Remember back in the finals from SJC Baltimore when Shane Scurry first piloted Chaos Return to a win? Remember his opponent, Chris Pittao, who ended up losing via deckout? Well, they’re back, and ready for the most exciting rematch of the season!

Pittao won the roll with a 4 to Scurry’s 2, and opted to begin the match. He opened with a set to each zone, and passed over to Scurry who started with a Card Trooper. He burned Smashing Ground, Snipe Hunter, and Magical Merchant to boost it, and attacked in to a set Gravekeeper’s Spy. Pittao fetched a friend for his Spy, and Scurry was forced to set a spell or trap and end. Action was to Pittao, and he switched one Spy into attack position to knock down the Trooper. Trooper drew Shane a card before it went, and Pittao tributed the attack position Spy for Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch. He knocked a Snipe Hunter out of Shane’s hand to burn him for 400, and Pittao passed back. Scurry revealed his set Heavy Storm, and summoned Cyber Dragon and Bazoo the Soul-Eater. Bazoo was fed from the graveyard and both of Pittao’s monsters went down in battle. Scurry set a spell or trap and passed to Pittao who summoned a Cyber Dragon of his own and took control of Bazoo with Brain Control. The brainwashed monkey was tributed for Mobius the Frost Monarch which destroyed Shane’s set Return from the Different Dimension, and Scurry took a beating. Scurry had to use Exiled Force to blast Mobius and he set a Sakuretsu Armor which hit the Cyber Dragon next turn.

With an open field to attack into, Shane summoned another Card Trooper and burned 3 more cards including Mirror Force! He attacked for 1900 and passed without a backfield. Another Cyber Dragon came down for Pittao and it ended the second Trooper’s stay on the field. Pittao set a card which was revealed to be Sakuretsu Armor when Scurry tried an attack with a freshly summoned Bazoo! Scurry set a bluff and got nailed by the Dragon again next turn. He summoned Snipe Hunter and pitched Dark Magician of Chaos to try and eliminate the threat, but he rolled a 1! One turn later, Heavy Storm from Pittao caused Shane to scoop up his cards. Chris Pittao takes an action packed game 1!

Between games, both players smoke-screened, and Shane seemed quite displeased at the lot he had drawn this early in the event. After both players verified that their side decks still contained 15 cards, Shane opted to open the duel with a set monster and a spell or trap. Pittao summoned Twin-Headed Behemoth and attacked. This time it was his turn to ram into a Spy. In main phase 2, a Smashing Ground destroyed one Spy and Chris set two spells or traps indicating a weak hand. Jinzo came down for Scurry next turn and swung through the Behemoth. It returned in the end phase and Pittao set a monster to join it before ending. Cyber Phoenix joined Jinzo next turn and attacked Behemoth while Jinzo took down Pittao’s Sangan. Sangan fetched D.D. Warrior Lady and action passed to Pittao. He set a monster and passed over to Shane who blew away the set Spirit Reaper with Exiled Force. Both machines attacked directly and play passed back to Pittao who was in a very tight spot. He set yet another monster, but Snipe Hunter came down for Shane. He rolled to try to destroy the monster but rolled another 1! He pitched a Snipe Hunter to try again, but rolled a 6. He tried 2 more times discarding Card Trooper and Snatch Steal, (the rest of his hand) and rolled another 6 and another 1! In the end, it didn’t matter as an attack from the Snipe Hunter finally took down the bluff monster and the game was over. Game 2 was all Shane Scurry and we moved into a third game!

The players side decked once more after blowing through two games in less than 14 minutes. This time, it was Pittao’s turn to start. After some shuffling drama, he did so with a set to each zone. Shane dropped a Cyber Dragon and ran it into Sakuretsu Armor! He set a card to each zone and passed back to Pittao who tributed his set Treeborn Frog for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch to blow away Scurry’s set Gravekeeper’s Spy. Bottomless Trap Hole removed Zaborg from play and the fields were blank. Pittao set a spell or trap and passed back to Shane who did nothing. Don Zaloog punished him for it next turn by stealing Dimension Fusion from his hand! Snipe Hunter was summoned once more by Scurry and he pitched Jinzo targeting a set Dust Tornado. He rolled a three, hitting with Snipe for the first time in the match and swung into Don with Snipe Hunter. Scurry closed out his turn with a set spell or trap and passed to back Pittao who summoned Cyber Dragon and attacked successfully into the Hunter!

He set a monster and a spell or trap to join it and passed to Shane who paused to consider his move very carefully. He summoned Bazoo and called priority to remove Jinzo, Cyber Dragon, and Snipe Hunter. Pittao allowed it to happen. He then flipped Return and Pittao didn’t have a choice as to whether to allow it to happen. Snipe Hunter targeted the set monster, but another six made this a dangerous proposition for the Hunter. Bazoo took down Cyber Dragon and Shane’s Cyber Dragon hit into a set Mystic Tomato. “Why me?!” lamented Shane as a second Tomato was searched. Jinzo hit the new Tomato and Pittao used it to fetch Sangan. Snipe Hunter felled it, and the score was 6000 to 3000 in Pittao’s favor. Sangan brought D.D. Warrior Lady to Pittao’s hand and, in the end phase, everything but Bazoo went back to Scurry’s removed from play. It was all over next turn, as the Lady, Smashing Ground and a Premature Burial from Pittao sealed the game and the match. Chris Pittao of Team Outphase wins his rematch against Shane Scurry!