It’s only round 3, and we’re already seeing some of the new cards making an impact. Roger Hillabolt has come up with an interesting deck based on Volcanic Rocket, Wild Fire, and Blaze Accelerator as a means of clearing the field and generating tribute material, similar to how a Macro Cosmos deck would use Grand Convergence. Fili Luna is the champion from SJC San Francisco, and is running a Destiny Hero beatdown build that appears similar to the one T ran at Philadelphia and Anaheim.

Roger won the opening roll and started off with a set to each zone before passing. Fili dropped Card Trooper and lost Ring of Destruction, Destiny Draw, and Heavy Storm from his deck before attacking into a set Spirit Reaper and setting a pair of spell or trap cards. A second spell or trap card was added to Roger’s back field, and Fill used Card Trooper to send Dark Magician of Chaos, Crush Card Virus, and another Destiny Draw to the graveyard to pump it. Snipe Hunter came down for Fili, and he lost it to Bottomless Trap Hole, but not before he pitched Cyber Dragon to target and destroy Spirit Reaper! Trooper hit directly, and Roger was up. Snipe Hunter came down from him, and he used it to destroy Fili’s set Mirror Force before attacking over Card Trooper. Roger set a card, and Fili summoned Elemental Hero Stratos to fetch Destiny Hero — Dasher to his hand. Stratos felled the Snipe Hunter, and play returned to Roger.

Roger was looking for Volcanic Rocket, but all he could muster was a set spell or trap. Stratos hit him directly next, Roger set a monster, and Stratos revealed it as Dekoichi before Fili passed his turn. Roger simply passed and took another hit from Stratos while Fili added a card to his back row. Finally, Roger drew into Volcanic Rocket, and he used it to search for a Blaze Accelerator! Rocket beat down Stratos, but Roger ended without activating the Accelerator. Brain Control stole his monster away, and it was tributed for Jinzo! Jinzo hit directly, and Roger silently scooped up his Wild Fire which could have saved the game for him had he simply activated the Accelerator.

“I don’t know what to side against that,” muttered Fili, but he gave it a shot anyway while Roger sided in silence. The first move fell to Roger once again, and he opened up with a pair of set spell or trap cards. Fili had Destiny Draw with Disk Commander, and, after drawing his two cards, he summoned Card Trooper to drop Treeborn Frog, another Trooper, and another Destiny Draw off his deck. Ring of Destruction blew away the now pumped Trooper, and Fili set a spell or trap before ending. Scapegoat was lost in the end phase to Mystical Space Typhoon, and Roger summoned a Snipe Hunter and attacked directly before setting a spell or trap and ending. Elemental Hero Stratos came down to fetch Destiny Hero — Dasher for Fili, and tried an attack. Mirror Force blew Stratos away, and Fili set a pair of spell or trap cards before ending. The Snipe Hunter was traded in for Jinzo next turn, and Fili lost his Frog. He activated Reinforcement of the Army for Destiny Hero — Fear Monger and presumably set him before ending his turn. Card Trooper came down for Roger, and he knocked Cyber Dragon, Raiza the Storm Monarch, and Wild Fire off the top of his deck to pump it up to 1900. Nobleman of Crossout removed the Fear Monger from play, and both monsters swung for a total of 4300 damage! Fili was at 300, and his big hand seemed useless in the face of Jinzo. Without enough life to pay for Brain Control, Fili scooped and we moved to game 3!

It was Fili’s turn to start this time, and he opened up with a set spell or trap. Mystic Tomato came down for Roger, and Fili took 1400 from it before Roger passed his turn. Fili added a set to each zone in his next turn, while Roger simply attacked into the set Disk Commander with his Tomato before setting a monster and passing. Fili had a new set monster, and this time it was Fear Monger! Roger attacked into him and set a spell or trap, and Fili got back his Commander along with a pair of free cards! Card Trooper was Fili’s next play, and he tossed Destiny Hero — Malicious, Snatch Steal, and Morphing Jar to the graveyard before attacking Roger’s set Tomato. The Tomato brought Sangan into play, and Roger was up.

Roger drew into Jinzo, and tributed his Sangan to summon it! Sangan’s effect allowed him to search out a Card Trooper, and Jinzo obliterated Fili’s Card Trooper for 2000 damage while the Tomato beat up Disk Commander. Fili had eight cards in hand and a pair of spell or traps set after drawing, and he took a good long look at them, before sending all five monsters in his graveyard back to the deck for Pot of Avarice! He drew his two and started setting cards aside, likely for use with Snipe Hunter, and then went to his calculator for some quick math. He flipped Heavy Storm obliterating his own Mirror Force and his opponent’s Bottomless Trap Hole before summoning Cyber Dragon and Snipe Hunter. He pitched a Malicious to destroy Mystic Tomato (with a 4) before summoning his second Malicious and activating Brain Control to take Jinzo. He had 6800 damage on the field, and he swung with everything. He then discarded three cards to try to destroy Jinzo, rolling a 6 each time before switching dice and discarding a fourth, only to get a 1! He slumped over in anguish before muttering to himself about how he had game if he had hit any of those rolls, likely due to his last card in hand being Ring of Destruction. Finally, he revealed and threw away the Ring and rolled one more time, finally destroying Jinzo with a 2.

Roger was up, and he started making his own plans to win the game. He summoned Card Trooper and pumped it three times, knocking the now useless Confiscation off his deck among other cards. Card Trooper also dropped a Volcanic Rocket into his graveyard, giving him the last monster needed to activate Pot of Avarice! He drew a Cyber Dragon and a Dekoichi for his troubles, and activated Snatch Steal to take Fili’s Cyber Dragon. The Dragon took down Malicious and Trooper felled Snipe Hunter leaving Fili at 2100. Roger had Ring and Mirror Force, but only set the Force. It wasn’t enough though, as Fili drew into the exact card he needed to win, Metamorphosis! Fili brought out his final Malicious and tributed him to Metamorphosis to bring out Ryu Senshi! The Senshi negated Roger’s Mirror Force and let him attack through Card Trooper for game! Fili Luna scrapes one out despite a bad experience with Snipe Hunter on his way to a 2-1 victory over Roger Hillabolt.