Phillip Fitchew is representing Team One Piece, from Torrance, California. His Sacred Crane deck managed to stay under the radar until the last few rounds yesterday, when competitors started taking note of his highly original strategy. Combining Marauding Captain and Sacred Crane to generate draw power and increased offensive capability, he might have the aggressive capabilities to go toe-to-toe with Adair.

The duelists rolled off to see who would get to choose opening positions. Adair opted to open the first duel, immediately setting a monster and passing. Fitchew played Reinforcement of the Army, pulled D. D. Warrior Lady, summoned her, and attacked. She hit into Dekoichi, Adair drew a card for its effect, and Fitchew ended his turn with a set spell or trap.

Breaker the Magical Warrior hit the field on Adair’s side, and it broke Sakuretsu Armor. Breaker then attacked D. D. Warrior Lady, and both were removed from play. Adair set a spell or trap and ended his turn. Fitchew set Widespread Ruin and ended, prompting Adair to set a monster and pass back. Fitchew summoned Mystic Swordsman LV2, attacked, and destroyed Gravekeeper’s Spy. Adair played Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy the Widespread, special summoned Cyber Dragon, and ran over the Mystic Swordsman LV2. The life point totals were 6700 to 8000! Adair set a monster, passed, and Fitchew immediately set another back row card.

Play passed to Adair, as Fitchew didn’t have any monsters. Adair flipped Skelengel, and Fitchew chained Torrential Tribute. Adair set a monster, passed, Fitchew drew into Breaker the Magical Warrior, set a spell or trap, passed ack, and Adair set a spell or trap too.

Fitchew set a monster and passed. Adair flipped Magical Merchant, lost Sangan to its effect, but got Torrential Tribute. He tributed the Merchant for Zaborg, destroying Fitchew’s set Dekoichi, but lost the Zaborg to Bottomless Trap Hole. Fitchew set another spell or trap before passing again.

Adair was in control of the match, and was keeping the pressure on Fitchew. He did not summon a monster on his next turn though, and instead just set a third spell or trap. Fitchew tried to summon Breaker the Magical Warrior, but lost it to Bottomless Trap Hole.

Adair played Heavy Storm from his hand, with two set spell or trap cards! But he chained, flipping Jar of Greed and Call of the Haunted to return his Sangan to the field and pull Spirit Reaper with its effect! The Heavy cleared away Fitchew’s Sakuretsu Armor, and Premature Burial brought back Cyber Dragon for Adair. He normal summoned the Reaper, hit directly with both, and the life point totals went down to 4300 to 7200. Adair set another spell or trap and ended his turn.

But Fitchew got the combo! He summoned Marauding Captain, played Sacred Crane with its effect, drew a card for the Crane, and sent it into Spirit Reaper, but Sakuretsu Armor destroyed it. Marauding Captain hit the Reaper directly, and Fitchew played Smashing Ground on the Cyber Dragon, setting a back row card.

Adair tried to take the Captain with Snatch Steal, but Fitchew turned it face down with Book of Moon. Spirit Reaper went to defense position, Adair set a spell or trap, Fitchew set a monster, and Adair played Dark Hole to destroy his own Reaper, and Fitchew’s set Captain and his freshly set Reaper. Adair then played Pot of Avarice, drew his two cards, and set a monster. It was his three cards in hand, a set card in each zone, to Fitchew’s one card in hand.

Fitchew played Pot of Avarice as well, shuffling back Reaper, Dekoichi, Sacred Crane, Marauding Captain, and Mystic Swordsman LV2. The life point totals were 4300 to 6300 as he drew two cards, giving him a hand equal in size to that of Adair. He set a monster and passed.

Adair flip summoned his set Treeborn Frog, played Torrential Tribute to clear the field (Fitchew lost another Reaper), summoned a Reaper of his own, and attacked directly to rob Fitchew of Nobleman of Crossout. Adair set one spell or trap card and ended his turn.

“Rota” announced Fitchew, playing Reinforcement of the Army to get Marauding Captain. He summoned the Captain, used it to drop Don Zaloog to the field, and attacked with each – he lost the Don to Widespread Ruin though, and had nothing lefft on the field or in his hand save the one Captain.

Adair brought back Treeborn Frog, tributed it for Cyber Dragon, and attacked the Captain with it. Ftichew drew, set a monster, and Adair used the Frog again to tribute summon for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch. Zaborg’s effect destroyed Fitchew’s last set monster, another Spirit Reaper, and both the Dragon and Monarch attacked for game.

Steven Adair wins the first duel of the match!

It was an interesting duel to dissect. Clearly, a big strength of Fitchew’s deck was his ability to make sudden over-extensions with Marauding Captain and a second monster, punishing attack position Spirit Reapers at unexpected times. It was a very intelligent strategy, but it seemed like the kind of thing that would work better against more control-oriented players. Adair was just too aggressive for the existing build of Fitchew’s deck, so he set himself to side decking a few cards to try and even the odds.

The interesting thing about Sacred Crane is that it allows Fitchew to overextend without the risks normally associated with doing so. Though he plays more cards to the field than normal when using the Captain’s effect, the Crane effectively replaces itself in his hand. It’s basically free. It’s a pretty brilliant idea, even if it wasn’t a perfect fit for his opponent’s play style in this particular match.

Both duelists shuffled. “You know we’ve both come a long way,” said Fitchew, who plays regularly with Adair. Adair agreed, and both duelists reminisced as the duel began.

Fitchew opened with a single set monster, this time armed with a far better opening hand. Adair special summoned Cyber Dragon, attacked with it, and hit Magical Merchant, which fetched Fitchew Dark Hole. Adair set a spell or trap and passed.

Exiled Force exploded the Cyber Dragon, and Fitchew set a spell or trap to match Adair’s. Adair was forced to set a monster, and Fitchew drew for his turn. In his hand was Smashing Ground, Dark Hole, Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke, Book of Moon, Magician of Faith, and, of all things, Saber Beetle! He summoned the Sasuke, attacked with it, hit Magical Merchant, and it got Adair a Dark Hole! Turnabout was fair play.

Adair summoned Tsukuyomi, turned Sasuke face down, and attacked straight into Sakuretsu Armor. Adair set a second back row card and passed. Fitchew drew Spirit Reaper, turned Grandmaster to attack, and hit directly! He set another card to his spell and trap zone and passed. Adair tried to steal the Sasuke with Snatch Steal, but once again, Fitchew had the Book of Moon set to turn his monster face down. Adair was forced to play Dark Hole.

Fitchew summoned Spirit Reaper, and Adair flipped Torrential Tribute. Fitchew set another spell or trap, passed, Adair set another one too, and play passed back to Fitchew. He set Magician of Faith, passed, Adair passed back, Magician of Faith flipped to bring back Book of Moon, and Fitchew tributed the Magician to summon Saber Beetle! His in-hand Book of Moon would protect him from any threat that might challenge the Beetle! What a great move! He attacked with it, and Adair took the beating. The life point totals were 3800 to 8000 in Fitchew’s favor!

The control gap widened even more as Fitchew played Pot of Avarice. He drew his two cards, set a second card to his spell and trap zone, and ended his turn. But Adair removed a Light and a Dark for Chaos Sorcerer, using the Srocerer’s effect with priority to target the Beetle. Book of Moon turned it face down, keeping it in play, but when Adair tributed the Sorcerer for Zaborg there was no stopping the Monarch’s effect: Beetle went down, and Zaborg attacked directly.

Fitchew drew, set Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, and flipped Smashing Ground. Book of Moon saved the Zaborg, but Premature Burial brought Saber Beetle back onto Fitchew’s field! “Look at that,” he said, holding out his shaking hand.

The Beetle attacked, but ran into Sakuretsu Armor. Adair tributed his set Zaborg for a fresh one, destroying Fitchew’s Dekoichi and attacking again. Adair set a spell or trap card, Fitchew set two, played Dark Hole, and passed. In his end phase, Adair blasted one of the set cards with Mystical Space Typhoon to reveal Sakuretsu Armor. He then attacked with Spirit Reaper, forcing Fitchew to discard Pot of Avarice. Fitchew summoned Mystic Swordsman LV2, attacked the Reaper with it, and the life point totals were 3200 to 2100 with Adair back in the lead!

Adair turtled, setting another spell or trap and turning Reaper to defense. Fitchew set another spell or trap card, then another, emptying his hand. Adair set a monster, Fitchew attacked it with Mystic Swordsman LV2, and up flipped Sand Moth! Fitchew set a third spell or trap card, and after some thought, Adair sent the Moth to attack, but it was denied by Widespread Ruin. Adair passed.

Fitchew set his draw yet again, this time setting a monster. Adair played Premature Burial, targeting Chaos Sorcerer, and brought it back to the field. He used its effect to remove Mystic Swordsman LV2 from the game and then spent some time contemplating his next move. He tributed the Sorcerer for Cyber Dragon, but walked right into Torrential Tribute! Adair set his last card, a spell or trap, and ended his turn.

Both duelists rifled each other’s graveyards: Fitchew had drawn into Spirit Reaper and was looking for trap cards in Adair’s graveyard. He decided it was a risk to attack, and set the Reaper instead of being aggressive. Adair drew, set a third spell or trap card, passed, Fitchew passed back, and Adair set a monster. Fitchew set another spell or trap and ended his turn: Adair immediately passed back. Fitchew played Reinforcement of the Army, pulled Exiled Force, summoned it, and used its effect to destroy Adair’s set monster, which was Sangan! Adair searched his deck for Magician of Faith with Sangan’s effect, added the card to his hand, and Fitchew flipo summoned his Reaper. He attacked with it right into Sakuretsu Armor and passed.

Adair summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, but Fitchew flipped Bottomless Trap Hole to remove it from the game. Fitchew set Magician of Faith, but lost it to Nobleman of Crossout on the turn that followed. Adair set a monster after activating Nobleman and ended.

Another Reinforcement of the Army hit Fitchew’s side of the field, and he used its effect to pull White Ninja! He summoned Marauding Captain, brought out White Ninja with its effect, and Adair played Bottomless Trap Hole on the Ninja.

“You serious?” asked Fitchew.

“Yeah . . . ”

“Why?”

“I dunno. I don’t want to take the damage,” answered Adair.

“Okay, then, here’s what we’re gonna do.” Fitchew flipped Ninjitsu Art of Transformation, and everyone at the table, and in the audience, blinked in unison.

He tributed the White Ninja on the chain and brought out Sacred Crane from his deck! Fitchew drew a card for the Sacred Crane’s effect and Bottomless Trap Hole was wasted. Amazing!

The Captain attacked, and Adair flipped Sakuretsu Armor to destroy it. The Crane attacked Adair’s set Magician of Faith, and he took back Premature Burial. Fitchew set Call of the Haunted and ended his turn.

Adair played Premature Burial, dropping down to 1600 and bringing back Chaos Sorcerer. He removed the Crane from play, tributed his Sorcerer for Airknight Parshath and attacked. But Fitchew flipped Call of the Haunted, and brought back Saber Beetle, stopping the attack!

Fitchew had an in-hand Breaker the Magical Warrior, and Adair had only one set spell or trap card! Breaker hit the field, broke Adair’s set Widespread Ruin, and Saber Beetle and Breaker attacked for game!

Phillip Fitchew wins the duel, thanks to White Ninja and Ninjitsu Art of Transformation!

Adair opened game 3 quickly, setting a card to each zone. Fitchew matched him card for card, also setting. Adair tributed for Zaborg, destroyed Fitchew’s set White Ninja, but then attacked clean into Widespread Ruin. Fitchew summoned Sacred Crane, attacked directly, and Adair flipped Sakuretsu Armor. Fitchew set another spell or trap, and Adair used Premature Burial to special summon ZAborg. It hit directly, Adair set another face down spell or trap and passed.

Fitchew was on defense, and set a monster before ending his turn. Adair played Nobleman of Crossout, removing Spirit Reaper from play—it seemed like he had all the answers this time around. Fitchew dropped to 3200 life points.

He drew, played Premature Burial to go down to 2400, and brought back the Crane! He chained to the Crane’s effect with Torrential Tribute, cleared the field, drew for Crane, and summoned Spirit Reaper. But his attack was denied by Call of the Haunted, which brought back Adari’s Zaborg. Fitchew set another spell or trap card, now out of cards. Snatch Steal destroyed Spirit Reaper, and Zaborg hurtled into Sakuretsu Armor.

Adair set two spell or trap cards, but in his end phase, Fitchew flipped Call of the Haunted to bring back Crane and draw again! He drew for his turn as well, suddenly back in the duel! The Crane attacked directly and cleaved 1600 life points from Adair’s total. Fitchew set a monster and passed. It was 5600 to 2400.

Jar of Greed flipped on Adair’s side, getting him another card. He set a monster and passed. Fitchew played Reinforcement of the Army, took Exiled Force, used it to destroy the face down card, but lost his field to Torrential Tribute. He then played Pot of Avarice, shuffling back Exiled Force, Crane, White Ninja, Spirit Reaper, and D. D. Warrior Lady. He topdecked D. D. Warrior Lady and Mystic Swordsman LV2, neither of which were immediately helpful.

Still, Adair had nothing, and set a monster next turn. Nobleman of Crossout removed it from play, revealing it to be Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, and Fitchew had to remove one from his deck. He set Magician of Faith and passed.

Adair played Dark Hole, summoned Sangan, and pecked for 1000 damage. Fitchew was down to 1400 life points. Adair passed with now back row. Fitchew set Spirit Reaper, but next turn Adair tributed for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, destroyed the Reaper, and attacked for game!

After an astounding showing of ingenuity from his opponent, Steven Adair overcomes a ridiculously unpredictable matchup and moves on to the semifinals!