The Chain Strike decks have attracted a lot of attention this weekend, and seeing a pair of them make it to the Top 8 had a lot of people looking forward to the Top 8 and wondering how the deck would fare. This quarterfinal match would pit Geoffrey Fisicaro’s Chain Strike deck against David Rodriguez’s lockdown-flavored Cyber-Stein OTK. Either way, these duels were going to be over quickly!

Table judge Josh began with a rules rundown, drawing a “Yeah, what is this Yu-Gi-Oh!?” from David. He reminded each player to see if his opponent wished to respond before proceeding with a chain, then let them roll for first.

Geoffrey won the roll, and chose to open the game. He drew, glanced quickly through his hand and deliberately set five spell or trap cards, one after the other. “Go,” he said. David drew, and summoned Nimble Momonga. Geoffrey flipped up Poison of the Old Man, choosing to deal 800 damage to David. Since David had no response, he then chained Secret Barrel, followed by Reckless Greed, Chain Strike, and another Secret Barrel. In one chain, he’d dropped David to 3200 life points.

David activated Confiscation, losing another thousand life points, and looked over Geoffrey’s hand. He read the text on Outstanding Dog Marron, then considered his other options — Just Desserts and Sangan. He decided to send Just Desserts to the graveyard, then equipped Megamorph to his Nimble Momonga and attacked.

Geoffrey set a monster and ended his turn. David summoned Exiled Force, and tributed it to destroy the set monster — Sangan. Geoffrey searched out Morphing Jar, and David attacked with the Momonga. Geoffrey drew and passed, and David summoned Spirit Reaper then attacked with both. Life points were now Geoffrey — 1400, and David — 2200. Geoffrey drew, looked at his hand and the field, and conceded the game.

Game 2

Both players went through their side decks, smoke-screening to preserve an advantage. “Please, let him side in Stein,” David prayed fervently. “That’s what smoke-screen is for!” Geoffrey responded. The table judge asked them to count out their sides, and, once he’d verified fifteen cards for each, they continued.

“I’ll go first,” Geoffrey declared. He drew, summoned Sangan, then set a spell or trap. He set another then hesitated, and took it back. “Go,” he said.

“Yes! He played Stein!” David cheered. He drew, looked over his hand, set a Nimble Momonga and two spell or traps and ended his turn. Geoffrey drew, set a spell or trap, and ended his turn. “Go ahead,” he said.

David set a monster and ended. Geoffrey drew, and activated Tremendous Fire. “You take 500, right?” David asked as he drew. After he took his card, Geoffrey stopped him — “In your draw phase, I activate Ojama Trio,” he said, flipping the card face up. David had no response, and his remaining monster zones were overtaken with creepy little Ojamas. David shuffled through his hand and considered his options before setting one spell or trap and ending his turn.

Geoffrey drew, set two more spell or traps, and ended. David drew, and Geoffrey activated Just Desserts, then Secret Barrel, bringing the life point totals to David — 2100 and Geoffrey 7500. David checked his set monsters, and then flip summoned Sangan and Nimble Momonga. Geoffrey responded by activating Threatening Roar, and David ended his turn.

Geoffrey activated Heavy Storm, and David checked his set cards. He flipped up Poison of the Old Man. “Which effect?” asked the table judge. “I’ll do 800,” he replied. He flipped up another. “800,” he said. He flipped up Ceasefire. Life points were now David — 2100 and Geoffrey — 5200. Geoffrey activated his own Poison of the Old Man to dish 800 back to David, then set two spell or traps and ended his turn.

David drew a card, and Geoffrey activated Just Desserts for game. At 1-1, it was time for game 3.

Game 3

After another smoke-screen side deck and card count, they got started. David went first — he drew, looked quickly over his hand, set a monster and two spell or traps and ended.

Geoffrey drew, and activated Graceful Charity. He mulled over his discards, choosing Gravity Bind. David watched intently as he finally settled on Magic Cylinder for his second card. He set one spell or trap, then another, then another, and another. He looked at his hand, set a final spell or trap, and summoned Sangan. With no cards left in hand, he attacked David’s set monster — Stealth Bird.

David drew, flipped Stealth Bird face-down, then face-up to burn away some of Geoffrey’s life points. He activated Wave-Motion Cannon, set a spell or trap card, a monster, and ended his turn.

Geoffrey drew, and activated Reckless Greed. He resolved it, and then activated Jar of Greed. He took a card. He activated Poison of the Old Man, dealing 800 damage, then another, dealing another 800 damage. Life points were now David — 6400 and Geoffrey — 6300. Geoffrey attacked the Stealth Bird, and David responded with Ring of Destruction to destroy Sangan. Geoffrey searched out Morphing Jar, then set a monster and three spell or traps and ended his turn.

David drew, and once again Geoffrey activated Ojama Trio to fill up his remaining monster zones. David counted off one turn on Wave-Motion Cannon, summoned Nimble Momonga, and flipped Stealth Bird face-down, then face-up. Life points were now David — 6400 and Geoffrey — 4300. He set one spell or trap, then attacked Geoffrey’s set monster with Momonga. Geoffrey activated [Dimenson Wall] in response. The set was Morphing Jar, and after discarding their hands and drawing five new cards, David attacked again with Stealth Bird, bringing life points to David — 6400 and Geoffrey — 3600. David sent his Wave-Motion Cannon off to the graveyard to deal another thousand, then activated Poison of the Old Man to deal out 800. He followed that with another Poison of the Old Man, and Geoffrey responded with Just Desserts. They weren’t done yet! David activated Secret Barrel, to which Geoffrey responded with his own Secret Barrel. There was a pause. “That’s still game,” David said. It was indeed. “I can’t believe I actually beat that deck,” David remarked as they gathered up their cards. “I can’t believe it either,” Geoffrey admitted. David would be headed for the semifinals.

Geoffrey would like to send a shout-out to Josh Cohen, who helped him with the deck as part of Project D.