North America WCQ Top 32 Feature Match: Chester Henson vs. Russell Novak-Burdick
Chester Henson from Georgetown, Kentucky was the 2017 North America World Championship Qualifier winner. Just one year ago, he took first place and earned an invitation to the World Championship in Tokyo, Japan; but because of his work schedule, he was unable to attend the World Championship, and his invitation passed down to the fifth place Duelist, allowing Aaron Furman to attend the World Championship in his place. Now, Chester Henson is here again, Dueling his way back to another paid trip to Tokyo, Japan and an invitation to compete in the 2018 Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME World Championship. Henson is using a Gouki Deck, and he’s facing off against Russell Novak-Burdick and his Trickstar Sky Strikers in the Top 32 in a Match that will determine which one of these Duelists advances to the Top 16. It’s time to Duel!
Duel One
Novak-Burdick started off Duel 1 by activating Trickstar Light Stage.
He used its effect to add Trickstar Lycoris from his Deck to his hand and then activated Pot of Desires. He banished the top 10 cards of his Deck face-down and then lost out on the 2-card draw due to Henson discarding Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring from his hand. Next, Novak-Burdick Normal Summoned Trickstar Candina and used its effect to add Trickstar Reincarnation from his Deck to his hand. He returned Candina to his hand to Special Summon Lycoris and then Set 2 cards to his back row.
Henson drew a card and then had Knightmare Corruptor Iblee, Called by the Grave, Monster Reborn, Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, and Gouki Suprex in his hand. He Summoned the Suprex and then attacked Lycoris with Suprex, destroying it in battle and dropping Novak-Burdick down to 7800 Life Points. In Main Phase 2, Henson Set Called by the Grave and ended his turn.
Novak-Burdick drew a card and then used his Light Stage to target Henson’s face-down Called by the Grave. Henson Chained it to banish Lycoris from Novak-Burdick’s Graveyard. Next, Novak-Burdick activated Sky Striker Mecha – Hornet Drones to Special Summon a Token and used the Token to Link Summon Sky Striker Ace – Kagari. He used Kagari’s effect to return Hornet Drones to his hand and then Normal Summoned Candina. He activated its effect but lost out to Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring. Next, Novak-Burdick combined his 2 monsters to Link Summon Knightmare Phoenix and attacked Gouki Suprex to destroy it. Henson used the Suprex’s effect to add Gouki Riscorpio from his Deck to his hand.
Henson drew Droll & Lock Bird and then Normal Summoned Riscorpio. He activated Monster Reborn next, allowing him to Special Summon Suprex from his Graveyard. Then, he attacked Phoenix with Riscorpio to destroy it, and attacked directly with Suprex, dropping Novak-Burdick down to 5600 Life Points.
Novak-Burdick activated Hornet Drones to Special Summon a Token to his field and then used the Token to Link Summon Kagari. He used Kagari’s effect to add a Hornet Drones from his Graveyard to his hand and then used Kagari to Link Summon Sky Striker Ace – Shizuku. He Set a card to his back row and then used Shizuku’s effect to add Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage! from his Deck to his hand in his End Phase.
Henson drew Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring and then combined his 2 monsters to Link Summon Isolde, Two Tales of the Noble Knights. He activated the effects of Isolde and his 2 Gouki monsters, and Novak-Burdick Chained Infinite Impermanence to negate the effect of the Isolde. Henson added Gouki Bearhug and Gouki Suprex from his Deck to his hand with the effects of his 2 fallen Gouki monsters. Novak-Burdick activated Trickstar Reincarnation and Henson negated it with Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring. Novak-Burdick discarded Droll & Lock Bird from his hand to stop Henson from adding more cards from his Deck to his hand during the turn. Henson Summoned Suprex and then used its effect to Special Summon Bearhug. He attacked with Isolde and Suprex, destroying Shizuku and dropping Novak-Burdick down to 3050 Life Points. Bearhug attacked directly next, and Novak-Burdick flipped Hornet Drones to Special Summon a Token. The Token was destroyed in battle by Bearhug.
Novak-Burdick activated Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage! and used it to add Sky Striker Maneuver – Afterburners! to his hand. Henson discarded Droll & Lock Bird from his hand after Afterburners was added to Novak-Burdick’s hand. Novak-Burdick activated the Afterburners to destroy Isolde and then ended his turn.
Henson activated Reinforcement of the Army and Novak-Burdick negated it with Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring. Next, Henson Link Summoned Isolde and used its effect along with the effects of his 2 Goukis to add Gouki Re-Match, Gouki Suprex, and Necro Gardna from his Deck to his hand. Henson sent a Divine Sword from his Deck to his Graveyard to Special Summon Gouki Octostretch from his Deck with Isolde’s effect. Then, he Link Summoned Linkuriboh by using Octostretch as a Link Material, and added a Gouki Twistcobra from his Deck to his hand. He activated Gouki Re-Match, and Novak-Burdick promptly conceded, knowing he had no chance to make a comeback!
Chester Henson’s hand was off to a rough start, but he managed to recover and take the win in Duel 1!
Duel Two
Novak-Burdick started off Duel 2 by activated Terraforming and adding Trickstar Light Stage from his Deck to his hand. When he did, Henson discarded Droll & Lock Bird from his hand. He Set 3 cards to his back row and then passed.
Henson drew a card and then had Called by the Grave, Knightmare Corruptor Iblee, 2 Marauding Captains, and Speedroid Taketomborg. He Summoned the Captain, and its effect was negated by Infinite Impermanence. Marauding Captain attacked directly, dropping Novak-Burdick down to 6800 Life Points. In the End Phase, Novak-Burdick activated Scapegoat, prompting Henson to immediately concede.
Novak-Burdick wins Duel 2 almost instantly after negating the effect of a key Marauding Captain by using Infinite Impermanence!
Duel Three
Henson opened up Duel 3 with Instant Fusion, Speedroid Taketomborg, Gouki Twistcobra, Junk Forward, and Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring.
He Special Summoned Junk Forward and then activated Instant Fusion to Special Summon Dragoness the Wicked Knight from his Extra Deck. He combined his 2 monsters to Xyz Summon M-X-Saber Invoker and then activated the effect of Invoker by detaching an Xyz Material; but Novak-Burdick discarded Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring from his hand to negate it! Henson Normal Summoned Twistcobra next, and combined it with Invoker to Link Summon Isolde. He activated its effect along with the effect of Twistcobra, but Novak-Burdick activated Infinite Impermanence from his hand to negate Isolde’s effect for the turn! Henson added Gouki Suprex from his Deck to his hand with the effect of Twistcobra. Next, Henson activated Isolde’s effect by sending Divine Sword – Phoenix Blade from his Deck to his Graveyard, even though Isolde’s effect was negated by Infinite Impermanence. He then banished 2 Warriors from his Graveyard to return the Divine Sword to his hand and equipped it to Isolde before ending his turn.
Novak-Burdick activated Terraforming to add Light Stage to his hand and then activated Light Stage. He used its effect to add Trickstar Candina from his Deck to his hand and then Normal Summoned Candina. He activated its effect, and when Henson tried to stop it with Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, Novak-Burdick Chained Called by the Grave from his hand to banish Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring and resolve the effect of his Candina. He added a Light Stage from his Deck to his hand with the Candina’s effect and then activated another Light Stage to add Trickstar Lilybell from his Deck to his hand. He Special Summoned the Lilybell with its effect, and then returned Lilybell to his hand to Special Summon Lycoris. He combined his 2 monsters to Link Summon Knightmare Phoenix and then attacked Isolde, destroying Isolde and the Phoenix in battle. Novak-Burdick Set a card to his back row before passing.
Henson drew Imperial Order, Set it to his back row, and then Normal Summoned Gouki Suprex. He attacked directly with Suprex and then passed.
Novak-Burdick used his Light Stage to target Imperial Order, and when Henson Chained it, Novak-Burdick Chained Sky Striker Mecha – Widow Anchor to take control of Suprex. He then Normal Summoned Lilybell and attacked directly with Suprex and Lilybell. He used Lilybell’s effect to return Lycoris from his Graveyard to his hand, and then Special Summoned Lycoris by returning Lilybell from his field to his hand. He then used Lilybell’s effect to Special Summon it back to his field, and attacked directly with Lycoris and Lilybell, dropping Henson down to 2000 Life Points. He used Lilybell effect to add Trickstar Candina from his Graveyard to his hand and then entered Main Phase 2. He combined Lilybell with Suprex to Link Summon Space Insulator, and Henson used the effect of his Suprex to add Gouki Riscorpio from his Deck to his hand. Henson lost another 200 Life Points in the process due to the effect of Lycoris.
Henson drew Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, losing 200 Life Points due to the effect of Lycoris, and then he lost 700 Life Points in his Standby Phase due to Imperial Order, bringing him to 900 Life Points. He Normal Summoned Riscorpio and attacked Lycoris to destroy it, dropping Novak-Burdick down to 5500 Life Points.
Novak-Burdick drew a card and Henson dropped down to 200 Life Points in the Standby Phase due to Imperial Order. He Summoned Candina and activated its effect, but lost out to Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring. Next, Novak-Burdick combined his Space Insulator with Candina to Link Summon Topologic Trisbaena. An attack from Topologic Trisbaena (2500 ATK) over Gouki Riscorpio (2300 ATK) wiped out Henson’s last 200 Life Points!
Russell Novak-Burdick is moving on to the Top 16!