Going into round 8, both of these players are 6-1 and need this match to stay alive. Randy is a rookie playing in his first major tournament, and Darren is a member of the relatively low profile Team Icon. Both players are hoping to put themselves on the map with a Top 8 here tonight.

Game 1

Darren won the toss, and opted to go first. He set 2 spell or trap cards and a monster before passing. Randy looked hard at the two spell or trap cards, and chose to use Mystical Space Typhoon on the right hand one, a Book of Moon. He then summoned Mystic Swordsman LV2 to take out Darren’s facedown D. D. Warrior Lady, and finally set a card. Randy’s Sakuretsu Armor was destroyed in the end phase by Darren’s facedown Mystical Space Typhoon, and in the next turn he summoned D.D. Survivor to attack the Swordsman before setting a card. Randy set one of each and passed over to Darren, who tributed his Survivor for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch. It would have gained him a nice advantage in life points over Randy if Randy’s facedown card hadn’t been Torrential Tribute. He activated it and destroyed all the monsters. He then summoned a Spirit Reaper, but it fell to Darren’s Torrential Tribute. Darren summoned a Sangan and attacked before playing Swords of Revealing Light to end his turn.

Randy destroyed the Swords with his Dust Tornado, then summoned Don Zaloog to attack Sangan and remove the Cyber Dragon from Darren’s hand. Sangan sought out Mystic Tomato, however, and next turn the Tomato rammed Don to get Darren a Don of his own. The Don attacked, dropping Mobius from Randy’s hand. Randy then summoned Blade Knight and attacked the Don, but Darren topdecked Snatch Steal to take control, and summoned a Spirit Reaper to finish clearing Randy’s hand. Both players were in topdeck mode, and Randy ripped a D. D. Assailant off the top to attack Spirit Reaper. Darren pulled a Wave-Motion Cannon, then switched the Reaper to defense. Randy was on the clock now, and he pulled a Reinforcement of the Army to fetch out Exiled Force. Exiled Force blew up Spirit Reaper, and Randy was once again left without cards.

Darren drew a useless Mobius and ended his turn. Randy set a card, and Darren responded next turn by summoning Breaker the Magical Warrior to destroy it. It was Call of the Haunted, and Randy chained to pull out Sangan. He grabbed Morphing Jar with the Sangan, but it didn’t matter, as the Cannon was big enough to end the game.

Darren-1 Randy-0

Game 2

Both players understood the importance of this match, so they opted not to banter between games and instead focused solely on their side deck choices. Darren switched up five cards, while Randy chose three. It was Randy’s choice for game 2, and he opted to start. He opened things up with a facedown monster and passed over to Randy, who summoned D. D. Assailant and attacked. It crashed into Darren’s D. D. Warrior Lady, and both were removed. Darren set a card and passed. Randy’s Mystical Space Typhoon took out Darren’s set Mystical Space Typhoon, and then Spirit Reaper paid Darren’s hand a visit, removing Premature Burial. Darren topdecked Heavy Storm, clearing out the bluff Smashing Ground, and then set a card and attacked with a freshly summoned Don Zaloog. Next turn, Heavy Storm came down on Randy’s side, taking out a Call of the Haunted and a face-down bluff. He then spent the rest of his cards to summon D.D. Survivor to attack Don, and Wave-Motion Cannon to start the clock.

Both players were now topdecking, and Darren began the festivities with a set monster. Randy attacked it with the Survivor, revealing Gravekeeper’s Spy. Spy fetched another Spy, and Randy set a card before passing back to Darren. Darren drew Swords of Revealing Light and played it, even though it did him no good in the current situation. He then tributed a Spy for Cyber Dragon and played Confiscation to relieve Randy of his Snatch Steal. Randy was back in control of the game with a Wave-Motion Cannon. Cyber Dragon attacked, but was destroyed by Sakuretsu Armor, and the game continued. Darren clearly wasn’t going to win at this point, so he cleared the field with Torrential Tribute, and passed. The Cannon went off for 6000 next turn, tying up the match 1 to 1.

Darren-1 Randy-1

Game 3

Neither player used their side deck in preparation for the crucial third game. Darren opted to go first with two spell or trap cards. Randy had the first turn Heavy Storm and played it to destroy Book of Moon and Sakuretsu Armor. He pressed the advantage with Spirit Reaper, relieving Darren of a Dust Tornado. He finished his turn with a face-down card, and passed to an already struggling Darren. Darren used Reinforcement of the Army to fetch D.D. Survivor, and he followed up by summoning it. It attacked, but was met with Book of Moon. Darren set a card and ended. Randy was really looking to let his Reaper tear apart Darren’s hand, but he simply attacked the Survivor with Spirit Reaper. He then set a monster and passed over to Darren, who used Dark Hole to clear the field. He then set a monster and the rest of his hand and passed. Randy special summoned Cyber Dragon, then tributed it for Mobius the Frost Monarch, destroying Ceasefire (which was chained) and a bluff. Mobius destroyed a defense-mode Mystic Swordsman LV2, and Randy began to press with a D. D. Assailant. Darren took the attacks for two turns before drawing a D. D. Warrior Lady and setting it. The Assailant rammed into it, and was replaced by a Survivor next turn, which attacked directly. Once again, Darren pulled a Gravekeeper’s Spy and set it. Survivor fell for it again and attacked, which allowed another Spy to hit the field. One Spy was destroyed in main phase 2 by Smashing Ground. Randy set a card leaving him with 3 spell and trap cards, and in the next turn, Darren tributed his remaining Spy for Mobius the Frost Monarch. Two of Randy’s spells and traps were Sakuretsu Armor. Unfortunately for Darren, he missed one of them with the effect of Mobius. Mobius was destroyed by Sakuretsu Armor, and next turn, Randy attacked for game.

The rookie Randy Hillabolt is still alive at 7-1!