Mike wanted a feature match yesterday and didn’t manage to get one, but he certainly made up for it today. Both he and Tristian were in good spirits after their quarterfinals victories as they shuffled and got ready for the start of the match.

Game 1

Tristian won the high roll and chose to go first. After taking his hand of five and drawing to begin, he set a monster and a spell or trap and ended his turn. Mike drew, summoned Cyber Dragon and attacked Tristian’s set card — Apprentice Magician. Tristian searched out Old Vindictive Magician and set it. Mike set a spell or trap, and ended his turn.

Tristian flip summoned Old Vindictive Magician to destroy Cyber Dragon, and then summoned Sangan. He attacked directly with Sangan, then Old Vindictive, and ended his turn. Mike drew, summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, and attacked Tristian’s Sangan, only to run smack into Mirror Force. “Aww . . . I didn’t think so,” Mike remarked, then set a spell or trap, thought for a moment and ended.

Tristian drew, turned Old Vindictive to defense, and again attacked with Sangan. Mike looked at his set card and pondered for awhile, before deciding to take the hit. Life points were now at Mike — 5600 and Tristian — 8000. Mike then drew, checked his set cards again, set a monster and ended his turn.

Tristian drew, tributed his Sangan for Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch, taking Gravekeeper’s Spy out of Mike’s hand, and searching out Spirit Reaper for Sangan’s effect. Mike responded to Thestalos’ summon with Torrential Tribute, clearing the field of monsters. Mike then drew, summoned Spirit Reaper, and attacked directly, prompting Tristian to respond with Book of Moon. Reaper flipped face down, and Mike ended his turn.

Tristian drew and summoned his own Reaper, used Nobleman of Crossout to nail Mike’s, and attacked directly — and Mike activated his own Book of Moon to flip it face down. Turnabout is fair play, after all. Mike drew, set two spell or traps and ended his turn.

Tristian flip summoned his Reaper, attempted to attack again, and bang! Mike flipped up Enemy Controller to destroy it. Mike then set a spell or trap and ended his turn. Tristian drew, flip summoned D. D. Warrior Lady and attacked — only to get hit with Sakuretsu Armor. He set another monster, and ended his turn.

Mike drew, and flipped up his set spell or trap to reveal — Graceful Charity!? He activated it, drew three, then discarded Rush Recklessly and Smashing Ground. He set a monster and a spell or trap card and ended his turn.

Tristian tributed his set monster to bring out Thestalos, taking away Mike’s last card in hand — Premature Burial. He then declared an attack on Mike’s set monster. Mike checked his set cards, considered, and decided to take the hit. His set Sangan was sent to the graveyard, and he fetched out Treeborn Frog with its effect and ended his turn.

Mike drew, set a spell or trap and a monster. “I wonder what I set,” he said, displaying his empty hands. “Go ahead.”  Tristian drew, and activated Pot of Avarice, taking back two Apprentice Magicians, Sangan, Old Vindictive Magician and Spirit Reaper. Life points were now Mike — 5150 and Tristian — 8000. Tristian drew two cards for Pot, then activated Graceful Charity. “Hey, you did it!” he grinned at Mike. He discarded a Dekoichi and a Night Assailant, bringing the Dekoichi back to his hand. He set a monster and attacked the set card with Thestalos. Of course, it was the Treeborn Frog.

Mike set a monster and ended his turn. Tristian flip summoned Dekoichi, drew his card, summoned Exiled Force, and tributed it to destroy Mike’s face down card. “Wait,” Mike said. He looked at his set spell or trap, and decided to activate it — it was Enemy Controller, and he tributed his doomed Magician of Faith to take control of Thestalos for the rest of the turn. Tristian ended.

Mike brought back his Treeborn, and set it on the field. He looked at the lone card in his hand. “This is taking too long,” he declared. “I’ll concede.”  They shuffled in preparation for the next game. “I always lose the first game,” Mike added.

Game 2

Mike decided to go first, taking five cards then drawing his 6th. He glanced quickly at the cards, and set a monster and a spell or trap. “That’s confidence right there,” he said. Tristian summoned Breaker, and broke the set card — Mike chained Scapegoat, placing a die on the field. Simon Key interrupted, handing him four pennies to use instead. Tristian continued, attacking Mike’s face down Sangan with Breaker. Mike searched out Treeborn Frog, and Tristian ended.

Mike drew, pushed a face down monster forward, then reconsidered. He ended his turn. Tristian drew, set a monster and a spell or trap and ended as well. Mike drew, riffled through his full hand, then set a monster and a spell or trap and ended. Both players had plenty of cards in their hands.

Tristian drew. “Yeah, I ripped that,” he announced. He flip summoned Dekoichi and drew a card, then activated his draw for the turn — Graceful Charity. After thinking it over, he discarded Zaborg and Old Vindictive Magician. He attacked Mike’s set monster with Dekoichi, sending Treeborn Frog back to the graveyard (that poor Frog isn’t bandaged up like that for nothing) and attacked a Sheep Token. He set a monster, and ended his turn.

Mike drew. “I’m keeping your penny,” he called over his shoulder to Simon Key as he slipped it into his pocket. “That’s fine,” the head judge responded. He summoned Hydrogeddon and attacked Dekoichi. Putting another Hydrogeddon onto the field, he attacked Tristian’s set Magician of Faith. Tristian took back Graceful, and Mike ended his turn.

Tristian activated his Graceful Charity, prompting Mike to announce to the crowd, “That’s twice!” Tristian pitched Bottomless Trap Hole and D. D. Warrior Lady, and then summoned Asura Priest and activated Last Will. He attacked a Hydrogeddon with Asura, and Mike looked at his set spell or traps. “Decisions, decisions,” he murmured. He flipped up Magic Cylinder, turning the damage back onto Tristian. Tristian attacked the Hydrogeddon again with Breaker, destroying both, then took Exiled Force with Last Will’s effect. He attacked one Sheep Token with Exiled, tributed it to destroy the remaining Hydrogeddon, took Asura Priest back into his hand, and ended his turn.

Mike drew. He returned Treeborn Frog to the field, and sifted through his full hand of cards. He decided to tribute the Frog for Jinzo, then attacked directly. Tristian responded with Scapegoat. Mike decided to destroy a Sheep Token, and then ended.

Tristian drew, and looked through his graveyard. He activated Pot of Avarice, earning a groan from Mike, and returned Exiled Force, Magician of Faith, Dekoichi, Old Vindictive Magician and Breaker to his deck. He drew two new cards, set a monster and a spell or trap, and ended his turn.

Mike drew and thought for a while. He brought back Frog, tributed it for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, destroying Tristian’s set Treeborn Frog, and attacked with Jinzo and Zaborg, taking out two of Tristian’s Sheep Tokens. Tristian set a monster and ended. Mike drew, and attacked the set — it was Nimble Momonga, and Tristian brought out another one to the field. Life points were now Tristian — 7100 and Mike — 8000. With Jinzo, Mike attacked the second Momonga. Mike then set a monster and a spell or trap card and ended.

Tristian drew, and summoned Exiled Force, tributing it to destroy Jinzo. He set a spell or trap card and ended his turn. Mike drew, and activated Swords of Revealing Light. “Here comes Morphing Jar,” said Tristian. So it was — Mike flip summoned the Jar and, once both players had discarded and drawn, he continued his turn by attacking the last remaining Sheep token with Morphing Jar. He then launched a direct attack with Zaborg — right into Sakuretsu Armor.

Tristian drew, set a monster and a spell or trap and ended. Mike drew, set a spell or trap and ended. Tristian drew and, again, set a monster and a spell or trap before he ended. In his end phase, Mike activated his set Mystical Space Typhoon to target the card Tristian had just set — it was Bottomless Trap Hole. Mike drew, turned Morphing Jar to defense, and summoned D. D. Warrior Lady to attack Tristian’s set Apprentice Magician. “Do you want to remove?” Tristian asked, and Mike replied in the negative. “You’re sure?” Tristian brought out Old Vindictive Magician, and set it.

Tristian drew, set a monster, and ended his turn. Mike drew, and discarded Swords of Revealing Light. He summoned Breaker, and used its effect to destroy Tristian’s set Torrential Tribute. He attacked Tristian’s set monster with D. D. Warrior Lady — Tristian responded with Mirror Force. He set a spell or trap and ended his turn. Tristian drew, flip summoned Dekoichi and drew his card, then attacked another Sheep Token, leaving Mike with one. He ended his turn.

Mike drew and looked through Tristian’s graveyard. He set a spell or trap card and ended his turn. Tristian drew, flip summoned Apprentice Magician, and attacked the remaining Sheep Token — Mike flipped up Sakuretsu Armor to stymie him. Tristian then attacked the token with Dekoichi. “I’m four cents richer!” Mike declared as he added the last penny to his pocket. He then drew, summoned Mystic Swordsman LV2, and attacked Tristian’s set. Tristian protected it by activating Book of Moon to flip the Swordsman face down. Mike set a spell or trap, looked through his hand, and ended his turn.

Tristian looked through Mike’s graveyard. He attacked with Dekoichi, prompting Mike to react with Enemy Controller to turn the train to defense. Tristian then flip summoned Old Vindictive Magician to destroy Mike’s Swordsman, set a monster, and ended his turn.

Mike looked through his graveyard, and examined the four cards he held in his hand. He then activated Brain Control to take Dekoichi, tributed it for Zaborg, and destroyed Tristian’s set Night Assailant. He then attacked Old Vindictive Magician and ended.

Tristian summoned Cyber Dragon, then tributed it for . . . Cyber Dragon! He activated Premature Burial to bring back Apprentice Magician, and threw it into Zaborg to bring out Magician of Faith. Life points were now Tristian — 5350 and Mike — 7200.

Mike drew, and returned his Frog to the field. Still in standby phase, he tributed it for Enemy Controller to take control of Tristian’s Zaborg, and then returned Frog to the field. He attacked Tristian’s set Magician of Faith. Tristian added Pot of Avarice to his hand, and Mike continued by using Smashing Ground to get rid of Tristian’s Cyber Dragon, and returned the Zaborg.

Tristian drew, returned his Frog to the field, and summoned Breaker. He used its effect to wipe out Mike’s Mirror Force, and followed that up with Nobleman of Crossout to eliminate his set Night Assailant. He wasn’t done yet! He activated Pot of Avarice, returning two Zaborg, a Magician of Faith, Exiled Force and Asura Priest to his hand. “I could still top deck,” Mike threw in. Tristian drew two, then attacked Mike’s Treeborn with Breaker, then hit him directly with Zaborg.

Mike returned his Frog to the field, set a spell or trap, and ended. Tristian again attacked the Frog with Breaker, and launched a direct attack with Zaborg to end the game. Tristian would go on to the finals!