For the other half of our first round double feature, we figured that it would be a good idea to see how the Lightsworn have evolved since their conflicting performances at SJC St. Louis and the UK National Championships. Han-Wei and Dale Bellido both made the cut at their respective events but with drastically different builds, but while Han-Wei took his deck all the way, Dale lost a nearly un-losable matchup against eventual winner Stephen Harris owing to a series of extremely poor draws. Today, Mike Pianka is banking on Lightsworn to take him to the Top 16, but first he’ll have to get by Shonen Jump Montreal Champion, Cesar Gonzalez, who has chosen to arm himself with Monarchs. Yesterday’s Last Chance Regionals were filled to the brim with Lightsworn decks, but the vast majority of them seemed to be of the low-utility, highly explosive Overdose variant from St. Louis. If Team Monster’s Mike Pianka has the right balance of utility with power, he could go all the way, but first he’ll have to take down the previous SJC champ . . . and avoid the wrath of his boss!
“I have to give a shout out to my boss. Well, an apology. I do work for Yu-Gi-Oh! ETC, and I should be working tomorrow . . .” Cesar countered with his own shout-out . . . to his mother. Apparently the dice roll happened before I got there, and Mike won it 6 to 5, electing to go first.Mike opened up with Solar Recharge pitching Wulf, Lightsworn Beast and drawing into Monster Reborn and Torrential Tribute but dropping Heavy Storm and Solemn Judgment. He summoned Cyber Valley, set a card to his back row, and passed to Cesar who set one to each zone. Mike had another Wulf in hand in addition to Brain Control, Cyber Dragon, and Torrential, and he used the Reborn to pull back Wulf and swing on Cesar’s set monster. Sangan went off to the graveyard and fetched Gravekeeper’s Spy for Cesar before Mike switched Cyber Valley to defense and passed.
Cesar was up, and he shuffled his hand before moving a set monster on to the field and passing. Mike drew, and another Valley hit the field. Both were removed to let Pianka draw two, and he swung with Wulf, flipping Skill Drain to his own attack! Dekoichi went down without effect, and Pianka set 2 cards to his back row before passing to Cesar who set one to each zone. Jain, Lightsworn Paladin came down for Mike, but he fell into Bottomless Trap Hole leaving Wulf the lone attacker. Cesar’s set Gravekeeper’s Spy hit the dirt, but she was the third Dark monster needed for Cesar to play Dark Armed Dragon! The Dragon’s effect was useless in the face of Skill Drain, but Soul Exchange came down next allowing Wulf to be tributed for Prime Material Dragon! Despite having to skip his battle phase, Cesar still had total control of the field with the biggest monster available to either player. He passed, and Cyber Dragon and Brain Control hit Mike’s side of the field with the latter targeting Prime Material Dragon. Prime Material was a Light monster, giving Mike the two he needed to special summon Guardian of Order! Enemy Controller tributed off the Prime Material Dragon to steal Dark Armed Dragon, and Mike swung for 7400 before passing and relinquishing control of Dark Armed Dragon.
Play was back to Cesar who drew, and then activated Reckless Greed! He drew two, attacked Guardian of Order, and then set a monster and two spell or traps. Mike passed his next turn, and Dark Armed Dragon ate his Cyber Dragon. Mike set a monster, but Soul Exchange let Cesar tribute it, for Thestalos. Mike flipped Torrential, but Cesar chained Solemn Judgment! Pianka had a Judgment of his own, but Cesar had another, dropping to 150 life points! Mike set a bluff Skill Drain before dropping Cyber Dragon in defense to try and stay alive. It did no good though, as Mike was out of gas and Cesar simply swung over with both monsters to take the game! After a promising start, Mike’s Skill Drain Lightsworn deck runs out of gas and loses game 1. “Who runs Skill Drain in a Lightsworn deck?!” queried Cesar between games.
Mike started off game 2 with a set Skill Drain and a set Shining Angel before passing over to Cesar who set a monster and two cards to the back row before passing. Solar Recharge came down for Mike pitching Jain, and he lost Premature Burial and Cyber Valley to the graveyard. Unfortunate, considering he was holding Machine Duplication. He dropped Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress and turned her sideways to destroy Cesar’s Mirror Force before flipping Shining Angel and attacking. Mike flipped Skill Drain in response to his attack, but Cesar paid 4000 to block it with Solemn Judgment, and his Gravekeeper’s Spy flipped up. Pianka set his second Skill Drain, and passed, losing Majestic Mech – Ohka, Cyber Valley, and Torrential Tribute to Lyla’s effect. Cesar tributed for Caius and targeted Shining Angel, but Skill Drain flipped on the chain to negate it. Lyla bit the dust, and Pianka simply switched his Angel to defense before passing. Cesar refused to attack the Angel, and Mike was stuck with a pair of Cyber Dragons, Guardian of Order, Machine Duplication, and Wulf. He crashed the Shining Angel into Caius to grab the third and final Cyber Valley before passing. Caius swung, and Valley was removed to its own effect to end the battle phase and pull Mike a card.
Play was back to Mike, and he considered his options carefully before summoning a Cyber Dragon. Cesar allowed it, and it was followed by Foolish Burial for Wulf. Wulf came back out of the graveyard giving Joey his second Light monster for Guardian of Order! Cesar was out a Mirror Force already, so if his set card wasn’t Torrential Tribute, he was in trouble. He initially allowed the summon but immediately regretted the decision and wanted to Solemn it. It wasn’t allowed, and Cesar lost all his monsters to Mike’s and was down to 1800. Dark Armed Dragon came down for him next turn, and he set the 2 spell or trap cards and a monster. Crush Card flipped in the draw phase tributing Mask of Darkness, and Mike lost all his monsters including the Wulf and Cyber Dragon in hand. He was left with Machine Duplication, Monster Reborn, and Heavy Storm, and he revived a Cyber Valley with Monster Reborn before passing. Brain Control let Cesar take the Valley and tribute it for Raiza, putting enough ATK on the field to take the game and match. Mike sadly pulled the Honests out of his deck that he just couldn’t draw.
Cesar Gonzalez takes the match, 2-0!