Fili Luna was riding high, after defeating the reigning American National Champion Adam Corn just moments ago! But now he was up against one of the most unpredictable decks here today — Volcanic Monarchs.

Hailing from Oakland, 22 year-old Charley La had an impressive win streak here yesterday thanks to Blaze Accelerator, Volcanic Rocket, Volcanic Shell, and Wild Fire. A library worker, La had taken opponent after opponent by surprise in this tournament, not the least of whom was Eric Wu the round prior to this one

He won the opening roll and opened up big, summoning Volcanic Rocket and pulling Blaze Accelerator from his deck! He set one spell or trap and ended. Fili was up.

He set a card to each zone, La activated Blaze Accelerator, and discarded Volcanic Shell to destroy Fili’s set card — Treeborn Frog! Fili had clearly wanted to draw out La’s first shot. La paid 500 life points to search out another Shell from his deck and Fili activated Scapegoat in his opponent’s end phase.

Next turn he brought Treeborn Frog to the field and activated Heavy Storm; La chained Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, discarded Volcanic Shell, and stuck Treeborn Frog back on top of Fili’s deck! He still lost his Blaze Accelerator though, and Fili ended.

Another payment of 500 life points brought La his third Volcanic Shell, and he sent Volcanic Rocket to destroy a Sheep Token in battle. La set a monster, and moments later Fili activated Reinforcement of the Army to search his deck for Elemental Hero Stratos. He summoned him, searched for Destiny Hero – Disk Commander with Stratos’ effect, and attacked with Stratos, hitting La’s face down Magician of Faith. She got him back Blaze Accelerator and Fili announced he was finished.

Fili had five cards in hand, Stratos, and three Sheep Tokens to La’s Rocket and six cards in hand. La drew a seventh card, set a card to his back row, and attacked Stratos with the Rocket to destroy him. Fili set a monster, which was very likely the Treeborn, again attempting to draw out a Blaze Accelerator shot. It worked. La played Blaze Accelerator next turn, fired off his last Shell and hit the Treeborn. “Oh, yeah.” Fili gave a bit of a chuckle, albeit not in a malicious way.

He brought back the Frog next turn, tributed it for Raiza the Storm Monarch, and targeted Blaze Accelerator with Raiza’s effect. La chained Bottomless Trap Hole to destroy Raiza and his Accelerator was bounced off the field. He activated the Accelerator again next turn, set another spell or trap, and attacked another Sheep. Next turn Fili tributed his Frog for another Raiza, targeting the Accelerator again, but this time La chained Wild Fire! It wiped the field clear, and La got his Wild Fire Token monster! Fili had to read Wild Fire to see what it did, and then passed with an open field.

La summoned Volcanic Rocket and returned his Blaze Accelerator to his hand from his graveyard! He attacked with both the Wild Fire Token and his Rocket for 2900 damage, leaving Fili at 5000 life points to his own 6500. He set another spell or trap and ended.

But Fili was far from down and out; fortune smiled and he topdecked his third Raiza the Storm Monarch! He brought back his Frog, tributed it, and bounced La’s back row card. Raiza then ran over Volcanic Rocket, and Fili set a spell or trap. La was playing really well aside from the Treeborn Frog issue, but Fili’s rips were tremendous. Next turn La set two cards to his back row and turned his Wild Fire Token to defense mode. Fili discarded Disk Commander for Phoenix Wing Wind Blast to return one of them to the top of La’s deck.

Mystical Space Typhoon destroyed the other (Torrential Tribute) in Fili’s draw phase. That let Fili bring back Treeborn Frog, and Raiza destroyed the defense mode Wild Fire. Fili set a monster, set a spell or trap and ended. La summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, shot Breaker’s counter at Call of the Haunted, and Fili chained it to target Disk Commander, but La chained Mystical Space Typhoon! Things seemed to be going well for La, but his Breaker attacked into Mask of Darkness and Fili took back his Call! He set it next turn and Raiza attacked over Breaker. Fili now had a clear lead.

La set a spell or trap as his only move. Fili summoned Snipe Hunter, knowing Torrential Tribute was no longer a threat, and discarded Destiny Hero – Malicious — the shot missed! A successive discard of Morphing Jar destroyed La’s set card, Mirror Force! La was defenseless, and Call of the Haunted then brought back one of Fili’s Raizas. A pair of the Storm Monarchs plus Snipe Hunter attacked for game.

A series of synergetic plays and not one, not two, but three Raizas let Fili Luna capture the first duel! Both competitors went for their side decks and began changing cards at an intense pace.

“I can’t believe you Raiza’d me three times!” La expressed his disbelief in a friendly tone.

“Yeah! I just needed to get that Disk Commander into the graveyard. When I hit the Wind Blast I was like, ‘it’s game time!’” Fili gave a grin and you could tell how much he was loving being back in Day 2 to defend his title.

La opened with a set monster and nothing else. Fili had Destiny Hero - Fear Monger, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, Cyber Dragon, Snipe Hunter, Magician of Faith, and Morphing Jar. He special summoned Cyber Dragon, set a monster, set a spell or trap, and attacked with the Dragon: it ran into Old Vindictive Magician, which destroyed Fili’s set Morphing Jar! Next turn La activated Blaze Accelerator, discarded Volcanic Shell for its effect and targeted Cyber Dragon. Fili had set Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, no help, so his Cyber Dragon was destroyed. La searched his deck for another Shell at the cost of 500 life points, and then set a monster.

Snipe Hunter hit Fili’s field and he contemplated his potential discards: Raiza, Magician of Faith, and Fear Monger. He made the right decision and attacked instead of jumping the gun, destroying La’s Treeborn Frog. Next turn La discarded his second Shell to destroy the Snipe with Blaze Accelerator, and then searched his deck for his third and final Shell. He set another card to his back row and passed, still unable to capitalize.

“Go.” Fili passed and La passed right back. Fili activated Reinforcement of the Army, grabbed Stratos and summoned him to fetch Destiny Hero – Malicious. Stratos swung for 1800 damage and La dropped to 5200 life points.

Next turn La activated Mystical Space Typhoon in his standby phase, targeting Fili’s set Phoenix Wing Wind Blast. He chained it, discarding Malicious and targeting Blaze Accelerator. La placed it on the top of his deck. La summoned Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer, traded off with Stratos and ended, clearly not in a good position. “Go.”

Fili shuffled his hand: Fear Monger, Magician of Faith, Raiza the Storm Monarch, Light and Darkness Dragon, and Reinforcement of the Army. With Malicious in his graveyard he certainly had options. La had nothing but a single spell or trap in his back row, so Malicious would be very likely to let Raiza swing for 2400 damage. Fear Monger could attack on its own, and Magician of Faith could be set, but anything Fili played out could be hit with Blaze Accelerator next turn. He opted to set the Magician, but was surprised to lose her to Phoenix Wing Wind Blast in the end phase: La discarded Volcanic Shell for its cost.

He brought back Treeborn Frog, now the only card on the field! He special summoned Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer with Premature Burial, attacked with him, and removed Malicious and Snipe Hunter from Fili’s graveyard! He finished by setting a spell or trap, ending the kind of turn that could break this duel wide open.

Fili set Disk Commander and passed. La tributed Treeborn Frog for Raiza the Storm Monarch, bouncing the Commander, and swung for 4200 damage! Kycoo removed Cyber Dragon and Morphing Jar from Fili’s grave and, trapped with a dead hand, Fili was forced to scoop!

Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer saves Charley La from what appeared to be a terrible hand, pushing this match to a third duel! Both competitors headed to their side decks one more time! Would Fili move on to the Top 4 to defend his title, or would Charley La defeat one of North America’s greatest duelists with Volcanics? Fili sided out of Light and Darkness Dragon.

“That Morphing Jar, getting that killed hurt!” Fili smiled. “I had no idea he was going to use Old Vindictive. Who’d you beat last round?”

“Eric Wu,” replied La with a cheerful smile. Fili was impressed and changed the topic. “Oh! I need to give a shout out to my girlfriend Sharon.” Done and done, Fili.

Fili opened with Foolish Burial, sending Treeborn Frog to the graveyard! He set Disk Commander, set Crush Card Virus, and was left holding Raiza the Storm Monarch, Stratos, and Morphing Jar. When La activated Soul Exchange next turn Crush Card was chained, costing La his Raiza the Storm Monarch! Still, La activated Premature Burial, thinking he could attack — he couldn’t due to Soul Exchange, so he set a spell or trap to finish out.

Fili brought back his Treeborn Frog in the standby phase, and La discarded Volcanic Shell to put the Frog back on top of Fili’s deck! Fili set Wind Blast himself, set Morphing Jar, and ended. That Morphing Jar / Crush Card combo is one of his signature moves, and it’s absolutely brutal.

La paid 500 life points next turn to search his deck for another Shell. If he had Blaze Accelerator he was in good shape. If not, he was likely hosed. He didn’t. He set one spell or trap, attacked with Raiza, and Fili responded with Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, discarding his own Raiza to bounce La’s. It was a great move because when La would be forced to draw the Raiza due to Morphing Jar he’d lose it to Crush Card Virus. Fili could even just let La draw it again on his own.

Next turn Fili summoned Stratos, searched out Malicious, and attacked for 1800 damage. He left the Jar on the field, face down, and, as planned, La lost his Raiza to Crush Card Virus’s effect next turn. La set a monster and ended.

Stratos attacked La’s set Volcanic Shell, and Fili set a monster. La summoned Volcanic Rocket, searched his deck for Blaze Accelerator, and attacked over Stratos. La set his hand down after contemplating Accelerator, and ended. “Go.”

Fili had apparently lost count of the turns on Crush Card Virus, asking the judge if its effect was over. It most certainly was — no pro Morphing Jar for Fili. He activated D.D. Crow to take La’s Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer out of play though, and flipped the Jar anyway, getting five new cards and a chance to wreak some havoc on La’s life points. He activated Destiny Draw, discarded Fear Monger, and then activated Pot of Avarice. He shuffled back his five monsters, drew two, and considered his options.

La had Volcanic Rocket and a set spell or trap card on the field. Fili had Morphing Jar in attack, a set monster, and tributed the Jar for Cyber Dragon. The Dragon attacked Volcanic Rocket, but La flipped Book of Moon to rebuff the attack! Fili set Phoenix Wing Wind Blast and Call of the Haunted, and had Disk Commander in the graveyard ready to be brought back. “Go.”

Volcanic Rocket attacked the face down Cyber Dragon and Fili let the attack through. Cyber Dragon was destroyed. In main phase 2 La set a monster, then a spell or trap card. He shook his head for a moment and ended his turn after about thirty seconds of contemplation.

Call of the Haunted flipped in La’s end phase, but he responded by flipping his set Mystical Space Typhoon! Fili was once again prevented from bringing back his Disk Commander. He set a card to each zone next turn and ended, defending himself but not really making any headway towards a win.

Volcanic Rocket ripped through Fili’s Treeborn Frog, and La set another card to his back row. Fili set a monster yet again; he seemed to be setting up the kind of complicated game states he tends to win out of in situations like these. La attacked with Rocket again, and this time hit Destiny Hero – Fear Monger! He shook his head once more, and next turn Fili drew two cards for Disk Commander. Fili just set another monster — with Heavy Storm in his hand he was definitely setting up a nice big kill.

Rocket attacked again, this time hitting Sangan. La just kept feeding Fili cards he wanted, and Sangan got him D.D. Crow. La set another monster and Fili activated Phoenix Wing Wind Blast in the end phase to discard D.D. Crow and bounce the monster La had set. Next turn Fili flip summoned Magician of Faith, targeted Pot of Avarice, and chained Torrential Tribute! He’d clear La’s field this turn.

Torrential Tribute destroyed La’s set Sangan, fetching him Treeborn Frog from his deck. Fili took back his Pot of Avarice, activated Reinforcement of the Army, and searched out Elemental Hero Stratos before activating Pot. He shuffled back Magician of Faith, Snipe Hunter, Morphing Jar, Cyber Dragon, and Fear Monger, drew two, then summoned Stratos to search out the Fear Monger. Stratos attacked, dropped La to 2600 life points, and Fili set another spell or trap. Fili had six cards in hand and had set Scapegoat.

La special summoned Cyber Dragon and ran over Stratos. He set a card to each zone, and Fili activated Scapegoat in the end phase. Next turn he special summoned Treeborn Frog, tributed it for Raiza, bounced La’s set monster and attacked Cyber Dragon. La activated Call of the Haunted in the end phase, targeted Volcanic Rocket, and Fili cut him off with D.D. Crow! That left La to set a monster next turn, desperate to protect his life points.

Raiza attacked, destroying La’s Treeborn Frog, which couldn’t return to the field with Call of the Haunted still stuck there. La summoned another Rocket next turn, took back his Blaze Accelerator, and attacked a Sheep. He activated the Accelerator and set a card — was it Wild Fire?

Fili attacked the Rocket with Raiza, and then summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior in main phase 2. Breaker broke La’s set card and it was indeed Wild Fire; La chained it to wipe the field! He special summoned his Wild Fire Token and Fili set one card to his back row.

As nice a play as that was, La had 1300 life points left while Fili sat pretty at 7600. He was in trouble. He tributed his Token for Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch, forcing Fili to discard Foolish Burial — not the greatest since the Foolish was practically dead anyway. Thestalos attacked into Mirror Force and La set one spell or trap. Fili had Raiza and Cyber Dragon — if La’s trap card wasn’t Bottomless Trap Hole, the match was over.

Fili brought back his Treeborn Frog, tributed it for Cyber Dragon and attacked for game! La nodded and offered the handshake.

Fili Luna is just two matches away from successfully defending his title here in San Mateo!