Robert Sorensen is a recognizable name from Magic, and this was only his third sanctioned Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament. With a 7-1 record for the day, the eighteen year-old from Herndon, Virginia was quickly proving himself to be a serious contender for the Top 8.

 

Poonsombat is, well, T. The current US national champion, he's one of the veteran members of team Comic Odyssey, the undisputed number-one force in the game at present.

 

Poonsombat won the die roll and opted to go first. He opened with Delinquent Duo and nailed Sorensen's Pot of Greed. Oh man, that hurts so much. He also lost an Airknight Parshath. Poonsombat set a spell or trap and passed.

 

Sorensen topdecked Graceful Charity, used it, and then used Premature Burial on Airknight Parshath. He attacked with it, but T had an Enemy Controller. He set one spell or trap face down and passed.

 

T drew and immediately grabbed the Airknight with Snatch Steal. He attacked directly with it and nabbed yet another card's worth of advantage. He set a card in each of his zones and play proceeded to the next turn.

 

“This is tough, tough, tough . . .” muttered Sorensen. He summoned Tribe-Infecting Virus, used its effect to destroy Airknight, and passed without attacking. Theeresak flipped his face down D. D. Assailant, watched it die to a Bottomless Trap Hole, then summoned Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer and attacked Tribe-Infecting Virus with it, taking the Virus down.

 

Next turn, all Sorensen did was set another spell or trap. T continued attacking with Kycoo, then set a spell or trap. Sorensen took Kycoo with a topdecked Snatch Steal and when he tried to attack with it, T used Ring of Destruction to take it out. He then summoned Sinister Serpent and attacked. “That's savage beats.” T grinned—savagely.

 

Sorensen drew, set his draw, and played his last card from hand, revealing Blade Knight. It attacked the Serpent and dished out some damage before Sorensen sat back from the table. Fate would take its course.

 

T drew, summoned the Serpent, and turned it into Thousand-Eyes Restrict. It ate the Blade Knight and then attacked. T now had three cards in hand and multiples on the field to Sorensen's single face down card. It was over, and though Sorensen bought himself a turn by using Book of Moon on Thousand-Eyes Restrict, it was over two turns later.

 

It's worth noting that T had made some interesting moves. He let Snatch Steal resolve on his Kycoo before Ringing it because if Sorensen tributed it for anything other than Jinzo, he would have gained another card's worth of advantage.

 

Game two began after some side decking occurred. Sorensen opened this time, and it was his turn to do so with Delinquent Duo. Mirroring T's luck in game one, he caught T's Delinquent Duo. T discarded a Night Assailant: a promising play. Sorensen set an S/T, summoned Kycoo, and passed.

 

T played Pot of Greed, evening things out a bit. He shuffled his hand and considered it for a bit, but he never takes too long with his decisions. He summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior and watched it fall into Sorensen's Bottomless Trap Hole. Next turn, Sorensen tributed for Jinzo and swung directly for 2400. T's only answer was a D. D. Assailant next turn, which he crashed into Jinzo to remove it from play.

 

Luckily Sorensen had no follow up, leaving T open to attack with Sangan next turn. Sangan gnawed on one of the four Scapegoats that appeared on the field to defend Sorensen, and play moved to him. It was now three cards in hand from Sorensen to three in hand and two on the field for T—proving once again that Theeresak Poonsombat has some sort of magic.

 

Sorensen topdecked and used Pot of Greed, but had no play. Next turn T summoned Asura Priest. “Asura?” Sorensen blinked, but flipped Torrential Tribute. Sangan nabbed Night Assailant from the graveyard for T and he passed his turn.

 

Sorensen set another card on his turn after drawing - he was aware of the comeback T had made and was now under-committing. T used Reinforcements of the Army to summon D. D. Assailant next turn, and when he summoned it Sorensen's set card flipped - Ring of Destruction.

 

Sorensen again just set one card, this time a Sinister Serpent. He was really trying to play T out, and T wasn't biting. He set one spell or trap, set a monster, and passed.

 

and Airknight Parshath sat in Sorensen's hand, and with Heavy Storm at his disposal to trade for T's one face down spell or trap, he had options. He opted to Metamorphosis the Serpent into Thousand-Eyes Restrict. He sucked up T's face down monster, but had no followup.

 

After drawing a card and shuffling his hand, T took some time before settling on setting a monster. Sorensen finally played Heavy Storm, but T chained his set Call of the Haunted for Sangan, netting himself a Sinister Serpent in the long run. Sorensen then made a great play, sucking up the face down monster T had set and then tributing Thousand-Eyes Restrict for Airknight Parshath. He attacked and took his draw.

 

Mystical Space Typhoon took out Sorensen's only set card, and T again played Snatch Steal on the Airknight to attack with it directly. Not pressing a bigger offensive seemed like an odd move, but he set a monster and then set two face down spells or traps.

 

Sorensen looked to use his own Snatch Steal to get his Airknight back, but T answered back by using Book of Moon it. His opponent did nothing but set a monster next turn, so T drew, flipped his face down Morphing Jar, and then spent an uncharacteristic amount of time checking his set cards, monsters, and graveyard. He set one spell or trap and then used Card Destruction, discarding one Night Assailant and taking back his other. He then used Graceful Charity, and his deck was getting dangerously low; he was looking for a Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning to end the game this turn. He discarded Scapegoat and Night Assailant, again taking back the other Assailant. Sorensen started flicking a pen between his fingers, rolling it over his knuckles.

 

“I think I can win this turn,” said T. It was clear Sorensen felt that way too.

 

T removed a Dark and a Light, and Sorensen nodded. “Mm-hmm . . . yeah.” Black Luster Soldier popped up, T used Metamorphosis on Airknight to summon Dark Balter the Terrible, and that was it. He normal summoned Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer and was ready to go. Sorensen had only 4400 life points remaining.

 

T nodded, announced the activation of the Soldier's removal effect, and that was “Gee gee,” as Sorensen put it. Dark Balter the Terrible, the Jar, and Kycoo attacked, and that was all she wrote for the match. Theeresak Poonsombat wins!