Galati “Flip” Filippo hails from Chicago, and is playing an undefeated Dark Counter Fairy deck packing Allure of Darkness and Destiny Heroes. His opponent is three-time Day 2 qualifier, Shonen Jump Champion Phillip Anthony. This was another match that pitted a heavily metagamed tech against Dark Armed Return.

Anthony won the opening roll and got the match started, summoning Elemental Hero Stratos and searching out Destiny Hero – Dasher with his effect. He then brought Dark Grepher to his hand with Reinforcement of the Army, and set a card to his back row. “Your turn.”

Filippo was up, and had Dark Bribe, Bountiful Artemis, Stratos, Destiny Hero - Malicious, Allure of Darkness, and Return from the Different Dimension. He summoned Stratos, searched for a Dasher himself and then activated Allure. The Dasher got pitched, Stratos attacked Anthony’s Stratos to destroy both, and Filippo set two cards to his back row. “Go.”

Anthony activated Destiny Draw, discarding Dasher to draw two cards. He set another card to his back row to match his opponent and ended. Filippo drew a second copy of Artemis! He summoned it, attacked for 1600 damage and dropped Anthony to 6400 life points. “I’ll end my turn.” Business was picking up.

Dark Grepher was normal summoned by Anthony, and Filippo fingered his two set cards: Divine Wrath and Dark Bribe. Anthony didn’t use Grepher’s effect, and just attacked, saving it from Wrath. Artemis went down and play was back to Filippo.

He activated Brain Control to assume control of Dark Grepher. Grepher attacked for 1700 damage, and Filippo tributed it to set Malicious in main phase 2. He needed that second Bountiful Artemis to survive, and this was the only way he could get Grepher off the table. “Your hand seems pretty good,” he noted, ending his turn. Anthony drew and contemplated his options, running numbers.

He summoned another Dark Grepher! He discarded Disk Commander for its effect and Filippo saw no point in using Divine Wrath. Anthony searched Dark Magician of Chaos from his deck, sent him to his graveyard, and shuffled his hand before activating Premature Burial for the Magician: Filippo activated Divine Wrath when Anthony activated Dark Magician of Chaos’s effect, negating it and removing it at the cost of discarding Destiny Hero – Fear Monger.

Anthony flipped Return from the Different Dimension, threatening to recover Dark Magician of Chaos, but Filippo chained Dark Bribe, desperately trying to keep himself in the game. Anthony kept the heat coming, discarding Malicious for Destiny Draw. Dark Grepher attacked, Filippo lost Malicious to his graveyard, and Anthony ended, unable to capitalize on all the pressure he was putting on his opponent. It was a huge victory despite that fact: Anthony had made Filippo play out all of his available counter traps without the backing of the Bountiful Artemis he had in his hand.

Filippo drew and removed his Malicious to special summon another in attack mode: Anthony responded by activating Threatening Roar! Filippo ended without playing any additional cards to the field.

Anthony removed his Malicious to summon the other from his deck. That reduced him to three Darks in his graveyard, and let him special summon Dark Armed Dragon! The duel stood at 7100 to 1950: Anthony was in control, but would he be able to finish the duel here and now?

He busted out his notepad to do some math and try to answer that question. He normal summoned Card Trooper moments later, and Filippo knew it was game instantly. Both players dove into their side decks.

Filippo opened with a hand devoid of counter traps. He set one card to his back row, and next turn Anthony used Reinforcement of the Army to hunt for Elemental Hero Stratos, summoning him to get Dasher from his deck. He discarded Dasher for Destiny Draw, attacked, and scored a hit for 1800 damage. A set spell or trap finished out the turn, Return from the Different Dimension, but Mystical Space Typhoon destroyed it in his end phase.

Like last game, Filippo summoned Stratos himself, this time seeking Destiny Hero – Disk Commander with its effect. He discarded the Commander for Destiny Draw, drew into Solemn Judgment and Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell, and brought back Commander with Premature Burial! He was already holding Bountiful Artemis, so he was well-equipped to abuse the extra cards he had at his disposal. He traded his Stratos for Anthony’s in battle, attacked with Disk Commander, and finished his turn by setting two cards to his back row.

Anthony activated Destiny Draw, discarded Malicious, and Filippo responded with Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell, discarding Brain Control! The rest of Anthony’s Destiny Draws would be useless. He summoned Card Trooper, pumped it to 1900 ATK by sending Dark Armed Dragon, Premature Burial, and Cyber Valley off the top of his deck to the graveyard. He set one card to his back row and announced that he was finished.

Filippo summoned Bountiful Artemis, and then activated Monster Reborn to bring back Disk Commander in defense mode for two more draws! Artemis attacked over Card Trooper, Anthony drew, and he had three cards in hand and one set to his opponent’s eight cards total. It looked like this one was headed to a third game.

Anthony activated Brain Control, targeting Artemis, and Filippo fingered his one set card: Solemn Judgment. He thumbed through his opponent’s graveyard for a moment before proceeding to flip the Solemn, drawing for Artemis’ effect. Anthony set a monster and ended, clearly on the defensive.

Filippo activated Heavy Storm, destroying Anthony’s Return from the Different Dimension before tributing both his monsters for Dark Magician of Chaos. He returned Monster Reborn to his hand, activated it to bring back Disc Commander in defense mode and drew two for the third time in this duel.

He set three cards to his back row, then attacked with Dark Magician of Chaos — the attack flipped and removed Anthony’s face-down Disk Commander from play and Filippo ended.

Anthony topdecked into Cyber Valley, and special summoned it with Dasher’s effect! He tried to activate Machine Duplication, but Filippo negated it with Solemn Judgment. Anthony ended, passing with nothing but Cyber Valley on the field. Filippo discarded Malicious for Destiny Draw next turn, removed Malicious to special summon his second copy, and then activated Allure of Darkness. He removed Zerato from his hand for Allure, normal summoned Armageddon Knight, and used its effect to turf Dasher to his graveyard. He had Divine Wrath set and could negate Cyber Valley’s effect: all that mattered was having the damage, which he didn’t have. Armageddon Knight attacked, Cyber Valley was activated, and Divine Wrath let Filippo discard Torrential Tribute to negate it. The Knight, Dark Magician, and Malicious all attacked directly, lowering Anthony to 700 life points.

Next turn he special summoned Dark Armed Dragon, but when he tried to use its effect Filippo shut him down with Divine Wrath! That was enough for Anthony, who calmly scooped his cards and moved to side decking.

The match moves to a third duel! Nine minutes remained in the match, a tough situation for Filippo, whose Solemn Judgments could easily put him under in a time situation. He shuffled very, very quickly.

Anthony began the game at an obligingly fast pace, discarding Dasher for Destiny Draw and setting a single card to his back row. Filippo summoned Bountiful Artemis, lost it to Torrential Tribute, and activated Premature Burial to get it back! He activated Monster Reborn, took his opponent’s Dasher in attack mode, and attacked with both of his monsters, setting Solemn Judgment to finish out. The pressure was on, and the duel stood at 4300 to 7200 in Filippo’s favor.

Mystical Space Typhoon destroyed Filippo’s set Solemn, and Dark Grepher hit the field to destroy Dasher. That Grepher would make for big problems for Artemis, too. Anthony set two cards to his back row and ended.

Reinforcement of the Army let Filippo search out Elemental Hero Stratos. He summoned him, grabbed Dasher, then activated Allure of Darkness: once he drew his two he was left with Cursed Seal, Brain Control, Dasher, and Van’Dalgyon the Dark Dragon Lord. He removed Van’Dalgyon, and then activated Brain Control to take Dark Grepher, putting everything on the line and swinging into Mirror Force! He set Cursed Seal and ended.

Anthony topdecked into Darklord Zerato and special summoned it with Dasher’s effect! He tributed it for Jinzo, attacked for 2400 damage and ended. Filippo drew Mystical Space Typhoon, set it, and next turn he lost to Monster Reborn, which Anthony used to bring back Darklord Zerato for game.

Galati Filippo’s Dark Counter strategy fizzles out, and Philip Anthony moves one match closer to his fourth Shonen Jump Day 2!