Simon He is the only Duelist who traveled this weekend all the way from the UK.  He and his opponent, Los Angeles’ David Lopez, are both 5-1 so far in this tournament.  Two more wins would lock them into Day 2, so this Match is really important.  Victory here means they can win just one of their next two Matches and make Day 2.

Lopez opened with Card Guard, equipped with Horn of the Unicorn.  It’s a gutsy opening that could risk his next draw, sticking Horn back on top of his Deck, but it might let him open with big control over the field.  The problem?  Lopez didn’t seem to know that Card Guard can’t protect itself with its Guard Counter.

Simon He knew that Card Guard can’t protect itself!  He had a hand of Greenkappa; United We Stand; Dark Ruler Ha Des; Dark Valkyria; Gaap the Divine Soldier; and Tribute to the Doomed.  He discarded Ha Des to blow away Card Guard with Tribute to the Doomed, then attacked with Dark Valkyria strapped with United We Stand!  He seemed to be trying to replicate Lopez’s strategy of occupying the field with one big, boosted monster.

But Lopez had an out!  He Summoned Injection Fairy Lily to attack over Valkyria, costing He both of his cards!  Ouch.

He drew Mask of Darkness: it was useless for the moment since He had no Trap Cards.  He Set Greenkappa for lack of anything else to do.

Lopez Summoned Abyssal Kingshark and equipped it with Big Bang Shot.  It pierced through Greenkappa, and Lily made a little poke with unboosted ATK.  Lopez equipped Horn of the Unicorn to Kingshark, with two cards left in hand.

He drew Burden of the Mighty.  He had nothing but Mask of Darkness and Gaap the Divine Soldier, so things weren’t looking very good: Gaap was useless and the Mask’s Flip Effect was dead.  He Set the Mask and Set Burden, needing to bluff just to survive Lily’s attack.

Lopez Set a monster, then attacked with his 2800 ATK Kingshark!  He immediately conceded.

A clever play with Tribute to the Doomed seems to put Simon He in a leading position early, but a bid to stabilize the field with United We Stand backfires, as David Lopez trumps He’s set-up with Injection Fairy Lily!  He would need to win two Duels back-to-back to pull this one out of the fire.  If he failed to do so, he’d have to score two wins in his next two Rounds, or squeak by on a win and a draw.

He opened the second Duel with United We Stand; Liberty at Last!; Axe of Despair; Call of the Haunted; Gaap the Divine Soldier; and Graceful Charity.  He Set Call, setting up a potential combo next turn with Graceful Charity.

Lopez attacked with Insect Knight for a quick 1900 Battle Damage, then Set one backrow.

He drew Botanical Lion and activated Graceful Charity: he set Botanical Lion and Liberty.

Lopez Summoned Drillroid!  He unwittingly played right past Liberty at Last!, destroying Botanical Lion with Drillroid’s effect, then made a direct attack with Insect Knight.

He drew Half or Nothing, then drew with Graceful Charity: he got Giant Soldier of Stone; Grave Protector, and Dark Valkyria.  He discarded Gaap and Giant Soldier.  He Normal Summoned Dark Valkyria to attack and destroy Drillroid, then Set Half or Nothing.

Once again, Lopez had an answer!  He Summoned Gene-Warped Warwolf, looking to beat Dark Valkyria… but then he just took control of it with Snatch Steal!  When Lopez attacked, He activated Call of the Haunted to Special Summon Gaap in the Battle Step, triggering a replay, and Lopez flipped Compulsory Evacuation Device to send Gaap back to He’s hand.  He had only 4200 Life Points remaining, so when Valkyria attacked again he had to flip Half or Nothing.  Lopez gladly attacked for half damage, dropping He to 1350 Life Points.  Lopez was just dominating this Match!  He overlaid his Insect Knight and the pilfered Valkyria for Number 39: Utopia in Main Phase 2.

He drew and Set Card Trooper, needing to get off a play with Liberty in order to survive.

But Lopez threw Big Bang Shot on Utopia!  He gave a curse, sighed, and immediately offered the handshake, quickly regaining his composure and congratulating Lopez.  We’ve seen Simon He escape some incredible situations before, but there was just no escaping that.

David Lopez moves on with a 6-1 record!