For these two duelists, it all came down to this: Texas duelist Ryan Spicer and Metagame.com’s own Ryan Murphy were playing off in a Gladiator Beast mirror match, with the winner guaranteed a slot in Day 2.

“I’m playing an innovative new OTK!” claimed Murphy with a grin. He wasn’t. The most innovative thing in his Gladiator Beast deck was three copies of Cold Wave, which definitely wasn’t saying much. Spicer, who would soon define himself as the quiet one in this match, nodded and shuffled up.

Spicer opened the match with a set card to each zone. Murphy opened with two copies of Dust Tornado, Gladiator Proving Ground, Elemental Hero Prisma, Solemn Judgment, and Mystical Space Typhoon. He activated Proving Ground, searched out Gladiator Beast Laquari, then summoned it, losing it to Bottomless Trap Hole. He set two cards to his back row and ended.

Spicer flip summoned Gladiator Beast Hoplomus next turn, then attacked to tag out, special summoning Gladiator Beast Bestiari. Bestiari’s effect targeted Murphy’s set Dust Tornado—destroying it—and Spicer passed with nothing in his back row.

Next turn Murphy summoned Elemental Hero Prisma, attacked over Bestiari, then sent his own Bestiari to his graveyard from his deck. He set two more cards to his back row to finish his turn. “Go ahead.” Spicer summoned Gladiator Beast Darius and attacked Prisma, then Murphy flipped Mirror Force to destroy it. Spicer passed with nothing in his spell and trap zone.

“I wish I could take advantage of that situation, but my hand’s bad too!” Murphy grinned, setting another spell or trap. He attacked with Prisma for 1700 damage. Spicer summoned another Darius, Murphy flipped Bottomless Trap Hole, and Spicer set a spell or trap card.

Murphy took another direct shot with Prisma, dropping Spicer to 4400 damage. “Neither one of us has done anything! This is the worst feature match ever.”

Spicer summoned Gladiator Beast Secutor, special summoned Test Tiger, and tributed it to try and send Secutor back to his deck. Murphy chained Dust Tornado—destroying Spicer’s Solemn Judgment—and when Bestiari was tagged in, it destroyed Murphy’s Solemn Judgment in turn. One Monster Reborn later, Spicer was contact fusing for Gladiator Beast Gyzarus. Its effect destroyed Prisma, and Gyzarus attacked for 2400 damage. Spicer tagged it out for two copies of Laquari and ended his turn with two cards in hand.

Murphy had Mystical Space Typhoon, Crush Card Virus, and D.D. Crow (he’d topped the Virus that turn). He set Crow and Crush Card Virus, and when Spicer tried to attack next turn he lost both of his Laquaris to the Virus. Spicer’s hand was revealed to be Test Tiger and two Crows: no help.

Murphy summoned Gladiator Beast Bestiari, attacked, and tagged out to Gladiator Beast Laquari. He set Mystical Space Typhoon and ended. “Sorry about that rip. I think it was my one out.” Spicer set a monster next turn and Murphy drew into D. D. Warrior Lady. He set the Warrior Lady, attacked with his Gladiator Beast (revealing Spicer’s Spirit Reaper), and tagged out to Murmillo blowing away the Reaper.

Spicer summoned Test Tiger, attacked Murmillo next turn, and lost his set Book of Moon to Mystical Space Typhoon in the end phase. Next turn Murphy got Elemental Hero Stratos with Reinforcement of the Army, summoned it, searched out Elemental Hero Prisma with its effect, and flip summoned D. D. Warrior Lady. Spicer was scooping moments later!

A huge Crush Card Virus and some sharp follow-up let Ryan Murphy play out of a rough opening situation, taking the first duel with authority. “I swear that’s not how I got this far!” pleaded Murphy. “Not just by topping Crush Card Virus!” Play moved to Game 2.

“I think that win just now is going to illegitimize everything I’ve done all day,” laughed Murphy. Spicer was up. “Set a bunch of back rows so I can make some cool reads! By the way, your first name? It’s pretty hot.” Spicer just grinned and played through his opponent’s constant talk.

He set a spell or trap and summoned Gladiator Beast Laquari. Murphy summoned Gladiator Beast Murmillo, lost it to Solemn Judgment, and lost out to D.D. Crow when he tried to bring it back with Premature Burial. Next turn Ryan Spicer summoned Darius, attacked, and tagged it out for another Laquari. He kept his first Laquari in attack mode and set another back row.

“I don’t think I have any choice, I have like, one play.” Murphy summoned Elemental Hero Prisma, special summoned Test Tiger, tributed it, and ate Book of Moon—Prisma went face down and Murphy was stymied. He set one card to his back row. “I will not scoop yet. I will try.”

Spicer drew for his turn and eyed his two Laquari cards. “High risk, high reward . . .” narrated Murphy. “I think you should go with some inflection point plays . . .” he grinned. Spicer activated Cold Wave, special summoned Test Tiger, and normal summoned Neo-Spacian Dark Panther. Murphy immediately scooped it up.

The match moved to a third and final duel! The winner here would move on to Day 2, while the loser would have to hope for good tiebreakers. Murphy was up, and both duelists shook hands before drawing for the last game.

Murphy had Reinforcement of the Army, and he activated it to search out Stratos. He summoned it, fetched Prisma from his deck, and had Cold Wave, Solemn Judgment, Dust Tornado, Darius, and Bottomless Trap Hole. He set all three of his trap cards and ended. “I have two moves, but I’m going to do the more exciting one.”

Spicer fired back by setting two cards to his back row, and Murphy flipped Dust Tornado in the end phase. “Which one of those is the Solemn . . .” He destroyed Spicer’s Bottomless Trap Hole. “Sweet.”

Next turn Murphy summoned Gladiator Beast Darius, but Spicer had Torrential Tribute! “Dah! I really thought that was Solemn. Very nice play.” He flipped Solemn Judgment to keep his field. “I’d like to point out that implied inflection points forced me to make that move.” He attacked with both monsters, then tagged out Darius for Laquari with one card left on the field.

He lost it next turn to Heavy Storm/Bottomless Trap Hole. Spicer summoned Laquari, attacked Stratos, and both monsters were destroyed. Spicer set another spell or trap to finish his turn, ending with two cards in hand. The duel stood at 4500 to 4000, with Spicer leading in life points.

Murphy attacked with Laquari, losing his monster to Dimensional Prison. He set Dust Tornado, and next turn Spicer’s only move was Solemn Judgment—he set it, then lost it to Dust Tornado in the end phase. That left Murphy to summon Prisma, and he attacked for another 1700 damage. He set a spell or trap, and Spicer summoned a Prisma of his own.

He activated its effect to send Gladiator Beast Bestiari to the graveyard, then attacked Murphy’s Prisma—both monsters went down. Murphy activated Reinforcement of the Army, nabbed D. D. Warrior Lady from his deck and summoned her, attacking for 1500 damage. “Go ahead.” Spicer summoned Gladiator Beast Darius, and Murphy flipped Solemn Judgment. Spicer only had 1300 life points left.

He stuck it out, and on the turn that followed, Murphy swung for game with D. D. Warrior Lady. It was over, and Ryan Murphy is headed to his first-ever Day 2!