Round 4 Feature Match: Alex James Mondlak vs. Mariano Alessandro De Nicola
Welcome to Round 4 of YCS Orlando! For this Feature Match we’ve got Alex Mondlak, from Columbus, Ohio. He’s using Primite Fiendsmith, packing Normal Monsters like White Duston and Summoned Skull to enhance his Fiendsmith combos! On the other side of the table is Mariano De Nicola, from Toronto, Ontario, using Maliss!
Duel 1
De Nicola started with a Set backrow card, and Normal Summoned Maliss <P> Dormouse. He activated Dormouse’s effect, banishing Maliss <P> Chessy Cat from his Deck. He paid 300 Life Points to Special Summon Chessy Cat. He tried using Chessy Cat’s effect, and Mondlak negated it with Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring. De Nicola Link Summoned Haggard Lizardose, using it to banish Dormouse. He paid another 300 Life Points to Special Summon Dormouse, then Link Summoned Maliss <Q> Red Ransom. Its effect put Maliss in Underground in his hand. Next, he banished Red Ransom to activate his Set Maliss <C> GWC-06. He Special Summoned Dormouse, then paid 900 Life Points to Special Summon Red Ransom and banish Dotscaper from his Deck. He Special Summoned Dotscaper, and Mondlak activated Nibiru, the Primal Being! De Nicola’s field was replaced with a 3300/2400 Primal Being Token in Defense Position. De Nicola played Maliss in Underground, banishing Maliss <P> White Rabbit. He paid another 300 Life Points to Special Summon it, using its effect to Set Maliss <C> TB-11. He then activated Bystial Druiswurm, banishing Dormouse from his Graveyard. He used all of his monsters to Link Summon Maliss <Q> White Binder, using Druiswurm to send Nibiru to the Graveyard. He used White Binder’s effect to Set GWC-06 from the Graveyard. He flipped up TB-11 by banishing White Binder, letting him Special Summon a new Dormouse. He paid 900 more Life Points to Special Summon White Binder and draw a card. He Link Summoned Firewall Dragon to finish the turn.
Mariano De Nicola
Mondlak had Fabled Lurrie, Primite Lordly Lode, and Primite Dragon Ether Beryl. He drew Droll & Lock Bird. He started with Primite Lordly Lode, adding Primite Drillbeam to his hand. De Nicola activated Droll & Lock Bird. Mondlak Normal Summoned Fabled Lurrie, and Link Summoned Fiendsmith’s Requiem. Requiem brought Lacrima the Crimson Tears to the field, which sent Fiendsmith Engraver to the Graveyard. De Nicola flipped GWC-06, and Mondlak responded with Drillbeam to negate and banish the trap! Mondlak Special Summoned Engraver by returning Lurrie to the Deck. He attached Requiem to Engraver, and used Engraver’s effect to send Firewall Dragon to the Graveyard! He Link Summoned Fiendsmith’s Sequence, fusing all his Fiends in the Graveyard into Fiendsmith’s Desirae. He then used Sequence and Desirae to Link Summon Fiendsmith’s Agnumday. It attacked directly, dropping De Nicola to 3500. He then used Agnumday’s effect to revive Desirae, equipping it with Agnumday and Sequence to increase its ATK, sending it in to end the first Duel!
Duel 2
De Nicola played first, and Mondlak immediately activated Artifact Lancea. De Nicola passed.
Mondlak started this time with Mulcharmy Fuwalos, Primite Lordly Lode, Primite Roar, and Ash Blossom. He drew Primite Dragon Ether Beryl, and De Nicola activated Dimension Shifter. Mondlak played Lordly Lode to add Primite Drillbeam to his hand. He Normal Summoned Beryl and used its effect to Set Primite Roar. He activated Lordly Lode’s effect to Special Summon Summoned Skull in Defense Position, then attacked directly with Beryl. He Set Drillbeam.
De Nicola Normal Summoned Chessy Cat and tried using its effect, but Mondlak used Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring. De Nicola Link Summoned Link Decoder, and Chessy Cat was banished due to Dimension Shifter. He paid 300 Life Points to Special Summon Chessy Cat. He then used Druiswurm, banishing Lancea from Mondlak’s Graveyard. When Druiswurm hit the field, Mondlak flipped Drillbeam to banish Chessy Cat. De Nicola used Druiswurm and Link Decoder to Link Summon Knightmare Phoenix, discarding a Dormouse to destroy Lordly Lode. He then paid 300 Life Points to Special Summon Dormouse. He used Dormouse to banish White Rabbit from his Deck, and he paid 300 to Special Summon it. Its effect Set TB-11 on the field. He used Phoenix and White Rabbit to Link Summon Red Ransom, which put Maliss in Underground in his hand. Then he used Red Ransom and Dormouse to Link Summon S:P Little Knight. Little Knight banished Summoned Skull, and De Nicola paid 900 Life Points to Special Summon Red Ransom. He sent Red Ransom to attack Beryl, but Mondlak flipped Primite Roar, paying 2000 Life Points. Beryl was protected, but Mondlak still took the damage. The score was 4600 to 4700, with Mondlak barely leading. In Main Phase 2, De Nicola used S:P Little Knight and Red Ransom to Link Summon White Binder, which Set GWC-06 on the field. He activated Maliss in Underground, banishing his White Binder. He paid 900 Life Points to Special Summon it and draw a new card. He Set one more in his back row.
Alex Mondlak
Mondlak drew a new Lordly Lode! He activated it, and De Nicola flipped Maliss <C> MTP-07. He added Dormouse to his hand, then banished Lordly Lode! Mondlak Normal Summoned Fuwalos, using it and Beryl to Link Summon Moon of the Closed Heaven. He used that to Link Summon Fiendsmith’s Requiem. He activated Requiem, and in response while his field was clear, he Chained Primite Roar to Special Summon White Duston! Requiem then brought Engraver to the field. He used Requiem’s effect to equip to Engraver. He then used Engraver to send White Binder to the Graveyard. He used both his monsters to Link Summon Fiendsmith’s Sequence, and De Nicola used GWC-06 to Special Summon White Binder. White Binder banished Engraver, White Duston, and Moon. That left Mondlak with no materials to activate Sequence! With other cards left, he conceded this Duel.
Duel 3
Mondlak started the final Duel with a hand of Nibiru, Infinite Impermanence, Lurrie, Lancea, and Primite Roar. De Nicola immediately used Dimension Shifter. Mondlak Set Impermanence and Roar.
In De Nicola’s Draw Phase, Mondlak used Lancea! De Nicola Set one backrow card. In the End Phase, Mondlak paid 2000 Life Points to flip Primite Roar and Special Summon White Duston! There was only five minutes left on the clock, however, and those 2000 Life Points may be the deciding factor in this Match.
Mondlak drew Fiendsmith’s Tract. He used White Duston to Link Summon Fiendsmith’s Requiem, which Special Summoned Lacrima. Lacrima sent Fiendsmith in Paradise to the Graveyard. He played Fiendsmith’s Tract next, adding Engraver to his hand, and discarding Lurrie. He Special Summoned Lurrie. He attached Requiem to Lacrima, then used both cards to play Necroquip Princess. He activated Engraver’s effect to add Fiendsmith’s Sanct to his hand. Necroquip then let him draw Beryl. He used Lurrie and Necroquip to Link Summon Sequence, and De Nicola hit it with Infinite Impermanence. Mondlak used Sanct to get a Fiendsmith Token, but doing so meant he could only attack with Fiends for the rest of the turn. He used the Token and Sequence to Link Summon Agnumday. He Normal Summoned Beryl, which Set Lordly Lode. He used that to add Drillbeam to his hand. He Special Summoned Engraver from the Graveyard, returning White Duston to the Deck. He then used Agnumday to revive Lacrima, equipping to it for an ATK boost. De Nicola activated Nibiru! Mondlak swapped his monsters with a 4600/3600 Primal Being Token. Mondlak continued, using the Graveyard effect of Fiendsmith in Paradise, sending Fiendsmith’s Desirae to the Graveyard. Desirae’s effect sent Lurrie back to the Deck to send Nibiru to the Graveyard. He used Lordly Lode to Special Summon Summoned Skull, and Link Summoned I:P Masquerena. He Set Drillbeam.
De Nicola Set one back row card, then Normal Summoned Chessy Cat. And… the timer ran out! That Nibiru had thwarted Mondlak’s plans completely, leaving De Nicola with the higher Life Points in the end.
After the Duel, Mondlak explained that he’d played into the potential Nibiru because he wanted to play around a Bystial that could come down and get in the way of a direct attack. Unfortunately, playing around one potential threat led him right into the other. He calculated the risk, but unfortunately for him, the math was not on his side this time.
