Samantha Randall plays for Team Hybrid, and is running a Giant Rat Toolbox deck that has garnered a lot of attention here today. The twenty year-old hails from Massachusetts, and was 6-1 moving into this round.
Her opponent, Jeiby Vizcaino is also twenty years old, and plays for Team Tragedy in New Jersey. He’s 6-1 with a potent Gladiator Beast build that’s also attracted audiences this weekend. Neither of these duelists really knew what they were in for, so this promised to be an entertaining match.
Randall won the roll and opened with a set monster, then set two cards to her back row. She flipped Trap Dustshoot on the following turn, and revealed Vizcaino’s hand of Smashing Ground, two Solemn Judgment, Gladiator Beast’s Respite, Gladiator Beast Bestiari, and Gladiator Beast Darius. She chose to send Darius back to her opponent’s deck, leaving Vizcaino to attack with Bestiari. Bestiari nailed Randall’s face-down Treeborn Frog, and since he couldn’t summon another Bestiari, Vizcaino special summoned Gladiator Beast Secutor. He set both Solemn Judgments and ended.
Randall had Lightning Vortex, but was fully aware of her opponent’s Solemn Judgments. She summoned Giant Rat, drawing out one Solemn, then set a second card to her back row. Secutor attacked next turn, Randall flipped Mirror Force, and the second Solemn negated it as well. Jeiby brought out Bestiari to destroy Randall’s Enemy Controller, then Laquari. He traded all three for Gladiator Beast Heraklinos in main phase 2. Randall borrowed it to read it for a moment, and gave a curse. She drew for her turn, special summoned Treeborn Frog in defense mode, and set a monster.
Heraklinos ran over the set monster, but it was Nimble Momonga! Randall special summoned another from her deck, betraying the other copy that must have been in her hand. She set another monster and ended.
Heraklinos picked off the Momonga that had been special summoned last turn, and Randall gained another 1000 life points. The duel stood at 9600 to 2000. “Pass,” stated Vizcaino. Randall set a card to her back row and ended. Heraklinos attacked Frog, Randall responded with Ceasefire, and Vizcaino discarded Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror to negate it. She brought back the Frog on her next turn and passed, still not relenting.
Gladiator Beast’s Respite let Vizcaino send Gladiator Beast Darius and another Respite back to his deck. “How many cards in your hand now?” asked Randall. “Six?” Vizcaino nodded.
He summoned Gladiator Beast Laquari, then wiped out Randall’s remaining Momonga and Treeborn Frog. Vizcaino traded Laquari for Secutor again, and then set one card to his back row. “Pass.”
Randall brought that Frog to the field yet again, and activated Foolish Burial — Vizcaino didn’t choose to negate it. She tossed Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest to her graveyard, then activated Pot of Avarice — that one Vizcaino opted to negate, discarding Heavy Storm for Heraklinos. Randall activated Monster Reborn, brought back Green Baboon, and attacked Secutor, but was denied by Enemy Controller. Next turn Secutor attacked the Treeborn Frog, Heraklinos attacked Green Baboon, and Secutor fetched Darius and Laquari. Darius, Laquari, and Secutor then traded off for a second copy of Heraklinos! If Vizcaino didn’t have control of the game before, he most certainly did now.
Randall special summoned Treeborn Frog, tried to activate Creature Swap, and knew the negation was coming. Vizcaino summoned Laquari, attacked Treeborn Frog, and then attacked directly with both copies of Heraklinos. Laquari became Hoplomus and play was back to Randall.
She summoned Neo-Spacian Grand Mole! Grand Mole attacked one Heraklinos, but next turn Vizcaino had Test Tiger. He special summoned it, cycled away his Hoplomus for Secutor, attacked Treeborn Frog, then sent Heraklinos for another direct attack. Moments later he had a second Heraklinos on the field again. A turn later it was over.
Jeiby Vizcaino takes the first duel with little trouble, going off early and controlling the game with Heraklinos. Randall started perusing her side deck. It came out during the match that she was unfamiliar with Gladiator Beasts, so drawing the match out had been a smart move; it gave her a chance to see what she was up against.
She opened game 2 with a set card to each zone. Play was to Vizcaino, who activated Gladiator Beast’s Respite to send Darius and Hoplomus back to his deck. He drew his three, summoned Darius, and then special summoned Test Tiger. Test Tiger was tributed immediately, sending Darius back to the deck to bring out Bestiari. It targeted Randall’s set spell or trap, but it was Book of Moon, and she chained it to turn Bestiari face down! Still, Monster Reborn brought back Test Tiger, and Vizcaino traded out his face-down Bestiari for Secutor. Secutor attacked, hit Randall’s face-down Giant Rat, and Secutor then brought out Laquari and Murmillo. Murmillo destroyed Giant Rat, and all three Gladiator Beasts were then removed for Gladiator Beast Heraklinos.
Vizcaino had three cards remaining in hand to Randall’s four, so he passed immediately. She drew a fifth and considered her options: “Wow.” She special summoned Cyber Dragon, normal summoned Grand Mole, and attacked with the Mole! Heraklinos was bounced away and Cyber Dragon attacked directly! Randall ended her turn by setting a spell or trap.
Vizcaino activated Smashing Ground next turn to get rid of Cyber Dragon, and then attacked directly with Laquari; Randall flipped Enemy Controller to stop the attack. Vizcaino set a spell or trap and ended, left with just one card in hand.
Randall set a monster, and Vizcaino set a second spell or trap before summoning Sangan. Laquari attacked, hit Randall’s Spirit Reaper, and traded out for Murmillo to destroy it. “Pass.” With no cards in hand, Vizcaino clearly wasn’t going to be able to win with Heraklinos.
Randall set one card to her back row, and flipped it next turn: Threatening Roar. Vizcaino passed. Randall summoned Snipe Hunter, but Vizcaino activated Solemn Judgment to negate it. That left Randall shuffling her hand and shaking her head, before setting one spell or trap.
Murmillo and Sangan both attacked next turn, and Murmillo was traded for Bestiari — that cost Randall her bluffed Lightning Vortex. Next turn she summoned Grand Mole, attacked and bounced Bestiari, and ended. Vizcaino was going to win through pure beatdown. He summoned Bestiari next turn, attacked with Bestiari and Sangan, then special summoned Laquari with 2100 ATK in place of Bestiari.
Randall special summoned Cyber Dragon next turn, then tributed it for Raiza the Storm Monarch. She targeted Laquari with Raiza’s effect, and then attacked Sangan to press through 1400 damage. The duel stood at 3700 to 1025 in Randall’s favor.
Sangan fetched Vizcaino a copy of Bestiari, and Randall activated Pot of Avarice to try and send all five of her in-graveyard monsters back to her deck: Vizcaino responded with D.D. Crow, removing Randall’s Giant Rat from play and keeping her from resolving Pot. Next turn, Vizcaino activated Ojama Trio! He summoned Bestiari, attacked a Token and special summoned Murmillo in defense mode: Raiza was destroyed. Randall set a monster next turn as time was called.
Lightning Vortex let Vizcaino wipe away Randall’s Ojama Tokens, and he summoned Bestiari — it attacked into Nimble Momonga! Randall lengthened her life point lead, Murmillo attacked one of the two resulting Momongas, and Vizcaino cycled away both Gladiator Beasts for two copies of Laquari.
Next turn, Randall set a second monster and ended. Laquari attacked Sangan, Randall pulled Marshmallon with its effect, and the other Laquari smashed Momonga. There was no way Vizcaino was winning on this turn, so the match moved to a third game with sudden death!
Each duelist would get to play just two turns. At the end of four turns total, whoever had the most life points would win. Vizcaino opted to play second, giving Randall the opening and an extra card, but only one turn on which to attack.
Randall drew, set one card to her back row and shook her head, visibly unhappy with her draws. Vizcaino summoned Hoplomus, special summoned Test Tiger, and tributed it to trade Hoplomus for Bestiari — it targeted Randall’s Enemy Controller, which she chained to turn Bestiari to defense mode!
But Vizcaino wasn’t done. He activated Monster Reborn, brought back Test Tiger, and tributed it again, this time to get Secutor. Secutor poked for a few hundred damage, and then brought out Heraklinos. Vizcaino set a spell or trap to end, seemingly locking the match.
Randall activated Heavy Storm: Vizcaino discarded Rescue Cat to negate it. She discarded Green Baboon for Lightning Vortex, and Vizcaino discarded his last card to negate that too. Randall set one monster and ended, with nothing else but two cards in hand. All Vizcaino had to do was pass his next turn. Since he was up 400 life points, he’d win automatically.
He summoned Laquari instead. He attacked and hit Randall’s face-down monster . . .
. . . It was Nimble Momonga! Randall went to 8600 life points: 600 more than Vizcaino! Heraklinos hadn’t attacked, but there was no way he was going to punch through both Momongas and deal enough damage to save the situation.
A huge lapse in judgment gives Samantha Randall this match on a silver platter! She moves on with a 7-1 record, two matches away from becoming the second female duelist to make Day 2 at a Shonen Jump Championship.