Seattle-native Eric Ing is the highest-ranked duelist in the state, and the second highest in the nation. A local star, he’s lost track of the number of regionals he’s won in the Seattle area. He’s Top 8’d every single one he can remember, and now he was up against Mike Powers.
Powers is from Buffalo, New York. “It’s my birthday in two weeks,” he announced. “You should scoop!” he grinned cheerfully. Both players knew each other from online communities, so this was like two friends meeting for the first time.
Ing activated Graceful Charity, discarding Creature Swap and Smashing Ground. He set a spell or trap and ended his turn, playing immaculately and announcing every move. Powers fired back Graceful Charity himself, discarding Cyber Phoenix and Premature Burial. He summoned UFO Turtle and attacked, but Ing flipped Ring of Destruction to destroy the Turtle and stop the attack. Both players dropped to 6600 life points, and Powers ended as he set a card to his spell and trap zone.
Breaker the Magical Warrior came down for Ing, and Ing sent him to destroy Powers’ set card. Powers chained it in response to the activation of Breaker’s effect, revealing the set card to be Call of the Haunted! He used it to bring back Cyber Phoenix, and when Call of the Haunted was destroyed the Phoenix remained on the field due to its negation effect, exactly the kind of specialized move that Powers’ deck was designed to make! It forced Ing to use Smashing Ground in order to eliminate the Phoenix. Breaker attacked, Powers took 1600 damage, and Ing set a card to his back row to conclude the turn.
Powers summoned Breaker himself on the following turn, but lost it to Bottomless Trap Hole. He set a spell or trap and ended. Ing attacked with Breaker again but hit Scapegoat: Breaker nailed a Sheep. He set a spell or trap, Powers set a monster, and Ing summoned Exiled Force. Exiled and Breaker each took down a Sheep, and Exiled was then tributed to destroy Powers’ set monster — Dekoichi. Powers set another monster, Ing fired back with Zaborg to destroy it (it was Treeborn Frog) and a successive attack destroyed the last Sheep. Powers special summoned back his Frog, turned it to attack, and then used Creature Swap to take control of Zaborg. Zaborg attacked the Frog for 2300. Powers set a spell or trap and ended.
Cyber Dragon came down for Ing, who tributed it for Zaborg to clear the other Zaborg. Sakuretsu Armor destroyed it when it attempted to attack, Ing ended, Treeborn came back and Powers set another spell or trap. Ing summoned Sangan, attacked the Frog and ended. Another Cyber Phoenix hit Powers’ side of the field! “There’s a Torrential if I ever saw one,” remarked Powers.
Sure enough, Ing flipped Torrential Tribute! Phoenix was lost, Sangan nabbed Ing Treeborn Frog, and Powers ended. Ing set a card to each zone and passed, prompting Powers to quickly pass back. Ing flipped Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Powers’ set Sakuretsu Armor, summoned Spirit Reaper, and attacked with it to force Powers to discard Heavy Storm! “Got Zaborg?” asked Ing as Powers drew.
Nope. Powers took back his Frog and used Smashing Ground to destroy the Reaper. Powers ended, Ing set a monster, Powers set one himself, and Ing flipped his freshest set on the following turn — Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive. He took his card, set a third monster, and attacked with Dekoichi into Powers’ set Reaper to end his turn. It seemed as if no matter what Powers was doing, he was constantly one step behind Ing.
He tributed his Frog for Jinzo and attacked the Dekoichi, destroying it. He set a second spell or trap and passed. Ing tributed his Frog for Mobius the Frost Monarch, but the Enemy Controller he targeted with Mobius’ effect was chained to block any potential attack from the Frost Monarch. In order to keep his Monarch from being wrecked by Jinzo he activated Premature Burial to bring up Exiled Force, then tributed the Force to destroy the android and end his turn.
Treeborn Frog leapt back up onto Powers’ side of the field and another Smashing Ground destroyed Ing’s Mobius. Powers ended his turn, Ing passed back, and Powers set a card to his spell and trap zone. Ing flipped another Dekoichi, and then flipped Gravekeeper’s Spy to special summon another from his deck! Despite the fact that his field was now populated almost entirely by monsters that had been compensated for on the card presence level, he still couldn’t muster an offense: the second Spy came out in defense position. Dekoichi hit Powers’ Frog and Ing was finished for the turn.
Powers flipped his set Confiscation, revealing Ing’s Hand of Heavy Storm, Cyber-Stein, and Sakuretsu. Storm hit the graveyard, Powers set another spell or trap, and Ing turned everything on his side of the field to defense, briefly stymied. It was 3700 to 2500 with Powers leading, but Ing’s superior field presence was definitely giving him a controlling position in the game.
Ing set another spell or trap, Powers set a monster, and Dekoichi attacked it: it was a UFO Turtle. It brought out another Phoenix for Powers, who was quick to note how much he loved his Cyber Phoenixes. Powers smiled, Ing ended his turn and Powers summoned UFO Turtle. He rammed it into Ing’s Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive looking to get a fresh attacker while clearing out one of his opponent’s monsters, but Powers appeared to have miscalculated. He gave his deck a quick riffle and came up emptyhanded: he was out of Turtles and Phoenixes. He was running low on monster removal and things definitely looked bad. He left the Phoenix in attack and announced the end of his turn.
Asura Priest hit the field from Ing’s hand, and Ing sent it to attack the Cyber Phoenix. It hit, and Powers drew a card for the Phoenix’s effect. Ing ended his turn, Powers set a second spell or trap card, and Ing set a monster. Neither player could finish off the other so, for now, the game was a virtual stalemate.
Powers searched his opponent’s graveyard and shuffled his three in-hand cards. “Go,” he said. A Zaborg, Exiled, or Smashing Ground here would clean him out.
Sure enough, Ing drew and summoned Exiled Force to destroy Powers’ Reaper. He turned both Spies to attack in an attempt to press his advantage, but lost them both to Mirror Force! It was a big opening for Powers, who no longer had to worry about how to overcome two massive walls. Ing set a third spell or trap and ended. Powers set another spell or trap, and when Ing summoned Twin-Headed Behemoth on the following turn the field was cleared by Powers’ Torrential Tribute! Ing lost his set Stein and the Behemoth, but got to special summon it at the end of the turn. Powers set a card to each zone and passed. Nobleman of Crossout removed his set monster from the game, D. D. Warrior Lady, and Ing summoned Asura Priest for another attack. Powers destroyed it with Widespread Ruin, but the Behemoth still got to peg him for 1000 damage. Powers set a spell or trap, the Behemoth attacked again and Powers was forced to use Ring of Destruction to destroy it. Ing ended, Powers set a card to each zone and Ing special summoned Cyber Dragon. It attacked and hit Powers’ set Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive.
“Avarice!” announced Powers, finally drawing into it. He drew for his turn, activated Pot of Avarice and searched out three Phoenixes, Jinzo, and Spirit Reaper from his graveyard to shuffle back into his deck. He drew two cards and Ing’s deck suddenly looked wickedly small. He had only six cards remaining while Powers now had nine.
Powers flopped Cyber Dragon, activated Smashing Ground, and lost his Dragon to Sakuretsu Armor when he attempted the direct attack. He set a monster, playing defensively in order to keep that decking option open. Ing passed, Powers flip summoned Dekoichi, took another card, and then used Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Ing’s set Sakuretsu Armor. He summoned Phoenix and attacked, but Ing had Scapegoat set and flipped it immediately. Powers destroyed two Sheep Tokens and play was to Ing.
He drew, special summoned his Frog, summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, and tried to attack Powers’ Dekoichi. Powers flipped Sakuretsu Armor, but Ing chained Book of Moon to keep her on the field. He set two back row cards, Powers set another monster and turned everything to defense! He was going to deck Ing out!
Ing had Pot of Avarice too! He activated it, shuffled back Asura Priest, Spirit Reaper, two Zaborgs, and Exiled Force, and took his two cards. He set Magician of Faith and passed. The tables had suddenly turned!
Powers turned his Dekoichi to attack position and nailed a Sheep. Ing was up, and he looked through both graveyards. “I think I’m gonna mis-play this” he muttered. He flip summoned Magician of Faith to take back Premature Burial from his graveyard. Premature brought back Mobius the Frost Monarch, and he summoned Asura Priest. “Wow, I screwed up,” he immediately noted, probably realizing that Powers’ set monster was Spirit Reaper. Asura Priest hit the Dekoichi, then the Cyber Phoenix, and hit the face down! It was Magician of Faith, no help for the defense-deprived Powers! Mobius then swung for game, and the long, grueling duel drew to a close.
Eric Ing takes game 1!
Powers opened the second duel with a set card to each zone. Ing attacked with Cyber Dragon, but lost it to Sakuretsu Armor. He brought out another Dragon, set two cards to his back row and passed. Powers set a second monster and passed with no back field. Ing passed back without attacking, Powers flip summoned Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, used Smashing Ground to clear the field, and attacked into Scapegoat. Two Tokens were destroyed and play was to Ing.
He set a monster and ended. Powers summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, and Ing fired off Torrential Tribute, losing his own Magician of Faith in the process. Powers fetched Treeborn Frog from his deck with Sangan’s effect, and the duel continued on at a blazing pace. Powers set a spell or trap card and ended.
Ing passed, down two cards. He was down another on the next turn, as Spirit Reaper robbed him of Cyber Dragon. “That’s horrible” said Ing, setting another spell or trap card. Powers blasted it with Mystical Space Typhoon, watched it get chained (Ceasefire), and then attacked — Ing flipped Sakuretsu Armor, which he had on the field last turn. “I can’t believe I forgot to play that last turn!” he moaned. The duel was simply moving too fast for him. Powers set Treeborn Frog, Ing removed it with Nobleman of Crossout and then activated Wave-Motion Cannon.
A turn later it was all over: Powers flashed Cyber-Stein and Limiter Removal, and, given the time constraints, Ing scooped immediately. Ten minutes remained in the match.
Both duelists quickly sided and shuffled up. The third duel began.
Ing activated Confiscation, revealing Powers’ hand of Cyber Dragon, Treeborn Frog, Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, Mystical Space Typhoon, and Sangan. Ing quickly decided to discard the Cyber Dragon, and then set a card to each zone. Powers did the same, Ing flip summoned Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive and summoned Twin-Headed Behemoth. His Dekoichi attacked Powers’ set Dekoichi, Behemoth hit directly, and Ing set a second spell or trap card. Powers shuffled his hand and contemplated his next move: two minutes remained in the game. He set two more back row cards and set a monster. “Go.”
Ing set a card to each zone and attacked with Dekoichi, hitting Sakuretsu Armor. Twin-Headed Behemoth then attacked Powers’ set Sangan, which promptly fetched him another Dekoichi. He was trying to dig for answers to his predicament. Ing ended, Powers set a monster and time was called. Ing summoned Banisher of the Radiance! Banisher attacked and Powers was forced to flip Ring of Destruction to destroy it. It was 4900 to 5400 with Ing leading. Behemoth attacked, hit Powers’ set Dekoichi and Powers took yet another card. Ing passed play to Powers, who had one turn to even the life point totals.
He flipped Mystical Space Typhoon and hit Ing’s set Threatening Roar — the Roar was chained, and there was no way Powers could play his way out of the time situation! He scooped, visibly unhappy with how the match had ended but shaking his opponent’s hand nonetheless.
Eric Ing wins the match by 500 life points!