Round 9 Feature Match: Matthew Monahan Versus James Frazier
We’ve seen a bunch of Artifact Decks in our Feature Matches so far today, but the defining build seems to be Traptrix Hand Artifacts, and now we’re going to see something we haven’t seen yet – a mirror match. James Frazier has one loss, while his opponent Matthew Monahan has one draw. Both of these competitors want the win here to give them a strong push into Day 2. Let’s see what this match-up looks like.
Frazier started the Match with a hand of Cardcar D; Fire Hand; Traptrix Trap Hole Nightmare; Pot of Dichotomy; Solemn Warning; and Traptrix Myrmeleo. He Summoned Cardcar D, Set Warning and Nightmare, and sacked off Cardcar D to draw Ice Hand and Upstart Goblin.
Monahan Summoned Ice Hand, attacking for 1400 Battle Damage. He Set two cards to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.
Frazier drew Artifact Sanctum! He drew another Traptrix Trap Hole Nightmare with Upstart Goblin, then Set Fire Hand and Sanctum.
Monahan turned Ice Hand to Defense Position.
Frazier drew another Myrmeleo, and Set Ice Hand.
Monahan Set a third Spell or Trap Card.
Frazier drew another Ice Hand. He Summoned Traptrix Myrmeleo, used its effect to search Bottomless Trap Hole, and Flip Summoned Ice Hand. Frazier stacked Myrmeleo and Ice Hand to Xyz Summon Abyss Dweller, but Monahan responded with Bottomless Trap Hole: Frazier Chained Abyss Dweller’s effect, depriving Monahan of his Ice Hand’s effect if he were to destroy it this turn. He didn’t – after a few moments’ thought, he ended his turn then and there.
Monahan Set a third Spell or Trap.
Frazier drew Compulsory Evacuation Device and activated Pot of Dichotomy, sending Myrmeleo, Cardcar D, and Ice Hand back to his Deck to draw Black Horn of Heaven and another Artifact Sanctum. He Normal Summoned his second Myrmeleo to search out another Traptrix Trap Hole Nightmare, then Flip Summoned Fire Hand. Neither competitor wanted to be the first to blink and really commit to the field. Frazier overlaid for Number 101: Silent Honor ARK, and Monahan negated the Summon with Solemn Warning. The Duel stood at 7000 Life Points for Monahan, to Frazier’s 6600. He Set Bottomless and Sanctum.
Monahan drew a card with Upstart Goblin, turned Ice Hand to Attack Position, and attacked. Frazier flipped Artifact Sanctum, Monahan had no response, and Frazier Special Summoned Artifact Moralltach to destroy Ice Hand. That let Monahan destroy a card, and after some consideration he decided on a simple die roll: he picked the other Sanctum, Frazier tried to deny the Special Summon effect with Solemn Warning, and Monahan had Wiretap! The destruction went through, Monahan Special Summoned Fire Hand, and Frazier destroyed Monahan’s last backrow card with Sanctum’s secondary effect: it was another Sanctum! That meant Monahan got to destroy a card, taking out Frazier’s Bottomless Trap Hole. He rammed Fire Hand into Moralltach, destroying it, and Special Summoning Ice Hand from his Deck for a direct attack. Monahan Set one card to his backrow and ended.
To bring you up to speed, Monahan had four cards in hand; one card Set to his backrow; and Ice Hand in Attack Position. Frazier drew to six cards in hand, with one card Set:
He Summoned his own Ice Hand, attacked Monahan’s Ice Hand, and Monahan flipped another Sanctum. Frazier Chained Maxx “C”, leaving Monahan to Special Summon Artifact Moralltach, drawing Frazier a card – Fire Hand. When Monahan tried to activate Moralltach’s effect, Frazier blew it away with Traptrix Trap Hole Nightmare. The Ice Hands collided, neither Duelist controlled a card for the other to destroy, and Frazier moved to Main Phase 2, Setting Black Horn of Heaven, Compulsory Evacuation Device, and Nightmare.
Monahan resolved a Pot of Dichotomy to draw two cards, going to six in hand. He Summoned Fire Hand, attacked, and knocked Frazier down to 2600 Life Points.
Frazier drew Cardcar D and Summoned it, Tributing it to draw two cards: Pot of Duality and Call of the Haunted. “Your go.”
Monahan Summoned Traptrix Myrmeleo and searched out a Nightmare. He attacked with Myrmeleo, Frazier took the damage, and when Monahan pressed for game with Fire Hand Frazier bumped it back to Monahan’s Hand with Compulsory Evacuation Device. “Enter Main Phase 2.. Actually I’ll just pass.”
Frazier drew another Pot of Duality, activated it, and revealed Call of the Haunted, Fire Hand, and Dimensional Prison. He added Prison to his hand, and he Set Call and Prison, then Set Fire Hand.
Monahan revealed Moralltach, Breakthrough Skill, and Dimensional Prison with Pot of Duality, adding Prison to his hand. He attacked the Set Fire Hand with Myrmeleo; Frazier destroyed it; and he Special Summoned Ice Hand in Defense Position. Monahan Set a card to his backrow.
Frazier drew his last Artifact Sanctum! Another Pot of Duality got him a choice of Dimensional Prison, Maxx “C”, and Dimensional Prison – like Monahan, he took the Prison. He attacked with Ice Hand for 1400 damage, lowering Monahan to 5100 Life Points. Frazier Set Sanctum: he had just 1000 LP remaining.
Monahan Summoned Cardcar D, and Frazier flipped Sanctum, Special Summoning Artifact Moralltach to destroy Cardcar D… or at least he attempted to do so, Monahan cleared the field with Torrential Tribute. Again, there were no excess backrow cards on Monahan’s side for Ice Hand to destroy. He Set three cards and ended.
Frazier drew another Fire Hand, Summoned it, and pressed to attack; Monahan banished it with Prison.
Monahan revealed Sanctum, Myrmeleo, and Call of the Haunted with Pot of Duality, taking Sanctum. He Summoned Fire Hand, attacked into Dimensional Prison and negated it with Wire Tap! Frazier wasn’t finished! He flipped Call of the Haunted next, Special Summoning Myrmeleo! Monahan Chained the effect of Maxx “C”, but lost his Set Artifact Beagalltach to Myrmeleo’s effect. Monahan moved to Main Phase 2 and activated Upstart Goblin. He Set two cards to his backrow.
Frazier drew Torrential Tribute and Set it. In the End Phase Monahan flipped Sanctum, bringing out Moralltach – Frazier destroyed it with Traptrix Trap Hole Nightmare.
Monahan Summoned Ice Hand: “Thinking…” replied Frazier. He ended up making no response. Monahan attacked with Ice Hand, losing it to Dimensional Prison. He rammed Myrmeleo with Fire Hand and both monsters were destroyed.
Frazier drew Dimensional Prison and Set it.
Monahan Summoned another Ice Hand! He attacked into another Prison.
Frazier drew Black Horn of Heaven and Set it. “Your go.” He now had four backrow cards to Monahan’s one, and one card in hand.
Monahan drew Upstart Goblin and activated it, going to three cards total. He Normal Summoned Traptrix Dionae, reviving Traptrix Myrmeleo to target Frazier’s Set Black Horn of Heaven. Frazier gave it up, but not before clearing the field with Torrential Tribute.
Frazier passed.
Monahan Summoned Myrmeleo for a quick attack.
Frazier drew Maxx “C”, now holding nothing but two copies. He Set one, fighting to defend his last 1400 Life Points. Monahan still had 5100.
Monahan attacked to destroy Maxx “C”. He Set a second backrow card.
Frazier drew Call of the Haunted and Set it, then Set Maxx “C” as well. “Your go.” Twelve minutes remained in the Round.
Monahan attacked Maxx “C” with Myrmeleo, then Set a third backrow card. Frazier spent a moment fingering through Monahan’s Graveyard, then flipped Call to revive Moralltach. Monahan let it hit the field, Frazier didn’t activate its effect – likely out of a concern for Traptrix Trap Hole Nightmare – and Monahan ended.
Frazier attacked, destroying Myrmeleo with Moralltach. In Main Phase 2 he grabbed another Myrmeleo with Pot of Duality.
Monahan Set a monster and Set a Spell or Trap.
Frazier Summoned Myrmeleo and didn’t use its effect either. He attacked with it, running into Fire Hand: Monahan destroyed Moralltach, but had no Ice Hand left to Summon.
Monahan Set a monster.
Frazier Summoned another Myrmeleo, attacked to destroy what turned out to be Monahan’s Set Maxx “C”, then made a direct attack! Monahan was down to 3000 LP.
Monahan Set a fifth Spell or Trap Card.
Frazier attacked with one Myrmeleo, and Monahan took it! He was down to 1400 Life Points. When Frazier attacked again, Monahan bounced away the attacking Myrmeleo with Compulsory Evacuation Device. Frazier Set Ice Hand in Main Phase 2. It looked like he was making a comeback after a long, long grind!
Sure enough, Monahan drew for his next turn, briefly considered his options, then conceded!
Matthew Monahan dominates the bulk of the first Duel, but James Frazier manages to battle back in the last turns, capturing the Duel with a flurry of attacks from a string of Traptrix Myrmeleos! Only six minutes remained in the Round, including time spent Side Decking and shuffling. Monahan needed to deal damage, fast, and get this Match tied up with a quick win in time to at least save himself from another loss.
Monahan opened with Pot of Duality, getting Traptrix Dionaea. He Set two cards to his backrow and Set a monster.
Frazier had Pot of Dichotomy; Traptrix Trap Hole Nightmare; Debunk; Ice Hand; Fire Hand; and Maxx “C”. He Set Ice Hand and three backrows. All he had to do was hold on.
Monahan Flip Summoned Fire Hand, banished Ice Hand with Nobleman of Crossout, and attacked for 1600 Battle Damage.
Frazier drew Cardcar D and Set Fire Hand.
Monahan had another Nobleman of Crossout! Frazier scooped, to get the Match to Game 3. With one Loss already under his belt today he wanted a win, not a draw.
Frazier opened Game 3 with two Maxx “C”; Dimensional Prison; Ice Hand; Fire Hand; and Traptrix Dionaea. He Summoned Fire Hand and Set Prison. Again, he was looking for quick damage.
Monahan Summoned Ice Hand, attacked, and lost his Ice Hand to Prison! That left him open for next turn, but he Set two cards to his backrow.
Frazier drew Ice Hand and attacked with both monsters, scoring clean shots to knock Monahan down to 5000 Life Points!
Monahan drew for his turn as time was called! This was Turn 0: up to five more turns would remain in the Match. Monahan activated Pot of Duality, revealing Mystical Space Typhoon, Torrential Tribute, and D.D. Crow. He took Typhoon, Set a monster, and Set a Spell or Trap.
Frazier drew Artifact Moralltach. He turned both Hands to Defense Position, Set another Ice Hand, and Set Moralltach. He lost Moralltach to Mystical Space Typhoon in the End Phase.
Monahan entered Turn 2 of 5. He would have one turn after this to deal 3000 damage or more; he Set a third backrow card.
Frazier drew another Moralltach. He Set it, then Set a Maxx “C”. He needed to surive one more turn. When Monahan flipped Sanctum in the End Phase, Maxx “C” got Frazier a free draw. Monahan opted not to use Moralltach’s effect.
This was Monahan’s last turn. He Flip Summoned Ice Hand, Normal Summoned Fire Hand, and overlaid to Xyz Summon… maybe nothing. “I think you win.” Monahan checked his Set cards and immediately extended the handshake.
James Frazier wins the single most grueling competition of Day 1, narrowly edging out Matthew Monahan in a three-game throwdown of a mirror match! Frazier moves on to Day 2 with an 8-1 record!