Round 5 Feature Match: Timothy Jackson versus Tein Pham
Both of these competitors are undefeated in today’s tournament, and Timothy Jackson is playing a classic: Evilswarm. He has to plow through Pham’s Nekroz Deck, but the matchup is anyone’s game. Will Evilswarm Ophion be enough to stop the onslaught of todays competitive metagame, or is it too far in the past? We’re about to find out! Jackson won the die roll and decided to go second.
Pham started out with Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands searching Nekroz Kaleidoscope, which he then used to Ritual Summon Nekroz of Unicore using Herald of Arc Light. That added Nekroz of Brionac to his hand, which got him a Nekroz of Clausolas. He Xyz Summoned Lavalval Chain and used it to send Djinn Releaser of Rituals to his grave. Next, he used Nekroz of Clausolas to grab Nekroz Cycle, which he then used to Ritual Summon back the Nekroz of Clausolas using the Djinn he sent to the grave. He Set one backrow and ended his turn.
Jackson opened Solemn Warning, Eradicator Epidemic Virus, Macro Cosmos, Infestation Pandemic, Reinforcement of the Army, and Evilswarm Mandragora. He used Reinforcement of the Army to add a Evilswarm Castor to his hand. He Set all his Spell and Traps and ended his turn.
Pham used Lavalval Chain, and Jackson responded with Macro Cosmos. Pham stacked a Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands. He attacked with Lavalval Chain directly for 1800. He then passed.
Jackson drew Mirror Force. He Normal Summoned Evilswarm Castor, used an extra Normal Summon to put Evilswarm Mandragora on board, and then Set Mirror Force before ending his turn.
Pham used Raigeki, but Jackson responded with Infestation Pandemic. Pham attacked with Lavalval Chain but ran into Mirror Force. He Set one Spell or Trap and passed.
Jackson drew Evilswarm Thunderbird. He Normal Summoned it and ended his turn.
Pham passed.
Jackson drew Infestation Pandemic. He Set it and ended his turn.
Pham Normal Summoned Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands and added Nekroz of Brionac to his hand. He ended with no further plays.
Jackson drew Evilswarm Kerykeion. Evilswarm Castor attacked Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, but Pham had the Nekroz of Valkyrus to stop it. Jackson ended.
Pham Normal Summoned Senju of the Thousand Hands and added Nekroz of Trishula to his hand. He Xyz Summoned Number 101: Silent Honor ARK, which attacked over Castor in the Battle Phase.
Jackson drew Evilswarm Castor. He switched his monsters to Defense Position and ended his turn.
Pham attacked over Mandragora with Number 101: Silent Honor ARK.
Jackson drew Ring of Destruction. He Set it and ended his turn.
Pham attacked Evilswarm Thunderbird with Number 101: Silent Honor ARK, and Jackson used Ring of Destruction to destroy his opponent’s Nekroz of Clausolas. Both players took 1200 damage, and the Lavalval Chain continued the attack into Evilswarm Thunderbird. Pham passed.
Jackson drew Evilswarm Heliotrope. He Normal Summoned Evilswarm Castor to Normal Summon the Heliotrope, and then he Xyz Summoned Evilswarm Ophion. He used its effect, but was met with a Breakthrough Skill! It didn’t matter, though, because Jackson had the Infestation Pandemic face-down to protect his Ophion. He added Infestation Infection. Evilswarm Ophion attacked Number 101: Silent Honor ARK, and Pham detached a material to keep it around. Jackson Set Infestation Infection and ended his turn.
Pham used Book of Eclipse, and Jackson chained Eradicator Epidemic Virus, tributing the Evilswarm Ophion to hit a Nekroz Mirror and Reinforcement of the Army out of Pham’s hand! Phan Flip Summoned his Number 101: Silent Honor ARK and attacked for 2100 to drop Jackson to 2550 Life Points. Pham used Nekroz of Brionac in Main Phase 2 to add Nekroz of Clausolas to his hand. He passed.
Jackson drew Forbidden Chalice. In the Standby Phase he used Infestation Infection to return the Kerykeion and add Evilswarm Thunderbird to his hand. He Normal Summoned Evilswarm Thunderbird, Set Forbidden Chalice, and passed.
Pham attacked with Number 101: Silent Honor ARK and Jackson chained Forbidden Chalice targeting Number 101: Silent Honor ARK, and then chained Evilswarm Thunderbird.
Jackson drew Evilswarm Kerykeion. The Thunderbird came back, and Jackson used Infestation Infection to shuffle back Kerykeion to add Evilswarm Heliotrope to his hand. He Normal Summoned it and Xyz Summoned Evilswarm Ophion. It attacked Number 101: Silent Honor ARK, which once again saved itself but detaching its last material.
Pham drew and discarded Dark Hole duel to Eradicator Epidemic Virus. He switched Number 101 to Defense Position and passed.
Jackson drew Mirror Force, Set it, and ended his turn.
Pham discarded a Nekroz of Unicore to add back a Nekroz of Brionac to his hand. He then used Breakthrough Skill on Evilswarm Ophion, followed by a Nekroz Mirror to Ritual Summon Nekroz of Trishula. He attacked but ran into Mirror Force.
Jackson drew Fiendish Chain, attacked over Number 101, and Set Fiendish Chain before ending.
Pham Set one backrow and passed.
Jackson drew Fiendish Chain. Ophion hit directly and he passed.
Pham ended his turn.
Jackson drew Reinforcement of the Army. He used it to grab an Evilswarm Castor from his Deck to his hand. Pham conceded and dove into his Side Deck for Game 2! Siding was a quick process and Game 3 begun shortly afterwards. Pham decided to go first in the second game.
Pham Normal Summoned Senju of the Thousand Hands to add Nekroz of Clausolas to add Nekroz Kaleidoscope. He used it to send Herald of Arc Light to the grave and Ritual Summon Nekroz of Unicore and search Nekroz of Brionac. He made Lavalval Chain and sent Djinn Releaser of Rituals to the Graveyard. Next, he activated Nekroz Cycle, but Jackson used Artifact Lancea! That forced him to reveal his hand of Nekroz of Brionac and two Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands. He then used Nekroz of Brionac to search Nekroz of Unicore and end his turn.
Jackson opened with two Mirror Force, Fiendish Chain, Mystical Space Typhoon, and Evilswarm Kerykeion. He Normal Summoned the Kerykeion and Set his whole hand.
Pham used Lavalval Chain but it was stopped by Fiendish Chain. Then he Normal Summoned Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands to search out Nekroz Kaleidoscope. He used it to pitch Herald of Arc Light and Ritual Summon Nekroz of Unicore. The Arc Light added Nekroz Cycle to his hand. He attacked Kerykeion but got his whole field wiped by Mirror Force. In Main Phase 2 he used Nekroz Mirror and Nekroz Cycle to add two Nekroz Mirror to his hand. Then he used Nekroz Cycle to Ritual Summon Nekroz of Clausolas using the Djinn in his Graveyard. He Set two backrow and ended.
Jackson drew Raigeki, used it to destroy the Nekroz of Clausolas, and attacked directly with Kerykeion.
Pham Normal Summoned Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands to add Nekroz of Unicore to his hand. He Set one and passed, it was a Book of Eclipse which was hit with Mystical Space Typhoon in the End Phase.
Jackson drew Infestation Pandemic. He attacked over Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, Set the Pandemic and ended his turn.
Pham discarded Nekroz of Unicore to add Nekroz of Brionac back to his hand and then he discarded the Nekroz of Brionac to add Nekroz of Decisive Armor. Then he used Nekroz Mirror banishing Nekroz of Unicore and Nekroz of Brionac to Ritual Summon the Decisive Armor. It used its effect to destroy an Infestation Pandemic, and then he Set one backrow and ended his turn.
Jackson drew Evilswarm Castor. He Normal Summoned it and Xyz Summoned Evilswarm Ophion but was met with Breakthrough Skill. Jackson passed.
Pham used Decisive Armor to destroy Jackson’s Set Mirror Force. Then he attacked over Evilswarm Ophion.
Jackson drew Infestation Pandemic and ended his turn.
Pham attacked directly for 3300 damage.
Jackson drew Mistake. He ended his turn.
Pham attacked directly for 3300, Set a backrow, and ended.
Jackson drew Effect Veiler and conceded to go to Game 3.
Jackson had Pham go first. He started out by using Nekroz Kaleidoscope to Ritual Summon Nekroz of Unicore ditching Herald of Arc Light. That got him a Nekroz of Brionac which was discarded to add a Nekroz of Valkyrus. He then Normal Summoned Denko Sekka and ended his turn.
Jackson started off with a Rescue Rabbit, which he banished to Special Summon two Evilswarm Heliotrope from his Deck. He attempted to attack over Denko Sekka but was stopped by Nekroz of Valkyrus. In Main Phase 2, he Xyz Summoned Evilswarm Ophion. He used Book of Moon to turn Nekroz of Unicore face-down and then used Ophion to add an Infestation Pandemic to his hand from his Deck. Next, he used Allure of Darkness to draw 2 cards and banish an Evilswarm Heliotrope from his hand. Then he ended his turn.
Pham Flip Summoned the Nekroz of Unicore, and Jackson used Effect Veiler to negate the Nekroz of Unicore. Pham Normal Summoned Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz. He Xyz Summoned Number 101: Silent Honor ARK and stole the Ophion. Denko and Number 101 attacked directly, putting Jackson to 4200.
Jackson drew Reinforcement of the Army. He used it to add an Evilswarm Castor to his hand. Next, he Normal Summoned the Castor to Normal Summon the Evilswarm Thunderbird in his hand, and the Xyz Summoned Evilswarm Ophion. He used Ophion to add an Infestation Infection from his Deck to his hand. He attacked over Denko Sekka, dropping Pham to 7100. Both duelists were in second turn of time. Jackson Set his entire hand and ended his turn with four backrow and an Evilswarm Ophion.
Pham Set two Spell or Traps and ended his turn.
Jackson drew Fiendish Chain. This was his last turn and he had to do 3400 damage, and when he realized that he had no further plays he extended the handshake!