Top 8 Feature Match: Kritin Deo versus Steven De Lara
Local Duelist Kritin Deo and California’s Steve De Lara are 2 Duelists who made it to the Top 16 with their Nekroz Decks. Each of them is fresh off a Top 16 win with their Battle Pack 3: Monster League draft Decks and now they’re Dueling against one another to determine who will advance to the Top 4. It’s time to Duel!
Duel One
De Lara won the die roll and chose to go second. Deo opened up with Victory Viper XX03, Noble Arms – Caliburn, Meklord Army of Granel, Bashing Shield, and Shreddder. He passed his turn without making a play.
De Lara Summoned Berserk Gorilla and attacked directly, dropping Deo down to 6000 Life Points. He Set 4 cards to his back row before passing.
Deo drew Gyroid and then Summoned Shreddder. He activated its effect by discarding Victory Viper XX03 and destroyed Berserk Gorilla. He tried to attack with Shreddder, but De Lara flipped Shadow Spell to stop it from attacking and reduce its ATK by 700.
De Lara Summoned Cyber Phoenix and attacked Shreddder to destroy it.
Deo drew Psychic Sword and then Set Gyroid.
De Lara Summoned Defender, the Magical Knight and put a Spell Counter on it. He attacked Deo’s face-down Gyroid with Defender, and Gyroid’s effect protected it; but then Cyber Phoenix attacked and destroyed Gyroid.
Deo Summoned Meklord Army of Granel and activated its effect to halve the ATK of Defender. He attacked Defender with Meklord Army of Granel and De Lara flipped Bark of Dark Ruler and paid 1600 Life Points to reduce Granel’s ATK to 0 and win the battle. Deo Set a card to his back row before passing.
De Lara Summoned Chain Dog! He attacked directly with Cyber Phoenix and then attacked directly with Chain Dog and Defender, the Magical Knight, dropping Deo down to 500 Life Points.
Deo drew a card and then conceded, unable to take down De Lara’s field.
Steven De Lara dominates Duel 1! Kritin Deo chose to go second in Duel 2!
Duel Two
De Lara started off Duel 2 by Summoning 2 Berserk Gorilla and Setting 2 cards to his back row.
Deo opened up with Slate Warrior, Card Trooper, Leotaur, Psychic Sword, and Electromagnetic Bagworm, and Reptilianne Rage. He Summoned Card Trooper and activated its effect by sending the top 3 cards of his Deck to his Graveyard. Next, he activated Reptilianne Rage to increase his Card Trooper’s ATK by 800. He attacked Berserk Gorilla with his Card Trooper, threatening to destroy it in battle, and De Lara activated Offerings to the Doomed to destroy Card Trooper. Berserk Gorilla lost 800 Attack Points when Reptilianne Rage went to the Graveyard. Deo Set Psychic Sword to his back row before passing his turn.
De Lara skipped his Draw Phase and then Summoned Card Guard. He transferred Card Guard’s Guard Counter to Berserk Gorilla and then attacked directly with Berserk Gorilla and Card Guard.
Deo Summoned Evilswarm Thunderbird and attacked Card Guard to destroy it. He activated Psychic Sword in Main Phase 2, increasing his Thunderbird’s ATK by 2000.
De Lara Summoned Meklord Army of Granel and halved the ATK of Thunderbird with its effect. Next, he combined Granel with Berserk Gorilla to Xyz Summon Heroic Champion – Gandiva. He attacked Evilswarm Thunderbird to destroy it and then Set a card to his back row.
Deo Set a monster and then passed his turn.
De Lara attacked Deo’s face-down Electromagnetic Bagworm with Gandiva to destroy it. Gandiva lost 500 ATK and Deo gained control of it until his End Phase thanks to his Bagworm’s effect. De Lara Summoned Madolche Baaple next, and activated its effect to try to switch it, along with Gandiva, into Defense Position; but Deo discarded Time Escaper from his hand to banish Gandiva until Deo’s next Standby Phase.
Deo drew a card and then returned Gandiva to his field in Attack Position. He Summoned Slate Warrior next and then attacked Baaple with Slate Warrior, destroying Baaple and causing De Lara to shuffle Baaple back into his Deck. Next, Gandiva attacked directly, dropping De Lara down to 3950 Life Points. Deo Set a card to his back row before ending his turn. Deo returned control of Gandiva to De Lara during his End Phase.
De Lara Summoned Battlestorm and then attacked Slate Warrior with Gandiva to destroy it. Slate Warrior’s effect lowered the ATK and DEF of Gandiva by 500. Battlestorm attacked directly next, dropping Deo down to 2825 Life Points.
Deo Summoned Jain, Lightsworn Paladin and then attacked Battlestorm; but De Lara flipped Butterflyoke to switch Jain into Defense Position. Deo sent the top 2 cards of his Deck to his Graveyard in his End Phase with Jain’s effect.
De Lara attacked Jain with Gandiva to destroy it and attacked directly with Battlestorm, dropping Deo down to 925. De Lara Tributed Gandiva to Set a monster in Main Phase 2.
Deo Summoned Mist Valley Falcon and attacked Battlestorm by returning his back row card to his hand. Battlestorm was destroyed in battle.
De Lara Set a card to his back row and passed.
Deo Summoned Freya, Spirit of Victory and passed.
De Lara Set another card to his back row and passed.
Deo drew Bashing Shield and then Summoned Ancient Gear Knight. He activated Bashing Shield next, increasing his Knight’s ATK to 3200. He attacked De Lara’s face-down monster with Ancient Gear Knight and De Lara activated Shadow Spell to stop the attack and reduce the ATK of Ancient Gear Knight by 700.
De Lara Flip Summoned Stegocyber and then attacked Ancient Gear Knight with his Stegocyber. De Lara activated Metalmorph to increase the ATK of his Stegocyber, destroying Ancient Gear Knight in battle and dropping Deo down to 675.
Deo attacked Stegocyber with Mist Valley Falcon by returning his face-down Dragon’s Gunfire to his hand; but De Lara flipped Super Rush Recklessly to destroy his own Stegocyber and shuffle Mist Valley Falcon back into Deo’s Deck. Deo banished Electromagnetic Bagworm from his Graveyard to Special Summon Aztekipede, the Worm Warrior.
De Lara drew a card and passed.
Deo activated Noble Arms – Caliburn, equipping it to Aztekipede. He gained 500 Life Points and then attacked with Aztekipede. De Lara gave up 1000 Life Points to Special Summon Stegocyber from his Graveyard in Defense Position with his Stegocyber’s effect.
De Lara activated Murmur of the Forest to put Aztekipede face-down and then Summoned Victory Viper XX03! He attacked Freya with Victory Viper XX03, destroying it in battle and Special Summoning an Option Token to the field. He attacked Deo’s face-down Aztekipede with his Option Token to destroy it and then attacked directly with Stegocyber to win the Duel and the Match!
A big play with Stegocyber and Victory Viper XX03 allows De Lara to win Duel 2 and advance to the Top 4!