The 2008 American National Championship was an awesome tournament filled with upsets and innovation, but the main event was just part of the three-day duel-fest at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. Hours after Chris Bowling became the new American National Champion, there was one more Championship title awarded—the first ever American Team Dueling Championship.

Headed into the tournament, Fast-Burn was the deck everybody feared. The logic was that if a four-turn burn deck could scorch off half your life points in one turn, then two such decks could easily defeat an opposing team in two turns total. But that strategy just didn’t pan out. Tech like Des Wombat, Rainbow Life, and Prime Material Dragon leveled the playing field, and the result was a totally unpredictable matchup in the finals. Metagame.com was on-hand to cover it, and the result was a very unique feature match. Here’s how it all went down.

Ronald Mack and Kareem McPherson partnered up to form Team Goonies. Their pairing of two very different decks made for a strange, but effective strategy that blew through opponents: McPherson played Gladiator Beasts, while Mack ran a Lockdown Burn deck similar to Green Baboon Burn. It was a surprisingly synergetic pairing, as Mack’s Lockdown engine gave McPherson the time to put together big contact Fusions to control the duel. McPherson’s strategy also had a number of monsters that could coexist with Mack’s defense, as we were going to see once the match began.

Their opponents included a familiar face from the Nationals main event. Shawn Brown got a feature match in the U.S. National Championships on Saturday, competing against Paul Blair in round 9. Brown was playing a Dark Armed Dragon control variant with Caius the Shadow Monarch and Necro Gardna—the same deck he ran in the main event—and the Necro Gardna cards proved to be exceedingly strong in Team Dueling. His partner, Tom Mak, played a Monarch deck that provided disruption in the early game, giving Brown a chance to get his copies of Necro Gardna loaded and Dark Armed Dragon onto the field.

The kicker? These four duelists shared a car on their way here from Philadelphia. They’ve been friends for ages, and now all four of them had made it to the finals of the Team Dueling Championship. It was crazy and they were loving it.

As the match began, Upper Deck’s Jeff Piroozshad revealed what they were competing for. The winners of the match would receive 8 GB iPod Nanos, while the runners-up would get 4 GB Nanos. The two teams were pretty thrilled: fists were pumped and hoots were hollered. But then the real surprise hit! The winners of the tournament would each receive one half of an uncut sheet of Light of Destruction secret rares. As Piroozshad revealed the gorgeous sheets of uncut Judgment Dragon cards, Ehren, Lightsworn Monk cards, Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo cards, and more, the teams and the assembled audience exploded. "We’re so playing Lightsworn if we win this!" laughed Brown. The winning team would walk away from this table with ten copies of every secret rare in the set, uncut.

Since you might not be familiar with the Team Dueling format yet, let’s do a quick recap. Both duelists on each team share 8000 life points, making team duels a fast and furious affair. If a card affects a specific game element, like your opponent’s deck, hand, or graveyard, then you choose which opponent to apply the effect to at activation. But if a card only specifies your opponent’s side of the field, like Lightning Vortex, both opponents are affected. Cards that reference "both players" affect all four duelists.

Players can share monsters for things like tribute summons or Fusions, and if a card references something that "you control," it’ll count both teammates’ cards. You can’t make a direct attack until both of your opponents are out of on-field monsters.

Aside from a few finer points, that’s really all there is to it! Teams alternate turns, and since the Goonies won the coin toss, their player Ronald Mack would go first. Carnage’s Shawn Brown would play second, Goonies duelist Kareem McPherson would go third, and Tom Mak would go fourth. Then the cycle would begin again, just like any two-player duel.

Once the players had their opening hands, both teams conferred about their plans before Mack made his opening. He activated Level Limit - Area B, set two cards to his back row, set a monster, and ended. He flipped Trap Dustshoot as Brown’s turn began, making Brown reveal his hand: Mind Crush, Bottomless Trap Hole, Allure of Darkness, Mystic Tomato, Caius the Shadow Monarch, and Legendary Jujitsu Master. After discussing the decision briefly with his teammate McPherson, Mack opted to send Mystic Tomato back to Brown’s deck.

Considering his options, Brown made some friendly conversation: "Everybody kept talking about that four-turn burn, it didn’t get the job done. We took that down 2-0."

His first move was to activate Allure of Darkness. He removed Caius for its effect, then set everything he had: Legendary Jujitsu Master and four cards in his spell and trap zone. Play was back to the Goonies, and as McPherson drew, Brown flipped Trap Dustshoot. McPherson flopped his cards: Gladiator Beast Laquari, Swords of Revealing Light, two Waboku cards, Gladiator Beast Hoplomus, and Book of Moon. Laquari was sent back to McPherson’s deck, but Brown wasn’t done!

He activated Mind Crush next, forcing McPherson to discard both copies of Waboku! McPherson activated Swords of Revealing Light, flipped Brown’s Jujitsu Master, set a monster himself, and set one more spell or trap.

Carnage’s Mak was up. He activated Allure of Darkness, removed Gravekeeper’s Guard for its effect (at the advice of Brown), then set a monster and three cards to his back row. He ended his turn, and play passed back to player 1, Ronald Mack.

"Which one?" he asked McPherson, flashing him his three-card hand. Some whispering transpired—all legal in team dueling—and Mack set a monster, set a spell or trap, and then flipped Morphing Jar! Mak flipped Solemn Judgment, a huge commitment in this format, and Morphing Jar was destroyed. "I’ll pass," announced Mack. Team AZN Carnage was down to 4000 life points, a reminder of the risk Solemn Judgment presents in team dueling.

Brown was up. He drew Caius the Shadow Monarch and tributed his Jujitsu Master to summon him, then Caius shifted to defense mode due to Level Limit - Area B. Caius then took aim at Mack’s set monster, which turned out to be Stealth Bird, removing it from play for 1000 damage! Play passed to McPherson, who set his topdeck card to his back row and ended. Since he’d set a Gladiator Beast last turn, all he needed was Bestiari or Elemental Hero Prisma to start disrupting his opponents.

It was the last turn for Swords of Revealing Light, and Carnage’s Mak drew. He flipped one copy of Reckless Greed, then another to draw four cards! He fingered his set monster and looked to Brown questioningly.

"Absolutely," replied Brown with a nod. Mak flipped Mask of Darkness and took back his Solemn Judgment, but then lost it to McPherson’s Mind Crush! "I’ll tribute his Caius then," continued Mak, tributing his teammates Monarch for one of his own: Mobius the Frost Monarch. He went to defense mode and his effect targeted Level Limit - Area B and McPherson’s set Book of Moon. McPherson chained the book to flip Mobius face down, and the Level Limit was destroyed. Mak set two cards to his back row and ended—Swords of Revealing Light disappeared.

Brown and Mak’s strategy was starting to come together. It wasn’t obvious before this tournament, but since teammates can tribute each other’s monsters, Monarchs gain a ton of power in this format. It’s far easier to tribute when you need to do so, and dropping a Monarch every turn can create huge disparities in card presence very quickly. Cool stuff.

Mack drew, set a monster, set his last card to his back row, and ended. Brown was up—he too set a monster and ended. McPherson set another monster, and play was back to Mak. Before he entered his turn though, Mak flipped Book of Moon in McPherson’s end phase to turn down Mask of Darkness. Mak couldn’t draw for his turn, but he flipped the Mask of Darkness again and took back Solemn Judgment. Then, out of nowhere Brown flipped Crush Card Virus. He tributed his set Necro Gardna, still on his partner’s turn, and announced that he was going to unleash it on McPherson—it revealed that McPherson had not one, but two copies of Hoplomus. He didn’t lose anything from his hand either, since he didn’t have one: all his cards were on the table already. Mak kept the moves coming, tributing Mask of Darkness for Prime Material Dragon and then flip-summoning Mobius. Mobius attacked Mack’s set monster, but he flipped Gravity Bind to defend himself! Mak had no answer, and set a spell or trap to end. Prime Material Dragon had bought Brown and Mak some time, but with Gravity Bind on the field, they couldn’t capitalize.

Mack drew and set another monster on the Goonies side of the field, adding more field presence to the team’s dug-in monster lineup. Brown passed, and McPherson flipped Smashing Ground: Mak discarded D. D. Warrior Lady for Prime Material Dragon, keeping the Dragon on deck. Mak passed, missing his draw again because of Reckless Greed. Play was back to Mack, who set another spell or trap, and Brown set a monster next turn. McPherson drew and revealed Bottomless Trap Hole, then set it.

Mak could draw again—he topdecked another spell or trap card and set it. "Gravity Bind is saving us right now," remarked Mack, as he began his turn and set another card to his back row. Both teams were surviving off a single card right now.

"You have no idea," agreed Mak from the other side of the table. Mack activated Book of Moon, targeting Prime Material Dragon. Mak denied it with Solemn Judgment, dropping AZN Carnage to 2000 life points. "I’ll pass," declared Mack. If Prime Material Dragon went down, they were toast.

Brown set his topdecked monster. McPherson summoned Neo-Spacian Grand Mole, and then sent it to attack Prime Material Dragon—Brown removed his Necro Gardna to keep Prime Material around. Mak activated his third Reckless Greed of the game next turn, then tributed another set Necro Gardna from his teammates’ field for Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch. Mack was forced to discard Threatening Roar, but Mak still couldn’t muster any offense due to that Gravity Bind. Play was to Mack, who tributed one of his partner’s copies of Hoplomus to take control of Mak’s Prime Material Dragon. He then flip summoned Des Koala to try and drop the opposing team to 800 life points, but he’d misunderstood Prime Material Dragon’s effect: since it affects all players regardless of who controls it, Brown and Mak got a boost of 1200 life points instead! Mack switched the Dragon to defense mode before passing it back.

"If I can just hit that one card I’m looking for," groaned Shawn Brown. "I run it in threes!" He drew, and seemed disappointed. He set another spell or trap and ended, and when McPherson sent Grand Mole after Prime Material again, Brown negated the attack with another Necro Gardna. Everyone watching the match seemed to be wondering how long Carnage could keep that up.

Mak turned Prime Material to attack mode and passed, then Mack set another spell or trap. Brown was up. He set a spell or trap too, but seemed a lot happier with this draw compared to his last. McPherson entered his battle phase, but the reason for Brown’s change of demeanor became clear—he flipped Burial From a Different Dimension, brought back his two Necro Gardna cards, and removed one to protect Prime Material Dragon yet again!

Mak was up next. He flip-summoned Mask of Darkness to try and take back Solemn Judgment for the second time, but lost out to McPherson’s D.D. Crow. He thought a moment, and then attacked with Mask of Darkness into Grand Mole! It was a brilliant move. Grand Mole was the number-one threat to Prime Material Dragon, but if McPherson didn’t want to lose it, he’d have to return it to his hand with its effect. If he did that, Mak would get to take back his Mask of Darkness too, meaning he’d get to keep using Mask’s effect! McPherson thought for a moment before taking back his Mole. Mak retrieved the Mask, set it, and ended.

Mack was the next turn player. He set a monster and passed, and play was to Brown. "I’ll pass." McPherson drew for his turn, activated D.D. Crow, and removed Necro Gardna from Brown’s graveyard, then Brown flipped another Burial! He returned his two Necro Gardna cards to the graveyard, and removed one to stop Neo-Spacian Grand Mole from attacking Prime Material moments later!

"Just keep trying!" grinned Mak. McPherson gave a grunt. Next turn, Mak flip-summoned Mask of Darkness, took back Solemn again, and sent the Mask to attack Grand Mole. "It’s gotta die some day! Please!" But Mack flipped Magic Cylinder, negating the attack while giving Brown and Mak 900 life points! It was a truly bizarre sight. Mak set another spell or trap and ended.

The Goonies’ Mack set a monster, leaving himself with four monsters on deck: three were set and one was the defense-mode Des Koala. He had Gravity Bind, two face-down spell or trap cards, and nothing in hand. Carnage’s Brown had two set spell or trap cards with three cards in hand. McPherson had two monsters set alongside his face-up Grand Mole, and one set spell or trap. Finally, Carnage’s Mak had three set cards in his spell and trap zone, two cards in hand, and four monsters in attack mode: Prime Material Dragon, Mobius, Thestalos, and Mask of Darkness. The game was still at a stalemate—McPherson couldn’t seem to pull off a contact Fusion to save his life, while his partner Mack couldn’t deal any burn damage due to Prime Material Dragon. Meanwhile, Gravity Bind kept Brown and Mak from attacking. Mak just kept building his army, hoping he’d get chance to do some damage with them. At this point, the duel had gone far longer than either team had anticipated.

Brown was up and he saw an opportunity to fix his Mole problem. He flipped his set Enemy Controller, tributed his partner’s Mask of Darkness, and took control of McPherson’s Grand Mole. He then tributed it for Jinzo! It was a huge move that not only eliminated the Mole, but also provided an answer to that pesky Gravity Bind.

He wasn’t done though, and he followed up the Jinzo with Heavy Storm! The field was wiped: McPherson lost Bottomless Trap Hole, and Mack lost Just Desserts and Ojama Trio. On the Carnage side, Mak lost Solemn Judgment, Trap Dustshoot, and Bottomless Trap Hole, while Brown lost another Bottomless. Brown and Mak took a far heavier loss in card presence than their opponents, but they’d cracked the duel wide open. They were left with 4100 life points to Team Goonies’ 7000, and Brown finally had a chance to attack.

He activated Premature Burial and targeted Caius the Shadow Monarch. It attacked McPherson’s set Bestiari in battle, and Jinzo wiped out his set Hoplomus. "It’s your turn," stated Brown, ending his and passing play to McPherson. McPherson was out of cards.

He drew, and set his topdeck card to his back row. Mak sent Prime Material Dragon to attack Mack’s set monster, but was stopped short by Book of Moon from McPherson. Mak sent Thestalos to make the same attack and ran straight into Des Koala. The Carnage players took 1200 damage. Mobius attacked another of Mack’s monsters too quickly for it to be identified, and in main phase 2, Mak set a monster and flip-summoned Prime Material. Mak and Brown just needed a couple more turns to end the game, but the Goonies kept sneaking damage past that Dragon.

Mack set a spell or trap, and Brown set a monster. Caius swung into Mack’s Marshmallon, Carnage gained 1000 life points, and another Caius took down Mack’s set Stealth Bird. McPherson summoned Murmillo and attacked Mak’s set monster, then Brown used Necro Gardna to stop him once more! "Thank you!" Mak appreciated the save from Brown. He drew for his turn, took Marshmallon with Brain Control, and then flip summoned Gravekeeper’s Spy. Prime Material Dragon, Mobius, and Thestalos all rushed the field—it was game over!

"Woo! Necro Gardna saved the day," smiled Brown. "I used like ten of them!" The long duel hadn’t been what Brown and Mak were accustomed to today.

All four duelists dove into their side decks. "If anyone’s never played, this is an extremely fun format," remarked Brown. Everybody at the table nodded their agreement while digging through their sides to find an edge for game 2.

Mack opened the second duel by setting a card to each zone. Brown summoned Armageddon Knight, sent Necro Gardna to his graveyard, and set a spell or trap. He had Dark Grepher, two copies of Caius, and Dark Armed Dragon in hand. McPherson set a card to each zone and ended. Mak was up, and he activated Soul Exchange to target Mack’s monster. He tributed it, and traded Mack’s Des Koala for Caius! Caius then removed McPherson’s Murmillo from play, and Mak set a spell or trap. He lost it to McPherson’s Dust Tornado in the end phase (it was Reckless Greed). Mack was next in line, and he set a monster. "Pass."

Brown drew Enemy Controller and flipped his set Heavy Storm—Mack chained Just Desserts for 1000 damage. Brown tributed Armageddon Knight for Caius the Shadow Monarch, removed Mack’s set Nimble Musasabi from play, and discarded another Caius to special summon Dark Grepher! With three Darks in his graveyard, he special summoned Dark Armed Dragon and attacked for 6900 damage! The duel stood at 7000 life points to 1100 in Carnage’s favor, and Brown set a spell or trap to finish up.

This one was going much faster than game 1. McPherson needed to save his team—if he couldn’t do something, the Goonies would lose the Championship to Mak’s Caius next turn . . .

. . . which Brown might’ve appreciated if he was paying attention. Instead he was drooling over the uncut sheets of Light of Destruction, and Mak physically palmed his partner’s head to rotate it 90 degrees and point it back to the game. Everybody laughed. "That’s why he’s my partner!" chuckled Brown, regaining his composure. McPherson looked through their opponents’ graveyards, and then searched his deck for Laquari with Gladiator Proving Ground. He summoned it and then special summoned Test Tiger in attack position. McPherson passed priority, and activated Brain Control to take Caius.

"Which Caius?" asked Brown and Mak in perfect unison. McPherson laughed and pointed at Mak’s.

McPherson sent his borrowed Caius into Brown’s, destroying both. McPherson then attempted to send Laquari to attack Dark Grepher, but Brown tributed Grepher for Enemy Controller in response, taking control of Laquari! That kept McPherson from tributing Test Tiger in main phase 2, and he finished his turn by setting a spell or trap. Mak was up, and the Laquari returned to McPherson’s side of the field—Test Tiger was now a clear liability!

Mak activated Heavy Storm, wiping away McPherson’s bluffed Nobleman of Crossout. He summoned Sangan, pressed it over Test Tiger, and attacked for the win!