon Set Starlight Road.
He activated Heavy Storm, destroying the lone Starlight Road and then spending a few moments contemplating his next move. He Summoned Tour Guide from the Underworld to Special Summon another, then banished The Agent of Creation – Venus from his hand to Special Summon Master Hyperion. He Xyz Summoned Leviair the Sea Dragon, and Special Summoned back The Agent of Creation! He paid 1000 Life Points to activate The Agent of Creation’s effect twice, Special Summoning two Mystical Shine Balls, then Xyz Summoned Daigusto Phoenix. He detached for its effect, making Leviair into a double attacker! Then he Special Summoned Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning! It was a combined total of 13,800 ATK counting the double attackers, and that was the game!
Simon He makes short work of Game 2, making an explosive Leviair combo to unleash the beast on Norberto Leon! One more Duel would decide which Duelist would be going to the Top 4.
Leon started the third Duel with two Mermail Abysslinde; Salvage; Atlantean Dragoons; and two Atlantean Marksman. He Set an Abysslinde.
He Summoned The Agent of Creation – Venus and paid a total of 1500 Life Points for three Mystical Shine Balls. He brought out two in Defense Position, and the last in Attack Position. Venus attacked to destroy Abysslinde; Leon Special Summoned Abysspike in Defense Position; and he discarded Dragoons for its effect. That got him Genex Undine and Mermail Abyssmegalo from his Deck.
He moved to Main Phase 2 and Xyz Summoned Gachi Gachi Gantetsu in Defense Position.
Leon drew Monster Reborn and discarded Mermail Abysslinde and Atlantean Heavy Infantry to Special Summon Abyssmegalo. He got Abyss-sphere from his Deck, then destroyed The Agent of Creation – Venus with Heavy Infantry’s effect. Leon Normal Summoned Genex Undine to kick Atlantean Dragoons and get Genex Controller and Moulinglacia the Elemental Lord from his Deck, then Special Summoned Moulinglacia to make He discard two of his five cards: Tragoedia and Thunder King Rai-Oh. “Me gusta!” Leon was pleased. He took Tragoedia with Monster Reborn, and Tributed Undine to let Mermail Abyssmegalo attack twice for the turn. He returned Heavy Infantry and Undine to his hand with Salvage, then turned Abysspike to Attack Position. “This isn’t game… but it’s injuring you pretty hard.” He attack Mystical Shine Ball with Abysspike, then swung on Gachi Gachi Gantetsu twice with Abyssmegalo. Moulinglacia the Elemental Lord attacked to destroy Gachi Gachi, and Tragoedia made a direct attack for 3000 Battle Damage. He had 3500 Life Points left. Leon made Tragoedia a Level 4, then Xyz Summoned Gagaga Cowboy in Defense Position with Mermail Abysspike. The Cowboy burned He for 800 Damage, and Leon finished his turn by Setting Abyss-sphere!
He drew to four cards. He banished Agent of Creation to Special Summon Master Hyperion, then banished a Shine Ball to destroy Moulinglacia. It attacked to destroy Gagaga Cowboy, and He Set a single card to his back row. Leon flipped Abyss-sphere, but He Chained Mystical Space Typhoon from his hand.
Leon drew Mind Control! He had only 2700 Life Points left, and Leon had Undine, Controller, Heavy Infantry, and Marksman in hand. He Summoned Undine to kick Heavy Infantry to the Graveyard, destroying Hyperion and getting another Genex Controller. He ended his turn.
He drew to two cards in hand with one card Set. Could he really kick out of this? He was certainly going to try: he Normal Summoned Tour Guide from the Underworld to Special Summon another from his Deck, then Xyz Summoned Wind-Up Zenmaines to attack over Undine.
Leon drew Mind Crush. He Summoned Marksman, drawing out He’s Treacherous Trap Hole which destroyed Marksman and Abyssmegalo. Leon Set Mind Crush.
He drew to two cards once again and started poking through Graveyards, mumbling himself through possible plays. He was in deep contemplation, looking for not just a way out, but a way to win. Leon had 7700 Life Points with four cards in hand: He was playing way from behind. As He considered his moves, Leon flipped Mind Crush, calling Monster Reborn: He revealed Dark Hole and The Agent of Mystery – Earth, and He smirked and winced as he chose a card at random to discard from his opponent’s hand: a near-useless Genex Controller. He Summoned The Agent of Mystery to get an Agent of Creation, and attacked with both his monsters. Leon was down to 5200 Life Points.
Leon drew Solemn Warning, holding Controller, Mind Control, and Heavy Infantry. He Set the latter and Set Warning.
The tempo seemed to be changing. He drew to three cards and activated Heavy Storm, destroying the Warning. He Summoned The Agent of Creation – Venus and Tuned it to The Agent of Mystery for Ally of Justice Catastor. Catastor attacked to destroy the Set Infantry, and Zenmaines made a direct attack.
Leon drew Abyss-sphere and took Catastor with Mind Control, Summoning Controller to Synchro Summon Stardust Dragon! It attacked to knock a Material off of Zenmaines, and he Set Abyss-sphere.
He ripped Master Hyperion! He banished to Special Summon it, turned Zenmaines to Defense Position, and attacked over Stardust with Hyperion. He banished a Shine Ball to destroy Abyss-sphere, and Leon Chained it to Special Summon Abysslinde. When she was destroyed he brought out Mermail Abyssmegalo. He had 1700 Life Points left.
Leon had 3500 and drew Mermail Abysspike. He Set it and attacked over Zenmaines.
“How many Mermail Abysslinde do you have in your Graveyard?” Asked He.
“Three.”
He Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh and destroyed the Set Mermail Abysspike with Hyperion’s effect, knowing it couldn’t be Abysslinde. Hyperion attacked over Abyssmegalo and made a direct shot with Thunder King Rai-Oh. He took a moment to rifle Leon’s Graveyard in a hopeful hunt for Dark Hole. He didn’t find it, because it was still somewhere in Leon’s Deck. “I’m going to be so salty if you topdeck Dark Hole.”
And Leon did! He activated Dark Hole off the top to clear the field, destroying Hyperion and Thunder King!
He drew and passed! Both Duelists were down to topdecking!
Leon ripped Deep Sea Diva! He Special Summoned Atlantean Marksman and Synchro Summoned Ally of Justice Catastor, attacking to win the Match!
Both Duelists play an incredible and skillful Match, but when both of them were down to topdecking Leon hit Dark Hole; He drew a useless Herald of Orange Light; and Leon ripped game in the form of Deep Sea Diva!
Norberto Leon wins a spectacular Match to head on to the Top 4! Four Duelists remained in the tournament – one Wind-Up Duelist; one Inzektor Duelist; and two Mermail Duelists!
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