This is something of a grudge match between two players who are from the same Cornwall store and have been sharing the same hotel rooms. Now, they find themselves sharing 3-0 records. Thorin, whose name alone is excellent enough to get him a feature match, won the toss and chose to go first.

His opening hand elicited an “Ooh,” and then he discarded Thunder Dragon to fetch two more. Graceful Charity then allowed him to make the full set in the discard pile. After setting a trap and a face-down monster, he was done.

Rob had Nobleman of Crossout, and he set two traps and a monster. Thorin’s response was only to set more spell/trap cards.

Rob’s Mystical Space Typhoon missed the mark when Phoenix Wing Wind Blast (with a discard of Jinzo) was chained to the spell. Then, Rob’s Sangan flipped up and attacked into a whole field of sheep tokens when Thorin played Scapegoat.

Rob had Pyramid Turtle and proceeded to make mutton out of lamb, running Thorin’s flock down to one. Thorin continued to play more traps/spells without summoning any monsters, and when Rob attacked through the final sheep token with Sangan, Thorin was open to attack for first blood by Pyramid Turtle.

Windstorm of Etaqua negated one of Rob’s attack steps, and in the following turn, Thorin played Breaker the Magical Warrior. That led to a Torrential Tribute from Rob. Sangan’s untimely demise brought Rob a much more timely Pyramid Turtle.

“Be afraid of my Turtle. My Turtle killed someone earlier,” warned Rob, as he threateningly positioned it front and center in his field.

However, it turned out that Thorin wasn’t concerned, as Pyramid Turtle got Ring of Destruction played on it at the earliest opportunity.

Thorin’s Call of the Haunted returned Jinzo, and he continued to build the pressure when Pot of Greed allowed him to draw two cards. The big boy came to town when Thorin summoned Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning. While Jinzo’s attacks were decent, Rob had a copy of Scapegoat that made the Envoy’s attacks less than amazing.

Rob then played Creature Swap, getting a face-down Peten the Dark Clown for his trouble. Not a bad trade for an attack-position sheep token!

Enemy Controller let Rob take Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, which promptly attacked Thorin’s sheep and Jinzo. Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning was then tributed for Vampire Lord, leaving Thorin with 2000 life points and little else. A Ring of Destruction chained to Thorin’s draw sealed the game for Hamley.

Rob wins Game 1.

“I’m trying to remember exactly what you play,” said Hamley blithely while side decking.

“I’m not going to tell you,” retorted Phoenix.

It turned out that much like myself, both players would be in the dark about how the other one side decks.

Game 2

Phoenix went first with a trap and a set monster. Rob’s Pyramid Turtle felt Thorin’s Phoenix Wing Wind Blast when it tried to attack. To fuel the Wind, Sinister Serpent took its first trip to the graveyard.

When the Turtle tried again, it beat up a copy of Magician of Faith that had nothing to fetch.

Sinister Serpent came to town and was immediately Metamorphosis’ed into Thousand-Eyes Restrict, which then chomped on the Turtle.

Hamley’s Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer was met with Torrential Tribute, and both players moved on.

Phoenix set a monster, which when hit by Nobleman of Crossout, turned out to be Peten the Dark Clown.

Hamley used Call of the Haunted to bring back his Turtle to tribute for Airknight Parshath. The Airknight attacked for some beats and card drawing before Rob played Swords of Revealing Light.

When the Airknight had a go at Phoenix’s face-down monster, the Fairy was hit with Windstorm.

Phoenix played Pot of Greed, bringing him up to five cards in hand. He started consulting his graveyard intently. He flipped up Magician of Faith, brought back Metamorphosis, and got another copy of Thousand-Eyes Restrict. The Fusion monster ate Airknight Parshath.

Hamley’s Swords went to the graveyard, and he played Snatch Steal on the Thousand-Eyes Restrict that had been so savagely eating his team.

The Fusion attacked a face-down monster that turned out to be Peten the Dark Clown, triggering the card’s effect.

Phoenix used Monster Reincarnation to bring back Magician of Faith once more. After setting a monster, he ended his turn.

Delinquent Duo hit a copy of The Creator and (not surprisingly) Sinister Serpent. Hamley’s stolen Thousand-Eyes Restrict was then hit by Mirror Wall.

Thorin’s Magician of Faith brought back Monster Reincarnation, which then fetched The Creator. The Creator came onto the field, and Thorin discarded Sangan for the Thunder monster’s effect. Rob responded with Bottomless Trap Hole, which Thorin attempted to negate with a fetched-back copy of Jinzo, but the monster was hit with Book of Moon. The net effect of this rather complicated chain was a face-down copy of Jinzo and a removed-from-play copy of The Creator.

Thunder Dragon was discarded by Phoenix to fetch two more copies. He then special summoned Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, which removed a set copy of Pyramid Turtle, clearing the way for the bald-headed nuisance.

Enemy Controller switched Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning to defence position, so it was only Jinzo that got to attack the next turn.

Rob dropped Lightning Vortex, and all of a sudden, there was an empty field. A copy of Don Zaloog from Thorin was met by Ring of Destruction, again prompting the Cornwall native to check his graveyard. Each player set characters for a few turns, until D. D. Warrior Lady got to work its magic on the frustrating Sinister Serpent.

It was then Hamley’s turn to summon Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning. When Phoenix showed Snatch Steal on the next turn, it was on to Game 3.

For the third game, time was running short and the pressure was on. On turn 1, Hamley had a trap and a set monster, while Phoenix got to discard a copy of Thunder Dragon to fetch two more. He also had a couple of set cards, meaning that there would be no easy beatdown for Hamley.

After some thought, Hamley went for another couple of sets, one of which was a monster card. He played Dust Tornado, hitting a copy of Torrential Tribute. He then used Nobleman of Crossout twice in quick succession thanks to Magician of Faith. A fresh-faced copy of Sangan from Hamley happily joined the beating.

Lightning Vortex from Phoenix cleared the field but let Hamley fetch a copy of Sinister Serpent with Sangan’s effect. After setting a couple of traps, Phoenix was done with his turn.

Hamley played Blade Knight, which was responded to with a Call of the Haunted for Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys. Enemy Controller let Hamley steal the Phoenix for some sneaky beats. Time was called, and Thorin’s final attack was stymied by a copy of Scapegoat that royally gummed up the field.

Rob wins!