The players shuffled up in silence as Judge John Danker explained that he would stop them if they started to make a misplay. Max laughed, saying that he really hoped they were good enough not to mess things up that badly.
Game One
Brent won the die roll and elected to go first. You could feel the tension in the air as the two players waited for the signal to begin their match. Finally, they were allowed to start, and Brent got right to business.
He started off with a face down spell or trap, then passed. Max summoned Blade Knight and swung in for a quick 1600 damage. He then set a card and passed. Brent summoned Tribe-Infecting Virus and passed priority. Max had no response, and one Smashing Ground later, the Knight was gone. Brent tried to attack, but was foiled by Sakuretsu Armor. He set one more card and passed. Max simply set two cards and passed. Brent did nothing on his next turn, and Max followed suit. Neither player seemed to have any moves worth making, so it quickly turned into a game of draw and go.
Brent was the first to make a move, as he set a monster face down. It didn’t last for long, though, as Max immediately hit it with a Nobleman of Crossout, removing all copies of Magician of Faith from the game. Both players took the opportunity to check out their opponent’s decks, and then play resumed. Of course, I use the definition of “play” quite loosely, as both players passed.
Brent pulled a Pot of Greed off the top of his deck, and it got him Delinquent Duo and Sangan. The Duo randomly stole Max’s Metamorphosis, and he chose to discard Jinzo. Brent was down on life, and when Max played Scapegoat in response to his attack, it looked like Max might get some time to regain card advantage despite Brent’s strong draw.
Max had another Metamorphosis in his hand, and used it to change a Sheep token into Thousand-Eyes Restrict which sucked up Sangan. Max then tributed it for Airknight Parshath, which promptly fell into a Bottomless Trap Hole. Sangan fetched a D. D. Warrior Lady for Brent, and Max passed, horribly outnumbered in cards, having only three to Brent’s six.
Brent summoned his own Lady and tried to attack, but Sakuretsu Armor stopped it. On the end phase, Max pulled Jinzo back from his graveyard with Call of the Haunted and pressed the attack. With only 3000 life points left, Brent needed to bounce back fast or else his card advantage would be for nothing. He summoned D. D. Assailant and tried to ram it into Jinzo. He succeeded and dropped to 2300 life points, but retained his advantage. Unfortunately, he couldn’t press it, as he was forced to set another card and pass.
Max summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, and after some serious thought, Brent decided to let it happen. Breaker smashed up Brent’s Mirror Force and then attacked, only to run into Magic Cylinder and deal Max his first damage of the game. Brent finally drew into Scapegoat and set it. Breaker attacked and the Sheep tokens hit the field in force. After some quick math, Max decided not to attack, but played Delinquent Duo instead. Creature Swap and Metamorphosis hit the graveyard.
Brent played another Metamorphosis to pull out Thousand-Eyes Restrict, and he called priority to eat Breaker. A chained Book of Moon foiled his plans, though, and Brent was forced to use Smashing Ground on Breaker. Max checked through both graveyards and passed. Brent drew and summoned his own Breaker and used its counter to nuke Max’s Mirror Force. He hit a sheep leaving one token left for Max to fall back on. It didn’t matter though, as Max topdecked Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning. Max hit the Breaker and the face down Thousand-Eyes Restrict, leaving Brent with 900 life points and a Ring of Destruction that he couldn’t use. Max set a monster and a card, and then on Brent’s draw phase flipped Ceasefire to win the game.
Max 1, Brent 0
Game Two
Both players opted to side deck for the next game, and Brent opted to go first once more, bringing Reinforcement of the Army and Exiled Force into his deck in place of Book of Moon and Smashing Ground.
Brent opened with a no monster hand, and played Swords of Revealing Light and a face down card for his turn. Max set two cards and passed, and Mystical Space Typhoon destroyed Sakuretsu Armor in the end phase. Brent set another card and summoned D. D. Warrior Lady. It was met with Ring of Destruction, and both players dropped to 6500 life points. On the last turn for Swords, Max just set a card and ended. Brent still hadn’t drawn a monster though, so he simply passed.
Max drew into Graceful Charity and discarded Tribe-Infecting Virus and Book of Moon. He summoned Sangan and swung in for zero as Scapegoat barred his path. It was a fuzzy fight, as Sangan crushed a Sheep token. Brent finally drew a monster, his own Sangan, but opted not to set it. He set a different card in his spell or trap zone and passed. Max ate another Sheep, then set a monster before ending. Brent morphed a sheep and used his newfound Thousand-Eyes Restrict to eat Max’s facedown D. D. Assailant. Thousand-Eyes Restrict’s stats were still at 0, but Brent attacked into Sangan anyways taking 1000 damage and removing the Assailant from his spell and trap zone. To finish things up, he set a monster and passed.
Max summoned Tsukuyomi, flipped down Thousand-Eyes Restrict, destroyed it and a token, and used Nobleman of Crossout on Brent’s Sangan. Not a good turn for Brent. Brent was down one card and 1000 life points, and with Sangan on Max’s field, things weren’t looking too good for him. He summoned his own Tsukuyomi to flip down the Sangan and attacked, running into Mirror Force. Max summoned D. D. Warrior Lady and flipped his Sangan. Brent took both hits, dropping to 3000.
Brent still needed to come back in a big way, and he used Premature Burial to get back D. D. Warrior Lady. He then tried to Snatch Steal Max’s Lady, but failed when Book of Moon flipped it down. Brent attacked and removed Sangan from play before setting a card and a monster and ending. Max flipped his face down Heavy Storm, eliminating Torrential Tribute and Mirror Force. D. D. Warrior Lady returned to action and swung into Brent’s Magician of Faith. The Magician brought back Swords of Revealing Light, and Max set a card and a monster before passing.
Brent played Swords of Revealing Light, flipping over Tsukuyomi, who flipped down a D. D. Warrior Lady. Brent played Reinforcement of the Army and used it to pull out D. D. Assailant. The Assailant tried to leap into action, but he ended up leaping into a Bottomless Trap Hole instead. Max set two cards and passed leaving 2 turns left on the Swords. Brent set a monster and ended, but during the end phase, Call of the Haunted pulled back a D. D. Assailant. Tsukuyomi hit the field, Max’s army flipped up, Dust Tornado took out the Swords, and the army swung for game.
Max Suffridge is going to Worlds, defeating Brent Yetter 2-0.