Gary Kuchta is a star player of Team Nexus, but has never managed to make a Shonen Jump Top 8. Capturing a heartbreaking ninth place in Durham, he’s probably the best duelist that you’ve never heard of. This one was going to be intense!

Kuchta opened with a set to each zone, and lost his Spirit Reaper to Nobleman of Crossout on the turn that followed. Torossian set a card to each zone, and then lost his set monster to Nobleman as well, Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive! Three were stripped from Torossian total, while Kuchta lost two. He set another monster and ended his turn.

Torossian, with one set spell or trap, activated Graceful Charity and attacked with Cyber Dragon and Spirit Reaper, the Dragon clearing out Skelengel and Reaper forcing Kuchta to discard Nobleman of Crossout. Kuchta fired back with a Cyber Dragon of his own, attacking Torossian’s Spirit Reaper with it, then setting a card to each zone.

Breaker the Magical Warrior broke Kuchta’s set bluff, Heavy Storm, but when Breaker attacked Kuchta’s set monster Nareg found it to be Night Assailant. Its effect destroyed Cyber Dragon: “Well, I’m stupid” remarked Nareg. Kuchta attacked with his Cyber Dragon again, lost it to Sakuretsu Armor, and then special summoned Chaos Sorcerer in Main Phase 2 to get rid of Nareg’s Spirit Reaper. He set a monster and ended his turn.

Nareg attacked the set monster with Breaker, but shook his head when Kuchta revealed it: Sangan. Kuchta searched his deck for Spirit Reaper, seeing that Torossian was down to three cards in hand and knowing that he could clear the path with Sorcerer on the following turn. Torossian set one spell or trap card, didn’t set a monster and passed.

Chaos Sorcerer removed Breaker from play, and Kuchta summoned Spirit Reaper. Sakuretsu aAmor destroyed the Reaper, and Kuchta set a back row card. Torossian drew a card, set two spell or traps, and passed. Kuchta attacked with the Sorcerer, and Torossian was forced to flip Mirror Force! Kuchta set a monster and passed.

Kuchta had one set in each zone, and one card in hand.

Torossian activated Heavy Storm, and chained Return from the Different Dimension! Three Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, Breaker, and Spirit Reaper all hit the field! Kuchta was at 7700 life points! He tributed for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, destroyed Kuchta’s set monster, Spirit Reaper, with its effect, and attacked for game with a total ATK of 8200 on the field!

“Oh man, that Sorcerer was killing me, trying to get rid of it!” said Torossian, as both players side decked. “Decrees are coming in,” he muttered, “my Return deck is gonna suck now.” He grinned, but it was hard to tell whether or not he was kidding. It always is with Torossian.

Kuchta opened the second duel with Confiscation, choosing between Chaos Sorcerer, Treeborn Frog, Nobleman of Crossout, Bottomless Trap Hole, and Sakuretsu Armor—he got rid of Nobleman of Crossout, and gained the knowledge that Torossian likely wouldn’t be attacking very early. Kuchta set a card to each zone and passed.

“Topdeck Crossout?” Torossian wasn’t so lucky. He set two cards, one to each zone, and passed. “Flip Dekoichi?”

Nope. Kuchta flipped Skelengel though, and then ran it into Magical Merchant, which then netted Torossian Nobleman of Crossout! Kuchta set another card to each zone and ended!

The Crossout came down immediately, costing Kuchta his Magician of Faith. Torossian lost one from his deck, leaving Kuchta to wonder where the second one had gone, and Kuchta lost two, one from the field and one from his deck. Torossian, still on defense, set a card to each zone and passed. Kuchta blasted his first set spell or trap with Mystical Space Typhoon in the end phase, and hit Bottomless Trap Hole! On the following turn he attacked with Skelengel again, hitting Magician of Faith, and Torossian took back Nobleman of Crossout. Kuchta set another monster, Torossian used Nobleman of Crossout, removed Spirit Reaper, and set another monster.

Another attack from Skelengel led to the destruction of Treeborn Frog. Kuchta set a spell or trap, then another monster, and Torossian had to just pass: no Treeborn due to his remaining back field card. Kuchta took the opening, attacking with Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive and Skelengel. Sakuretsu hit the train, allowing Torossian to take back his Treeborn Frog. He summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, broke Sakuretsu Armor, and attacked the Skelengel, destroying it and dishing out damage!

Gary was up, and Torossian had no back row card. Kuchta special summoned Cyber Dragon, normal summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, and the Lady removed the Frog from the game! Cyber Dragon then ran over Breaker the Magical Warrior, and play passed to Torossian.

Chaos Sorcerer came down, removing Magical Merchant and Breaker, and then taking Cyber Dragon out of the game. Torossian set another monster and ended, with two cards remaining in his hand. Kuchta had four, and one set back row card.

Kuchta used Snatch Steal to take Chaos Sorcerer, and tributed it for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch! Zaborg destroyed Torossian’s set Dekoichi, and attacked for 2400 LP. Torossian set Torrential Tribute, but lost it to an end phase Dust Tornado. Kuchta set a card with its effect, drew, special summoned Chaos Sorcerer, and attacked against an open field for game!

The third duel began quickly, with Nareg setting one spell or trap, and then a monster, with authoritative slides of cards from his hand. Kuchta summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, attacked, and ran straight into Sakuretsu Armor! Confiscation then pulled Torossian’s Heavy Storm, from a hand of Heavy, Spirit Reaper, Mystical Space Typhoon, and Call of the Haunted. Kuchta set one card: “Scapegoat?” It was: Nareg made the read immediately.

He flip summoned Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, and played Mystical Space Typhoon: “show me goats!?” Kuchta did. “Oh my god, I’m so stupid.” He pegged one Sheep and set a spell or trap. Kuchta set a spell or trap, passed, Nareg hit a sheep, passed, Kuchta passed, a Sheep went down, and Kuchta used Graceful Charity. He discarded Smashing Ground and Cyber Dragon, summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, and Nareg flipped Torrential Tribute to wipe the field! Not an ideal situation, but it was the best play he could make and Kuchta had no follow up. Kuchta set another spell or trap, leaving him with two in his back row, and passed.

Nareg quickly added two cards to his back row as well, and then set a monster.

“Crossout?” he asked.

“No. I don’t like this hand.” Kuchta smirked, but was legitimately unhappy. He had Smashing Ground, Chaos Sorcerer, Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, and an unseen monster he quickly set, nothing capable of immediate offensive use. He was clearly not enjoying his complete lack of control over the game’s momentum Nareg drew for his turn, flipped a Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive of his own, drew another card, and used Nobleman of Crossout to remove Spirit Reaper from the field! Kuchta got nailed by the Locomotive and dropped to 5600!

He set another monster on his turn, Nareg attacked it, revealed it to be Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, and Kuchta drew for its effect. Nareg passed, Kuchta drew for his turn, and debated his next move. “Cards in hand?”

“Five,” answered Nareg.

Kuchta special summoned Cyber Dragon, and Nareg appeared to consider a response. He then searched his graveyard, followed by a quick look at Kuchta’s. He then chose to activate Bottomless Trap Hole, and the Cyber Dragon was removed from play.

“You’re still at 8000, right?”

“Yeah,” confirmed Nareg. Kuchta special summoned Chaos Sorcerer next, removed Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive from Nareg’s field with the Sorcerer’s effect. He concluded his turn, and Nareg again searched his graveyard briefly.

He set a card to each zone and then ended. “Zaborg?” Nareg asked. Nope. Kuchta just attacked with the Sorcerer, and Nareg was again forced to respond with Mirror Force on a single monster. Still in battle though, Kuchta special summoned the Sorcerer back with Call of the Haunted. It attacked, hitting Spirit Reaper, and Kuchta took it out with Smashing Ground in main phase 2. He set a third card to his spell and trap zone and ended.

Nareg had obviously wanted that Spirit Reaper for a tribute. From the look of Kuchta’s field, he probably had Mobius the Frost Monarch in hand. He set another monster, set a spell or trap, and ended.

Kuchta brought down Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, tributing away his Chaos Sorcerer, and destroying another Spirit Reaper! Zaborg attacked directly and Nareg dropped to 5600: Kuchta had tied the duel! Torossian looked mildly perturbed, a bad sign for a duelist who’s usually incredibly hard to read.

He summoned Tsukuyomi, turned his opponent’s Zaborg face down and attacked: it went through, and Zaborg was destroyed! Kuchta set a card to each zone and ended, leaving him with four in his spell and trap zone. Torossian special summoned Cyber Dragon, but Bottomless Trap Hole stole it away! Call of the Haunted brought back his Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, and he attacked with it, hitting Kuchta’s set Dekoichi!  Torossian hesitated, setting a monster a few times, taking it back. He then decided to go for the summon, bringing down Tsukuyomi—but Kuchta had Torrential Tribute, and the field was wiped!

Kuchta set a back row card, passed, Torossian summoned and attacked with Spirit Reaper, and Kuchta activated Mirror Force! Nareg ended his turn, Kuchta summoned Treeborn Frog, and attacked with it for 100! It was announced that five minutes remained in the round. If the game became defensive, that 100 damage could be worth the game!

Nareg activated Confiscation, revealing Snatch Steal and Mobius the Frost Monarch! He discarded Mobius, set a monster, and passed. Kuchta set a monster, but next turn Night Assailant flipped, destroyed the set Mafgical Merchant, and attacked Treeborn Frog! Kuchta summoned Spirit Reaper, but attacked into Sakuretsu Armor! The match was heating up!

Night Assailant attacked directly, hitting Kuchta for 200 damage! Nareg set a second spell or trap card, and play was to Kuchta. Kuchta used Premature Burial, targeted D. D. Warrior Lady, went down to 4600 life points, and brought her to the field. She attacked and destroyed Night Assailant, dropping Nareg to 3200.

He was behind by 1400 life points, and Kuchta had one set spell or trap card left! He special summoned Cyber Dragon and Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, tributed the Dragon for Zaborg, destroyed Cyber Dragon, and special summoned Chaos Sorcerer! Dekoichi attacked, and Kuchta had to activate Return from the Different Dimension himself! He brought out two Cyber Dragon, Breaker, and Spirit Reaper all in defense position, staving off the attack. Nareg ended his turn, but he now had Chaos Sorcerer and Zaborg on the field!

Kuchta topdecked Heavy Storm and activated it, leaving himself with one card in hand, Snatch Steal! He took the Sorcerer, removed Zaborg from play, and passed! Nareg drew, time was called, and he played Smashing Ground. Nareg set his last card, a spell or trap, and passed. It was 2600 to 2300 for Nareg, and Kuchta would have two turns to steal the win.

He brought up Treeborn from his graveyard, and set a back row card, ending his turn. Nareg set a back row card and Special summoned Cyber Dragon. He briefly considered an attack, but then opted just to pass: all he needed to do was hold out for one more turn. He passed, and Kuchta had one turn to win the game.

He couldn’t do it! With no answer to the attack position Cyber Dragon, Kuchta had to concede the game due to time!

Nareg Torossian moves on from an incredibly tight match, achieving a 2-0 record, while Gary Kuchta is narrowly edged out into a 1-1 record.