We’re pulling Table 7 for this Round’s Feature Match, featuring 2 Duelists who are no strangers to the Feature Match table.  On one side is Calvin Tahan, piloting Phantom Knight / Burning Abyss, a solid pick for large tournaments requiring consistency across many matches.  His opponent is Paul Cooper, bringing to the table a Herald of Perfection Deck packing the new Cyber Angel Benten from Dragons of Legends – Unleashed – but also Fluffals combined with the Continuous Spell Card Toy Vendor to continually recharge his hand and keep the stream of negation going with Herald of Perfection.  Will Cooper be able to establish a Herald and lock Tahan out of the game?  Let’s find out!  It’s time to Duel!

Duel One

Tahan won the roll and elected to go first.

Tahan Special Summoned Speedroid Terrortop from his hand, adding Speedroid Taketomborg from his Deck to his hand.  He then Special Summoned Speedroid Taketomborg and combined them to Xyz Summon Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss!  He detached Speedroid Terrortop and sent the top 3 cards of his Deck to the Graveyard: Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade, The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots, and Allure of Darkness!  He banished Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade to Special Summon The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots, and then followed up with another The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots from hand, and used those monsters to Summon another Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss!  He sent another 3 cards to the Graveyard for Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss, then Tahan discarded Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to Xyz Summon Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal on top of the second Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss.  He Set 2 cards to the back row and passed.

Cooper opened up with Terraforming for Ritual Sanctuary!  Tahan paused to read it and seemed impressed by it.  Tahan then activated Pre-Preparation of Rites, adding Herald of Perfection and Dawn of the Herald to his hand.  He then activated Pot of Desires!  He banished the top 10 cards to draw 2 cards.  During the resolution, Cooper accidently placed the 11^th card in the banished pile.  This was a Procedural Error – Minor infraction, which resulted in a Warning for Cooper.  The game state was repaired and Cooper drew the proper 2 cards.  He then activated Ritual Sanctuary, discarding Toy Vendor to add Cyber Angel Benten from his Deck to his hand.  Because Toy Vendor was sent to the Graveyard, Cooper added Fluffal Bear from his Deck to his hand.  He then discarded Bear to Set Toy Vendor from the Deck.  He then activated Dawn of the Herald, Tributing Benten from the hand to Special Summon Herald of Perfection.  Both Benten and Dawn of the Herald activated, adding back the Benten and adding Star Seraph Sovereignty from his Deck to his hand.  Cooper then Normal Summoned Star Seraph Scepter, and attempted to activate its effect and also chained Star Seraph Sovereignty in his hand. Tahan chained Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade targeting Star Seraph Scepter, Cooper pitched Fluffal Wings to negate it with Herald’s effect, and Tahan negated Herald with his Set Solemn Strike!

The Chain resolved, Special Summoning Star Seraph Sovereignty and drawing a card.  He then used Wings’s effect, banishing Wings and Bear from the Graveyard to draw a card, then sent Toy Vendor to the Graveyard to draw another card.  Cooper kept going by using the effect of Ritual Sanctuary to shuffle back all of his in-Graveyard Spells to Special Summon Herald of Perfection from the Graveyard!  In the End Phase, Tahan attempted to use Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal but Cooper negated it by pitching Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands from his hand to negate the effect and destroy Beatrice with his Herald.  Tahan then activated the detached Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss as Chain Link 1 and Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal’s effect as Chain Link 2, which Cooper allowed to resolve.  Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss brought Libic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss back to his hand and Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss was Special Summoned.

Tahan drew for turn, giving him 3 cards in hand against Cooper’s 5 cards in hand.  He activated Dante Pilgrim, discarding Libic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss.  Cooper allowed it to resolve.  Libic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss activated but Cooper negated it with Herald, pitching Benten.  Tahan then activated Reinforcement of the Army which Cooper negated with Herald by discarding Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands.  Cooper then banished The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves to send The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak to the Graveyard and The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak was banished to add The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots from the Deck to his hand.  Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss was switched into Attack Position.  He moved into the Battle Phase and Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss attacked and destroyed Star Seraph Sovereignty.  He Set one cards to his back row and passed.

Cooper drew Upstart Goblin, adding to his hand of Ritual Sanctuary, Pot of Desires and Dawn of the Herald.  He activated Upstart Goblin and Tahan chained Pilgrim, discarding Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to draw a card.  Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss activated and banished Star Seraph Scepter.  Cooper pressed on by activating Pot of Desires!  He banished another 10 cards to draw 2 more cards: the third Pot of Desires and Terraforming.  Cooper now had 5 cards in hand but none of them Fairy monsters!  He activated Ritual Sanctuary’s effect, discarding Terraforming to add a Herald of Perfection from Deck to hand, leaving just 2 cards left in his Deck!  In the End Phase, he activated an in-Graveyard Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade effect to Special Summon The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots, which Cooper let resolve.

Tahan drew for turn but Cooper scooped up his cards, unable to find what he needed with the second Pot of Desires.

Duel Two

Cooper elected to go first and started with a hand of Cyber Angel Benten, Terraforming, 2 copies of Ritual Sanctuary, and Upstart Goblin.  He activated Terraforming to search for the third Ritual Sanctuary, then activated Upstart Goblin, which got him Pre-Preparation of Rites, which he used to add Dawn of the Herald and Herald of Perfection from his Deck to his hand.  He then activated Dawn, Tributing Benten and Ritual Summoning Herald of Perfection!  He then used Dawn and Benten’s effects, Dawn banishing itself to add back Benten and Cyber Angel Benten’s effect allowing Cooper to add Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands from his Deck to his hand.  He then Normal Summoned Manju and used its effect to get another Herald.  He then activated one Ritual Sanctuary, pitched a second one to add Dawn from his Deck to his hand with the effect of Ritual Sanctuary, and then immediately activated the Dawn to Summon the second Herald, Tributing Benten and doing the combo again.  This time, Benten added Star Seraph Scepter from his Deck to his hand.

Tahan Special Summoned Speedroid Terrortop and Cooper prematurely pitched Benten to negate it before Tahan announced an effect activation.  Benten was returned to the hand and Tahan elected not to use Speedroid Terrortop’s effect.  He Normal Summoned a second Speedroid Terrortop and used both monsters to Xyz Summon Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss and immediately followed up with a Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal,  which attacked into Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands for 900 points of damage.  In Main Phase 2, Tahan Tributed one of Cooper’s Heralds for Gameciel, the Sea Turtle Kaiju!  He then Set 2 cards to the back row and passed.

Cooper started off his turn with another Pre-Preparation of Rites, adding Herald of Perfection and Dawn of the Herald to his hand.  He then used the on-field Ritual Sanctuary, pitching the third to add another copy of Benten to his hand.  He then activated Dawn, and Tahan chained Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal, detaching a Speedroid Terrortop to send Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to the Graveyard.  The chain resolved, and Herald was Special Summoned.  Cooper’s Benten and Dawn activated, then Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss banished an on-field Herald.  Cooper then Normal Summoned Star Seraph Scepter, activated its effect, and activated the effect of Star Seraph Sovereignty as Chain Link 2, to which Tahan chained Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade on Star Seraph Sovereignty. Cooper chained Herald’s effect, discarding Benten, and Tahan chained Solemn Strike to negate Herald and destroy it.  He then used the second effect of Ritual Sanctuary, returning 4 Spells in his Graveyard back to the Deck to Special Summon the Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands in his Graveyard.  He then used Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, Star Seraph Scepter, and Star Seraph Sovereignty to Xyz Summon Evilswarm Ouroboros.  Star Seraph Sovereignty’s effect allowed Ouroboros to destroy Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade and draw Cooper a card.  He then used Ouroboros’s effect to detach an Xyz Material to bounce Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal back to the Extra Deck.  Cooper attacked with Ouroboros and Gameciel, the Sea Turtle Kaiju to bring Tahan down to 2450 LP.  In the End Phase, Herald came back to the field.

Tahan Special Summoned Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss and attempted to Special Summon Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss but Cooper negated it by discarding Benten.  Tahan pressed on by Normal Summoning Tour Guide From the Underworld, Special Summoning Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss.  Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss’s effect Special Summoned the other Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss from the Graveyard.  He then attacked with the weaker Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss into Gameciel, the Sea Turtle Kaiju to send Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss to the Graveyard and add back Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from the Graveyard.  He then attacked over Gameciel, the Sea Turtle Kaiju with the other Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss.  In Main Phase 2, he sent Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to the Graveyard to Special Summon Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal.

Cooper activated Terraforming to add Ritual Sanctuary from his Deck to his hand, then used the on-field Sanctuary, sending Toy Vendor to the Graveyard to add Benten to his hand, then using Toy Vendor to add Fluffal Bear to his hand.  He then used Ouroboros’s effect, detaching one Xyz Material to banish a Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade from the Graveyard.  He then Normal Summoned Star Seraph Scepter, used its effect to add Star Seraph Sovereignty to his hand.  At this point, time in the round was called.  The match would end in 5 turns.  Cooper passed with a field of Ritual Sanctuary, Ouroboros, Star Seraph Scepter and Herald and a hand of 5 cards, 3 of them Fairies.  In the End Phase, Tahan activated Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal which Cooper allowed, sending The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak to the Graveyard.

Tahan drew for turn, confirmed that there were zero cards in Cooper’s graveyard and confirmed Life Points at Cooper’s 7100 to Tahan’s 1250.  In the Battle Phase, Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal attacked into Ouroboros, dealing another 250 damage to Tahan, sending him down to 1000 Life Points.  He constructed the Chain Links so only Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss could be negated, allowing Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal’s effect to resolve, Special Summoning Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss from the Extra Deck.  Pilgrim attacked into Star Seraph Scepter.  In Main Phase 2, Tahan attempted to use The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak in his Graveyard, but Cooper negated by pitching a Benten.  Tahan then Special Summoned Alich, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from hand and Normal Summoned Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss.  He used both Burning Abyss monsters to Xyz Summon Number 20: Giga-Brilliant, then Xyz Summoned Digital Bug Corebage on top of it.  He attempted to use the effect but Cooper negated and destroyed it by discarding Star Seraph Scepter.

Cooper activated Pot of Desires, banishing 10 cards to draw 2.  He then used Ritual Sanctuary to return a Spell Card back to the Deck to Special Summon Fluffal Wings from the Graveyard.

Tahan attacked Evilswarm Ouroboros with Dante Pilgrim and passed.

Cooper drew to 5 cards in hand, all Spells.  He passed.

Tahan drew for turn, and had Pilgrim attack Fluffal Wings, and end of Match procedure forced the match to end.  With more Life Points than Tahan, Cooper won the second game, and with Tahan winning the first game, the Match ended in a draw.

Both Duelists move on technically undefeated, but with a record of 5-0-1.