Jerry Tandoc plays out of Arizona for team S 90 degrees N. I thought it was a peculiar name at first, but it makes sense if you replace the word “degrees” with the degree sign (°). Then upside down it says “noobs.” Funny stuff.

Christopher Knudsvig, more commonly known as Chaos Vlord10 online, is from Wisconsin, who plays for Kogyochi Korrelation. Online he represents Yu-Gi-Oh! ETC, but he has yet to join their real world chapter. Success here today may change that. Chris is playing a poor man’s Dark Armed Return, with no Dark Armed Dragons or Crush Card Virus. Despite that, he’s 5-0 and going strong.

He opened the game with Allure of Darkness, removing Darklord Zerato from play. He set two spell or trap cards and passed. Jerry set a monster and passed right back. Chris flipped Sangan and Torrential Tribute to clear the field, destroying Jerry’s Strike Ninja in the process, and added Destiny Hero – Malicious to his hand with Sangan’s effect. Reinforcement of the Army came down next, searching for Dark Grepher. Grepher was special summoned by discarding the Malicious, and discarding Destiny Hero – Dasher meant Dark Magician of Chaos was in the graveyard now as well. Both Dark Magician of Chaos and Dasher were removed for Dark Nephthys’s effect, and Malicious was removed to special summon another one to the field.

Everyone took a moment to catch their breath (and I cracked my fingers), then Chris played Dimension Fusion. With Dark Magician of Chaos getting back Reinforcement of the Army for another monster and Destiny Hero – Dasher to clear a spot for it, Jerry knew the result of this game and scooped up his cards.

He opened up the next game with Destiny Draw discarding Destiny Hero – Malicious. Reinforcement of the Army was next, searching for Elemental Hero Stratos and Destiny Hero – Dasher via Stratos’ effect. To no one’s surprise Allure of Darkness came down next, and the Dasher found its way out of play. Two set spell or trap cards meant Jerry’s turn was done.

Chris examined his opening hand and set to work. He activated Allure of Darkness, and D.D. Crow found its way out of play. Reinforcement of the Army for Dark Grepher was his next play. That Grepher was normal summoned, and its effect activated to discard Jinzo and place Dark Magician of Chaos in the graveyard. Dark Nephthys was sent to the graveyard next, two spell or trap cards were set, and Chris passed his turn.

Jerry played Monster Reborn on Dark Nephthys, but the card he tried to destroy was chained: Waboku. Jerry wouldn’t be making any attacks this turn, so he thought for a moment about how to advance his position. Special summoning the second copy of Malicious and normal summoning Cyber Valley was his play. He removed Stratos though, and not the Malicious, to draw two cards from his deck. Allure of Darkness meant he got to see even more cards. Was he fishing for Crush Card Virus? He set one card in his spell or trap zone and passed.

Chris was up now, and he normal summoned Cyber Valley and drew into Destiny Draw and Destiny Hero – Malicious, which he promptly played. Another Destiny Draw came next, discarding the Destiny Hero – Disk Commander he’d started the turn off with. He removed Malicious for another copy of itself in defense mode. Premature Burial revived Destiny Hero – Disk Commander and Chris thought for a while about the remainder of his turn. He elected to play Reinforcement of the Army, searching for Dark Grepher. Dark Nephthys was discarded to special summon the Grepher, and Sangan was discarded to dump Darklord Zerato as well. Enemy Controller was used to tribute Destiny Hero – Disk Commander and steal Dark Nephthys. Monster Reborn brought the Disk Commander back for another go. Chris’ battle phase was blocked by Threatening Roar, so he passed his turn with no further plays.

Jerry flipped Return from the Different Dimension on his turn, bringing Stratos, Dasher and Cyber Valley back. Stratos searched Destiny Hero – Disk Commander from the deck, and Cyber Valley removed itself and Stratos for two cards. Another Return brought Stratos and Dark Grepher back. Stratos searched for a Dasher. Jerry tributed for Darklord Zerato and special summoned Dark Armed Dragon, and that was all Chris had to see to call it a game.

Chris opened the third and final game by playing Reinforcement of the Army for Dark Grepher. He special summoned Grepher by discarding Dark Magician of Chaos and discarded Dark Nephthys to put Destiny Hero – Malicious into his graveyard. Cyber Valley was then normal summoned, and Nephthys and the Magician were removed to allow a second Dark Nephthys to hit the graveyard. Chris passed with a set spell or trap.

Card Trooper came down for Jerry, sending Destiny Hero – Disk Commander to the graveyard among other cards. Next Dark Grepher was special summoned by discarding Destiny Hero – Dasher and both monsters swung directly. Chris was telegraphing Return badly, which forced Jerry to set two spell or trap cards.

That worked out nicely, as Dark Nephthys came back for Chris and destroyed a set Return from the Different Dimension. Chris summoned Elemental Hero Stratos next to search for Destiny Hero – Dasher. He special summoned a Grepher by discarding that Dasher and attacked with all his monsters. Jerry drew for his Trooper, and Chris passed.

With three cards in hand now Jerry normal summoned Cyber Valley. He flipped Machine Duplication next, and Chris activated Torrential Tribute. Jerry set a spell or trap and passed. After his draw, Chris was holding Machine Duplication and Allure of Darkness. After some quick math he decided to pass. Jerry poked him with a Grepher next turn.

Chris drew and used Dasher’s effect to special summon the drawn Cyber Valley. Machine Duplication then came down for Chris as well! Only one copy remained in his deck though. He removed both to draw two cards from his deck and activated Allure of Darkness. Sangan, his only in-hand monster, was removed from play by its effect. Chris hadn’t drawn anything very useful, and set two spell or traps before passing.

Jerry flipped Heavy Storm! Enemy Controller and Trap Dustshoot were destroyed. Next Jerry flopped Prometheus, King of the Shadows and Dark Armed Dragon to swing for game.

Jerry Tandoc defeats Chris Knudsvig to move on undefeated with a strong shot at the Top 16.