St. Clair won the opening roll and began the match with a decisive set to each zone. Nobleman of Crossout removed his set Sand Moth from play, and Fitzgerald set a card to each zone as well. St. Clair summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, broke Sakuretsu Armor, and attacked into Sangan. Fitzgerald grabbed Magical Merchant with its effect, denying St. Clair the 2-for-1 trade that would usually come with such a scenario with Breaker. St. Clair ended his turn and Fitzgerald drew. He set two cards to his back row, then set a monster. St. Clair flipped his face down Heavy Storm, summoned Spirit Reaper, and Breaker took down Magical Merchant. Reaper hit directly and robbed Fitzgerald of Smashing Ground.

Dark Hole cleared the field for Fitzgerald, and he set a monster. He had one set monster and one card in hand to St. Clair’s set back row card and four cards in hand. Call of the Haunted brought up Breaker for St. Clair, and Breaker attacked the face down monster: Apprentice Magician. It grabbed Magician of Faith for Fitzgerald, St. Clair set a monster and passed.

Fitzgerald passed, unable to see a good move to make. St. Clair summoned Sangan, attacked Magician of Faith with it, Fitzgerald took back a spell too quickly for it to be seen, and Breaker attacked directly. Snatch Steal grabbed Breaker for Fitzgerald, and he tributed it for Thestalos. Thestalos discarded St. Clair’s Smashing Ground, then attacked and destroyed his set Sand Moth. St. Clair set a monster, Thestalos attacked it, and revealed it to be Magician of Faith. St. Clair took back Heavy Storm. Sangan went to defense position, and was destroyed by a successive attack from Thestalos. St. Clair took Tsukuyomi from his deck with Sangan’s effect, Fitzgerald set a card, and passed. St. Clair summoned Tsukuyomi, flipped Thestalos face down, and wiped it off the field with an attack.

Fitzgerald flipped his set Heavy Storm, destroying Bottomless Trap Hole and the Call of the Haunted that had remained on the field. He summoned Spirit Reaper, hit directly, and discarded St. Clair’s Reaper from his hand. Chaos Sorcerer was special summoned on St. Clair’s turn, and he removed the Reaper from play. He set a monster, set a card to his back row, and passed. Dark Hole destroyed Gravekeeper’s Spy and Chaos Sorcerer: Fitzgerald was struggling to stay alive and keep himself in the game in a mathematic sense, too. He passed with an empty field. St. Clair set a second back row card and a monster, passing right back

Another Chaos Sorcerer came down, this time on Fitzgerald’s side. He tributed it for Mobius, destroyed two of St. Clair’s back row cards, and attacked into Tsukuyomi to destroy it! Mobius went face down, but next turn all St. Clair could do was summoned and tribute Exiled Force. He passed with an open field. Fitzgerald flipped Call of the Haunted, brought back Chaos Sorcerer, attacked, and set a monster. He now had commanding control of the game!

But St. Clair fired back, taking the Sorcerer with Snatch Steal and attacking into Fitzgerald’s set. It was Magical Merchant, and it nabbed Mystical Space Typhoon for Fitzgerald! What a draw! St. Clair set a back row card and Fitzgerald drew.

Mystical Space Typhoon destroyed Snatch Steal, but when Fitzgerald looked to attack with his sorcerer Sakuretsu Armor destroyed it. He set a monster and passed. St. Clair summoned Strike Ninja and attacked the set monster, which was Treeborn Frog! He ended his turn, Frog leapt back onto the field in defense, and Fitzgerald set another monster beside it. He passed.

St. Clair attacked the face down with Strike Ninja, but found it to be Old Vindictive Magician! The Ninja went down! St. Clair set a back row card, passed, and Fitzgerald summoned Tsukuyomi. The Frog went face down, Tsukuyomi attacked, but was destroyed by Sakuretsu Armor. Fitzgerald set a spell or trap, Roy set a card to each zone, and Fitzgerald summoned Zaborg! Zaborg’s effect destroyed Roy’s set Magical Merchant, but was swallowed up by Trap Hole.

A set back row card was St. Clair’s only play at that point, and Fitzgerald passed right back. St. Clair set a monster, play moved back to Fitzgerald, and he set a second spell or trap card—he had destroyed Roy’s Heavy Storm with Mobius many turns ago. St. Clair set a second monster, Fitzgerald drew, set a third back row card, and ended his turn.

Magical Merchant flipped on St. Clair’s side of the field, netting him Jar of Greed. He flip summoned Gravekeeper’s Spy and attacked with it, prompting Fitzgerald to flip Scapegoat. Two Sheep were destroyed. St. Clair set the Jar of Greed, but was stymied by Dust Tornado in the end phase. Metamorphosis traded one of the Sheep tokens for Thousand-Eyes Restrict, and Fitzgerald absorbed the Spy with its effect. He then tributed Thousand-Eyes Restrict for Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch, and discarded Spirit Reaper from St. Clair’s hand. It was 5100 to 7100 in Fitzgerald’s favor.

He used Premature Burial to special summon Chaos Sorcerer, building up to a big attack. Thestalos hit the Merchant, which was in attack position. Chaos Sorcerer then attacked directly, lowering St. Clair to 600. St. Clair drew and immediately scooped.

Daniel Fitzgerald comes back from a crippling early game to dominate St. Clair in the first duel! With Thestalos being a poor match for St. Clair’s pair of Goldds, Fitzgerald had some side decking to do, and St. Clair followed suit. “You missed Goldd both times,” remarked St. Clair. “Actually, three times. Both Fire Monarchs and your Reaper missed Goldd. It’s ridiculous.”

They counted each other’s side decks and moved to Game 2. St. Clair again opted to open the duel, and did so with a set monster and two set spell or trap cards. Fitzgerald set a card to each zone and passed. St. Clair had Breaker yet again, and summoned it, but Fitzgerald chained Torrential Tribute! It destroyed Tsukuyomi and Breaker on St. Clair’s side, and Apprentice on Fitzgerald’s. He summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior of his own, but Trap Hole swallowed it up. Fitzgerald set a card, passed, and ate Spirit Reaper, losing Old Vindictive Magician. St. Clair set another back row card and ended.

A second back row card was Fitzgerald’s only play, and he paid for it next turn, when St. Clair tributed his Reaper for Mobius. He lost Metamorphosis and Enemy Controller, but Controller chained to turn Mobius to defense, saving Fitzgerald some life points. Snatch Steal took the Mobius, and hit St. Clair for 2400. Next turn St. Clair took it back with another Snatch Steal, and Fitzgerald took 2400 directly! St. Clair set a monster and ended.

Fitzgerald set a third card to his spell and trap zone, and when St. Clair tried to attack with Mobius again a turn later, Fitzgerald flipped Dust Tornado to destroy St. Clair’s Snatch Steal. He took back Mobius, St. Clair flipped Jar of Greed, set a monster, and passed. He was looking to clog the field as much as possible and just fend Fitzgerald off. He was gaining 1000 life points a turn, so he wasn’t in any hurry to simplify the field. Mobius hit one of St. Clair’s face down monsters and destroyed it, but it was Gravekeeper’s Spy, so he special summoned another in defense position. St. Clair drew a Mobius of his own, and tributed Spy for it. He destroyed Fitzgerald’s back field, taking back his first Mobius, and then flip summoned Sand Moth. He activated Call of the Haunted, brought back Breaker the Magical Warrior, and attacked directly for game!

St. Clair fires back with a game 2 win, moving the match into game 3 and evening the score!

Fitzgerald finally got a chance to begin a duel, and took the opportunity. He opened with Wave-Motion Cannon, then set a monster! There’s something I’ve never seen in a Top 8 before.

St. Clair pressed hard, setting a spell or trap and attacking into D. D. Warrior Lady with Spirit Reaper. Fitzgerald did not remove. St. Clair set another back row card. Fitzgerald summoned Spirit Reaper, played Smashing Ground, attacked with D. D. Warrior Lady and hit for 1500! Sakuretsu Armor swallowed up Spirit Reaper though, saving St. Clair the loss of a card.

Smashing Ground destroyed D. D. Warrior Lady, and St. Clair attacked with Spirit Reaper to steal Fitzgerald’s Smashing Ground.  He summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, but St. Clair flipped Trap Hole. Snatch Steal destroyed St. Clair’s Reaper, and Fitzgerald passed.

St. Clair set Gravekeeper’s Spy as Wave-Motion Cannon got its 3rd turn. Fitzgerald special summoned Chaos Sorcerer, attacked into the Spy, and St. Clair pulled another. “Well played” said St. Clair. “Really, I mean it, seriously.” It was surprisingly sincere.

St. Clair topdecked Breaker the Magical Warrior, after a judge requested that he let Fitzgerald cut his deck. He flipped Jar of Greed, drew for it, and summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior to destroy the Cannon. He played Smashing Ground to destroy the Sorcerer, attacked for 1600 with Breaker, and ended. What a terrible turn for Fitzgerald.

He summoned Tsukuyomi, turned Breaker face down, and destroyed it in battle. Tsukuyomi jumped back to his hand and he passed. St. Clair set a card to each zone and passed. “That’d be a bad way to lose,” said St. Clair of the Wave-Motion Cannon that he no longer had to worry about. He had three cards committed to the field, while Fitzgerald had three in hand. Fitzgerald played none of them, passed, and St. Clair drew and flipped Magical Merchant. He got Nobleman of Crossout, flipped his set Premature Burial, took back Breaker the Magical Warrior and attacked with all three of his monsters. He set one back row card and passed.

Fitzgerald played Smashing Ground, summoned Tsukuyomi, turned Breaker face down and tired to attack, but Sakuretsu Armor stopped him. He again passed, with an open field.

St. Clair set a monster, turned Merchant to defense position, set his last card to his back row, and passed. Fitzgerald was not happy, and heaved a sigh, trying to figure out what to do. It was 4400 to 3100 in St. Clair’s favor. Fitzgerald summoned Sangan, attacked the face up Merchant with it, and ended.

St. Clair flipped Magical Merchant and got Torrential Tribute, losing both of his Mobius and a Kycoo. He flip summoned Tsukuyomi, turned Merchant face down, flipped Breaker face up, and attacked with Tsuku and Breaker. Sangan was destroyed, and Fitzgerald labored over the choice before taking Spirit Reaper. It was a questionable pull given the fact that he knew St. Clair had Nobleman of Crossout, but it might have been his only option. St. Clair ended his turn, Fitzgerald set a card to each zone, and St. Clair flipped his Merchant again. He lost Sangan, but got Trap Hole. He summoned Tsukuyomi to turn Merchant face down, and used Nobleman of Crossout to remove Fitzgerald’s face down. Old Vindictive Magician! Fitzgerald stripped the remaining copies from his deck, but when Tsukuyomi went to attack he flipped his one set card, which was Scapegoat! St. Clair cleared away two Sheep, bounced Tsukuyomi, and passed.

Fitzgerald used Metamorphosis, brought out Thousand-Eyes Restrict at the cost of a Sheep, and absorbed the face down Magical Merchant. He then tributed for Thestalos, discarding St. Clair’s Tsukuyomi.

At this point, St. Clair tried to respond to the summon with Bottomless Trap Hole, but the chain had already been allowed to resolve. Thestalos swung, took out Breaker, and St. Clair was forced to eat it. He drew for his turn, set a back row card, and passed. Fitzgerald summoned Spirit Reaper, and St. Clair flipped Torrential Tribute. What a mistake! Fitzgerald had seen St. Clair pull the Torrential Tribute turns before, but still decided to summon Spirit Reaper. Fitzgerald set a back row card, his last card, and ended.

St. Clair summoned Spirit Reaper and attacked directly. He flipped Call of the Haunted, brought back Mobius, and tried to attack, but was denied by Sakuretsu Armor. Fitzgerald drew, set a monster, passed, St Clair drew, set a monster, turned Reaper to defense, and passed back. It was 3200 to 1200 in St. Clair’s favor, and he had a commanding lead of four cards on the field to Fitzgerald’s one set monster.

Fitzgerald drew, and asked to see St. Clair’s graveyard. He flipped Magician of Faith and thought a bit as to what he would take. Scapegoat would keep him on the field, but it would leave Magician of Faith vulnerable to attack. He opted for Smashing Ground instead.

He activated it to destroy Reaper, and then tributed Magician of Faith for Jinzo! Jinzo attacked, but hit into Magician of Faith, and St. Clair took back Smashing Ground!

St. Clair topdecked Exiled Force, used Smashing Ground, and attacked for 1000. Fitzgerald only had 200 life points left. He drew, set a monster, and ended his turn. St. Clair topdecked Chaos Sorcerer, and tributed Exiled Force away to destroy Fitzgerald’s set Treeborn Frog. He then special summoned the Chaos Sorcerer, and attacked directly for game!

Roy St. Clair takes Team NeXus out of the tournament and moves on to the finals!