Welcome to Round 10! For this round, we’re looking at Michael State, from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and his Trickstar Deck. We saw Trickstars in two Feature Matches yesterday, with Kesavan Kushalnagar piloting them, but State’s Deck is quite different. He plays a lot more Trap Cards, as well as Scapegoat. His opponent is Jack Belter, from Dallas, TX, using an ABC Deck! He’s packing a few True Draco cards, to simultaneously use Dragonic Diagram to trigger his Machines’ effects, and to take advantage of the power of Master Peace, the True Dracoslaying King. Both of these are Decks mostly under the radar right now, so this should be a great Match. It’s time to Duel!

Duel 1

Belter won the roll and chose to play first. He started with Union Hangar, adding A-Assault Core to his hand, and State activated Droll & Lock Bird. Belter Set a monster.

State had a hand of 2 Solemn Strike, Raigeki, Trickstar Lycoris, and drew Disturbance Strategy. He Normal Summoned Lycoris and attacked, destroying Belter’s Silver Gadget. It Special Summoned Gold Gadget to the field, which Special Summoned A-Assault Core. State used Raigeki, then Set all his Trap Cards.

Belter took 200 damage from Lycoris for his draw, then another 200 from Terraforming adding Union Hangar to his hand. He activated it, adding B-Buster Drake to his hand and taking 200 more. State flipped Disturbance Strategy, forcing Belter to draw a new hand, and taking 800 damage this time. Belter activated Pot of Desires, taking 400. Belter used Cosmic Cyclone to banish one of State’s Solemn Strikes, but when he played Silver Gadget he lost it to the other Strike. State dropped to 6500 Life Points, while Belter had 5200.  Belter Set one to his back row.

State drew Terraforming, and used it to add Trickstar Light Stage to his hand! He activated it, but Belter flipped Set Rotation! Belter put Union Hangar face-down on his field, and Dragonic Diagram face-down on State’s. Since Light Stage was no longer on the field, it couldn’t resolve its effect – State had nothing left but his Lycoris, and conceded!

State started off strong with a lot of burn damage, but ran out of cards too quickly! A timely Set Rotation seals the Duel in Belter’s favor. State will be playing first in the next Duel.

Duel 2

State began the second Duel with a hand of Terraforming, Storming Mirror Force, Cosmic Cyclone, Trickstar Light Stage, and Trickstar Candina. He played Light Stage, adding Trickstar Lycoris to his hand. He played Candina, searching for Trickstar Reincarnation. He bounced Candina to play Lycoris, and Set all of his Spell and Trap Cards.

Belter took 200 damage when he drew a card. He activated Union Hangar, and State banished it with Cosmic Cyclone. Belter Set one back row card and one monster.

State drew Honest. He used Light Stage’s effect to try locking down Belter’s back row card, but Belter flipped it: Set Rotation! He got Union Hangar to his own field, and stuck Oracle of Zefra on State’s field! State wouldn’t be able to activate it, so his Field Spells were locked down. State Normal Summoned Candina, and added another Lycoris to his hand. He went to the Battle Phase, and Candina attacked Belter’s Set B-Buster Drake, with Honest letting it win the battle. Buster Drake’s effect put A-Assault Core in Belter’s hand. Lycoris attacked directly, then State bounced Candina back to his hand for his other Lycoris, and attacked with it as well. State had only lost 1000 Life Points from Cosmic Cyclone, while Belter was down to 4200.

Belter drew his card and took 400 damage from the Lycoris pair. He flipped up Union Hangar, taking another 400 damage to add C-Crush Wyvern to his hand. State flipped up Trickstar Reincarnation, banishing Belter’s hand and dealing 2400 damage! Belter only had 1000 Life Points now. He played Gold Gadget and Special Summoned A-Assault Core, using Union Hangar to equip Assault Core with Crush Wyvern. He Xyz Summoned Diamond Dire Wolf, and Crush Wyvern’s effect Special Summoned Buster Drake from his hand. He used Diamond Dire Wolf to destroy itself and State’s Storming Mirror Force, then banished his Unions from the Graveyard to Special Summon ABC-Dragon Buster! Its effect destroyed State’s Set Terraforming. Dragon Buster attacked Lycoris, and Belter used Book of Moon to avoid a potential Honest (forgetting that State’s only card in hand was the Candina he’d returned). He played Pot of Desires, dropping to 600 Life Points, and had no further plays.

State drew Maxx “C”, with Candina still in hand. He played Candina to add Trickstar Lilybell to his hand! He Special Summoned it, then used Reincarnation in the Graveyard to revive Lycoris. He Xyz Summoned Number 47: Nightmare Shark, and it was all over!

Michael State evens the score at the last moment! He dealt some massive damage with double Lycoris. Lilybell and Nightmare Shark together gave him insurance when finishing the Duel. Belter chose to play first in the final Duel.

Duel 3

Belter began with Union Hangar for A-Assault Core. He Normal Summoned it, and used Hangar to equip it with C-Crush Wyvern. He activated Set Rotation, getting Dragonic Diagram and handing State an Oracle of Zefra. He flipped the Diagram and used its effect on Crush Wyvern, but State used Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring.

State’s hand was Trickstar Light Stage, Solemn Strike, Droll & Lock Bird, and Kumongous, the Sticky String Kaiju. He drew Gameciel, the Sea Turtle Kaiju, and Tributed Assault Core to hand it over – the equipped Crush Wyvern’s effect brought Buster Drake to the field. State Special Summoned Kumongous and destroyed Gameciel in battle. He Set Solemn Strike to finish.

In Belter’s Standby Phase, he used Cosmic Cyclone to banish Strike. He used Diagram to destroy his Buster Drake, adding Master Peace to his hand. He Special Summoned ABC-Dragon Buster and attacked directly. When State drew another Ash Blossom, he knew the Duel was over and offered the handshake!

Jack Belter is the victor with ABC!