Maurice “Kacey” Cariasco, 21 year old member of Team OTK from Kent, Washington faced off against 14 year old Erik Scott of Edmonds, Washington in a battle for local supremacy. Both players were eager to get going, and, despite a relaxed attitude, they were clearly taking the game seriously.

As Simon Choy made the opening announcements, they shuffled and readied their decks. Kacey flashed his side deck at Erik. “Newdoria’s in the side deck,” he said. They shook hands, shuffled each others decks and then were ready to go. “Good luck,” Kacey said to Erik.

They rolled for first, each getting a three. One more time, they each got a four. “So we’ll do this for thirty minutes,” Kacey remarked, before rolling a two to Erik’s three. Erik would go first.

Both players drew carefully, counting out their cards. Erik drew his card, looked through his hand and thought. He set one monster — Treeborn Frog — and then looked through his spells before setting Heavy Storm. “Go ahead,” he said.

Kacey drew, looked through his cards and thought. Then, he activated Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Erik’s Heavy Storm. Then, he played Confiscation. He looked over Erik’s hand — Exiled Force, Nobleman of Crossout, Premature Burial, and Call of the Haunted. “Premat,” he decided, sending it to the graveyard. He summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, attacked the Treeborn, removed both, then set a spell or trap, and ended his turn.

Erik drew, set one spell or trap, and ended. Kacey drew. “I forgot your hand already,” he declared. He summoned Don Zaloog and attacked, dishing out 1400 damage. He reached towards Erik’s hand, muttering “Do not pick Nobleman, do not pick Nobleman,” and picked — you guessed it, Nobleman of Crossout.

Erik drew, took out Kacey’s set spell or trap with Mystical Space Typhoon, then summoned Exiled Force and tributed it to destroy D. D. Warrior Lady. He then activated Last Will, bringing out Spirit Reaper, and attacked. Kacey lost 300 life points and a Smashing Ground from his hand.

Kacey drew, activated Premature Burial, and fetched back Don Zaloog. He attacked, and had Erik discard the top two cards from his deck. Life points were now Kacey — 5900 and Erik — 5500. Announcing his Main Phase 2, Kacey summoned Exiled Force, tributed it to remove Spirit Reaper, and ended his turn.

Erik asked for a life point check. “Did you draw a Stein?” Kacey asked. “No,” Erik responded. Erik drew, and activated Call of the Haunted to kill off Don Zaloog, and then ended his turn. Neither player had a hand at this point, and Kacey drew, and summoned his freshly-drawn D. D. Assailant — only to lose it to Erik’s Bottomless Trap Hole. Erik drew, summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, and attacked. Kacey drew, set a monster, and ended.

Erik summoned Mystic Tomato, and attacked Kacey’s set Dekoichi with his D. D. Warrior Lady. Declining to remove them, he allowed Kacey to draw a card. Then he attacked directly with Tomato. Kacey drew, set a spell or trap, and ended his turn. Erik drew, looked through Kacey’s graveyard, and then attacked directly with D. D. Warrior Lady. Kacey flipped up his set to reveal Mirror Force! “I had a feeling about that,” said Erik.

Kacey drew, and activated Graceful Charity. He was back in the game with a hand. He looked through his graveyard, and agonized a bit, shaking his head as he discarded Jinzo and Reinforcement of the Army. He set a monster and ended his turn. Erik drew, and thought for a moment. Looking at the two cards in his hand, he finally selected one and summoned it — Breaker the Magical Warrior. He attacked Erik’s face down Dekoichi, and Kacey drew another card. Erik ended his turn.

Kacey drew and special summoned Cyber Dragon, following it up with a normal summon of Spirit Reaper. “I’ll set a bluff,” he announced, putting a spell or trap card on the field, “Your turn.” Erik mimicked him. “Set a bluff,” he said, plunking down another spell or trap, “Your turn.”

Kacey drew, turned his Spirit Reaper to defense, and attacked with Cyber Dragon, right into the “bluff” — Sakuretsu Armor. “That wasn’t a bluff!” he tsked. Erik drew, and activated Confiscation, taking the last card in Kacey’s hand — Exiled Force. Kacey drew, and ended. Erik drew, set a spell or trap, and ended.

Kacey drew, and tributed his Reaper for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, attacking directly for 2400. Erik drew, revealed the card — his own Zaborg — and admitted defeat. “It was only the first game,” Kacey said.

Game 2

After wishing each other luck, they began. Erik went first, picking up five cards then drawing to start his turn. “Don’t start with Confi,” Kacey said. Erik set a monster, then one spell or trap card and ended his turn. Kacey counted out his hand, drew his card, and special summoned Cyber Dragon, followed by a normal summoned Sangan. He attacked Erik’s set with the Dragon — it was Sangan! Erik searched out Mystic Tomato. “So you didn’t side in Banisher,” Kacey mused. Kacey attacked directly with Sangan, set one spell or trap card, and ended.

Erik drew, summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, and attacked Sangan, removing both monsters from play. He set one spell trap and ended, with life points at Kacey — 7500 and Erik 7000.

Kacey drew and looked through his hand, considering his options. He studied the field briefly. “Tough choice,” he murmured. He attacked with the Dragon. “Ring it,” Erik responded, flipping up his set Ring of Destruction and dishing out a mutual 2100 in damage. “I’m still in battle phase,” he said, activating Call of the Haunted to bring back the Cyber Dragon and attacking again. “Main phase 2,” he said, setting another monster. “Your turn.”

Erik drew, and activated Nobleman of Crossout, taking out Kacey’s Dekoichi. Life points were now at Kacey 5400 and Erik 2800. “Creature Swap,” said Erik, placing it on the field. He swapped his Mystic Tomato for Kacey’s Cyber Dragon, and attacked the Tomato to bring out Don Zaloog. He attacked with Don, taking Kacey’s Reinforcement of the Army. Life points were trickling away — Kacey was at 3300 and Erik at 2800.

Kacey drew, summoned D. D. Assailant and attacked Don. “Set a bluff and end,” he said. Erik drew, tributed Don Zaloog to bring out Zaborg. “Nice,” said Kacey, and Erik attacked directly. “You’re at 900,” he said. “I am?” Kacey went back to review his math with the table judge. “Oh, I missed Don,” he said, making the correction. He special summoned Cyber Dragon in defense position, set another monster, and ended his turn.

Erik drew, and used Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Kacey’s set Premature Burial. He summoned D. D. Assailant, attacked the set, and attacked the Dragon with Zaborg. Kacey drew, looked at his card, and conceded. He picked up his deck. “Look what was on the bottom!” he declared, showing Graceful Charity.

The match was tied at 1-1, so they readied themselves for game 3.

Game 3

Kacey went first, counting out his hand. “Good luck,” he said. “Good luck,” Erik responded. He drew his first card, and then quickly set a monster and a spell or trap. He moved to set another, hesitated, and changed his mind. “Go ahead,” he said. Erik drew, summoned D. D. Warrior Lady — and lost it to Kacey’s Bottomless Trap Hole. He set a spell or trap card and ended his turn.

Kacey drew, flip summoned Mystic Tomato, and attacked directly, then set a spell or trap card and ended his turn. Erik set a monster and another spell or trap card and ended. Kacey drew, and thought for a moment before activating Nobleman of Crossout on Erik’s Sangan. He then attacked with Mystic Tomato, triggering Erik’s Scapegoat. He destroyed a Sheep token, set a monster, and ended his turn.

Erik drew, and looked through Kacey’s graveyard before summoning Exiled Force to kill off Kacey’s set Dekoichi. Kacey drew, and frowned slightly as he reviewed his options. He took out another Sheep token, set a spell or trap, and ended his turn. Erik drew, crushed Kacey’s Tomato with Smashing Ground, and ended his turn.

Kacey special summoned Cyber Dragon, and killed off yet another Sheep token before ending his turn. Erik set a monster — Magician of Faith — and ended his turn. Kacey drew, and hesitated over a monster set. He decided instead to attack the last remaining Sheep token, then tributed the Dragon for Zaborg, to destroy the set Magician. “Your turn,” he said.

Erik special summoned his own Cyber Dragon and tributed it for Mobius, targeting Kacey’s two set spells or traps. Kacey chained Torrential Tribute, and then chained Mystical Space Typhoon to completely clear out Erik’s field, removing the threat of Mirror Force. Erik set another spell or trap, and ended his turn.

Kacey, with nothing on the field, looked through his graveyard. He activated Premature Burial, to bring Zaborg back. Life points were now Kacey — 7200 and Erik — 6600. He attacked, set a spell or trap, and ended his turn. Erik set a monster and ended his turn.

Kacey drew, and summoned Cyber-Stein, and paid 5000 to bring out Cyber Twin Dragon. He activated Creature Swap, handing over his face up Cyber-Stein for Erik’s set — Cyber-Stein! “Good game,” said Erik, holding out his hand.

Kacey was moving on to the semifinals.