Shawn Long of Team C2, also known as Lpfan in online communities, was competing against James Laurent of Team Villains. Coming off of a win by match loss in his quarterfinal against Robert Morgan,* Long was subject to none of the fatigue or stress incurred by the other semifinal competitors.
Long opened the first duel with the traditional opening of a set card to each zone. Laurent played Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Long’s set Book of Moon, summoned Sangan and attacked, but ran Sangan straight into D. D. Warrior Lady, which removed itself and the furball from play. Laurent set a spell or trap, Long set a monster, and Laurent set a monster. Long gave a sigh, flipped Magician of Faith, took back Book of Moon, summoned Tsukuyomi, turned Magician of Faith face down with Tsukuyomi’s effect, attacked with Tsukuyomi, and Laurent flipped Fairy Box. Fairy Box missed its flip, and Tsukuyomi hit Laurent’s Magician of Faith: Laurent took back Mystical Space Typhoon. Long activated Confiscation and forced his opponent to discard Creature Swap.
Laurent paid 500 life points to keep Fairy Box up. His Mystical Space Typhoon destroyed Sakuretsu Armor, and Laurent set a card to each zone. Long flipped Magician of Faith, taking back Confiscation, Tsukuyomi turned it face down again, and Long’s Tsukuyomi attacked into Laurent’s set Tsukuyomi! The attacked Tsukuyomi turned itself face down, and that was all the battle for the turn. Confiscation discarded Zaborg, Laurent’s only in-hand card. Long set a spell or trap and returned his Tsukuyomi to his hand. In the end phase though, Laurent activated Call of the Haunted to special summon his Magician of Faith. On his turn, Laurent summoned Tsukuyomi, used Creature Swap to trade it for Long’s set Magician of Faith, and ended, laving his original Magician of Faith in attack.
Long special summoned Cyber Dragon, and attacked the attack position Magician. Fairy Box took effect and Cyber Dragon was destroyed! “Fairy Box is gonna save him,” muttered Long, who set another spell or trap and passed. Laurent flip summoned Magician of Faith, took back Mystical Space Typhoon from the graveyard, destroyed Long’s set Call of the Haunted, played Tsukuyomi, turned down Magician of Faith, flipped it Mystical Space Typhoon again, blasted Long’s last set spell or trap, Book of Moon, and watched the Book get chained to turn his Tsukuyomi face down and pre3vent his intended attack with the spirit monster. Both Magician of Faith attacked, and Laurent activated Confiscation to reveal Long’s hand of Night Assailant, Tsukuyomi, and Chaos Sorcerer. He discarded Chaos Sorcerer.
Long played Nobleman of Crossout to remove Tsukuyomi from Laurent’s side of the field. Long set a monster and passed with no back row. Laurent paid for Fairy Box again, going down to 4400, with Long at 4800. Laurent summoned Sasuke Samurai #4, ran it into Long’s set Night Assailant, missed the Samurai’s flip, and lost Samurai to the Assailant’s effect. Both Magician of Faith attacked directly for another 600 damage, and it was very clear that Fairy Box was just killing Long.
He summoned Spirit Reaper and attacked, taking out his own Magician. Laurent paid 500 for Box, set Magician of Faith to defense, and set a monster. Long shifted Reaper to defense position, set a monster, and ended his turn. Laurent did not pay for Fairy Box, and set a spell or trap before passing. Long flipped Merchant, lost six monsters to get Nobleman of Crossout, and winced at the imbalance of monsters to non-monsters that he had inadvertently created. “Now all I need to do is draw my Pot of Avarice.” He activated Nobleman of Crossout, removed Treeborn Frog from Laurent’s field, and summoned Tsukuyomi to turn the Merchant face down. Reaper went to attack position, Tsukuyomi attacked into Sakuretsu, and Reaper was stuck in vulnerable attack. Long set a spell or trap and passed.
Laurent summoned another Sasuke, and attacked into Magical Merchant, destroying it with Sasuke’s effect before Merchant could flip and dig for a card. Long played Snatch Steal, attacked with Sasuke to clear out Magician of Faith, and hit with Reaper to force the discard of Chaos Sorcerer. Laurent drew, gained his 1000 LP for Snatch Steal, and activated his topdecked Heavy Storm. It was 4200 to 4900 for Laurent. Sasuke attacked the Spirit Reaper and destroyed it with its effect! Play passed to Long.
“Oh my God,” said Long, activating Graceful Charity. He discarded Treeborn Frog with its effect, then Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive. He activated Premature Burial, special summoned Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, and attacked into Sasuke: Sasuke’s effect failed, and the Samurai was destroyed! Laurent drew and ended his turn, taking another direct shot from Zaborg to go down to 1300 life points. Long set a back row card and passed. Smashing Ground destroyed Zaborg, but Long had Breaker the Magical Warrior to keep up the pressure and win the game!
Laurent opened the second duel with Confiscation, seeing Book of Moon, Nobleman of Crossout, Sakuretsu Armor, Mystical Space Typhoon, and Cyber Dragon. With his own hand of Breaker the Magical Warrior, Snatch Steal, Torrential Tribute, Call of the Haunted, and Spirit Reaper, he decided to discard Mystical Space Typhoon. He summoned Reaper and set Torrential Tribute, ending his turn.
Long summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, and Laurent took some time to consider flipping the Torrential. He didn’t, and lost it to Breaker’s token. Breaker hit the Reaper, Laurent lost 1300 life points, and Long set a spell or trap card. Laurent summoned Breaker, broke Book of Moon, and saw it chained to turn his Breaker down. Snatch Steal grabbed Long’s Breaker, and he attacked with Breaker and Spirit Reaper.
“What are the chances you hit the Cyber Dragon from my hand?”
“I want the Sakuretsu” replied Laurent. Sure enough, Reaper discarded the Sakuretsu Armor. Play passed to Long once Laurent set a Sakuretsu Armor of his own.
Heavy Storm wiped the field for Long, and he got his Breaker back! It destroyed Laurent’s Breaker, and he passed. Laurent summoned Sasuke, set a spell or trap, and passed. Breaker attacked the Sasuke, and Sasuke’s effect worked, destroying Breaker! Long special summoned Cyber Dragon and passed with no back field.
Laurent attacked with Sasuke, but lost the coin flip: Sasuke was mowed down by its own kamikaze efforts and Cyber Dragon’s mighty 2100 ATK. Call of the Haunted brought the Samurai back for another try though, and this time it destroyed Cyber Dragon! Spirit Reaper hit directly, and discarded Long’s Blade Knight! Laurent ended his turn.
Long special summoned Chaos Sorcerer, but when he removed Blade Knight and Breaker, it was noticed that he had forgotten to shuffle D. D. Warrior Lady back into his deck from the last game. Unfortunately a game loss had to be assessed, and the match moved to game three.
Neither played side decked. Long opened game three with a set card to each zone, and ended. Breaker the Magical Warrior came down on Laurent’s side, breaking Sakuretsu Armor and attacking and destroying Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive. Laurent passed with no back row, ending his turn.
Play was again to Long, who set a monster and then contemplated another play: he made one, setting a spell or trap. Mystical Space Typhoon destroyed it on Laurent’s turn, destroying Return from the Different Dimension, and Laurent summoned Sangan to Creature Swap it to Long. Breaker attacked the Sangan, Laurent pulled Magician of Faith with its effect, and Laurent checked his stolen set monster: D. D. Warrior Lady.
Long set a card to each zone and passed. D. D. Warrior Lady flipped and attacked, but Mirror Force cost Laurent the Lady and Breaker. He set a monster, set a spell or trap, and passed. Long flip summoned Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive and sighed, trying to read Laurent’s set cards. “That’s a Faith” he said… He activated Heavy Storm, but Laurent chained Scapegoat, his only set card! “That was the one card I didn’t want to see” remarked Long. Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive attacked the set Magician of Faith, Creature Swap bounced to Laurent’s hand, and Long set a monster, not liking his position.
“You know I have Creature Swap,” mused Laurent, eying Long’s face down monster and wondering what it was. He activated Premature Burial to bring back Breaker the Magical Warrior, and attacked Long’s Dekoichi to destroy it. He quickly ended his turn. Long summoned Kycco the Ghost Destroyer and attacked Breaker the Magical Warrior, removing Sangan and Magician of Faith from Laurent’s graveyard. Long fingered his set monster, but passed.
Snatch Steal stole Kycoo, and Creature Swap sent a Sheep over to Long’s side of the field in return for Long’s face down Sangan. Kycoo hit for 1800, and removed Long’s Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive and D. D. Warrior Lady from the graveyard.
Long summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, Breaker broke Snatch Steal, and Long reclaimed Kycoo! Breaker attacked Sangan, it was sent to Long’s graveyard, and he used its effect to pull Treeborn Frog to his hand. Kycoo laid out a Sheep token and Laurent was down to just two mutton shields. Play passed to him.
He set a card to each zone and ended. Long topdecked Nobleman of Crossout and used it to remove Laurent’s set Magician of Faith, losing two copies from his own deck in the process as Laurent lost one. Breaker and Kycoo destroyed the remaining two Sheep, Long set a monster, and he concluded his turn.
Laurent set a monster, set a spell or trap, and ended. Long checked his face down monster, Breaker attacked, and Newdoria was destroyed! It took Kycoo down with it. Long set a second face down monster and passed.
Long set a monster and again ended his turn. Breaker the Magical Warrior attacked the set monster, Treeborn Frog, and Long passed. Laurent special summoned Cyber Dragon, and it quickly destroyed Breaker the Magical Warrior so Laurent passed. It was 5900 to 7000, with Laurent leading.
Hands shaking slightly, Long played Snatch Steal to take the Cyber Dragon. He attacked with it, and Laurent looked at his one in-hand card: Heavy Storm. He let the attack go through, and Long passed play to him.
He activated his topdecked Confiscation, revealing Call of the Haunted, Metamorphosis, Cyber Dragon, and Torrential Tribute: he discarded the Call and ended his turn. Cyber Dragon swung again, but this time Laurent flipped Sakuretsu Armor. Long set a third face down monster and passed. Laurent passed back, Long flipped Dekoichi, flipped Spirit Reaper, and attacked with Reaper: Laurent flipped Call of the Haunted to bring back Cyber Dragon, stopping the attacks, but lost Cyber Dragon to Smashing Ground in main phase 2.
He drew into Chaos Sorcerer and special summoned it, removing Long’s Dekoichi from play, perhaps an odd decision since he could have just attacked it. Long had nothing set in his spell and trap zones. He set another card to his back row and passed.
Long tributed his set Treeborn Frog for Zaborg, blew away the Sorcerer with its effect, turned Reaper to defense and attacked for 2400. Laurent drew, set a third back row card, and when Long brought back his Frog Laurent flipped Torrential Tribute. Long activated Premature Burial though, special summoned Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer, and attacked with it to dish out 1800 damage and remove Treeborn and Newdoria from Laurent’s graveyard. Long set a spell or trap and passed. Laurent was down to 700 life points, and Long still had Torrential Tribute somewhere in his deck.
Laurent flipped Last Will and Heavy Storm, and set a monster. Long used his Treeborn Frog as tribute fodder for Metamorphosis, brought out Thousand-Eyes Restrict to inhale his opponent’s set monster, and then tributed Thousand-Eyes Restrict for Cyber Dragon! A single attack against Laurent’s open field won the game!
After suffering a demoralizing game loss, Shawn Long of C2 comes back to win the match and move on to the finals!
*Robert Morgan, who had the best record of the Swiss rounds yesterday, was left behind at the tournament venue by his ride last night. As a result, he wound up rooming with people he didn’t really know, in a hotel he was unfamiliar with. No one had a cell phone or alarm clock, and the wake-up call Morgan requested never arrived. The result? He missed his quarterfinal match, arriving almost an hour after players had been asked to be on site and almost 20 minutes after the quarterfinals had begun. Head Judge Franklin Debrito had no choice but to issue a match loss to Morgan.