Last week I instant messaged Adam Corn to introduce him to another player that wanted to duel him online. Corn was on his Sidekick at the time and thus wasn’t able to play immediately, but the duelist that wanted to play him gladly took a rain check for some online dueling at a later date. That duelist was Hsoros Nairebas, and today, he’s cashing in that rain check.

Game 1

He won the roll and opened with Elemental Hero Stratos, searching his deck for Destiny Hero – Malicious. He discarded The Dark Creator for Trade-In, drew two cards, and passed. Corn set one card to his back row and ended. Nairebas attacked for 1800 damage, Corn flipped Mirror Force, and a set spell or trap ended Nairebas’s turn.

Corn summoned Gladiator Beast Darius and Nairebas fingered his set card: Torrential Tribute — he flipped it to destroy Darius. Corn set another spell or trap and ended. “Go.” Nairebas drew for his turn.

He summoned Snipe Hunter, discarded Malicious for its effect, missed the roll, and swung for 1500 damage. “Go ahead.” Corn summoned another Darius, ran it over Snipe Hunter, and tagged out to Gladiator Beast Laquari. He discarded D.D. Crow to remove Nairebas’s Malicious from his graveyard, putting him at two Darks in the graveyard, and ended.

A set monster was Nairebas’s only move — neither duelist was giving the other much to actually destroy, keeping commitment to the field light. Corn summoned Bestiari, contact Fused for Gyzarus and attacked for 2400 damage. “I’m debating whether I’ll tag it out or not . . .” He thought for a few moments and then traded Gyzarus for Laquari and Darius, bringing back the other Darius to contact Fuse for Heraklinos! He backed it up with another set spell or trap card.

Nairebas activated Heavy Storm, drawing out a Heraklinos negation from Corn. Nairebas played Dark Armed Dragon, lost it to Solemn Judgment, and set one card to his back row. Things didn’t look good for the local favorite.

“You’re at 5400?” Nairebas nodded, and Corn summoned Gladiator Beast Laquari. Both of his Gladiators attacked, Laquari tagged out to Bestiari and Nairebas lost his on-field Crush Card Virus to its effect. There was no way he was going to win out of this, and losing Game 1 was a big problem. A turn later he topdecked Reinforcement of the Army to match his Jinzo and Destiny Hero – Plasma, and conceded.

Adam Corn hangs back in the early game, and then goes for the throat in the mid-game to keep Nairebas off balance, winning the all-important Game 1! Both competitors began side decking intently.

Game 2

Minutes later, Nairebas was beginning Game 2. He discarded Destiny Hero – Malicious for Destiny Draw, drew two, then did the same with Trade-In and The Dark Creator. He activated Allure of Darkness next, drew for it, and removed Dark Grepher. He set Destiny Hero – Disk Commander and passed with D.D. Crow, Phantom of Chaos, Heavy Storm, and two Dark Armed Dragon. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Corn summoned Sangan, ran over Disk Commander, and set one card to his back row. Nairebas activated Heavy Storm next turn, but Corn chained Crush Card Virus! He lost both of his Dark Armed Dragons, a brutal hit to what would have been an amazing hand!

He normal summoned Phantom of Chaos, removed The Dark Creator with priority, and copied its effect with Phantom of Chaos. He then removed one Dark Armed Dragon to pay for the Phantom’s borrowed effect, attempted to special summon Disk Commander, and lost out to D.D. Crow. Crow had utterly destroyed a perfect sequence of plays, and victory now would be nothing short of academic. Another set spell or trap ended Nairebas’s turn.

Corn summoned Elemental Hero Stratos, searched his deck for Elemental Hero Prisma, and ran over Phantom of Chaos. The duel stood at 6200 life points to 8000 with Corn leading.

Nairebas topdecked Trade-In, revealed it, and set it as a bluff — with nothing but D.D. Crow in hand there was little else he could do. Corn summoned Spirit Reaper, attacked directly to force Nairebas to discard D.D. Crow, and ended. Nairebas revealed the Crush Card Virus he drew for his turn, removed Malicious to summon another from his deck, pressed for damage with Malicious over Spirit Reaper and set the Crush. A comeback still seemed unlikely, but the Virus was a faint ray of hope in a match that looked completely lost.

Corn summoned Prisma, activated its effect, and Nairebas chained the Virus to knock away Prisma and Stratos from the field, as well as another Prisma from Corn’s hand. Corn followed up with Monster Reborn though, used Prisma and Test Tiger to get to Darius, then contact Fused for Gladiator Beast Gyzarus. Gyzarus wiped Nairebas’s field, Spirit Reaper turned to defense mode, and Gyzarus attacked him for 2400 damage.

Gyzarus tagged out for Secutor and Laquari, and Corn set one spell or trap card. After seeing his next draw, Nairebas immediately offered the handshake.

Adam Corn rolls over Hsoros Nairebas, and we are headed for an all-Gladiator finals!