Vincent Tundo is also 6-1 and isn’t likely to give Matt the win. Tundo is using a surprising deck that has taken most players completely off-guard. Will Matt be able to figure it out in time? Or will Vince’s careful strategy defeat the shining star of Comic Odyssey?

Matt won the die roll and opted to go first. He summoned Sangan and set a spell or trap card.

Vincent summoned Royal Magical Library. He then played Toon Table of Contents. Matt realized what Vince was planning, so he allowed Vince to carry out the entire cycle without interruption. Vince concluded the Toon cycle by retrieving Toon World. Having placed three counters onto Royal Magical Library, he removed them to draw a card. He then activated Convulsion of Nature.

Vince paid 1000 life points to play Toon World, going to 7000. He then played Giant Trunade, placing a third counter onto the Library. He removed the counters and drew a card. He followed this with Magical Mallet, returning five cards to his deck. With one counter now on Royal Magical Library, he drew his five cards. He then played another Magical Mallet, this time choosing to return three cards. A second counter was placed onto the Royal Magical Library, and Vince drew his three cards. He then played Pigeonholing Books of Spell, arranging the top of his deck. With three counters on Royal Magical Library, he knew the card he put on top of his deck could be drawn, but Matt was unsure what the spell card did, so Vince helped clear things up. Matt had no response, so Vincent arranged the three cards on the top of his Deck and then removed the counters from Royal Magical Library to draw a card.

Vincent continued his turn, playing Convulsion of Nature again. This placed one counter onto Royal Magical Library. He then played Archfiend’s Oath. Due to Convulsion of Nature, he could see that his top card was Blasting the Ruins, so the Oath went through without a hitch. He was now at 6500 life points. He continued his turn by playing Giant Trunade. With three counters on Royal Magical Library again, he removed them to draw a card.

He ended his turn with Royal Magical Library in attack position. Matt examined what had occurred and said, “I don’t know what to do.” He proceeded to examine Vincent’s graveyard, looking for options. He Summoned Asura Priest and used it to take down the Royal Magical Library. Sangan followed in with an ankle bite for 1000. Matt set two spell or trap cards and then ended his turn, returning Asura Priest to his hand.

Vincent drew and summoned another Royal Magical Library. He played Convulsion of Nature again. His Royal Magical Library now had one counter on it. He followed with the Archfiend’s Oath, another card Matt wasn’t entirely familiar with. After reading, Matt decided to respond with a set Dust Tornado to destroy it. Vincent continued his turn by playing Card Shuffle. He now had three counters on Royal Magical Library, so he removed them to draw a card.

Vincent set a spell or trap card and then played Card Destruction. Matt drew four cards and Vince drew one. Vince used Card Shuffle to make Matt shuffle his deck because he didn’t like the top card that Convulsion of Nature allowed him to see. Vincent was now at 3500 life points. He ended his turn.

Matt used his turn to bite with Sangan, taking out the Royal Magical Library. Vincent’s life points were depleted to 2500. Matt set a spell or trap card and then ended his turn. Vincent entered his next turn but did not perform any actions, passing to Matt.

Matt drew. He attacked with Sangan again, leaving Vincent with 1500 life points. Matt then played Confiscation, reducing his own life points to 7000. Matt took a moment to read how the cards in Vincent’s hand worked, ultimately deciding to eliminate Archfiend’s Oath.

Vincent used his next turn to set a spell or trap card. He passed to Matt, who used Sangan to tribute summon Cyber Dragon. With Sangan’s effect, he took a D.D. Warrior Lady from his deck. Matt attacked with the Cyber Dragon, and Vincent had nothing he could do in response.

Duel 1 goes to Matt.

While the players prepared for the next duel, I asked Vincent about how people usually react to his deck. It seems that other players are often taken by surprise, and he often has to explain what his cards do. I asked Matt what he thought of the deck, to which he responded, “I don’t know how he wins.” I am sure this is the case for many of Vincent’s other opponents that have never seen his deck before. This is not because they think that Vincent cannot win, but because they haven’t yet solved the puzzle.

Vincent took some time to discuss with some spectators cards used in his deck while Matt shuffled. A spectator suggested using Terraforming, but Vincent did not seem to warm to the idea.

Matt chose to let Vincent go first, adding, “Good luck, I guess.”

“You guess?” responded Vincent.

“I don’t know. I’m so confused.”

Vincent began his first turn by discarding a Thunder Dragon from his hand. He claimed the remaining two from his Deck and then set a spell or trap card to end his turn.

Matt summoned D.D. Warrior Lady. She attacked directly, taking Vincent’s life points to 6500. Matt ended his turn.

Vincent flipped his set spell or trap card, revealing Level Limit - Area B. This shifted the D.D. Warrior Lady into defense position. He ended his turn.

Matt played Heavy Storm, destroying the Level Limit - Area B. He attacked with his Lady again, reducing Vincent’s life points to 5000. He set a monster and then ended his turn.

Vincent did not perform any actions in his next turn, choosing only to discard a Thunder Dragon. Matt took advantage next turn, summoning Asura Priest to give D.D. Warrior Lady a helping hand. With two direct attacks, Vincent’s life points were reduced to 1800.

Vincent summoned the Royal Magical Library. He played Heavy Storm, taking out Matt’s Dust Tornado. He then played Upstart Goblin, drawing a card and giving Matt an extra 1000 life points. Vincent then played Card Shuffle, giving Royal Magical Library the three counters it needed for him to draw a card. After drawing his card, Vincent played Giant Trunade. He then replayed Card Shuffle, followed by another Giant Trunade. This gave Royal Magical Library three counters again, so he removed them to draw another card.

Next, Vincent played Reload, shuffling five cards into his deck. He then played Graceful Charity, discarding Toon World and Convulsion of Nature. He then played another Convulsion of Nature from his hand, giving Royal Magical Library a third counter. He removed the counters to draw another card.

Vincent continued his turn with Archfiend’s Oath. Convulsion of Nature allowed him to see that Magical Mallet was on top of his deck. He played Card Shuffle and then paid 500 for Archfiend’s Oath. He now had two counters on Royal Magical Library. Vincent then used the Magical Mallet to return three cards to his deck. With three counters on Royal Magical Library again, he removed them to draw a card.

Vincent played Upstart Goblin, taking Matt to 10,000 life points. He then played another Magical Mallet, this time returning two cards to his deck. He set a spell or trap card and then played Card Destruction. This brought Royal Magical Library to three counters again. He removed the counters and drew Giant Trunade, using it immediately. He then replayed Card Shuffle and Archfiend’s Oath. With three counters on Royal Magical Library again, he removed them to draw another card.

Vincent then replayed Convulsion of Nature. He examined the top card of his deck, decided it was not good enough, and used Card Shuffle to shuffle his deck. Vincent was now at 1000 life points, with one counter on Royal Magical Library. He set a spell or trap card and ended his turn.

Matt drew for his turn. He flip-summoned his Magician of Faith and used it to get Heavy Storm from his graveyard. He then played it, wiping out Vincent’s spell and trap cards. Vincent decided to concede the game, saying that he could have used his set Life Equalizer, but it wouldn’t have made a difference because he knew Matt had another monster to help finish the job.

Matt wins 2-0!

Vincent and Matt exchanged “good games.” I asked Matt what he thought of Vincent’s deck. Matt said he hoped that the deck would make Top 8 because he thought it was really cool.

Only the results of the next (and final) round will tell us for sure . . .