Earlier this year, Desmond Johnson brought Karakuris back into the competitive fold by making Top 4 at YCS Miami with a version that relied on Emergency Teleport to make Synchro Summons – Teleport Karakuri.  Johnson would go on to top Regionals and other notable tournaments with different versions of the Karakuri strategy as the year continued, singlehandedly popularizing the clockwork wonders.

But today fate’s thrown the Karakuri King a curveball!  Here in Round 2, Johnson’s opponent is Travis Smith – the same man who defeated Johnson in the Top 4 of YCS Miami, ending his run in that event.  Now it’s time for a re-match!  Johnson is playing Teleport Karakuri with some new tech, while Smith is playing Prophecy.

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Today is Anthony Alvarado’s birthday, and so far, it’s going quite well. He lost 2 rounds early on yesterday, but rebounded to a 6-2 finish in Day 1. Now, he’s taking his Karakuri Deck to Day 2, and is facing off against Christopher Vinson’s Agents Deck in this Round 9 Feature Match. Both Duelists will need this victory if they hope to advance to the Top 32, so they’ll be giving it their all!
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Both of these competitors are playing Decks that are relatively new at this tournament.  Jerry Wang is playing the Synchro-free Miracle Gemini strategy this weekend, while his opponent Thomas Luebke is running the Synchro-heavy Karakuri Machina Plants Deck.  While Luebke will try to explode with a series of Special Summons, Wang will try to pin him down with cards like Thunder King Rai-Oh and Gemini Spark.
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