David Javery has a secret. A secret that could completely destroy Jake McNeely. These two go to local tournaments together at Cosmic Comics, and neither one really wants to play the other. David is a member of Team Inevitable, while Jake is part of Team Outphase. Similarly, neither player wants to lose, and that guarantees us a match filled with emotion and excitement. There was plenty of joking around as the players shuffled up, and McNeely won the opening roll 5 to 3.
Jake started the game off with a set to each zone and passed over to Javery. He considered his options very carefully before playing Swords of Revealing Light to reveal Jake’s set Don Zaloog. Another spell or trap joined the Swords, and play passed back to McNeely. He set a second spell or trap and passed once more. David was content to sit behind his Swords however, and Jake decided that he’d wait things out as well. With one turn to go on Swords, Javery passed once more to Jake, who set a monster and ended.
“It’d be so dirty if you flipped Heavy Storm,” remarked Jake, but David didn’t have it. He set another spell or trap and passed over to Jake who considered the possibility of David playing Dark World. He attacked with Don anyway, and decided to drop the top 2 cards of Javery’s deck. Dark World Dealings and Cyber Dragon hit the graveyard, and now Jake was certain of it. It was confirmed for the rest of the viewers when Brron, Mad King of Dark World hit the table next turn and fell into a Bottomless Trap Hole. It was immediately followed by The Cheerful Coffin, discarding two Sillvas and a Goldd bringing them all to the field. Goldd struck down Don, and a Sillva attacked the face down. Jake tried Sakuretsu Armor, but Deck Devastation Virus was chained wiping Jake’s hand of Mystic Tomato and Spirit Reaper. His set D. D. Assailant was safe however, and the second Sillva had to attack it.
On the first turn of Deck Devastation Virus, Jake drew a Zaborg and then summoned Cyber Dragon. It was immediately blown away by Ring of Destruction, and Jake had to go to plan B. Plan B was Reinforcement of the Army, and he used it to take a D. D. Assailant. He summoned the Assailant and activated Smashing Ground leaving David open to a direct attack. He took the damage, but Brron came down next turn and attacked into the Assailant, and allowing Javery to drop a Goldd! Goldd hit the field and Jake topdecked a Nobleman of Crossout, forcing him to pass his turn. In the next turn, Jake was forced to scoop as a Dark World Dealings allowed David to drop another Goldd on to the field! David Javery takes game 1 with a flurry of Dark World monsters and a Deck Devastation Virus!
Between games the players chatted on the viability of Dark World in the format as Jake lamented having to deal with 5 huge Dark World monsters in such a short game. McNeely thought very long and very hard over his side deck choices. Banisher of the Radiance would be really good right now, but was he packing it in his side deck?
Jake started off game 2 with Reinforcement of the Army for D. D. Assailant. His hand was remarkably similar to the first game, and hopefully this time it wouldn’t be eliminated by Javery’s Virus cards. Cyber Dragon and Nobleman of Crossout hit the field on David’s side and Jake took 2100 to the face. He then drew into Treeborn Frog and pondered his options. He had a Snatch Steal that could allow him to get Jinzo out, but he decided instead to destroy Cyber Dragon with Smashing Ground and set his Treeborn Frog, now safe from Crossout. David dropped another Cyber Dragon and attacked the Frog, which came back again next turn.
Jake’s second Assailant was summoned and he stole Cyber Dragon with Snatch Steal. Both monsters attacked and Jake set a spell or trap before passing. David drew, gained his life points from the Snatch Steal, and then activated Dark World Lightning on Jake’s set Sakuretsu Armor. This facilitated the summon of Sillva, which attacked the errant Cyber Dragon. At this point, it was likely that a Virus was coming, and David set a second spell or trap. Jake had the answer, though in the form of Jinzo! Frog was tributed for Jinzo and the android took down Sillva, opening a path for Jake’s Assailant. David took a quick look at his cards, and scooped the game shortly afterward. This match between friends was going to game 3!
The players side decked once again, with Jake McNeely looking very intently at his side deck cards. David would get the option to begin the all-important final game of the match, and the players shook hands before beginning. David started things off with a set card and Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird, gaining 2500 life points! McNeely started off with a Cyber Dragon which elicited Javery to flip Waboku for fear of Jinzo. A set monster joined the Dragon, along with a set spell or trap and Jake passed over to David. David gained 1500 more life points before switching his monster to defense. Dark World Dealings hit the field and Jake McNeely chained by flipping Royal Oppression. A good move, but not good enough as the card David discarded was Kahkki, Guerilla of Dark World. McNeely had a D.D. Crow, but he had yet to discard for the Dealings and it wasn’t going to do him any good anyway. David was at 12000 life points at this point giving him plenty of ammunition to use Jake’s own Oppression against him should more Cyber Dragons come knocking. The ruling on Kahkki was appealed to see if Crow could negate it, but the ruling on the field was upheld. Crow was discarded to Dealings, and Spirit Reaper was destroyed by Kahkki. Air Hummingbird left the field in favor of a normal summoned Goldd, which defeated the Cyber Dragon.
David ended his turn by setting a new spell or trap and passed over to Jake. Jake needed to not get hit by Deck Devastation Virus, but, luckily for him, David didn’t have it. D. D. Warrior Lady came down, along with a Smashing Ground, and allowed Jake to get rid of Goldd without incurring the wrath of a trap. A second spell or trap hit Javery’s field in addition to a set monster and play passed to McNeely. He set a Sangan and attacked with the Warrior Lady, hitting Mirror Force. David flipped Stealth Bird for 1000 damage and then flipped it back down before summoning Brron. Brron hit into Sangan, and Jake searched his deck for an answer. He settled on Legendary Jujitsu Master and David decided to ask the judge a question. He got the answer he was looking for, and activated Card Destruction! Jake drew into a Cyber Dragon and Premature Burial, two useless cards considering his face up Oppression! He set D. D. Assailant and ended his turn. David blasted him for 1000 damage with Stealth Bird leaving him with 5800 to David’s 11500 and Brron hit into a set Assailant. Jake finally drew a Banisher, but it wasn’t exactly helpful yet. Jake tried to sneak a Cyber Dragon by David, but he was quickly denied. He set his freshly drawn Banisher of the Radiance and ended his turn.
David dealt the free damage from Stealth Bird again and passed. Jake was forced to destroy his own Oppression with Mystical Space Typhoon in order to let him activate Premature Burial, but Twister from David destroyed it on the chain! McNeely was visibly frustrated and activated his topdecked Reinforcement of the Army for an Exiled Force. Torrential Tribute cleared the field, however, and play passed back to David. He needed 2000 damage to win the game, but ended up only passing. Jake summoned Banisher of the Radiance and landed a successful attack! The Banisher was going to cause some serious problems for David if he couldn’t get rid of it, but he seemed confident that he was up to the task. Unfortunately for David, he had to pass again without taking action. Those life points from Hummingbird were sure paying off now!
Speaking of, he summoned another Hummingbird to gain 500 life points before passing over to Jake. Jake topdecked into Snatch Steal and took the Hummingbird! Things were going downhill fast for David as Jake suddenly was in total control of the game! David gained his life points from Snatch Steal and Jake began to bounce happily in his seat. Dark World Dealings hit the field and Jake chained another Oppression. At this point, the score was now 4500 to 5100 in David’s favor, but that’s about all he had going or him. He set the rest of his hand after both players discarded, leaving him with 3 set spells or traps. At this point, time in the round was up, but the players received a two minute extension for the earlier rules question. Waboku saved David some damage, and he gained some more life points. Mystical Space Typhoon destroyed Royal Oppression, and Cyber Dragon came down on David’s side of the field. He needed to avoid being hit by any sort of removal, but he chanced the attack into Hummingbird. It went through, dropping McNeely even further behind in the damage race! At this point, time ran out once again and we were into the end of match procedure.
McNeely had a Smashing Ground in hand, and he used it to destroy the Cyber Dragon. David still didn’t have a defense, and he was forced to take a Banisher hit dropping him to 4500 to Jake’s 3700. David then took his first turn, and used it to set a defensive monster. Jake considered his move, and decided to flip Treeborn Frog and attack into David’s monster! It was Morphing Jar, and it cost him some life points, but it let him draw into Enemy Controller! Enemy Controller took the Morphing Jar out of the way and allowed another hit! Jake set his whole hand and passed to David who would have the final turn. He dropped 3 Dark World Lightnings destroying a Mystic Tomato, Smashing Ground, and Torrential Tribute. Unfortunately he missed Jake’s Mirror Force, which he flipped during battle to end the game! Jake McNeely wins an absolutely brilliant match, all without having to face the wrath of David Javery’s Crush Card Virus!