Matthew Compton hails from Buford, Georgia, and the eighteen year-old student is here today playing a King Tiger Wanghu / Burden of the Mighty deck. That’s good news for him, and bad news for his opponent, Jonathan Moore, who’s piloting a Lightsworn deck with Dark Armed Dragon. This one would be a tough match for Moore.
It got even tougher as Compton won the die roll. He opened the match by summoning King Tiger Wanghu. He activated Burden of the Mighty, set three cards to his back row, and ended! Pretty huge! Moore was not liking his chances.
He drew and was holding two Plaguespreader Zombie, Dark Armed Dragon, Destiny Hero - Plasma, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, and Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress. He set a card to each zone and ended. Compton summoned Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer next turn, attacked with King Tiger Wanghu, and attacked into Phoenix Wing Wind Blast; Moore discarded Plaguespreader Zombie for Wind Blast’s cost, and tried to spin away the Tiger. Compton responded with Dark Bribe, King Tiger took down Moore’s face-down Plaguespreader, and Kycoo removed them both with a direct attack! Ouch.
Moore was up, and activated Charge of the Light Brigade to send Honest, Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner, and Celestia, Lightsworn Angel off the top of his deck to his graveyard. He was holding Plasma, Dark Armed Dragon, and two copies of Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress, so he had to search out Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior. He summoned him and ended.
Book of Moon next turn flipped Garoth face down, King Tiger destroyed him in battle, and Kycoo made another direct attack to rip Garoth and Lumina out of Moore’s graveyard! He topped Heavy Storm next turn, activated it to destroy Compton’s face-down Dimensional Prison and his face-up Burden of the Mighty, and summoned Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress. He ran Lyla into King Tiger to destroy both, and then ended his turn. He took 3700 damage total from Thunder King Rai-Oh and Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer on the turn that followed. Moore was down to just 700 life points, and lost his remaining two Lightsworn from his graveyard. Compton played another Burden of the Mighty.
Moore summoned his second Lyla, set a spell or trap, then sent Garoth, Solar Recharge, and finally Wulf, Lightsworn Beast to the graveyard! He summoned the Wulf in attack position and ended, perhaps buying himself another turn.
When Kycoo attacked Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress Moore flipped Beckoning Light! He traded his Plasma and Dark Armed Dragon for Honest and Garoth, activated Honest’s effect in the damage step, and Kycoo was destroyed in battle! Thunder King then attacked Wulf, Lightsworn Beast (which was down to 1700 ATK thanks to Burden of the Mighty) and destroyed it. Compton summoned Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo to end his turn.
Moore turned Lyla to defense, blowing away Compton’s face-down Mirror Force! He tributed her for Celestia, Lightsworn Angel, destroyed Burden of the Mighty and Thunder King, and then ran over Fossil Dyna! Compton went from four cards to none, and was forced into topdecking. He couldn’t do anything next turn. Suddenly the game seemed to be in Moore’s complete control.
Moore summoned Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior, attacked with both of his monsters, and Compton was down to 1450 life points. Compton set a spell or trap next turn, summoned Banisher of the Radiance, and ended. Moore eyed the set card: “That bugs me . . . it’s probably Shrink.” He talked himself through the situation. “That would be 1250 . . . I’ll live by 50 . . . that’d be great . . .” He summoned Jain, Lightsworn Paladin and Compton scooped it up, revealing that his set card wasn’t Shrink, but was in fact Bottomless Trap Hole — no help there.
Moore reeled back in his chair. “Wow! I should not have won that! I got extremely lucky.” He dove for his side deck: “Let’s do some stuff!” Moore laughed a chuckle of relief. “Man!” He really couldn’t believe that he’d turned that one around.
Jon Moore barely scrapes by in a Game 1 that seemed nearly unwinnable! Would he be so lucky in Game 2? Compton opted to start the second duel.
“Alright . . . Banisher.” He summoned Banisher of the Radiance, and then set four cards to his back row. “Your turn.”
Moore activated Heavy Storm. “Well, I’ve gotta Solemn that.” Compton flipped Solemn Judgment and dropped to 4000 life points. Moore summoned Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior, attacked, and lost his monster to Dimensional Prison. He set Mirror Force in the end phase, but Compton blasted him with Mystical Space Typhoon! Next turn he took 3400 damage from Banisher of the Radiance and Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer.
Solar Recharge let Moore draw two cards in exchange for Wulf next turn, sending Charge of the Light Brigade and Honest out of play. Moore set a monster, Compton summoned King Tiger Wanghu, and Banisher of the Radiance attacked Moore’s face-down Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter. Ryko destroyed King Tiger Wanghu, sending Monster Reborn, Dust Tornado, and Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner out of play. Ryko was destroyed and Kycoo made a direct attack.
Moore had another Solar Recharge next turn, pitching Celestia, Lightsworn Angel for it and losing one of his Judgment Dragons. Charge of the Light Brigade cost him his Dark Armed Dragon, but got him Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior. When he summoned him Compton flipped Bottomless Trap Hole, and Moore immediately scooped!
Matthew Compton strikes back, decimating Jon Moore from the get-go in Game 2! Again, more side decking ensued from both sides of the table.
Moore activated Charge of the Light Brigade to open the next game, sending two copies of Celestia, Lightsworn Angel and one Wulf, Lightsworn Beast to the graveyard! Wulf came up, and Moore searched his deck for Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior; he was holding Lyla, Spirit Reaper, Snipe Hunter, and two Necro Gardna. He summoned Lyla, ended, and sent Dust Tornado, Heavy Storm, and another Wulf off the top of his deck! The Wulf was summoned — two free cards so far, and the pressure was on Compton. Burden of the Mighty would be his only ideal out to this situation.
He didn’t have it. He set a monster and moments later ended his turn.
“Let’s do this!” Moore summoned Snipe Hunter and the assembled crowd exploded from the sidelines. He discarded Necro Gardna to blow away Compton’s set Fossil Dyna: “Nice try,” remarked Moore. “Let’s put you down to 600.” He attacked with Snipe Hunter, Lyla, and both Wulfs, set a spell or trap, then sent Dark Armed Dragon, Sangan, and Solar Recharge to the graveyard in his end phase. Compton was in trouble.