Anthony Ling is from right here in Philadelphia and went undefeated yesterday with a 10-0 record. He’s got all the momentum coming into this match and there could be no stopping this up and coming duellist. Chris McGarrett is from Livonia, Michigan and has barely squeaked in as the 16th slot. He’s part of the newly reunited Team Xtreme and topping 16 at an SJC is a great start in propelling the popularity of the team.
Game 1
Anthony Ling would like to give a shout out to Carolyn. He won the die roll and chose to start. He opened with Elemental Hero Stratos to fetch Destiny Hero – Disk Commander and added him to his hand. He set a back row to end his turn. Chris started his turn by opening up with Gladiator Beast Laquari. He attacked and in the damage step, he activated Shrink and attacked over the Elemental Hero Stratos for 900! He then tagged it out for Gladiator Beast Bestiari to destroy Ling’s set Mystical Space Typhoon! Chris ended his turn and play was back to Ling. Ling summoned Phantom of Chaos to remove Elemental Hero Stratos, attack over the Gladiator Beast Bestiari, and then ended his turn. It looked like Ling didn’t have much if he had to make such a play. Chris fired back with a back row set and a summoned Sangan to take out the Phantom of Chaos to end. Ling drew and played Allure of Darkness, removing Dark Magician of Chaos for the effect. He set one to each row and passed his turn.
Chris’ turn was up and he summoned Gladiator Beast Laquari and it destroyed Destiny Hero – Fear Monger while Sangan swung for 1000 damage! When Chris activated the Beast’s effect, Ling chained Phoenix Wing Wind Blast to spin Chris’ back row, discarding Destiny Hero – Disk Commander! Chris brought out Darius to try and bring up Bestiari but that was hit by a D.D. Crow! He ended his turn with a back row. Ling drew and special summoned Destiny Hero – Disk Commander to draw two cards! Now he had three Darks in the graveyard; down came the Dark Armed Dragon! He removed Destiny Hero – Fear Monger to destroy Darius and then D.D. Crow to destroy Chris’ Sangan. Chris fetched Test Tiger with Sangan and then Ling removed Phantom of Chaos to destroy Chris’ set Reinforcement of the Army! He tributed Disk Commander for Jinzo and both monsters attacked for 5200! Ling passed with no back row set. It was 5100-2800 in favor of Ling and Chris looked at his hand of Gladiator Beast Bestiari, Elemental Hero Stratos, Gladiator Proving Ground, and Test Tiger. He summoned Gladiator Beast Bestiari and special summoned Test Tiger! He brought out Gladiator Beast Murmillo in defense mode to take out the Dark Armed Dragon, set a back row bluff, and ended his turn. “Pass.” Chris was clearly in a bad spot now!
Ling drew and played Allure of Darkness, removing Armageddon Knight! He then summoned Prometheus, King of the Shadows to remove Dark Armed Dragon and go to 1600 ATK, activated Brain Control, and there was the scoop!!!
Anthony Ling takes a commanding duel with a devastating lock of Dark Armed Dragon, Jinzo, and a stellar play! Both players sided quietly as the pressure started to build for Chris, seeing as how he was one duel away from being knocked out of the tournament.
“You going to go second?” asked Ling.
“I think I’m going to try first . . .” replied Chris.
Game 2
Both players had sided, shuffled up and play began this second duel. Chris opened up with a hand of Book of Moon, Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror, Mirror Force, Solemn Judgment, Dust Tornado, and Gladiator Beast Darius. He set four to his back row and ended his turn! Ling started his turn with Reinforcement of the Army to get Elemental Hero Stratos; he was summoned to fetch Destiny Hero – Disk Commander. A classic opening move for Ling! He continued his turn and attacked fearlessly into the four face downs and connected for 1800. He then played Prohibition calling Gladiator Beast Bestiari and ended. Chris drew and summoned Gladiator Beast Darius. He then played Book of Moon to turn down the Hero and attacked over the Elemental Hero Stratos! He tagged Darius out for Gladiator Beast Laquari and ended. Ling simply set a monster and passed. Play was back to Chris. Chris set a 5th card to his back row and ended his turn without attacking. Ling’s turn was up again and he pondered about setting a monster, proceeded to do so, and ended his turn. Chris drew and passed his turn. Life points were 8000-6200 for Ling as he drew and passed his turn.
Chris drew and then activated Dust Tornado to destroy Prohibition! He played Monster Reborn targeting Ling’s Elemental Hero Stratos! He searched for Elemental Hero Prisma and summoned him! He used the effect to have Prisma become Gladiator Beast Bestiari, contacted Fused for Gladiator Beast Gyzarus and both monsters attacked for 4200! He then tagged out both monsters for Gladiator Beast Laquari and Darius but a D.D. Crow took out the targeted Gladiator Beast Bestiari to prevent Gladiator Beast Heraklinos from possibly coming out! Ling now in a precarious situation summoned Armageddon Knight and tried to activate the effect but Chris chained Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror! He tried to ram the Knight into Stratos to add a third Dark but a Phoenix Wing Wind Blast hit the Knight spinning it back to the top! Ling set a back row, clearly in a bad way and when Chris started his battle phase! Ling just scooped his cards!
Chris McGarret shows his dominance with Gladiator Beasts and wins duel #2, taking command and showed no signs of being stopped!
Game 3
Both players sided once again very quietly as winning this duel would mean a nationals invitation for 2009 and bringing one of them one step closer to being the next Shonen Jump Champion! Anthony chose the right to start and a handshake was given before our last duel of the match!
Ling opened with Reinforcement of the Army once again to get Elemental Hero Stratos to his hand and summoned him to get Destiny Hero – Dasher. He then played Allure of Darkness to draw two and removed that newly obtained Dasher. He played Prohibition, called Gladiator Beast Bestiari, set two to his back row, and ended! This didn’t look good for Chris as he started his opening move. Chris also opened with a Reinforcement of the Army getting his own Elemental Hero Stratos to his hand! He then summoned him to search out Elemental Hero Prisma and both Heroes were taken down in battle. He set two more to his back row and ended his turn. Ling drew and set a monster to end but when he did, Chris played Phoenix Wing Wind Blast to discard Gladiator Beast Darius to spin the Prohibition! He started his turn by summoning Elemental Hero Prisma, dumped Bestiari, and special summoned Test Tiger! Ling tried to negate it by flipping up Royal Oppression; it was chained to with another Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, but that was chained to with Solemn Judgment! That cleared Chris’ field and he passed with only a card in his hand! Ling was up and he played Prohibition calling Gladiator Beast Laquari and summoned Dark Grepher to pitch his Destiny Hero – Malicious to dump Destiny Hero – Disk Commander. He attacked for 1700 and ended. Chris was up and he played Gladiator Proving Ground to obtain Gladiator Beast Darius. He summoned Darius, rammed it into the Grepher, and passed his turn with a clear field yet again.
Ling drew and summoned D.D. Crow! He attacked for 100, set a back row, and ended. Was he holding Crush Card Virus? Chris topdecked and played Heavy Storm but Ling had the Crush Card and chained it, tributing the D.D. Crow! It revealed Monster Reborn! Chris then played Monster Reborn to get Disk Commander and drew into Mirror Force and Brain Control. Ling drew and set a monster to end his turn. Chris drew into Test Tiger and passed his turn. Ling set a third monster to end his turn and Chris simply set a back row to end his turn with the effect of Crush Card Virus already having subsided. Ling drew and he set two back row cards for his turn. Chris set a third card to his back row and ended. Both players were at a standstill, as they refused to make a move! Ling drew and passed! Chris drew and examined Ling’s graveyard; he summoned Gladiator Beast Laquari and it took out Ling’s set Fear Monger! Ling was up and he attempted to bring back Destiny Hero – Malicious with Fear Monger’s effect but it was chained with Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror! Ling continued and played Soul Exchange, tributing Chris’ Laquari for Prime Material Dragon! He passed and Chris passed after setting a back row. Ling drew and flipped up Sangan! Sangan attacked over the Disk Commander and Prime attacked for 2400 as he ended his turn.
It was 3600-3800 in favor of Chris as he played Dust Tornado to destroy Ling’s set Soul Exchange! He then played his face-down Book of Moon to flip down Prime Material Dragon! Ehren, Lightsworn Monk came in and sent the Dragon back into the deck! The latter was lost off the deck and Chris ended. Ling drew and tributed Sangan for Jinzo! He got Legendary Jujitsu Master with Sangan since Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror was being negated; Jinzo attacked over the Monk! In main phase 2 he removed Malicious to bring one out in defense and he ended with no back row. Chris started his turn and activated Brain Control to take Jinzo and he swung over Ling’s set Jujitsu Master and spun Jinzo back! An excellent read by Chris! He set a monster to end and Ling drew. He tributed his Malicious for Jinzo and attacked over Chris’ Test Tiger! Chris drew and set a monster to end; that Jinzo was tearing down Chris! Ling drew and summoned Snipe Hunter! He rolled with Snipe on his monster and missed! He did it again and connected! There went the scoop from Chris and Anthony Ling wins the match!
Anthony Ling wins a tight 3rd duel and proceeds on to the Top 8 still undefeated in this tournament!