Patrick Hoban from Atlanta, Georgia won the North American WCQ in 2013 and has since then won 2 Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series events featuring Battle Pack 3: Monster League drafts in the Top 16. Consequently, he’s no stranger to Battle Pack 3: Monster League drafts. Now, he’s Dueling against rising star Jonathon Gomez from Southern California in a Final Match that will determine who becomes the champion of YCS Charleston. Will Hoban’s experience drafting Battle Pack 3: Monster League give him the edge? We’re about to find out. It’s time to Duel!

Duel One

 

Hoban won the die roll and chose to allow Gomez to go first. Gomez took a redraw and Hoban did the same, each drawing a new hand after sending their hands to the bottom of their Decks. Gomez’s new hand contained Bazoo the Soul-Eater, Meklord Army of Granel, Blizzard Dragon, Rhinotaurus, and Quantum Cat. He Summoned Rhinotaurus, Set Quantum Cat, and then ended his turn.

 

 

Hoban Summoned Chow Len the Prophecy and activated its effect declaring Trap; but Gomez Chained Quantum Cat to Special Summon a monster to the field! Hoban attacked Rhinotaurus with Chow Len and discarded Caster Craftsman Gamil to increase his monster’s ATK and win the battle, destroying Rhinotaurus. Hoban Set a card to his back row and then ended his turn.

 

Gomez drew Magical Arm Shield and then Summoned Meklord Army of Granel. He activated its effect to halve the ATK of Chow Len and then Granel attacked Chow Len; but Hoban discarded Time Escaper from his hand to banish Chow Len until his Standby Phase. Granel attacked directly instead.

 

Hoban drew a card and then returned Chow Len to his field in his Standby Phase. He Summoned Arsenal Bug and then attacked Granel with Chow Len to destroy it.

 

Gomez drew Machine King Prototype and then Summoned it to the field. He attacked Chow Len with his Prototype, and Hoban flipped Curse of Anubis to switch all monsters into Attack Position.

 

Hoban Summoned Freya, Spirit of Victory next turn and switched his other monsters into Attack Position. Arsenal Bug attacked and destroyed Quantum Cat, and then Chow Len attacked and destroyed Machine King Prototype. Freya attacked directly next, and Hoban passed his turn.

 

Gomez Summoned Bazoo the Soul Eater and then banished 3 monsters from his Graveyard to increase Bazoo’s ATK to 2500. He attacked and destroyed Chow Len, and then Set Magical Arm Shield and Bark of Dark Ruler in Main Phase 2.

 

Hoban Set 2 cards to his back row and then passed his turn.

 

Gomez Set a card to his back row and passed.

 

Hoban Summoned Shreddder and then attacked Bazoo with Arsenal Bug. Gomez flipped Magical Arm Shield! He used Hoban’s own Freya to intercept the attack. Aresenal Bug attacked and destroyed Freya, and Gomez lost 1500 Life Points. Hoban attacked Bazoo with Shredder, destroying both monsters.

 

Gomez Summoned Blizzard Dragon next turn and activated his Dragon’s effect to freeze Arsenal Bug in place. Next, he attacked the Arsenal Bug with his Dragon and Hoban flipped Swamp Mirrorer. With Arsenal Bug’s ATK increased, Gomez ended his turn.

 

Hoban Summoned Leotaur and then attacked Blizzard Dragon with Leotaur. Gomez flipped Butterflyoke to switch Leotaur into Defense Position. Swamp Mirrorer attacked next, and Gomez flipped Back of Dark Ruler and paid 1000 Life Points to weaken the Mirrorer’s ATK by 1000. Blizzard Dragon took down the Mirrorer in battle, and Hoban lost 1000 Life Points.

 

Gomez drew Silent Psychic Wizard next turn. He activated his Dragon’s effect to lock Arsenal Bug into place and then Summoned Silent Psychic Wizard to the field. He activated his Wizard’s effect by banishing Bazoo from his Graveyard and then attacked Leotaur with Blizzard Dragon to destroy it. Silent Psychic Wizard attacked over Arsenal Bug next, costing Hoban 900 Life Points.

 

Hoban activated Call of the Atlanteans to Special Summon Arsenal Bug (in Attack Position), Freya (in Attack Position), and Time Escaper (in Defense Position) from his Graveyard. Arsenal Bug attacked Blizzard Dragon, and Gomez flipped Butterflyoke to switch the Bug into Defense Position. Hoban Set a card to his back row before ending his turn.

 

Gomez drew Uminotaurus next turn. He attacked Time Escaper with his Wizard to destroy it and then used Blizzard Dragon’s effect to freeze Arsenal Bug into place again.

 

Hoban Set a card to his back row and passed.

 

Gomez drew Swords of Concealing Light and activated it to put Hoban’s monsters face-down! He Summoned Uminotaurus next, giving his monsters piercing. He attacked with his Wizard, but Hoban activated Curse of Anubis to switch Gomez’s monsters into Defense Position.

 

Hoban drew a card and passed his turn, unable to change the position of his monsters.

 

Gomez switched all of his monsters into Attack Position and then attacked Hoban’s face-down Freya with Uminotaurus. Hoban activated another copy of Curse of Anubis to switch Gomez’s monsters into Defense Position. Gomez Set No Entry!! before passing his turn.

 

Hoban Summoned Slate Warrior and then passed his turn.

 

Gomez drew Curse of Anubis and then switched all of his monsters into Attack Position once again. Uminotaurus attacked Hoban’s face-down Freya, destroying it and dealing 1200 points of damage to Hoban. Blizzard Dragon attacked the face-down Arsenal Bug next, and Gomez lost 200 Life Points. Next, Silent Psychic Wizard attacked Hoban’s Slate Warrior. Hoban discarded Time Escaper from his hand to banish his Slate Warrior until the End Phase and then the Wizard attacked and destroyed Arsenal Bug instead. Gomez Set Curse of Anubis before passing his turn.

 

Hoban attacked Uminotaurus with Slate Warrior, destroying it in battle. Hoban Set a monster and then passed.

 

Gomez Summoned Jurrac Protops and then attacked Slate Warrior with his Wizard, destroying both monsters. Gomez Special Summoned Bazoo from his Banished Zone, and then attacked with Bazoo, prompting Hoban to concede.

 

 

Jonathon Gomez wins the first Duel thanks to a critical Swords of Concealing Light!

 

Duel Two

 

Hoban chose for Gomez to go first in Duel 2. Gomez opened up with Meklord Army of Granel, Quantum Cat, Silent Psychic Wizard, Curse of Anubis, and Call of the Haunted. Gomez Set his 3 Traps to his back row and passed.

 

Hoban Summoned Goblin Elite Attack Force and attacked directly with it; but Gomez flipped Quantum Cat to Summon a monster with 2200 DEF. Hoban called off the attack and Goblin Elite Attack Force stayed in Attack Position. Hoban Set 3 cards to his back row and then ended his turn.

 

 

Gomez Summoned Meklord Army of Granel and activated its effect to halve the ATK of the Elite Attack Force. He attacked the Elite Attack Force next, destroying it in battle and dealing 500 points of damage to Hoban. Gomez Set Butterspy Protection before passing.

 

Hoban activated Noble Knight – Arfeudutyr, equipping it to Granel, and then gave up 500 of Granel’s Attack Points to destroy Gomez’s face-down Call of the Haunted.

 

Gomez drew another Meklord Army of Granel next turn and Summoned it. He attacked directly with his weaker Meklord monster, inflicting 1200 points of damage to Hoban, and then attacked with his second Meklord monster; but Hoban flipped Swamp Mirrorer to Summon an 1800 ATK monster to block the attack. Gomez flipped Butterspy Protection to switch the Mirrorer to Defense Position and then Granel continued its attack to destroy the Mirrorer in battle.

 

Hoban activated the effect of his Arfeudutyr to destroy Gomez’s face-down Curse of Anubis and weaken Granel once again. Next, he Set a monster and passed his turn.

 

Gomez drew Uminotaurus and Summoned it. He attacked Hoban’s face-down monster with Uminotaurus and Hoban activated Magical Arm Shield to intercept the attack with Gomez’s 1600 ATK Meklord. The Granel with 600 ATK attacked and destroyed Hoban’s face-down Exploder Dragon, and both monsters were destroyed as a result of the Dragon’s effect.

 

Hoban Summoned Arsenal Bug and then Set a card to his back row.

 

Gomez Summoned Silent Psychic Wizard and activated its effect to banish Granel from his Graveyard. He attacked Arsenal Bug with his Wizard and Hoban flipped Mirror Wall! The Wizard was destroyed, and Gomez Special Summoned Granel from his Banished Zone. Gomez Set a card to his back row before passing.

 

Hoban paid 2000 Life Points in his Standby Phase with Mirror Wall and then Set a card to his back row.

 

Gomez Set a card to his back row and passed.

 

Hoban opted not to pay another 2000 Life Points with Mirror Wall and sent his Trap Card to the Graveyard instead. He Set a card to his back row and then ended his turn.

 

Gomez drew Zero Gravity. He attacked Arsenal Bug with Granel and Hoban flipped No Entry!! to switch all Attack Position monsters into Defense Position. Gomez Set Zero Gravity before ending his turn.

 

Hoban Summoned Shreddder and then attacked Uminotaurus with Arsenal Bug; but Gomez flipped his own No Entry!! to switch Hoban’s monsters back into Defense Position!

 

Gomez switched his Uminotaurus and Granel back into Attack Position and then attacked Shreddder with Granel; but Hoban flipped Curse of Anubis, switching Gomez’s monsters to Defense Position. Gomez Set a card to his back row before passing.

 

Hoban Summoned The Immortal Bushi next turn. He switched Shreddder and Arsenal Bug into Attack Position before declaring an attack, and Gomez activated Windstorm of Etaqua to switch all of Hoban’s monsters back into Defense Position!

 

Gomez drew Magical Arm Shield and switched his Granel and Uminotaurus back into Attack Position. Granel attacked Shreddder to destroy it, dealing 600 points of damage to Hoban. Uminotaurus attacked The Immortal Bushi next, and Hoban flipped Hate Buster! Gomez lost his Uminotaurus and 1700 Life Points.

 

Hoban Summoned Freya and switched Arsenal Bug into Attack Position. Arsenal Bug attacked the Meklord and Gomez flipped Magical Arm Shield to intercept the attack with Hoban’s Freya! Hoban paid 1000 Life Points to activate Psychokinesis next, destroying Granel.

 

Gomez drew Lion Alligator and Summoned it. He attacked Arsenal Bug to destroy it.

 

Hoban Special Summoned The Immortal Bushi from his Graveyard in Attack Position during his Standby Phase and then passed his turn.

 

Gomez attacked The Immortal Bushi with Lion Alligator, destroying it and dropping Hoban down to 1000 Life Points.

 

Hoban Special Summoned The Immortal Bushi from his Graveyard in Attack Position during his next Standby Phase and then Set a card to his back row.

 

Gomez attacked The Immortal Bushi with his Lion Alligator, dropping Hoban down to 300 Life Points and once again destroying Hoban’s monster.

 

 

Hoban conceded on his next turn, unable to take down Gomez’s Lion Alligator!

 

Jonathon Gomez is the winner of YCS Charleston!