It’s Round 2, and this time we’re here with Chris Watton and Mackinzie Counts. Watton is here all the way from Seattle, WA, and is using a cool Ghostrick Zombie Deck. Counts is from Yuma, AZ, and is playing with a T.G. Deck today. T.G. Decks traditionally use a lot of troublesome cards like Skill Drain, so this could be an uphill battle for Watton.

Duel 1

Watton started Round 2 with a hand of Caius the Shadow Monarch, The Dark Creator, Destiny HERO – Malicious, Mystical Space Typhoon, Book of Moon, and Mezuki. He Set Mezuki and both Quick-Play Spells.

Pot of Duality came down for Counts, revealing  Call of the Haunted, TG1-EM1, and Beast King Barbaros. He took Barbaros, then Normal Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh. It attacked, but was flipped down by Book of Moon. He Set three back row cards to finish.

Watton drew Ghostrick Specter. He Tributed Mezuki for Caius the Shadow Monarch, targeting the face-down Rai-Oh. Counts flipped Skill Drain, but Mystical Space Typhoon destroyed it. Caius’s effect banished Rai-Oh, then it attacked directly.

Counts Normal Summoned Beast King Barbaros, then used Horn of the Phantom Beast to boost it up to 2700! Barbaros wiped out Caius, and Counts drew a card with Horn of the Phantom Beast. He Set one more card to his back row.

Watton drew Ghostrick Jiangshi and Set it.

Counts Normal Summoned T.G. Striker, then used TG1-EM1 to swap it for Jiangshi! Barbaros crushed T.G. Striker in battle, and Horn of the Phantom Beast gave him yet another free card. He Set two back row cards, and Striker’s effect added T.G. Rush Rhino to his hand.

Watton drew another Specter and Set it.

Counts’s Call of the Haunted revived Striker, and another TG1-EM1 swapped it for Specter! T.G. Rush Rhino was Normal Summoned, then Barbaros destroyed Striker, with Horn giving another free card. Rush Rhino attacked directly, and two more back row cards were Set. In the End Phase, Striker searched out T.G. Warwolf. Next turn, when Watton drew Burial from a Different Dimension, he conceded!

Duel 2

Watton began this time with Foolish Burial, Twister, Forbidden Lance, Destiny HERO – Malicious, Ghostrick Jiangshi, and The Dark Creator. He Set Jiangshi, Twister, and Lance.

Counts Set three back row cards, then Normal Summoned Cardcar D. He used it to draw two new cards.

Watton drew Royal Decree. He flipped up Ghostrick Jiangshi, Counts Chained Skill Drain, but Twister destroyed it! Jiangshi’s effect went through, and he added Ghostrick Mary to his hand. He flipped Jiangshi back face-down, then Set Decree.

Counts Normal Summoned T.G. Rush Rhino and attacked. Jiangshi’s effect searched out Ghostrick Specter, and when Jiangshi hit the Graveyard, Specter came down and gave him another copy of Royal Decree. Set a back row card to finish.

Watton drew his third copy of Royal Decree! At least he has insurance. Foolish Burial sent Plaguespreader Zombie to the Graveyard. He Tributed Specter to Normal Summon Destiny HERO – Malicious, then topdecked a spare Decree to revive Plaguespreader Zombie. He tuned his monsters together, and Synchro Summoned Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons! Beelze smashed T.G. Rush Rhino in battle, and Watton Set his spare Decree. Rush Rhino’s effect searched out T.G. Striker for Counts.

Next turn Counts Special Summoned T.G. Striker in defense position and T.G. Warwolf in attack position.

Watton drew his Royal Decree that he’d placed on top of his Deck earlier. He Set it and attacked Striker, which searched out Rush Rhino.

Counts switched Warwolf to defense position.

Watton drew Destiny HERO – Malicious. He was getting doubles of all the cards you never want doubles of! Beelze destroyed Warwolf, and it searched out another Rush Rhino.

Counts Special Summoned T.G. Striker, then Normal Summoned T.G. Rush Rhino. He Set two cards to his back row, now with five. In the End Phase, Watton flipped Decree, Counts Chained Mystical Space Typhoon, Watton Chained Royal Decree, Counts Chained Mystical Space Typhoon, and Watton Chained Royal Decree! Counts didn’t have the third Mystical Space Typhoon, so Decree was going to remain in play. Looks like those extra copies were useful after all!

Watton drew and Normal Summoned Zombie Master. He discarded Ghostrick Mary to target Ghostrick Jiangshi, but Counts negated Zombie Master with Effect Veiler. Beelze crushed Rush Rhino in battle, and Zombie Master destroyed Striker. Counts could only search out one T.G. Warwolf, as he had run through all of his T.G. monsters!

Counts drew… and used Mystical Space Typhoon on Royal Decree! He played Warwolf, then flipped TG1-EM1. Watton used Forbidden Lance on Beelze, so Counts took Zombie Master instead. (Note: TG1-EM1 is not like Creature Swap! TG1-EM1 actually targets upon activation, but our Duelists hadn’t realized until later.) Zombie Master destroyed Warwolf in battle.

Watton drew another Zombie Master. He banished Destiny HERO – Malicious from his Graveyard to bring another to the field, then used Zombie Master to discard his spare Malicious for Jiangshi. Counts Chained Maxx “C” to that, and drew a card. Beelze attacked Zombie Master, and Forbidden Lance weakened Beelze. Zombie Master, Malicious, and Jiangshi attacked directly, leaving Counts with only 800 Life Points – Counts had needed to use the Lance to survive. Jiangshi went face-down, and Watton passed.

Counts Normal Summoned Rush Rhino and Set two back row cards.

Watton drew Ghostrick Mary, and Counts flipped TG1-EM1 to steal Beelze. It wouldn’t matter, because Watton used his new Rush Rhino and Zombie Master for Number 101: Silent Honor ARK, taking back Beelze! He flipped up Jiangshi for Ghostrick Jackfrost, and moved to his Battle Phase. Malicious attacked directly, but Call of the Haunted revived Rush Rhino. Silent Honor ARK attacked it, but Forbidden Lance let Rush Rhino win the battle! Silent Honor ARK survived with its effect. In Main Phase 2, Jiangshi went face-down again.

Rush Rhino attacked Jiangshi, which searched out Ghostrick Mary. He Set his last card – Torrential Tribute – to his back row. Unfortunately for him, Watton drew Mystical Space Typhoon and destroyed it! Silent Honor ARK and Malicious attacked, finishing this Duel!

Christopher Watton evens the score! It all comes down to this final Duel.

Duel 3

Counts led off with Pot of Duality, revealing Skill Drain, Call of the Haunted, and T.G. Warwolf. He chose to add Skill Drain to his hand. He Normal Summoned Beast King Barbaros, and Set four back row cards.

Watton had Ghostrick Mary, Ghostrick Jiangshi, Caius the Shadow Monarch, Plaguespreader Zombie, Mystical Space Typhoon, and Forbidden Lance. He Set Jiangshi and both Spell Cards.

Counts flipped Skill Drain, and Watton Chained Mystical Space Typhoon to keep it from resolving. Counts used his own Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Forbidden Lance, and Watton Chained it to weaken Barbaros. Counts Normal Summoned T.G. Striker, then handed it over with TG1-EM1, taking over Jiangshi. Barbaros destroyed Striker, and Watton used Ghostrick Mary to Special Summon Ghostrick Jiangshi from his Deck face-down. Striker’s effect gave Counts T.G. Rush Rhino. The round time had just run out in this turn, so there will be only five more turns after this.

Watton drew Mistake. He flipped up Jiangshi, but Counts had another Skill Drain! Jiangshi was negated, and Barbaros went up to 3000 ATK. Watton Set Mistake, then Normal Summoned Plaguespreader Zombie. He Synchro Summoned Armades, Keeper of Boundaries, which destroyed Counts’s Jiangshi.

Barbaros attacked Armades, and Horn of the Phantom Beast powered it up even further! Counts drew a free card with Horn, and Set two back row cards.

Watton drew Dark Grepher. He Set it.

Counts used Pot of Duality to reveal Dimensional Prison, Horn of the Phantom Beast, and Solemn Warning. He chose Horn, then played Rush Rhino. TG1-EM1 let him hand it over and steal Grepher, and Barbaros smashed Rush Rhino in battle. In the End Phase, he searched out Warwolf. Watton wasn’t able to deal enough damage next turn, and Counts took the Match!

Mackinzie Counts is moving on undefeated with T.G.!