Huy Chiem is from Long Beach, CA, and he has a nasty tendency to miss out on Shonen Jump Championships due to tardiness. He made it on time today, however, and he’s a stone’s throw away from making day 2. Standing in his way is Worlds competitor and Comic Odyssey member Matt Laurents. He’s played against three Demise OTK decks today, and he’s really hoping that this isn’t going to be number four. The table was deck checked randomly at the start of the round, and, while Matt Laurents took a bathroom break, I inquired. “Let me guess; you are playing Demise, aren’t you?” “Yeah, I am,” replied Huy. Bad beats, Matt Laurents, bad beats.

Speaking of beats, when the judges returned Huy Chiem received a game loss for failure to de-side deck. Rough, but it’s a firm reminder that you must return your deck to its original state between matches.

Due to the penalty, Huy had the option to start things off, and he did so with Sonic Bird to fetch out Advanced Ritual Art! He followed it up with a set spell or trap and passed. Laurents summoned Cyber Dragon and tributed it for Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch to discard Huy’s Heavy Storm. The Monarch’s attack was blocked by Waboku, and Laurents set a card to each zone before passing. Huy fired back with Advanced Ritual Art dumping Insect Knight and Neo Bug to summon Demise, King of Armageddon. Demise was activated, but Laurents chained Bottomless Trap Hole to remove him from play! Huy set a spell or trap and passed over to Laurents, who simply set a monster. Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands came down for Huy, and he fetched out his second Advanced Ritual Art. Huy passed back to Matt who set a second monster and passed.

Huy had a second Manju that he played to fetch another Demise! He played his new Advanced Ritual Art, but found that he didn’t have the monsters in his deck to play it successfully as he had just topdecked another Neo Bug! Huy switched one Manju to defense, and Dekoichi flipped for Laurents! He attacked one Manju and then tributed for Thestalos, dropping Metal Armored Bug from Huy’s hand! Confiscation followed it up to take Neo Bug away from Huy, and things weren’t looking good! Huy passed his next turn, and Laurents lost his Thestalos to Mirror Force before setting a monster and ending. Huy found his third Manju, and used it to fetch End of the World! He could certainly summon his King of Armageddon now, but he held off for the time being and Laurents flipped another Dekoichi! He tributed the train for Mobius, but Huy chained Waboku! Snatch Steal took the Monarch away on the next turn and Huy activated End of the World. He couldn’t send away Mobius though, due to a need for exact change and he paid for Demise to clear the field again. It was a wasted Snatch Steal, and Huy attacked. Laurents activated Brain Control to steal Demise and attack before setting a card to each zone and passing. Huy summoned Insect Knight and attacked, but Laurents had Mirror Force! Huy had only 800 life points left, but Laurents apparently couldn’t win that turn! Huy summoned Doom Dozer and attacked into Laurents’ set Treeborn Frog, but another Brain Control from Laurents in the final turn sealed the deal! Matt Laurents is nearly guaranteed a Top 16 while Huy Chiem now needs superior tiebreakers and a round 10 win to make it!