Round 8 Feature Match: Michael Steinman Versus Paul Crum
One of the stories we talked about earlier in the day was the competition between two different builds of Geargia: the classic Karakuri Geargia and the newer Pure Geargia variant that’s seen Regional Top 8 success over the past two to three weeks. This Match is really cool, because it pits the faster, more explosive Karakuri Geargia deck in the hands of Paul Crum, against the more consistent, more stable Pure Geargia build piloted by Michael Steinman, built in conjunction with William Pedigo. This is a big match-up for the weekend, and we were about to see it play out in high-style in a Feature Match for the first time! Let’s see what happens…
Steinman opened with Compulsory Evacuation Device; Geargiarmor; Bottomless Trap Hole; Geargiano; Mystical Space Typhoon; and Geargiano Mk-ii. He Set Geargiarmor, Compulsory, Bottomless, and Typhoon.
Crum Set a monster himself, and three backrows as well.
Steinman drew Upstart Goblin and activated it, drawing Geargiarsenal. He Flip Summoned Geargiarmor, Crum responded with Fiendish Chain, and Steinman Chained Fiendish Chain to try and prevent Geargiarmor’s effect from resolving. Steinman considered a moment, then Chained Mystical Space Typhoon to blow away Fiendish Chain and get Geargiaccelerator from his Deck. He Special Summoned it, then Normal Summoned Geargiano Mk-II to Special Summon Geargiano from his hand.
He overlaid the Geargianos for Ghostrick Alucard, activated its effect to target Crum’s monster for destruction, destroying what turned out to be Karakuri Strategist mdl 248 “Nishipachi”! That’s the problem with the Karakuri build: drawing those Karakuris early is just a beating because they don’t do anything independently. Steinman overlaid for Gear Gigant X, but Crum shut it down with Book of Moon. Still, Steinman pressed with Alucard for 1800 Battle Damage.
Crum Normal Summoned Geargiaccellerator, and Steinmain bounced it with Compulsory Evacuation Device. Crum had no followup.
Steinman drew Dust Tornado, tried to pop Crum’s last face-down, but lost his Bottomless Trap Hole to the Chained Mystical Space Typhoon he’d targeted. He Flip summoned Gear Gigant X to search his Deck for Geargiaccellerator. He Normal Summoned Geargiarsenal, Special Summoned Geargiaccellerator, and overlaid for another Gear Gigant X. He detached to search Geargiano Mk-II from his Graveyard, then attacked with all three Xyz Monsters. Crum was down to 800 Life Points.
Crum drew to four cards in hand and spent some time considering them, not looking super-confident in his options. He wound up Normal Summoning Geargiarmor so he could Special Summon Geargiaccelerator, clearing the field with Evilswarm Exciton Knight! Steinman revived his Geargiano with Gear Gigant X’s effect.
Steinman drew Geargiarmor, holding Dust Tornado and Geargiano Mk-II. He Summoned Mk-ii, brought back Geargiarsenal, and Special Summoned another Mk-ii with its effect. He overlaid it with Geargiano for Temtempo the Percussion Djinn and had enough damage to swing over Evilswarm Exciton Knight for game!
Paul Crum opens Game 1 with Karakuri Strategist mdl 248 “Nishipachi” and Michael Steinman hits that strong, consistent grind with multiple copies of Gear Gigant X, easily taking the first Duel! Could Crum find the speed he’d need to mount a comeback? He’d need to avoid similar bad luck in Games 2 and 3 to pull this one out of the fire, but he wasn’t giving up yet.
Crum kicked off Game 2 with Upstart Goblin, drawing a card and then Setting a monster, plus three cards to his backrow.
Steinman had Effect Veiler; Book of Moon; Geargiarmor; Needle Ceiling; Geargiaccelerator; and Geargiarsenal. He Set Geargiarmor, Ceiling, and Book, losing the Book in his End Phase to Crum’s Mystical Space Typhoon.
Crum played another Upstart, putting Steinman to 10,000 Life Points. He Flip Summoned Geargiarmor to activate its effect and Steinman considered his Effect Veiler; he didn’t activate it, and let Crum search his Deck for Geargiano Mk-II. Crum Summoned it, Special Summoning Geargiano from his hand. Steinman flipped Needle Ceiling! Crum chained Compulsory Evacuation Device to save his Geargiarmor, losing his Geargianos. Crum Set a second Spell or Trap Card.
Steinman drew Maxx “C” and Flip Summoned Geargiarmor to get Geargiano Mk-II. He Normal Summoned Geargiarsenal, and Crum banished it with Bottomless Trap Hole. Crum now had one card Set and two cards in his hand. Steinman had Geargiarmor, which he flipped face-down, and four cards in hand.
Crum drew to three and Summoned Geargiano Mk-II. Steinmain Chained Maxx “C” to its effect, drawing when Crum Special Summoned Geargiano, and drawing again when Crum made Ghostrick Alucard. When Crum tried to blow away Geargiarmor, Steinman stopped it with Effect Veiler!
Steinman drew Upstart Goblin, activating it to draw Geargiagear! He now had five cards in hand with Geargiarmor Set, and he flipped Geargiarmor, drawing out Crum’s Fiendish Chain. He Special Summoned Geargiaccelerator, overlaid for Gear Gigant X, and got his search that way anyways – Gear Gigant X got him Geargiaccelerator from his Deck. He Normal Summoned Geargiarsenal to Summon Geargiano, then used it to Special Summon Geargiarmor, leading into Geargiaccelerator, and he overlaid them to Xyz Summon another Gear Gigant X! He detached Geargiarsenal to return it to his hand, then swung with both Gear Gigant X to destroy Alucard and take Crum down to 6200 Life Points with two cards in hand. Steinman had 10,000 remaining with four in hand. “Go ahead.”
Crum Summoned Geargiarmor to Special Summon Geargiaccelerator, overlaying for Evilswarm Exciton Knight to destroy both Gear Gigant X!
Steinman drew Maxx “C” a turn too late, but threw down Geargiano Mk-II to Summon Geargiano, then Xyz Summoned Temtempo the Percussion Djinn again, detaching an Xyz Material from Evilswarm Exciton Knight to boost Temtempo’s ATK and swinging over Exciton Knight. Steinman Set Call and Geargiagear.
Crum Set two cards to his back row and entered his End Phase. Steinman flipped Call of the Haunted to Special Summon his Geargiarmor.
Steinman drew his Black Horn of Heaven, flipped his Geargiarmor face-down, then flipped it back face-up to search Geargiaccelerator. He Special Summoned Geargiaccelerator to make Gear Gigant X, used it to retrieve Geargiaccelerator, then flipped Geargiagear to Summon two Geargiano Mk-II! That got him Daigusto Emeral, and when he detached for its effect Crum offered the handshake!
Michael Steinman defeats Paul Crum 2-0, as Pure Geargia absolutely crushes Karakuri Geargia! Steinman moves on undefeated.
