Theerasak Poonsombat has made Top 8 yet again. He's back with an almost identical deck from the one he played in Anaheim, but is looking to take home the prize this time around. His opponent is Nick Langella, who is playing a deck almost identical to T's build from Anaheim. T warned me this mirror match is almost a coin flip, with both players able to explode on any given turn.
T won the roll and opened with a set monster and a set spell or trap card. Nick activated Destiny Draw and traded Destiny Hero — Malicious for two new cards. Next he special summoned Cyber Dragon and T activated Torrential Tribute, drawing for his face down Card Trooper's effect. Nick removed the discarded Malicious for another one from the deck and played Metamorphosis, trading Malicious for Dark Blade the Dragon Knight. He then removed the second Malicious to bring the third copy from the deck to the field, summoned Card Trooper and lost three monsters from the top of his deck. He swung in for an impressive 4900 damage, removing T's Card Trooper from the graveyard. He set a spell or trap and passed his turn.
T was up next and he played Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying Torrential Tribute. Elemental Hero Stratos came down next, searched out Destiny Hero — Malicious from the deck. Stratos swung into Card Trooper, and T set a back field before passing. Nick played Pot of Avarice to start up his next turn, fuelled by the cards Trooper has sent to the graveyard earlier on. He drew into Elemental Hero Stratos, and destroyed T's Ring of Destruction with his effect. T chained the Ring and destroyed the Dragon Knight, but Nick had the Brain Control to finish T off. So far T's predictions have been accurate, as Nick storms game 1.
T opened the second game as well, and did so by setting Morphing Jar and Ring of Destruction. Things could be looking up for him. Nick's response was a set to the spell or trap zone as well as a monster. T set another three spell or trap cards before flipping his Morphing Jar. Both players discarded Destiny Hero — Malicious from their hand. T flipped a set Reinforcement of the Army to search out Elemental Hero Stratos from his deck.
He then removed Malicious from the graveyard to special summon another copy to the field in attack position. Then he activated Destiny Draw, discarding Destiny Hero — Dasher to draw two cards. Elemental Hero Stratos was summoned to destroy the face down Pot of Avarice on Nick's side of the field, and Premature Burial brought up Cyber Dragon. Stratos attacked the face down Destiny Hero — Disk Commander, swung in with the two little guys, and T played Limiter Removal when Cyber Dragon attacked. A main phase two Ring of Destruction finished off the duel.
"Thanks for a great deck, by the way," said Nick before starting us up for game 3. He did so with Destiny Draw, discarding Destiny Hero — Malicious. Malicious was removed to find his twin, and Nick set two spell or trap cards. During T's draw phase, he activated Trap Dustshoot and chose Sangan over Destiny Hero — Fear Monger. T played Confiscation, revealing Nick’s hand of Destiny Draw, Cyber Dragon, Brain Control, and Pot of Avarice. Nick's Cyber Dragon was discarded, and T summoned the Fear Monger to attack Malicious. After setting a back row card, play was back to Nick.
He special summoned his last Malicious by removing one from his graveyard and played the topdecked Reinforcement of the Army to fetch Elemental Hero Stratos. Stratos turned into Destiny Hero — Dasher, which was promptly discarded to Destiny Draw. Stratos attacked Fear Monger, and Malicious got in directly. T played Snatch Steal on Elemental Hero Stratos, but Nick chained Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell, discarding Brain Control. T set another back row card before ending his turn. Nick used Dasher's graveyard effect when he drew Destiny Hero — Fear Monger and special summoned him. T played Threatening Roar before Nick could enter battle, and Nick set a monster before passing.
T flipped Call of the Haunted on his turn and brought back the Fear Monger, which didn't last long as he was tributed for Destiny Hero — Dasher. Nick flip summoned Card Trooper on his turn, activated Brain Control to steal Dasher. He tributed Fear Monger to pump Dasher and activated Pot of Avarice, shuffling back all five monsters in his graveyard before drawing two cards. He drew into Mystical Space Typhoon, and that sealed the match.
Nick Langella defeats Theerasak Poonsombat with his own creation 2-1 to move on to the semifinals!