Max Suffridge needs no real introduction. As the 2005 National Champion and the first person to bring a competitive Clock Tower Prison build to an SJC, he’s used to sitting at the feature match table by now. Simon on the other hand, isn’t. As one of the best level 3 judges in the country, Simon is much more used to announcing the feature matches than playing in them. “I’ve played Max twice before locally, but he’s always beaten me!” remarked Simon before the match. Today, we’ll see if he can break his losing streak versus the 2005 champ.

Max won the opening roll with an 18 to Simon’s 11, and he opted to start. Max is playing a rather unique Advanced Ritual Art build today, and he started off with Senju of the Thousand Hands to search out Shinato, King of a Higher Plane. He then set a spell or trap card and passed over to Simon who, now aware of what was going on, tried to push for damage, starting with Heavy Storm. Max chained Scapegoat however, and suddenly Simon’s push for damage wasn’t looking so good. He did summon Cyber Dragon and Hydrogeddon however, and Hydro blasted a token. Simon realized soon afterwards that he should have had the Hydrogeddon attack Senju so that he could fetch another, but what was done was done. Cyber Dragon then mopped up the Senju. Simon finished with a set spell or trap, and Max was on the defensive. He set a card to each zone, and Simon considered his options. After some deliberation, Simon tributed Cyber Dragon for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch to destroy Max’s set monster, but it was Sangan! Sangan fetched out Sonic Bird, and Max was soon ready to summon his first Ritual monster.

Before he had the chance, Simon tried to blow away the remaining Sheep tokens. Gravity Bind blocked him however, and Simon passed his turn. Sonic Bird came down for Max next turn, fetching Advanced Ritual Art from the deck. Max passed without any further plays, and Simon couldn’t do anything so he just passed back. Max summoned another Senju next turn and brought Demise, King of Armageddon to his hand. He switched his Bird to defense and set a spell or trap while Simon simply set another monster in defense mode. Max could blow the game open at any time via Demise, but he wasn’t quite ready yet. In the end phase he had to discard Neo Bug due to the hand size limit revealing that he was likely playing Doom Dozer along side his larger than usual Ritual pool. Simon set another monster, and Max switched a token to attack position running it into Hydrogeddon to give himself a free monster slot. Max was setting up to pull the trigger, but without Heavy Storm to help him, Simon was hard pressed to find a way around it. Simon simply passed his turn, and Max activated Heavy Storm and Advanced Ritual Art. Art sent Metal Armored Bug to the graveyard and Max summoned Demise and activated its ability. Sangan went to the graveyard for Simon, and he used it to search out D.D. Warrior Lady. Max had another Art and he used it to send two Insect Knights to the graveyard to bring out his Shinato. Megamorph hit the field, equipping Shinato, and Max attacked for over 9000!

Now fully aware of what he was up against, Simon side decked, furiously bouncing as he went and making it generally difficult to get a picture of him. Max, on the other hand, tried to get me to write something in this match report that would apparently win him a rather large sum of money. It was Simon’s turn to begin, and he did so with a set card to each zone. Max started off with two set spell or traps and passed his turn without summoning. Simon saw an opening, and he tributed his set Exiled Force for Mobius the Frost Monarch to blast Max’s backfield. Max had opened with Scapegoat again however, and he chained it. Mobius hit a token, and play returned to Max. He set a monster and passed his turn. Simon went to battle phase and destroyed Max’s set Insect Knight before setting a spell or trap and passing. Max set a spell or trap and passed to Simon who just wailed on a Sheep token before passing. During the end phase, Max flipped Royal Decree, his second of the game after losing the first to Mobius. During his first main phase, Max activated Ritual Art sending Neo Bug and Insect Knight to the graveyard to summon Demise. He activated the effect of Demise, wiping the field of the traps that Simon really would have liked to play. Max then normal summoned Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands and used it to fetch Advanced Ritual Art. He played it again, this time sending the Metal Armored Bug to the graveyard to summon another Demise. Megamorph hit the field once again, and Max took the game in one quick strike. Max Suffridge scores a victory for Advanced Ritual Art over Simon Sangpukdee, 2-0!