The players were still shuffling well into the beginning of the round, discussing the tournament, their decks, and other things. The two exchanged decks and cut. After a quick discussion of their preferred sleeves, they rolled; Justin won the roll and chose to go first.

Handshakes exchanged, Justin set one to his spell and trap zone and ended. Ian followed by setting a monster, and Justin ended his turn. Ian repeated the motion, two monsters now face down, and Justin devoted a set monster to the field and another spell or trap. He soon regretted it, because Ian played a Heavy Storm, taking out both of his set cards. Ian tributed his Sangan for Jinzo, searching for a Destiny Hero - Malicious. “Now you’re going to end your turn, right?” Ian chuckled as he flipped his Card Trooper face up, and put a Machine Duplication into play. He dumped three for each of the summoned Troopers, and got a Malicious from his deck. Ian revealed a Limiter Removal after attacking a face down Card Trooper, which prompted them both to begin game 2.

“That was amazing,” Ian remarked. Justin kept his cool and looked quite honestly like he could use some better luck as both players began side decking for the second game in the match. Some quiet, nearly inaudible (but quite friendly) conversation later, the two counted out their side decks for each other.

Justin made the joke of wanting to give Ian a hand of triple Malicious while the two shuffled, and Ian didn’t seem to mind as long as he got triple Destiny Draw. The two players wished each other good luck, and Justin opened with a card to each zone, face down. Ian set two spell or trap cards, summoned a Sangan, and attacked into Justin’s face down — an Injection Fairy Lily — for 500 to Ian. He ended, and played Trap Dustshoot on Justin’s draw to send a Morphing Jar back. A failed Dark World Lightning targeting Scapegoat later, Justin passed. Ian switched Sangan to defense and ended. A pass from Justin led to Ian’s turn, where he set a card and ended; it turned out to be another Trap Dustshoot, and Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World was shuffled back.

Ian had an opportunity to tribute his Sangan for Cyber Dragon and that got him Malicious. It was a good thing; Malicious fed his Destiny Draw for another two. He attacked into the defense position Lily with Cyber Dragon, and it met a Magic Cylinder. Morphing Jar was drawn, and Justin played his Premature Burial before putting down the Jar and one other card.

Cyber Dragon hit the Jar, and both players discarded their hands to find a new one. Ian set some spells or traps, three currently in his zone. Justin attacked the Cyber Dragon with Lily, and she met a gruesome demise for 2000 life points. Ian passed, and Justin set a monster and another spell or trap after taking out some Sheep Tokens. Ian played Snatch Steal on the Lily and tributed her for a face down monster. He passed, and Justin contemplated his hand. In the end, he set a spell or trap and passed.

Ian played an Elemental Hero Stratos, pulling Destiny Hero - Disk Commander with his effect and discarding him a moment later to Destiny Draw. As Ian contemplated the attack, Justin discussed the rumor floating around (“started by me, of course”) that he had skill. A funny moment to lead into Ian’s next move; he declared the attack of Stratos into Justin’s face down Lily. Justin contemplated his hand as Ian passed; he had a powerful set of cards in his grip, and he was contemplating whether he could turn it into a ticket to game 3. “I really don’t think I can wait any longer,” he remarked as he flipped his face down Dark World Lightning. As Ian contemplated, Justin joked that Ian should scoop because of how good his hand was; his jovial mood went a little downhill after Ian chained with Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell. A mild curse of alarm followed, as Justin had another copy of the now-useless spell in his hand.

Justin played a Cyber Dragon (“ultimate Cyber Dragon” was the detail he insisted we focus on). Then he attacked into the Stratos. Ian responded with Ring of Destruction, which proved to be his undoing; Justin had Limiter Removal in his hand and Ian was at 4100 life points with Justin at 5200. Game 3! An excellent way to end a game: with some help from your opponent’s cards.

The two were mostly silent as they sided for game 3, but it ended when Justin discussed his sadness at drawing Machine Duplication but no Card Troopers and, as they shuffled up, they talked about Justin’s side deck and getting god hands for game 3 — “A man can pray,” said Justin. Ian was silent. Perhaps he was praying?

The two admired his super rare Flame Swordsman before starting. Ian set one card and ended. Justin drew; Trap Dustshoot from Ian and Justin put down his cards without even looking at them. Brain Control, Snatch Steal, Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World, Card Trooper, Machine Duplication, and Injection Fairy Lily composed his hand. Ian, quite disturbed at the contents, chose the Trooper, and, over the next few turns, they set cards to develop their fields and passed. Ian had three in his spell and trap zone, and Justin had one in each zone. He summoned a Card Trooper and Ian contemplated his options. He finally played Ring of Destruction, targeting the Trooper. Justin drew for Trooper and passed, and then Ian set another face down spell or trap. Ian followed with another set monster. As Ian contemplated, Justin asked if he could use the giant Cyber End Dragon card hanging from the ceiling if he could somehow summon a copy of the card. The judge said no.

Ian finally made his play. He placed a Card Trooper on the field and, when that earned no response, Machine Duplication followed and resolved. Ian contemplated the play, and brought both Troopers out in defense. The Trooper he summoned he tossed three cards for, which included Destiny Draw and Limiter Removal. The next one dumped a second Destiny Draw and a Cursed Seal in his three, and, after that, he threw away Call of the Haunted and Scapegoat. The others were inconsequential, but he was disappointed in those six cards. He attacked into a face down Lily with Trooper and passed. Justin tributed his other Lily for Jinzo, played Brain Control on a defense position Trooper, and then used his own Machine Duplication to bring two of his Troopers out. He used Dark World Lightning on a face down, discarding Brain Control. Then he played Snatch Steal on the other defense position Trooper, pumped it by tossing another three, and announced the attack. With exactly 10000 points of ATK power on Justin’s side of the table, Ian was out of luck — and out of life points.

Justin Womack takes two narrow victories to advance to the Top 8!