Ladies and gentlemen: welcome to Day 2. The first match in the Dueling Dome today will showcase Robert Ackerman, whose record with Gladiator Beasts is rivaled only by a select few. Coming off of an impressive second place finish at Worlds, he’s back today with his signature off-beat Gladiator deck. His opponent is Jose Prado, the only player to make Day 2 with Monarchs. He’s got some interesting tech, and if he takes down Ackerman, his chances of success today look good.
Ackerman won the roll and began with a set monster and two spell or trap cards. Jose started things off with Allure of Darkness, removing Mask of Darkness from the game. Next he played Soul Exchange, but Ackerman wasn’t having it. Solemn Judgment cut off half of Ackerman’s life points and Jose’s ability to tribute his monster. Jose simply set a card to each zone before passing.
On his turn, Ackerman played Elemental Hero Prisma, who changed his name to Gladiator Beast Bestiari by sending one to the graveyard. A contact Fusion was made with Ackerman’s face-down Gladiator Beast Hoplomus and brought out Gladiator Beast Gyzarus to destroy the set monster and a Mystical Space Typhoon, which was chained to destroy Ackerman’s set Reinforcement of the Army.
Gyzarus swung in for 2400 and tagged out for Gladiator Beast Laquari and Gladiator Beast Darius. Darius brought back a Bestiari and the three monsters became Gladiator Beast Heraklinos. Ackerman passed with three in hand. Jose set a card to each zone once more on his turn. Ackerman summoned another copy of Elemental Hero Prisma and once again made him a Bestiari.
He’d follow up with Monster Reborn to bring Bestiari back and contact Fuse once more for Gladiator Beast Gyzarus. Jose chained Phoenix Wing Wind Blast discarding Vanity’s Fiend and targeting Heraklinos. To nobody’s surprise, a Sangan from Ackerman’s hand hit the graveyard to negate the Blast via Heraklinos and Jose’s face-down Mask of Darkness was destroyed. Ackerman’s monsters swung in to drop Jose to 200 life points and Ackerman tagged out for two copies of Gladiator Beast Laquari. Jose began his turn with Allure of Darkness and Ackerman went into the tank to think about negating it. Jose only had one card in hand. Ackerman eventually decided to negate the Allure, and after revealing his in-hand Caius the Shadow Monarch, Jose scooped up his cards.
Jose was side decked quickly and after some thought, Ackerman was finished as well. Game 2 began with Jose setting just one spell or trap card. Ackerman began with Gladiator Beast Bestiari who was taken down thanks to Mirror Force. Ackerman would then play E - Emergency Call to search out Elemental Hero Prisma. He wasn’t holding Elemental Hero Stratos, so it was an interesting decision. He set two spell or trap cards before giving the turn back to Jose.
Jose set two spell or trap cards and a monster on his turn, and Ackerman drew into a second Test Tiger. He began his main phase with Cold Wave and Jose responded with Threatening Roar. Ackerman took a dive into the think tank once more. He had Pole Position and another card this reporter hadn’t seen yet face down. He decided not to respond and summoned Elemental Hero Prisma. Another Bestiari was sent to the graveyard and Test Tiger came down momentarily. Tiger’s effect was used to bring back Gladiator Beast Darius, who attempted to bring back one of the Bestiaris.
D.D. Crow removed it, but Ackerman’s second copy of Test Tiger was used to bring another Darius out! The resulting Gyzarus destroyed a Solemn Judgment and Legendary Jujitsu Master. Ackerman passed, and Jose passed right back! The Cold Wave had completely locked him up, and when Ackerman had the turn again, he attacked to tag out for two copies of Gladiator Beast Laquari before setting his final card to the spell/trap zone. Ackerman had three spells/traps and two Laquaris to Jose’s four cards in hand.
Jose began with Brain Control—targeting a Laquari—but Ackerman chained his Pole Position! It was negated, and Jose set a spell or trap and passed. Ackerman attacked with both his monsters on his turn to drop Jose to 600 life points. Ackerman tagged a Laquari out for Gladiator Beast Bestiari and destroyed a face-down Solemn Judgment. Jose had drawn a pretty good hand by the looks of it, but Ackerman’s play and second Tiger had totally bested him. After thinking for a moment Ackerman decided not to contact fuse and instead set his last card, a spell or trap.
Jose was up and with only three cards in hand he couldn’t have much. He played Soul Exchange, targeting Bestiari. Ackerman stopped it with Solemn Judgment and Jose scooped up his cards. Jose’s anti-meta deck gets completely destroyed by one of the masters of Gladiator Beasts and Robert Ackerman moves on to the Top 8!