Top 16 Feature Match: Desmond Johnson Versus Sean McCabe
Two of the most decorated Duelists of the weekend were set to go head-to-head, right here in the first round of Draft play! Desmond Johnson was integral to the rise of the Karakuri deck last year, so much so that he’s widely nicknamed the Karakuri King! But his opponent is Sean McCabe, a competitive chameleon that’s been topping YCS tournaments since 2009 and who just represented the United States at the 2014 World Championship! Two great competitors, and only one of them can make it past this Round – let’s see who’ll make the cut and who’s making the long trip home!
McCabe won the roll and opted to go second. He also chose to keep his hand. Johnson threw his away to the bottom of his Deck and drew a new five.
Johnson Set one card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone to get us started.
McCabe had Card Guard; Gale Lizard; Spined Gillman; Shadow Spell; Pyramid of Wonders; and Flame Tiger. He Summoned the Tiger, activated Pyramid of Wonders and attacked with the Tiger for 1800 Battle Damage. He Set Shadow Spell to back it up.
Play was to Johnson, who activated Card Advance to peek at his top five cards and rearrange them. He Set a second Spell or Trap Card, then Summoned Wind-Up Juggler.
McCabe drew No Entry!! And Summoned Card Guard, placing a Guard Counter on it. He removed the Guard Counter from Card Guard to put another Guard Counter on Flame Tiger, then sent the Tiger to attack the Juggler like some sort of circus act gone horribly wrong. Johnson flipped Unbreakable Spirit to boost Juggler to 3500 ATK, costing Flame Tiger the Guard Counter and destroying the Tiger with the Juggler’s ability! McCabe took 1500 Battle Damage. McCabe Set No Entry!!
We’re not just excited about No Entry!!, folks. That really is the card name, double exclamation points and all.
Johnson Summoned Card Trooper and sent Aye-Iron, Magical Undertaker and Evil HERO Infernal Gainer to the graveyard to boost it up to 1900 ATK. He followed up with Book of Life, banishing McCabe’s Flame Tiger and Special Summoning his own Infernal Gainer from his Graveyard. He activated its effect to let Card Trooper attack twice, and attacked Card Guard with Wind-Up Juggler to destroy his Juggler. Card Trooper attacked next, and McCabe stopped its attack with Shadow Spell in the Damage Step!
Card Trooper exploded into a blaze of gears and shrapnel and Johnson drew another card with its effect. Johnson flipped Call of the Haunted, still in the Battle Phase, to Special Summon Aye-Iron. Johnson moved to Main Phase 2 and activated Aye-Iron’s effect to boost it to 2000 ATK. He Set another card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.
McCabe drew Diskblade Rider and Summoned Spined Gillman, boosting Card Guard to 2200 ATK. McCabe attacked Aye-Iron with it, but Johnson stopped the attack by turning Card Guard to Defense Position with Butterspy Protection.
Johnson activated Recycling Batteries, adding back Magical Undertaker and Card Trooper to his hand. He Summoned Trooper and sent another Trooper, Winged Rhynos, and Call of the Atlanteans to the Graveyard to boost it up. Desmond attacked with the boosted Trooper and McCabe flipped No Entry!! to swing everything to defense mode, stopping the attack. Johnson moved to Main Phase 2, turned Aye-Iron to Attack Position and buffed its ATK with its effect again.
McCabe drew Stamping Destruction. He Summoned Diskblade Rider with two Trap Cards in his Graveyard to feed it, but even without its ability the Rider had 2500 ATK thanks just to Pyramid and Gillman. McCabe attacked over Aye-Iron with the Rider and sent Spined Gillman over Card Trooper. He finished out his turn with a direct attack from Card Guard.
Johnson drew for his turn and his Evil HERO Infernal Gainer returned to the field. Johnson had four cards in hand, and Set one as a monster, then Set one more to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.
McCabe drew Koa’ki Meiru Sandman and activated Stamping Destruction, blowing away Johnson’s Damage Gate and dishing out 500 damage. McCabe Summoned the Sandman at 2700 ATK, sent it over the Infernal Gainer to destroy it, then attacked with Spined Gillman. That flipped Johnson’s face-down Magical Undertaker and Johnson conceded moments later, completely outmatched on the field!
Sean McCabe secures his early game with the protection of Card Guard, then builds an insurmountable advantage in battle with Pyramid of Wonder and Spined Gillman! Victory becomes academic as Desmond Johnson’s monsters just can’t measure up. Johnson will be going second in Game 2.
McCabe opened with Windstorm of Etaqua; Koa’ki Meiru Drago; Telekinetic Shocker; Knight Day Grepher; and Card Guard. He kept his hand, Summoned Drago, Set Windstorm, and revealed Grepher to keep Drago on the field through the End Phase. Remember: in Monster League any monster can be revealed for a Koa’ki Meiru maintenance cost.
Johnson activated Card Advance again, looking at and rearranging the top five cards of his Deck. He Set a monster, and activated Closed Forest.
McCabe drew Swords of Concealing Light and Summoned Card Guard, placing a Guard Counter on it just as he did last game. He attacked with Drago, destroying Freya, Spirit of Victory, and then made a direct attack with Card Guard.
Johnson needed to get on the board here, but couldn’t field a monster. He Set three cards to his back row.
McCabe drew Gale Lizard and Summoned Telekinetic Shocker. He attacked with Card Guard, and Johnson flipped Forbidden Chalice targeting Koa’ki Meiru Drago. He took 1900 Battle Damage from Card Guard, and when Telekinetic Shocker attacked, Johnson flipped Pinpoint Guard to bring up Freya in Defense Position. McCabe revealed again for Drago.
Johnson Summoned Stygian Street Patrol and attacked Telekinetic Shocker, destroying it and dealing 300 Battle Damage.
McCabe drew Skill Successor. He Summoned Knight Day Grepher and activated Swords of Concealing Light, but Johnson Chained Typhoon to destroy it before it could resolve! McCabe Set Skill Successor and ended, revealing again for Drago.
Johnson attacked Grepher with Street Patrol at 2000 ATK, and McCabe boosted his Grepher to 2100 ATK with Skill Successor! Stygian Street Patrol went down!
McCabe drew and Summoned Spined Gillman and Johnson gave the handshake!
Sean McCabe takes a 2-0 victory over Desmond Johnson, plowing ahead to the Top 8!
“This was the worst Card Advance ever!” laughed Johnson. “I activated it and saw nothing but Spell and Trap Cards!”
He flipped over his top five cards, showing nothing but five non-monsters. It was then pointed out to him that he’d activated the Card Advance two turns previously, and had in fact seen seven consecutive non-monsters, and was thus even more unfortunate than he’d even understood. Johnson laughed again and gave McCabe another genuine handshake. “Worst Card Advance ever!”
