Welcome to Day 2! We’re playing 2 rounds of Swiss then cutting to the Top 32 where we go into Single Elimination Rounds! At Table 3, Michael Zimmitti from Connecticut has an 8-1 record with a Sky Striker Trickstar Deck while his opponent Calvin Tahan from Washington D.C. has an ABC Deck and an 8-1 record. Ending the Swiss Rounds with 2 wins today could solidify one of these Duelist’s chances of making it to Top 32. It’s time to Duel!

Duel 1

Tahan won the roll and elected to go second. Tahan’s starting hand was A-Assault Core, Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, Droll & Lock Bird, Terraforming and Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage!. Zimmitti started with Terraforming to add Trickstar Light Stage to his hand which prompted Tahan to activated Droll & Lock Bird to prevent further searching this turn. Zimmitti Set 2 to the back and passed.

Tahan drew Union Hangar for turn. He started with Union Hangar to add B-Buster Drake to his hand. Zimmitti activated Trickstar Reincarnation to make Tahan banish his hand but Tahan Chained Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring to negated the Trap Card’s effect. But Zimmitti had the second Trickstar Reincarnation to make Tahan banish his hand of 4 cards to draw Ghost Reaper & Winter Cherries, Sky Striker – Mecha Hornet Drones, Pot of Desires and another Terraforming. He activated Terraforming to add another Union Hangar to his hand. He then activated Pot of Desires, banishing the top 10 cards to draw the third Terraforming and Evenly Matched. He then activated Sky Striker – Mecha Hornet Drones to give himself a Sky Striker Ace Token which let him Link Summon Sky Striker Ace – Kagari which added back Sky Striker – Mecha Hornet Drones to his hand. Terraforming let Tahan add the last Union Hangar to his hand. Sky Striker Ace – Kagari went to the Graveyard to Link Summon Sky Striker Ace – Shizuku and in the End Phase, Tahan added Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage! to his hand with the effect of Sky Striker Ace – Shizuku.

Zimmitti started his turn with Sky Striker – Mecha Hornet Drones to give himself a Token which was used to Link Summon Sky Striker Ace – Kagari which got back Sky Striker – Mecha Hornet Drones. He then Normal Summoned Trickstar Candina whose effect let him get Trickstar Reincarnation. He then activated Trickstar Light Stage which let Zimmitti add Trickstar Lycoris from his Deck to his hand. Tahan then activated Ghost Reaper & Winter Cherries revealing ABC-Dragon Buster, which Tahan had to have known wasn’t in Zimmitti’s Extra Deck. Tahan conceded and we were on to the second Duel! (After the Match, I asked Tahan why he revealed ABC-Dragon Buster for Ghost Reaper & Winter Cherries; enough of his ABC pieces were banished from Pot of Desires and the game was unwinnable anyway. He used Ghost Reaper & Winter Cherries specifically to look at Zimmitti’s Extra Deck so he knew what to expect going forward.)

Duel 2

Tahan had Zimmitti take the first turn once again. Tahan’s starting hand was Sky Striker – Mecha Hornet Drones, Terraforming, C-Crush Wyvern, Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring and Evenly Matched. Zimmitti started off with Trickstar Light Stage whose effect added Trickstar Candina from his Deck to his hand. He Normal Summoned it and used the effect to add Trickstar Reincarnation from his Deck to his hand. He then went for another Terraforming to add another Trickstar Light Stage which was used to add Trickstar Lycoris to his hand. He used Trickstar Lycoris’s effect to swap places with Trickstar Candina. Zimmitti Set 2 cards to the back and passed.

Tahan drew Terraforming and took 400 damage. He went into the Battle Phase which prompted Zimmitti to activate Trickstar Reincarnation but Tahan Chained Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring to negate the effect. At the end of the Battle Phase, Tahan activated Evenly Matched from his hand, forcing Zimmitti to banish Trickstar Lycoris and Trickstar Light Stage face-down, leaving the remaining Set card. In Main Phase 2, Tahan activated Terraforming to add Union Hangar to his hand. Next, he activated Sky Striker – Mecha Hornet Drones to Special Summon a Token which was used to Link Summon Sky Striker Ace – Kagari which added back Sky Striker – Mecha Hornet Drones from the Graveyard to his hand. He activated Sky Striker – Mecha Hornet Drones again to make a Token which was used along with Kagari to Link Summon Knightmare Phoenix He activated its effect, discarding Terraforming to destroy Zimmitti’s Set Sky Striker Mecha – Widow Anchor. Tahan then activated Union Hangar to add B-Buster Drake from his Deck to his hand. He then Normal Summoned C-Crush Wyvern and used Union Hangar’s effect to equip a B-Buster Drake from his Deck to C-Crush Wyvern. He then used Knightmare Phoenix to Link Summon Knightmare Mermaid. He then used C-Crush Wyvern to Link Summon Clara & Rushka, the Ventriloduo. He used the effects of his machines to add A-Assault Core from his Deck to his hand then Summon it to the field. He used all 3 monsters to Link Summon Knightmare Unicorn. Then he banished A-Assault Core, B-Buster Drake and C-Crush Wyvern from his Graveyard to Special Summon ABC-Dragon Buster! He passed his turn with 1 card in his hand.

Zimmitti activated Sky Striker – Mecha Hornet Drones to give himself a Token. Tahan used ABC-Dragon Buster’s effect to banish the Token before another Sky Striker Link Monster could hit the field. Zimmitti then Normal Summoned Trickstar Candina whose effect let Zimmitti add Trickstar Lycoris from his Deck to his hand. He then activated Raigeki! Tahan used ABC-Dragon Buster’s effect to Tribute ABC-Dragon Buster to Special Summon A-Assault Core, B-Buster Drake and C-Crush Wyvern which were destroyed by Raigeki. Tahan then used the effects of all 3 Machines. Zimmitti Chained Trickstar Lycoris’s effect to swap places with Trickstar Candina. Tahan took some burn damage then Trickstar Lycoris attacked directly.

Tahan drew Droll & Lock Bird to add to his hand of A-Assault Core and B-Buster Drake. He started off by Normal Summoning A-Assault Core using Union Hangar’s effect to equip B-Buster Drake. He then banished the A, B and C from his Graveyard to Special Summon ABC-Dragon Buster. He then used A-Assault Core’s effect to equip it to ABC-Dragon Buster! When C-Crush Wyvern hit the Graveyard, its effect Special Summoned B-Buster Drake from his hand. Tahan used ABC-Dragon Buster, discarding Droll & Lock Bird to banish Zimmitti’s Trickstar Lycoris from the field. ABC-Dragon Buster and B-Buster Drake attacked directly and in Main Phase 2, Tahan used B-Buster Drake’s effect to equip it to ABC-Dragon Buster, making the Fusion Monster immune to Monster effects and Spell effects!

Zimmitti drew but it wasn’t an out to the situation. We’re going to the third and final Duel!

Duel 3

Zimmitti elected to go first. he started with Terraforming which let him add Trickstar Light Stage and its effect added Trickstar Candina from his Deck to his hand. Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage! was used to add Sky Striker – Mecha Hornet Drones which was used to make a Token which was used to Link Summon Sky Striker Ace – Kagari which added back Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage!. He then Normal Summoned Candina whose effect added Trickstar Reincarnation from his Deck to his hand. He Set 2 cards then used Sky Striker Ace – Kagari to Link Summon Sky Striker Ace – Shizuku. In the End Phase he activated Sky Striker Ace – Shizuku’s effect to add Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage! to his hand.

Tahan drew Terraforming to add to his hand of B-Buster Drake, Pot of Desires, Terraforming, A-Assault Core, B-Buster Drake and C-Crush Wyvern. He Set Terraforming, Pot of Desires and Terraforming, then flipped the Set Terraforming to add Union Hangar to his hand. Zimmitti responded with Trickstar Reincarnation and Droll & Lock Bird to banish Tahan’s hand and have him draw no new cards. He passed with the 2 Set cards.

Zimmitti used Trickstar Light Stage to freeze Tahan’s Set Terraforming. He then used Sky Striker Ace – Shizuku to Link Summon Sky Striker Ace – Kagari whose effect added back Sky Striker – Mecha Hornet Drones. Sky Striker Ace – Kagari and Trickstar Candina were used to Link Summon Knightmare Phoenix whose effect let him discard Sky Striker Maneuver – Afterburners! to destroy Tahan’s Set Pot of Desires. He then used Sky Striker – Mecha Hornet Drones to make a Token then used Trickstar Reincarnation’s Graveyard effect, banishing it to Special Summon Trickstar Candina from the Graveyard. Knightmare Phoenix and Trickstar Candina attacked directly to bring Tahan down to 3700 LP to Zimmitti’s 8000 LP. In Main Phase 2, he used all 3 monsters to Link Summon Firewall Dragon! Next, Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage! was used to add Sky Striker Maneuver – Afterburners! from his Deck to his hand a draw a card. In the End Phase, Trickstar Light Stage’s effect forced Tahan to send the Set card to the Graveyard but Tahan extended the handshake instead!

Zimmitti takes the win!