We’re in Round 9! After this round, we cut to the players with 19 points or the top 128, whichever has more players. We’re featuring Christopher Lin playing D/D/D against Peter Serrano-Vargas playing Pendulum Magicians. Getting as many points as possible is ideal going into the last 2 rounds of Swiss. Who will come out on top?  Let’s find out! It’s time to Duel!

Duel 1

Lin won the roll and elected to go first. He started with a hand of Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit, Mythical Beast Jackal King, Dark Contract with the Gate, Kuro-Obi Karate Spirit, and Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring. He started with Dark Contract with the Gate to add D/D Savant Kepler and it was Normal Summoned to add Dark Contract with the Witch. He then used Kepler to Link Summon Linkuriboh! He Set Dark Contract with the Witch and passed.

Serrano-Vargas placed Wisdom-Eye Magician and Purple Poison Magician in the Pendulum Scale, and he attempted to use Wisdom-Eye Magician’s effect; but Lin Chained Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit to destroy Wisdom-Eye Magician. After that Chain, Serrano-Vargas activated Astrograph Sorcerer from hand but Lin Chained Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring to stop that effect! Serrano-Vargas then used Pot of Desires to banish 10 cards to draw 2 more. Next, he activated Harmonizing Magician as a Pendulum Spell, then Pendulum Summoned Wisdom-Eye Magician from the Extra Deck along with another Harmonizing Magician from hand. He activated Harmonizing Magician’s effect to Special Summon Purple Poison Magician. He used Harmonizing Magician and Wisdom-Eye Magician to Link Summon Heavymetalfoes Electrumite and its effect was used to kick Astrograph Sorcerer from the Deck to the Extra Deck. Heavymetalfoes Electrumite’s effect destroyed Harmonizing Magician in the Pendulum Zone to add back Astrograph Sorcerer whose effect let him Special Summon it and add Purple Poison Magician from Deck to hand. Purple Poison Magician was then Normal Summoned. Purple Poison Magician attacked Linkuriboh whose effect negated the attack, and the rest of the monsters attacked directly. In Main Phase 2, Serrano-Vargas used the two Purple Poison Magician to Xyz Summon Tornado Dragon and its effect destroyed Dark Contract with the Witch.

Lin drew Effect Veiler. He took 1000 damage from Dark Contract with the Gate. He activated Mythical Beast Jackal King and Kuro-Obi Karate Spirit in the Pendulum Zones. Serrano-Vargas used Tornado Dragon to destroy Mythical Beast Jackal King, then Lin tried to use Dark Contract with the Gate to add a D/D but Serrano-Vargas Chained Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit. That was enough to force Duel 2.

Duel 2

Lin elected to go first. He started with a hand of Mythical Beast Master Cerberus, Foolish Burial, Astrograph Sorcerer, Typhoon, and Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit. He activated Foolish Burial to dump Supreme King Dragon Darkwurm from Deck to Graveyard, and it hopped out of the Graveyard and its effect searched for a Supreme King Gate Zero. He then activated Mythical Beast Master Cerberus and used the effect to destroy itself to add Mythical Beast Jackal King from Deck to hand. In a new Chain, Astrograph Sorcerer was activated to Special Summon itself and add another Mythical Beast Master Cerberus from Deck to hand. Next, he sent both monsters to the Extra Deck to Link Summon Heavymetalfoes Electrumite! He used its effect to send a Pendulum Monster from his Deck to Extra Deck but Serrano-Vargas Chained Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit to destroy  Heavymetalfoes Electrumite. Lin sent D/D Savant Kepler to the Extra Deck. He activated Supreme King Gate Zero and Mythical Beast Master Cerberus as Pendulum Scales and then Pendulum Summoned Kepler from the Extra Deck and Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit from hand! He activated Kepler’s effect but Serrano-Vargas Chained Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring to stop the search! Next, Lin Tributed Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit to Tribute Summom Mythical Beast Jackal King! He used the 2 Pendulum Monsters to Link Summon another Heavymetalfoes Electrumite! He used the Heavymetalfoes Electrumite to destroy Supreme King Gate Zero and add Astrograph Sorcerer from the Extra Deck to hand, which was Summoned and added another Supreme King Gate Zero. He drew D/D Savant Thomas. He Set Typhoon and passed.

Serrano-Vargas activated Chronograph Sorcerer in the Pendulum Zone and used the effect to destroy itself to Summon Timegazer Magician from the Deck. He then activated Astrograph Sorcerer to Special Summon itself and add another copy of Chronograph Sorcerer from Deck to hand. He used both monsters to Link Summon Heavymetalfoes Electrumite. He used the effect to kick Astrograph Sorcerer from the Deck to the Extra Deck. He activated Purple Poison Magician in the Pendulum Zone and attempted to use Heavymetalfoes Electrumite to destroy his own Purple Poison Magician but Lin Chained his Set Typhoon to destroy Purple Poison Magician and prevent Heavymetalfoes Electrumite from resolving. Purple Poison Magician activated its effect to destroy Lin’s Astrograph Sorcerer. He drew a card from Heavymetalfoes Electrumite’s mandatory draw effect, then activated Pendulum Call discarding Chronograph Sorcerer to add Oafdragon Magician and Black Fang Magician. (Pendulum Call’s activation was legal because Purple Poison Magician’s Monster effect was activated, not its Pendulum Effect.) He activated both Magicians then Pendulum Summoned 2 Astrograph Sorcerers from the Extra Deck and Purple Poison Magician from his hand. He went into battle and had Astrograph Sorcerer attack Heavymetalfoes Electrumite and the other 3 monsters attacked directly leaving Lin at 1800 LP. In Main Phase 2, Serrano-Vargas used both Astrograph Sorcerers to Xyz Summon Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon then used Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon and Heavymetalfoes Electrumite to Link Summon Zefra Metaltron and Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon’s effect Special Summoned Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon from the Extra Deck.

Lin drew Astrograph Sorcerer. He activated Mythical Beast Master Cerberus to destroy itself and add Mythical Beast Jackal King, which let him activate Astrograph Sorcerer, which Serrano-Vargas negated with Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon by shuffling Timegazer Magician from the Extra Deck back to the Deck. Lin then used Mythical Beast Jackal King to destroy itself to Special Summon Mythical Beast Master Cerberus from the Extra Deck. He then activated D/D Savant Thomas and Supreme King Gate Zero as a Pendulum Spell. With 4 Spell Counters on Mythical Beast Master Cerberus, he used its effect to banish Serrano-Vargas’s Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon and gain its ATK points for the turn. He then used D/D Savant Thomas’s effect to add D/D Savant Kepler back from the Extra Deck and then Kepler was Normal Summoned by Serrano-Vargas’s used Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring to negate the effect. Lin then used D/D Savant Kepler and Mythical Beast Master Cerberus to Link Summon Heavymetalfoes Electrumite whose effect kicked Chronograph Sorcerer to the Extra Deck, then Heavymetalfoes Electrumite destroyed D/D Savant Thomas to add back Chronograph Sorcerer which was then placed in the Pendulum Zone. Then, Lin Pendulum Summoned 2 Jackal Kings from the Extra Deck and Effect Veiler from hand. Chronograph Sorcerer’s Pendulum Effect destroyed itself to Special Summon Timegazer Magician then it and Mythical Beast Jackal King were used to Special Summon Supreme King Dragon Starving Venom. Next, its effect copied Heavymetalfoes Electrumite and the effect was used to destroy Supreme King Gate Zero to add Astrograph Sorcerer to hand, then Astrograph Sorcerer was Summoned and got back Mythical Beast Master Cerberus. He activated Mythical Beast Master Cerberus as a Pendulum Spell to give Mythical Beast Jackal King 2 Spell Counters. He used Heavymetalfoes Electrumite and Effect Veiler to Link Summon Decode Talker at 3800 ATK. He attacked with Decode Talker into Zefra Metaltron and Mythical Beast Jackal King attacked Purple Poison Magician, whose effect activated but was negated by Mythical Beast Jackal King; but its effect activated again in the Graveyard and it destroyed Supreme King Dragon Starving Venom. Serrano-Vargas was left at 3000 LP. In Main Phase 2, Lin sent Mythical Beast Jackal King and Astrograph Sorcerer to the Extra Deck to Special Summon Supreme King Dragon Starving Venom. He used the effect to copy Heavymetalfoes Electrumite’s effect. He used that effect to destroy Mythical Beast Master Cerberus to add D/D Savant Thomas back to hand. He passed there.

Time was called at the start of Serrano-Vargas’s turn. He Pendulum Summoned Chronograph Sorcerer from the Extra Deck and used the Pendulum Effect of Black Fang Magician to halve Supreme King Dragon Starving Venom’s ATK. Black Fang Magician destroyed itself and Black Fang Magician’s other effect Special Summoned Astrograph Sorcerer from the Graveyard. He attacked Supreme King Dragon Starving Venom with Chronograph Sorcerer and then Astrograph Sorcerer attacked and destroyed Decode Talker. In Main Phase 2, he used both Sorcerers to Link Summon Heavymetalfoes Electrumite and its effect sent Harmonizing Magician to the Extra Deck. Then, Heavymetalfoes Electrumite’s effect destroyed Oaf to add back Astrograph Sorcerer which was Summoned, and the effect of Astrograph Sorcerer was used to add Black Fang Magician.

Lin drew D/D/D Oblivion King Abyss Ragnarok. That and D/D Savant Thomas were the only cards in his hand with nothing on the field. He activated D/D Savant Thomas as a Pendulum Spell and tried to add back D/D Savant Kepler from the Extra Deck but Serrano-Vargas shut it down with Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit and that was it!

Serrano-Vargas wins the Match!