Mitch Bowe is a relative unknown from Somerville, Massachusetts. Fourteen years old, he’s up against Brice Thompson. Both of these duelists were running Return decks based around Freed the Brave Wanderer, a very popular deck type today, so this one was going to be interesting!

Thompson opened with a set card to each zone and passed. Mystical Space Typhoon robbed him of Ring of Destruction on the following turn, and Bowe set a card to each zone. D. D. Warrior Lady flipped from Thompson’s side, attacked, and removed Treeborn Frog from the game! Thompson set a card to each zone, slow rolling things to build up his graveyard, and Bowe passed. Neither duelist knew at this time that they were in a mirror match, and the speed with which each managed to puzzle that out would have a huge impact on the match.

Thompson flip summoned Spirit Reaper, attacked directly, but was blocked by Scapegoat. Reaper hit a Token, Thompson ended, and Mitch was up. He attacked with Freed the Brave Wanderer, but lost it to Sakuretsu Armor.  Now Thompson knew what he was up against. Bowe lost another Sheep to Reaper next turn, and Thompson set a spell or trap to back it up. Premature Burial brought back Bowe’s Freed, but it was again stymied by Bottomless Trap Hole. “Go,” Bowe said, setting two spell or trap cards to his back row.

Another Sheep Token went down to Reaper, leaving Bowe with just one. He set a second spell or trap and passed. Bowe set a third spell or trap, passed back, and Thompson shuffled his hand: Cyber Dragon, Call of the Haunted, Last Will, and Confiscation. He set two cards to his back row, turned Reaper to defense, and passed.

Bowe flipped Night Assailant to destroy Reaper, attacked directly with it, and set a spell or trap. Thompson special summoned Cyber Dragon and attacked, but lost his Dragon to Ring of Destruction. Call of the Haunted brought it back up, it attacked again, and Bowe blocked its attack this time with Book of Moon. Thompson then flipped his set Confiscation and discarded Bowe’s in-hand Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, noting his one last in-hand card: Return from the Different Dimension. It was 4700 for Thompson, and 5100 for Bowe.

Last Will brought Sangan to Thompson’s side of the field to end his turn and he passed. Bowe tributed his Assailant for Mobius the Frost Monarch targeting both of Thompson’s back row cards. He destroyed Sakuretsu Armor, but Thompson’s other card was Enemy Controller, and it was chained to turn Mobius to defense and prevent it from attacking.

Breaker the Magical Warrior came down for Thompson, destroying Bowe’s set Return from the Different Dimension. Breaker destroyed Mobius in battle by taking advantage of its low DEF, and Sangan hit the remaining Sheep token. That left Cyber Dragon to attack directly, and Thompson did just that to cost Bowe 2100 life points. With one card left in hand and no back field, Thompson ended his turn.

Bowe topped into Graceful Charity and discarded Freed the Brave Wanderer and Exiled Force. He set a card to each zone and passed. Then it was Thompson’s turn to topdeck Graceful Charity! He activated it, discarded two cards, and activated Mystical Space Typhoon to clear another Return from the Different Dimension from Bowe’s field. Exiled Force was summoned and tributed to destroy Bowe’s last card, Spirit Reaper, and everything attacked directly for game.

Brice Thompson wins the first duel, and manages to conceal the fact that this is a mirror match! Each player side decked, Bowe rotating out twelve cards and Thompson rotating out three. Both wished each other good luck after shuffling, and Bowe began the second duel.

“Did you side into Stein?” asked Thompson, now that the duel had begun.

“Maybe . . .” admitted Bowe. Remember folks, if you’re going to choose to reveal to your opponent how many cards you sided in, don’t do it after you rotate in a twelve-card Stein engine.

Bowe opened with Graceful Charity, discarding Treeborn Frog and Night Assailant. He set a card to each zone and ended his turn. Thompson set a monster, and then set three cards to his back row. In Bowe’s draw phase Thompson activated Trap Dustshoot, revealing Poison of the Old Man, Limiter Removal, Creature Swap, Breaker the Magical Warrior, and Cyber-Stein in Bowe’s hand. Thompson returned Cyber-Stein to his opponent’s deck, and Thompson passed.

Bowe flip summoned Mystic Tomato and activated Creature Swap, but Thompson chained Ring of Destruction to destroy Tomato and prevent Creature Swap from resolving. Bowe should have kept the Tomato set, but he pressed on. He summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, removed its token to try and destroy Thompson’s one set back row card, but watched as it was chained: Mystical Space Typhoon. It destroyed his Torrential Tribute. Things kept getting worse for Bowe. Breaker proceeded to attack Thompson’s set monster, but it was Skelengel, so he got to draw a card anyways. Bowe set a spell or trap to finish up. “I wasted everything,” he moaned in dismay. It was a terrible turn that left him with just one card in hand.

Thompson set a card to each zone and passed. Bowe summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, attacked with it, hit Spirit Reaper, and removed it from play. Breaker attacked directly, Bowe passed, Thompson set a card to each zone, and next turn Bowe dropped Heavy Storm! He chained his own Poison of the Old Man, destroying Thompson’s set Sakuretsu and Call of the Haunted! Business was picking up, and Breaker attacked.

The monster Breaker attacked was Legendary Jujitsu Master! Breaker was bounced back to the top of Bowe’s deck, and he was forced to end his turn. Thompson set a monster, passed, and Bowe set a spell or trap to end his turn. Thompson wasn’t going to set another spell or trap yet, since he now knew Bowe had Breaker in his hand.

Thompson summoned Banisher of the Radiance, having no need to fear Torrential Tribute. Banisher attacked directly, and Bowe dropped to 6000 life points. Breaker hit the field again, running over the Banisher, and Bowe set a spell or trap. Thompson flipped Magician of Faith, used Mystical Space Typhoon on the freshest back row card on Bowe’s field, and hit Poison of the Old Man — it was chained. Thompson then tributed Magician of Faith for Zaborg. Zaborg’s effect destroyed Breaker, Zaborg attacked directly, and Bowe had to take the damage.

He passed his next turn and ate a second direct attack from Zaborg. Thompson set a spell or trap, Bowe set the last two cards in his hand, and Thompson was up yet again. Bowe controlled no monsters.

Zaborg attacked again, and Bowe flipped Call of the Haunted to bring back his Mystic Tomato. Zaborg thumped it down, and Bowe jokingly remarked that he could pull one of his two Cyber-Steins. They were now completely dead draws. He pulled another Tomato to the field, Thompson set a second spell or trap, and play was to Bowe.

He drew for his turn and then immediately flipped his set Giant Trunade. Thompson chained Enemy Controller, tributing his Jujitsu Master to assume control of Mystic Tomato. Bowe had nothing he could do. He set a spell or trap, ended his turn, and took back his Mystic Tomato. Out of options, he scooped a turn later.

Brice Thompson moves on undefeated, without even having to use the effect of a single Freed the Brave Wanderer!