Top 4 Feature Match: Jesse Kotton Versus Gabriel Orosan-Weine
Yesterday morning 687 Duelists were in contention at the beginning of Day 1, here at YCS Toronto. Now the field has been winnowed away, and only four competitors remain. Jesse Kotton is a local Torontonian Duelist, while Gabriel Orosan-Weine hails from Ann Arbour Michigan. Both are piloting Burning Abyss this weekend. Weine won the roll and opted to play second.
Kotton revealed Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to Special Summon it, then Normal Summoned Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to overlay for Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss. He detached Graff to send The Traveler, Crush Card Virus, and Foolish Burial to his Graveyard. He Special Summoned Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss with Graff’s effect and Set two cards to his backrow.
Weine had Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss; Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss; Karma Cut; Solemn Warning; and two copies of Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss. He Special Summoned Cir, then Normal Summoned Graff. He overlaid for Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss, detaching Graff to yard The Traveler, Farfa, and Scarm. He Special Summoned Scarm from his Deck, then attacked Kotton’s Scarm with Dante, destroying the Scarm. Dante went to defense mode and Weine Set his remaining four cards to his back row.
When Weine wanted to move to his End Phase to claim his Scarm, Kotton flipped Karma Cut first, pitching Graff and banishing the on-field Scarm to get Weine’s Scarm out of the Graveyard before Weine could use its effect! Kotton Summoned his own Scarm with Graff, then searched Cir with his Scarm. Oof.
Kotton detached Farfa from Dante to yard Fiend Griefing, Scarm, and Effect Veiler from his Deck. He Farfa’d away Weine’s Dante, and moments later he was attacking Weine’s Graff with his Cir. Weine Special Summoned Scarm from his Deck in Defense Position. Kotton trampled it with Dante, then made a direct attack with Scarm. Kotton overlaid Scarm and Cir in Main Phase 2 to Xyz Summon another Dante, then Set a face-down to end. Kotton took a Graff with his Scarm, and Weine took a Cir.
Weine drew Rubic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, holding Cir with four face-downs in his Spell and Trap Card Zone. He had the one Dante on the field, with no Materials. He Summoned Cir and passed.
Kotton detached his Scarm from Dante, yarding Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, Cir, and Draghig, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to buff Dante. He turned it to attack mode, swung it at Weine’s Cir, and destroyed it for 900 damage. Weine used it to Special Summon back his Scarm, and Kotton Set a monster.
In Main Phase 2 Weine flipped Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss, giving up his two monsters to destroy Kotton’s two backrow cards and his Dante with a Material. He Chained one of them, Fiend Griefing, targeting Weine’s Dante, and lost his Breakthrough Skill and Dante. Fiend Griefing yarded his Absolute King Back Jack. Weine banished Kotton’s other Dante with Karma Cut, pitching Rubic, and in the End Phase both Duelists got Scarm searches: both took Tour Guide from the Underworld.
Weine drew Karma Cut and Summoned Tour Guide, Special Summoning Graff from his Deck. He overlaid for Dante, detached Graff, and yarded Back Jack, Foolish Burial, and Soul Charge. Graff got him Draghig in attack position, and he Set a third Spell or Trap Card, not attacking.
Kotton tried to Summon his Tour Guide, but Weine flipped Solemn Warning! Kotton Set a single card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.
Weine drew The Traveler and the Burning Abyss. He detached Tour Guide from Dante, sending Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his Deck to the Graveyard in the process, and banished Cir, Graff, and Fire Lake for Barbar’s effect. Kotton dropped to 7100 Life Points, with Weine sitting at 4300 LP but seemingly in control of the game. He turned his Dante and Draghig to defense mode.
Kotton passed.
Weine drew yet another Traveler! He Set it. Kotton activated his Back Jack and caught another Back Jack with its effect. He peeked at and restacked his top three cards.
Kotton got the card he’d just put on top of his Deck and passed.
Weine drew Mathematician and passed.
Kotton activated Back Jack’s effect to Set Raigeki Break from the top of his Deck, then passed.
Weine drew Skill Drain. He flipped Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss, sent away his Draghig and his Dante, and targeted Kotton’s two backrow cards. Kotton Chained Raigeki Break discarding Skill Drain, targeting Weine’s Set copy of The Traveler and the Burning Abyss. After some consideration he flipped it, bringing back his Draghig and his Dante. Fire Lake destroyed Kotton’s Set Solemn Warning when it resolved.
Kotton Set another backrow.
Weine drew Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, and Normal Summoned it to overlay with Draghig for another Dante. He detached Graff to yard Vanity’s Emptiness; Raigeki Break; and Fiend Griefing, then Special Summoned Cir with the Graff. He attacked with his unboosted Dante, destroying Kotton’s Set Back Jack that had spent so many turns on the field, and triggered its effect. Weine then attacked with Cir; Kotton Set Karma Cut with Back Jack; and he discarded Graff to banish Weine’s Cir from the Graveyard and one more from the Graveyard.
Kotton Special Summoned Cir with Graff, and Weine attacked it with his pumped up Dante. Then he flipped Karma Cut himself, discarding Skill Drain to banish it! Kotton lost another Cir from his Graveyard and Weine attacked on the replay, scoring 2500 Battle Damage. He overlaid both Dantes with Downerd Magicians in Main Phase 2. Weine had eight cards left in his Deck.
Kotton Set two more cards to his backrow.
Weine drew Raigeki Break and attacked with one of the Downerd Magicians; Kotton took it. He detached Dante to trigger its effect and got back Farfa from his Graveyard. He attacked with the second Downerd next, and Kotton pitched Cir to destroy the attacking Downerd with Raigeki Break. The second Dante effect got Weine his Barbar. The Traveler revived both of Weine’s Dantes, and in Main Phase 2 he overlaid one with his third Downerd. He Set Raigeki Break.
Kotton Summoned, and when Weine revealed the Raigeki Break Kotton had to concede. Twenty minutes remained in the Round.
The first Duel proves to be a genuine slobberknocker, and Gabriel Orosan-Weine emerges from the fray victorious! Kotton chose to play second in Game 2. Both competitors wished eachother luck.
Weine opened with Fiend Griefing; Raigeki Break; Karma Cut; Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss; and Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. He Special Summoned Farfa, Normal Summoned Cir, and overlaid for Dante, detaching Farfa to yard Cir; Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss; and Libic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. He revived Farfa in defense mode and Set two backrows.
Kotton Summoned Cir and Scarm, overlaid for Dante in Defense Position, and detached Scarm to yard Storming Mirror Force, Cir, and another Scarm. He Set four cards to his back row. Scarm got him Graff in his End Phase. Weine flipped Karma Cut, discarding Raigeki Break, and banished the Dante.
Weine detached Cir from Dante to yard Back Jack, Foolish Burial, and another copy of The Traveler. He used Back Jack’s effect to stack the top three cards of his Deck, then revived Libic with Cir to make another Dante. He attacked with it before detaching, and Kotton banished the Dante with Karma Cut! He discarded Graff for the Trap Card’s cost, and Special Summoned Scarm from his Deck. Weine moved to Main Phase 2 and Summoned Draghig, passing.
Kotton flipped Fiend Griefing, shuffling away Weine’s Back Jack and sending Cir to his Graveyard. Kotton used the Cir to revive Scarm, then overlaid for Dante. He detached Scarm, and sent Breakthrough Skill, Back Jack, and Tour Guide to the Graveyard, swapping around his top three cards with Back Jack’s effect. Next he sent his Dante to attack over Weine’s Draghig, destroying it. Weine placed The Traveler and the Burning Abyss on top of his Deck with Draghig’s effect. Kotton flipped his Dante to defense mode and searched Graff from his Deck with Scarm’s effect.
Weine drew and Set a card to his backrow, running low on cards. He had two Sets in his Spell and Trap Card Zone and one Dante, with no Materials, in Defense Position.
Kotton boosted his Dante with one card from his Deck, Set a monster, and Set another backrow.
Weine attacked with Dante, crashing it into Kotton’s Set Graff (which survived the attack). “Go ahead.”
Kotton Summoned Rubic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, and Tuned it to Graff to Synchro Summon Virgil, Rock Star of the Burning Abyss! He discarded Farfa to target one of Weine’s two backrows with Virgil’s effect, and Weine Chained the target: Fiend Griefing. He targeted Kotton’s Farfa to banish it, and sent Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his Deck to his Graveyard, Special Summoning a Scarm from his Deck. Kotton attacked the Scarm with Virgil, destroying it. Weine used its search effect in the End Phase to get Tour Guide from his Deck. He flipped The Traveler, still in the End Phase, and Kotton used Fiend Griefing to shuffle away Weine’s targeted Graff. Weine still got to revive his Scarm.
Weine drew another Scarm and Special Summoned Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. He overlaid it with Scarm for Dante, detached Scarm, and yarded another Scarm, Karma Cut, and a Back Jack from his Deck to rearrange his top three cards. Time was called. Weine Summoned Tour Guide to Special Summon Graff from his Deck, with 6100 Life Points to Kotton’s 8000. He attacked with Dante to destroy Virgil.
Turn 1 in time. Kotton attacked Tour Guide with his Dante, destroying both and getting his Cir back to his hand. He Set a monster, Set two more cards to his backrow, and ended.
Turn 2. Weine drew Flying “C” and Summoned Cir, overlaying with Graff for Number 47: Nightmare Shark. He detached Graff for its effect, Special Summoned Cir in defense mode with Graff’s ability, destroyed Cir, and brought back his Graff. When Weine attacked with Nightmare Shark he lost it to Raigeki Break, leaving Weine to overlay both of his Dantes with Downerd Magicians.
Turn 3. Kotton passed, and the second Duel was over in time! Kotton won on his higher Life Points, moving us to one more Duel.
At this point no Side Decking would be allowed. A new die roll would take place to determine who would go first, and four turns total would be played. At that point, the Duelist with the higher Life Points would be declared the winner. If after four turns the Life Points were tied, additional turns would be played one at a time under sudden death rules: Life Points would be checked at the end of every turn to determine a winner.
Kotton won the die roll and opted to go second. He shook Weine’s hand and we were off.
Weine had two Karma Cuts; Rubic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss; Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss; and Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. He Summoned Rubic, then Normal Summoned Graff to overlay for Dante. He detached Graff, yarding Raigeki Break, Scarm, and Draghig. Graff let him Special Summon Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his Deck, and he Summoned Cir from his hand to overlay with another Dante. That Dante yarded Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss, The Traveler and the Burning Abyss, and Cir, and he banished two to deal damage with Barbar. He Set both Karma Cuts to his back row.
Kotton Summoned Graff and Draghig, losing the Graff to Karma Cut as Weine pitched his own Graff. He Special Summoned Scarm from his Deck. Kotton Set three cards to his back row.
Weine drew Vanity’s Emptiness. He had 8000 LP to Kotton’s 7400. He detached Rubic to yard Fiend Griefing, Maxx “C”, and The Traveler, then detached Cir to yard Tour Guide, Farfa, and another copy of The Traveler. He sued Farfa to banish Kotton’s Draghig, then revived Barbar with Cir. Weine flipped everthing but one Dante to attack mode, attacking with Scarm first; Kotton flipped Karma Cut, pitching Absolute King Back Jack to banish Barbar. He rearranged his top three cards with Back Jack’s effect, then took the damage from Scarm. He activated his Back Jack effect, and it let him Set Storming Mirror Force! Weine attacked into it, and Kotton bounced away everything but Weine’s Defense Position Dante – which could be a blessing in combination with that Karma Cut; now he had his Barbar back in hand. Weine Set Vanity’s Emptiness, Kotton Summoned Draghig in defense mode, and we moved to the last turn. The moment Weine flipped Vanity’s Emptiness next turn, Kotton conceded the Match!
Gabriel Orosan-Weine is headed to the finals, where he’ll either face Nekroz, or a Burning Abyss mirror match!
