I’ve had my eye on two duelists in particular this morning, and as I prepared deck profiles for both of them, it was a bit odd to find them paired against each other in Round 2. Each of these competitors is breaking new ground here today, and both won their first-round matches quite handily. Both decks are worth a look: Clegg is running a daring Tomato Control build centered on Dark Scorpion monsters, while as you saw in the first-round feature match, Moore is playing Zombies with Caius the Shadow Monarch.
This was unforeseen territory for both duelists: Clegg’s Royal Oppression might give him an initial edge, but Caius the Shadow Monarch provided huge removal options for Moore. Clegg would need to win quickly if he was to win at all.
He opened the match with a set monster, then set three cards to his spell and trap zone. Moore fired back, setting Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter and four cards to his back row. “I definitely think that’s a Morphing Jar.” Clegg set two more cards on the turn that followed, summoned Card Trooper, and sent Book of Moon, Don Zaloog, and Bottomless Trap Hole to his graveyard to power it up.
“I knew it! It’s a Jar!” Clegg just grinned and flip summoned Don Zaloog, much to Moore’s shock. He attacked with Card Trooper, Moore flipped Mirror Force, and Clegg chained Solemn Judgment. Moore chained his own, and Clegg chained another! Card Trooper’s attack hit Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, and Ryko’s effect destroyed Clegg’s Don Zaloog—now it was Clegg’s turn to be surprised and disappointed. The duel stood at 2000 to 4000 life points.
Moore summoned Goblin Zombie, but attacked straight into Dimensional Prison! “That could be bad.” Goblin Zombie was removed from play, drawing a quick thumbs-up from Clegg. “Your move,” stated Moore, setting a third spell or trap. Next turn Clegg sent Shrink, Sangan, and Dark Scorpion - Meanae the Thorn to the graveyard to boost Card Trooper, and then made a direct attack. He set a spell or trap, Moore set a monster, and Clegg sent three more cards to the graveyard for Card Trooper.
It attacked, hitting Moore’s face-down Pyramid Turtle. He special summoned Mezuki in defense mode with its effect, and on the turn that followed he tributed it for Caius the Shadow Monarch. Caius removed Card Trooper, Moore flipped Card of Safe Return, and he removed Mezuki to target Pyramid Turtle—Clegg chained Royal Oppression to negate the summon! Caius attacked, Clegg chained Book of Moon to turn it face down, and Moore was forced to pass!
Clegg summoned Newdoria off the top of his deck! It was his only monster, and it attacked to destroy Caius. Moore summoned Mezuki off the top next, and attacked Newdoria with it, then Clegg flipped Shrink to let Newdoria destroy it in battle. Moore was down to 1750 life points, while Clegg had 1200.
In main phase 2, Moore removed Mezuki to special summon Pyramid Turtle—Clegg didn’t negate the summon, and Moore got to draw with Card of Safe Return. Then Burial from a Different Dimension was flipped from Moore’s back row, and he sent two copies of Mezuki and Goblin Zombie back to his graveyard!
He removed one Mezuki to bring up Goblin Zombie in defense mode, drawing a card. He set another spell or trap and ended. “Your move.” Clegg drew and set his topdeck to his back row. “I probably have this lost.” With Moore’s draw engine now running, Clegg would be hard-pressed to win. He ended his turn, and lost his set Crush Card Virus to Mystical Space Typhoon in the end phase.
Moore turned Goblin Zombie to attack mode, then removed another Mezuki to special summon Spirit Reaper. Goblin Zombie attacked Newdoria, Newdoria’s effect destroyed Pyramid Turtle, and a turn later Clegg was scooping up!
A strong opening from Richard Clegg is utterly quashed by Jon Moore’s draw engine, as the Zombies go defensive and wait out Dark Scorpions long enough for Moore to get set up!
“Man you scare me!” Moore heaved a big sigh.
“Why?” asked Clegg.
“Look at you! You’re intimidating!” replied Moore. Clegg laughed and both duelists began side decking. Moore immediately rotated out Bottomless Trap Hole, knowing it was useless against his opponent. The second duel began moments later.
Clegg opened things up with a set monster and set two cards to his back row, then Moore summoned Card Trooper. He boosted its ATK by sending Pyramid Turtle, Mezuki, and Card of Safe Return to the graveyard—a huge success despite the loss of Safe Return—and then attacked into Dimensional Prison. Mixed results in the short term, but a nice graveyard set up in the long term . . . or so it seemed! Moore activated Mezuki’s effect, removing it to bring up Pyramid Turtle, but lost out to Royal Oppression! He ended his turn with nothing on the field. Would Clegg have the Zaloog to punish Moore and take the early lead he needed?
He didn’t have it, but he normal summoned Mystic Tomato instead, taking a quick shot for 1400 damage. Play was back to Moore, who set Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter and ended. Clegg took a few moments to think over his options: “Could that be Turtle . . . Spirit Reaper . . . ?” He summoned Don Zaloog and attacked with Mystic Tomato, and then Ryko flipped. Once again, Clegg was surprised by a bad read on Ryko.
Moore sent Morphing Jar and two copies of Caius to the graveyard for Ryko’s effect, destroying Oppression. He absolutely had to destroy the trap card, but that left Zaloog free to make a direct attack. Zaloog’s effect ripped Solemn Judgment from Moore’s hand, and a set spell or trap ended Clegg’s turn.
Moore still had nothing going. He set a card to each zone and shuffled his hand: Premature Burial, Mezuki, and Dark Armed Dragon. “Go.” Clegg attacked with Mystic Tomato, this time hitting Spirit Reaper, and in main phase 2 he turned Zaloog to defense position. Smashing Ground destroyed Reaper, and Clegg set his last two cards: one to each zone. Moore had exactly what he needed: three Dark monsters in the graveyard and Dust Tornado set. He activated it in the end phase, chose to destroy Clegg’s oldest face-down card on the field, and picked the right one: Big Burn.
With his graveyard intact, Moore played Dark Armed Dragon! He removed three Dark monsters total to destroy Clegg’s face-down Spirit Reaper, his Mystic Tomato, and his face-down Meanae before attacking Don Zaloog, wiping a massive four cards in a single turn. He set a monster to end, Clegg set his topdecked card to his back row, and he took a direct attack from Moore’s Dark Armed Dragon next turn. Clegg had 4400 life points remaining while Moore had 5200.
Clegg set another spell or trap, Moore swung with Dark Armed Dragon again, and Clegg conceded a turn later: he flipped over his set cards, revealing Bottomless Trap Hole and two copies of Royal Oppression, all drawn one turn too late.
Jon Moore takes another 2-0 victory with Zombies and Caius!