Welcome to the first, and likely only, feature match of the event that contains absolutely no combo decks. Brain Long is playing an aggressive Gadget build with 3 copies each of Card Trader and Shrink while Anthony is playing a fairly standard Monarch build with 6 Monarchs, 3 Gravekeeper’s Spy and 3 Hydrogeddon.
After some problems with procuring dice for a roll, Phillip won it with a 6 and opted to start. He opened up with a set to each zone and passed over to Long, who started off with a Green Gadget to fetch a Red one. He then activated Card Trader and set a spell or trap before ending. Unfortunately for him, he played straight into Anthony’s set Heavy Storm, and Long lost Sakuretsu Armor and the Trader. Anthony flipped Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive and summoned Hydrogeddon. The ‘Geddon blew the Gadget away and replicated itself, allowing the second copy and Dekoichi to hit directly.
Long had a Hydrogeddon of his own next turn and crashed it into Anthony’s Dekoichi to pull another from his deck. The second Hydro rammed into Anthony’s second Hydro, and Long set a spell or trap. Phillip attacked his remaining Hydro into Long’s, activating Enemy Controller to switch it to defense and allow him to pull his third copy of the Dinosaur. It attacked directly and Anthony set a monster before passing. Long was faced with a tough situation at this point. He summoned Banisher of the Radiance and attacked Phillip’s set Gravekeeper’s Spy! The Spy brought another copy of itself to the field, and Long passed his turn. A Spy was tributed for Thestalos, discarding Yellow Gadget out of Long’s hand and out of play, and Phillip’s monsters were then free to attack for game! Phillip Anthony scores a definitive victory in game 1!
Both players went into their side decks between games and shuffled up in silence. Long seemed somewhat demoralized by the beatings rained down on him by Hydrogeddon in that last game, but he’d need to keep his head in this game if he wanted to win. It was Long’s turn to start, and he opened up with Red Gadget to fetch Yellow Gadget. He then set a spell or trap and passed to Phillip who summoned Cyber Dragon and attacked. Long used Shrink in the damage step to reduce the Dragon to 1050 ATK, and the Gadget took it down with ease! Phillip used Confiscation in main phase two to reveal 2 Smashing Ground, Neo-Spacian Grand Mole, Solemn Judgment, and the searched out Yellow Gadget. Phillip had Enemy Controller, Spirit Reaper, Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch, and Gravekeeper’s Spy, but he chose to discard Long’s only Gadget rather than Grand Mole! He then set a card to each zone intending to block the Mole’s attack with Enemy Controller.
Long summoned the Mole and attacked, and Phillip’s Controller blocked it. The Gadget then attacked and revealed the Gravekeeper’s Spy dealing a little damage to Long and allowing a second Spy to hit the field. Long dropped both copies of Smashing Ground to clear Phillip’s field, and Phillip had one of his own. He then set Spirit Reaper and passed back to Long who had drawn himself a Green Gadget to go fetch Red. Not pitching the Mole with Confiscation was really coming back to bite him as Reaper was returned to his hand and the Green Gadget attacked him directly. Long passed over to Phillip who simply re-set the Reaper before ending. Once again, the Mole bounced Reaper and Green Gadget swung directly. Phillip could only set monsters that Grand Mole would just bounce back to his hand, but this time Long didn’t re-summon the Mole. He played a second Green Gadget to fetch Red Gadget, and Nobleman of Crossout finally removed the Reaper from play. Phillip had one more turn to come up with something, but drawing a second Monarch sealed the game for Long! A bad decision on Confiscation allows Brian Long to dominate game 2 and push this match to third, deciding game!
Phillip would be starting game 3, and he opened up with a set to each zone. Long started with Green Gadget to fetch Red Gadget and attacked. He ran straight into Legendary Jujitsu Master, and the Gadget bounced to his deck! Smashing Ground took down the Master in main phase two, and Long set a spell or trap before passing. Phillip simply passed his turn, and Long summoned his Red Gadget to get a Yellow one. He now had at least two Gadgets in his hand, and the Red Gadget attacked directly. During the end phase, Mystical Space Typhoon took out Long’s set Solemn Judgment allowing Phillip to make a play with Hydrogeddon in the next turn! Hydrogeddon blasted the Red Gadget allowing another copy to come into play and attack directly. Phillip set a spell or trap and passed back to Long who summoned his own ‘Geddon and attacked. Shrink in the damage step allowed Long to keep his Hydro alive and well, and allowed it to pull another copy from the deck. The second one rammed into Phillip’s other one, and Long passed with no backfield. Phillip had the third Hydrogeddon in his hand, and he contemplated his next move.
Eventually, Phillip decided to activate Snatch Steal on the Hydrogeddon and summoned his third Hydrogeddon to press for damage. Long had his third Hydrogeddon in hand as well, and he summoned it and stole Phillip’s Hydrogeddon with Snatch Steal. The stolen Hydrogeddons went to trade blows, but Enemy Controller kept the stolen Hydrogeddons on the field. Long then decided to trade his own Hydrogeddon for the one Phillip stole from him, and he then ended his turn. Phillip set a card to each zone, and in the next turn Long summoned Banisher of the Radiance and attacked into Treeborn Frog with Hydrogeddon, removing it from play! Phillip had a Sakuretsu Armor, but using it on the ‘Geddon wouldn’t have saved his Frog due to Long’s attack order! Sakuretsu Armor blew away the Banisher and Long set a spell or trap before ending. Phillip was stuck with a Monarch filled hand, and he set his draw for the turn and passed over to Long, who summoned a Gadget only to have it nailed by Pulling the Rug. He passed his next turn and another Gadget came out to play. Things were looking bad for Phillip, but he topdecked Cyber Dragon and tributed it for Mobius to clear Long’s backfield and retrieve his Hydrogeddon. The two monsters attacked for 4000, and Long couldn’t believe what was happening! He summoned a Red Gadget to get a Yellow Gadget and set a spell or trap before passing. Mobius attacked it in the next turn, and Long contemplated flipping Shrink. It wouldn’t matter though, as Hydrogeddon still had enough ATK to end the game. Phillip Anthony advances to the Semifinals for a chance at a Crush Card Virus!