Fred and Abe have more in common than extremely difficult to spell last names. Both of these players have come to the event independently in hopes of making a name for themselves in the new format. Fred is a native of Minnesota, while Abe hails from Wisconsin. Neither is currently on a team, though Fred claims that he’s been associated with some in the past. Abe’s elected to run an interesting variant of the Destiny Hero Monarch deck focused entirely on spinning cards to the top of the deck with Raiza the Storm Monarch and Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, while Fred is running a Ratbox deck.

Fred won the opening roll and opted to go first, starting off with a set to each zone and passing. Abe started with Heavy Storm to clear out Fred’s Sakuretsu Armor before dropping three cards with a Card Trooper and attacking into Nimble Momonga. Among the cards lost were a Monarch, Stratos, and Pot of Avarice. He activated Confiscation in main phase 2 to reveal Fred’s hand and made him discard Heavy Storm. The other choices were Premature Burial, Exiled Force, and Neo-Spacian Grand Mole. Abe set a spell or trap before passing.

Fred shook his head as he used Exiled Force to clear the Trooper, and he quickly passed back to Abe who used Reinforcement of the Army to fetch out Destiny Hero — Disk Commander before setting a card to each zone and passing, content with Fred’s lack of Heavy Storm. Fred had another Exiled Force next turn, and he used it to blow up Abe’s set Disk Commander. Call of the Haunted in the end phase brought the Commander back for Abe and let him draw two cards before he checked the DEF of Nimble Momonga and attacked one. Fred was up to 10000 life points to Abe’s 7000, but he didn’t seem to have much else going for him at the moment. Abe set a third card to his back row and activated Snatch Steal to take the Commander. He attacked for 300 and used Book of Moon to keep the Commander before ending. Cyber Dragon destroyed the Commander in the next turn, and play was back to Fred. He set a spell or trap and passed over to Abe who tributed for Mobius the Frost Monarch to destroy Fred’s Sakuretsu Armor and his own face up Call of the Haunted. There was still a Premature Burial in Fred’s hand, and he activated it, only to have Abe chain Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, discarding Treeborn Frog, to bounce the equip spell! Neo-Spacian Grand Mole came down to bounce Mobius to Abe’s hand, and Fred passed. Abe could only set a card, which was revealed to be Ring of Destruction when Fred summoned Injection Fairy Lily next turn. Both players set a card, and Fred then flipped his set Premature, this time prompting Mystical Space Typhoon from Abe.

The Mole came down again for Fred, and it was allowed to exist, only as a catalyst for a follow-up Cyber Dragon/Raiza play from Abe next turn. Things were going far south for Fred as Abe continued on by summoning Mobius and blowing away the Grand Mole with a Mirror Force. A short while later, the players were side decking for game 2 with Abe up 1-0! Sub-optimal use of Exiled Force landed Fred in hot water in short order in the first game, and he’d need to be a lot more careful where he was throwing that potent removal if he wanted to stay in this match.

Once again, Fred started us off, this time with a Giant Rat and a set spell or trap. Elemental Hero Stratos was Abe’s first play, and he used him to search for Disk Commander. The Commander was pitched to Destiny Draw, and he drew into Sangan and Mystical Space Typhoon, which he used to destroy Fred’s bluff Nobleman of Crossout. Stratos destroyed the Rat, and Fred searched out Injection Fairy Lily. Abe had Call of the Haunted again, and he set it before passing. Exiled Force blasted Stratos, and Abe took a 3400 point hit from Lily before Fred set a spell or trap and passed. Once again in the end phase, Call returned Disk Commander, and Abe drew two cards. Abe tributed the Commander for a set Malicious and set a spell or trap to go with him. Grand Mole came down for Fred, but he lost it to Ring of Destruction before setting a spell or trap and passing. Abe tributed his set Malicious for Mobius, but lost him to Ring of Destruction while Fred lost his Mirror Force. Abe brought his second Malicious out and set a card, really hoping that Lily wouldn’t be able to finish him off next turn. Fred had to go for it though, and he summoned Sangan, attacking into Malicious and swinging across with Lily. Phoenix Wing Wind Blast was flipped to bounce her on top of the deck, and Fred set a spell or trap before passing. Abe brought out his third Malicious but immediately lost him to Torrential Tribute! It looked like Fred had pulled the trigger too soon, but Abe didn’t have enough life to chance a follow up with Card Trooper, so he set a card to each zone and passed. Exiled Force destroyed Abe’s set Card Trooper next turn, and Fred set a spell or trap before passing back to Abe who simply set a monster.

Fred added a second spell or trap to his field, and Abe summoned Banisher of the Radiance and attacked into Fred’s set Nimble Momonga. Fred passed his turn, and Abe flipped up his Fear Monger and attacked for 1000, but his attempt for game with Banisher was blocked by Enemy Controller! Fred passed his turn, and Abe tributed Fear Monger for Raiza to return Fred’s set spell or trap to the top of the deck. Raiza attacked for game, and it was revealed afterwards that the pressure had gotten to Fred, and he had forgotten to chain the bounced card, Pulling the Rug! Had he done so, his next card was Snatch Steal and we would have had a game 3! Fred Zibrowski cracks under the pressure, allowing Abe Villarreal to move on, 2-0!