Round 5 Feature Match: Blake Dauterive vs. Michael White
We’re halfway into the first day of the North American World Championship Qualifier. We’ve got two undefeated Duelists for our Round 5 Feature Match – Blake Dauterive from Lafayette, LA, and Michael White from Minneapolis, MN. Dauterive is playing a HERO Deck using new cards like Elemental HERO Flame Wingman – Infernal Rage. White is playing Rikka, the Plant Deck that is anything but sedentary.
Duel 1
White won the dice roll and played first. He Normal Summoned Rikka Petal, adding Mudan the Rikka Fairy. He Special Summoned it, adding Rikka Konkon. He played it, using it to Set Rikka Glamour. He activated Glamour, Tributing Mudan to search for Primula the Rikka Fairy and Rikka Princess. Since he just Tributed Mudan, he Special Summoned Primula. He then Special Summoned Princess with its own effect. He Xyz Summoned Rikka Queen Strenna and activated its effect, detaching Princess to return Glamour to his hand. He Set one card.
Dauterive had Destiny HERO – Malicious, Fusion Destiny, Mask Change, Destiny HERO – Denier, and A Hero Lives. He drew Polymerization. He started by activating A Hero Lives, paying half his Life Points to Special Summon Elemental HERO Stratos. He activated Stratos, and White negated Stratos with Princess from his Graveyard, Tributing Stratos thanks to his Field Spell! Dauterive played Polymerization next, fusing Denier with Malicious for Destiny HERO – Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer! He activated Phoenix Enforcer’s effect, and White flipped Rikka Sheet, Tributing Strenna. He took control of Phoenix Enforcer. Since Dauterive had no cards of his own to destroy, Phoenix Enforcer’s effect failed to resolve. In a new Chain, Strenna’s effect let White Special Summon Teardrop the Rikka Queen! Dauterive banished Malicious from his Graveyard to Special Summon another Malicious. He activated Denier, but White had Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion to negate it! Dauterive played Fusion Destiny next, sending Elemental HERO Shadow Mist and Destiny HERO – Dark Angel to the Graveyard to play Destiny HERO – Dangerous! Shadow Mist’s effect added Stratos to his hand. He Normal Summoned it, destroying Rikka Konkon. He then used Stratos and Malicious to Link Summon Xtra HERO Cross Crusader. Cross Crusader’s effect targeted Denier in the Graveyard, and White responded with Teardrop’s effect on Cross Crusader. Dauterive responded to that with Mask Change, tagging Cross Crusader out for Masked HERO Dark Law! Teardrop lost its target, and Denier hit the field. Denier put the banished Malicious on top of the Deck, and Dauterive used the one in the Graveyard to Special Summon Malicious yet again. He used Malicious, Denier, and Dangerous to Link Summon Xtra HERO Dread Decimator! Dread Decimator destroyed Teardrop in battle, and Dark Law destroyed Phoenix Enforcer next. In the End Phase, White Special Summoned Rikka Petal from his Graveyard.
In the Standby Phase, Phoenix Enforcer returned to Dauterive’s field with its effect. He declined to use the destruction effect yet. White used Rikka Petal’s effect to add Mudan to his hand, and Dark Law’s effect ripped Snowdrop the Rikka Fairy from White’s hand. White Special Summoned Mudan, Tributing Petal. He searched for Rikka Konkon. He activated it, and Dauterive responded with Phoenix Enforcer’s effect to destroy itself and Konkon. White played Glamour, Tributing Mudan to search for Rikka Petal and Sunseed Genius Loci. He then played Unexpected Dai, bringing a Sunseed Genius Loci from his Deck. He Link Summoned Sunavalon Dryas, adding Sunvine Sowing to his hand. He played Sowing, taking 1000 damage and Special Summoning Sunseed Twin. Dryas’s effect activated in response to the damage, regaining the lost Life Points, and it Special Summoned Sunvine Healer. He Normal Summoned Rikka Petal. He used Dryas and Healer to play Aromaseraphy Jasmine. Jasmine’s effect let him Tribute Petal to Special Summon his third Sunseed Genius Loci. He used Twin to play a new Dryas, and Loci for a new Healer. Healer’s effect let him gain 300 Life Points. That triggered Jasmine’s effect to add Therion “Lily” Borea to his hand! He then used Jasmine, Dryas, and Healer to play Benghalancer the Resurgent! He used its effect on Dread Decimator, taking 3300 damage and bouncing Decimator. That put White down to 4300 Life Points. He Special Summoned Borea next, equipping it with Strenna from his Graveyard. Benghalancer attacked and destroyed Dark Law, and Borea attacked directly. Dauterive was down to just 1500 Life Points, due to paying for A Hero Lives. White used Borea’s effect, sending Strenna to the Graveyard to add Therion Discolosseum to his hand. He played it and added another Borea to his hand.
Dauterive drew a miracle card – Miracle Fusion! In his Standby Phase, Phoenix Enforcer returned to the field once again. He played Miracle Fusion next, banishing Stratos and Shadow Mist to Fusion Summon Elemental HERO Sunrise! He moved to the Battle Phase, sending Phoenix Enforcer to attack Benghalancer. Sunrise’s effect activated, destroying Benghalancer. A replay occurred, and Phoenix Enforcer attacked Borea instead, dealing 1900 damage. Sunrise attacked directly, ending the first Duel!
Duel 2
White chose to play first in the next game, with just 11 minutes on the clock. He Normal Summoned Sunseed Genius Loci, and Link Summoned Sunavalon Dryas. Dryas’s effect added Sowing to his hand, and he played it. He took 1000 damage, and Special Summoned Sunseed Twin. Dryas regained his Life Points and Special Summoned Sunvine Healer, and Twin Special Summoned Loci. He combined Dryas and Healer for Aromaseraphy Jasmine. He used Twin to play a new Dryas, and Loci for a new Healer. He used Healer’s effect to gain 300 Life Points, and Jasmine triggered to add Therion “Lily” Borea to his hand. He Special Summoned Borea, equipping it with a Healer from the Graveyard. He used it to send the equipped Healer to the Graveyard, adding Therion Discolosseum to his hand. He used Jasmine’s effect, Tributing Healer to Special Summon Lonefire Blossom. Lonefire Tributed Borea to Special Summon Rikka Petal. He played Discolosseum to add Therion “King” Regulus to his hand. He Special Summoned it, equipping it with Borea. He used Petal’s effect to search out Mudan the Rikka Fairy. He used Lonefire and Petal to Link Summon another Jasmine. He then used Sunseed Twin’s effect from the Graveyard, banishing it and Jasmine from the field, returning Healer to the field. It gained him another 300 Life Points, and Jasmine’s effect added Snowdrop the Rikka Fairy to his hand. He activated Rikka Princess’s effect in his hand, Special Summoning it. He combined it with Jasmine to Link Summon Sylvan Dancepione. Its effect excavated three cards, but none were Plant monsters.
White continued, activating Snowdrop in his hand: he Tributed Dryas to Special Summon Snowdrop and Mudan. Mudan added Rikka Konkon to his hand. He used Snowdrop and Mudan for Strenna, detaching Mudan, and adding Mudan back to his hand. He Tributed Strenna to play Mudan, then used Strenna’s effect to play Sacred Tree Beast, Hyperyton! He activated Rikka Konkon in place of his Discolosseum. That triggered Hyperyton, which attached Discolosseum as a material. He Link Summoned Sunavalon Melias, which returned Loci to the field, and then he Link Summoned Benghalancer the Resurgent. He used Konkon to Set Rikka Sheet, and Set another card. An incredible first turn!
Dauterive had a hand of Stratos, Cosmic Cyclone, Forbidden Droplet, Mask Change, and A Hero Lives. He drew Polymerization… and White flipped Anti-Spell Fragrance! Dauterive played Cosmic Cyclone to banish Fragrance, but Hyperyton negated Cosmic Cyclone. Unfortunately, the round timer ended here. White had gained plenty of Life Points on his turn, putting him in the lead and making him the winner of this Duel.
As such, this Match is a draw! The Duelists talked it over and agreed that White’s field was probably too strong to overcome either way, but sadly, they wouldn’t be able to play a third Duel. They’ll still move on, technically undefeated, with a great shot at making it to Day 2.