Thrilled by his quarterfinals win against Roberto Martinez, Michael was very confident in his ability to win this match. Raheel had just come off a victory over Leonard Hamilton, and he scored another one in the opening die roll. He opted to go first, and he started things off with a set to each zone. Michael did the same, and play passed back to Raheel, who summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior. Breaker destroyed Sakuretsu Armor, and Raheel flipped over his Spirit Reaper. Breaker took out a face down Treeborn Frog, and the Reaper hit directly, robbing Michael of Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive. The Frog returned on the next turn, and Michael decided to set a monster and end. Raheel really wanted to rob another card from Michael, but he decided to summon Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer instead. Breaker eliminated a face down Mystic Swordsman LV2, Reaper hit the Frog, and Kycoo removed it from the game.

Michael fired back by special summoning Cyber Dragon and tributing it for Mobius to destroy a facedown Sakuretsu Armor. Mobius hit Kycoo, but things took a turn for the worse when it was destroyed by Smashing Ground next turn. Reaper hit again, stealing another Cyber Dragon from Michael and leaving him topdecking. Raheel set a monster and passed back to Michael. Michael couldn’t draw any monsters though, and Breaker and Spirit Reaper made for a quick end to game 1.

Raheel 1, Michael 0

Game 2

Both players took some time to side deck for this important game 2. After it was verified that both side decks still contained fifteen cards, Michael declared that he would be going first this time. After a bit of confusion as to whether or not they had the right decks (they were using the same sleeves), Michael started with a set to each zone.

Raheel went on the offensive from the start with Breaker, destroying Torrential Tribute and attacking into a face down Legendary Jujitsu Master. Breaker bounced to the top of the deck and Raheel set a card before ending. Michael played a Breaker of his own next turn destroying Dust Tornado and attacking directly before setting Dark Hole and ending. Predictably, Dark Hole was destroyed by Raheel’s recovered Breaker next turn, and Book of Moon ensured that only one Breaker would remain standing. Michael brought out Mobius next turn, and destroyed a facedown Mystical Space Typhoon before attacking Breaker.

The Mobius was a turncoat however, as it was equipped with Snatch Steal and made to attack its owner. Michael was forced to get rid of it by special summoning Cyber Dragon and normal summoning D. D. Assailant. D. D. Assailant removed Mobius and Cyber Dragon hit home. Raheel set another monster, and Michael had D.D. Warrior Lady to remove it. However, it was Kinetic Soldier, and the removal came with a steep cost. Cyber Dragon hit again and Michael passed to Raheel. Raheel activated Premature Burial to bring back his Breaker, but as soon as it hit the field it was gone again thanks to Michael’s Bottomless Trap Hole. With no options left Raheel simply passed and was finished off by the Cyber Dragon.

Raheel 1, Michael 1

Game 3

The first two games had taken less than fifteen minutes, including side deck time, and the players were quickly ready to begin their final duel. Raheel opted to start, and he did so with four set spells or traps and a face down monster, which could only be Morphing Jar. It didn’t do him any good, though, as Spirit Reaper and Nobleman of Crossout removed his Jar and Chaos Sorcerer.

Raheel switched the Reaper to defense position and set another monster. Kycoo attacked it, revealing Sangan and bringing Exiled Force to Raheel’s hand. Exiled Force was used to destroy Kycoo, but Raheel still had no offensive options and was facing a wall created by two Spies. Michael set another monster and Raheel brought Exiled Force back with Premature Burial to destroy it. Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive was destroyed, but that was just fine for Michael, who immediately drew and played Pot of Avarice.

He drew his two and attacked Raheel’s face down Magical Merchant with a Spy. The Merchant fetched Smashing Ground, and Michael passed his turn. Raheel set a new monster and was forced to watch as Michael gained even more ground by flipping Dekoichi. He played Heavy Storm to clear the backfields, followed by Dark Hole to clear the rest. This was followed by Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer for a direct attack. Kycoo was shutting down Raheel’s ability to play Chaos Sorcerer, and the removal last turn made it impossible for him to play Pot of Avarice. Michael summoned Sangan and attacked the face down monster with it to try to keep things that way, but the third Spirit Reaper in Raheel’s deck blocked it from happening.

Finally, Raheel found an opening and took it, using Smashing Ground to remove Kycoo. He then summoned Mystic Tomato and attacked Sangan fetching Michael a Treeborn Frog. Raheel’s Reaper hit the Frog out of his hand, and Michael opted not to return it next turn. He special summoned Cyber Dragon and attacked the Reaper to bring Raheel’s life points down to 1400 while he was sitting pretty at 5200.

Once again, though, Michael was presented with a wall that he couldn’t quite break through, so he set a monster and ended. It was Spirit Reaper, and Raheel flipped his face down Nobleman of Crossout to remove it from the game. The players traded set monsters, and Michael attacked Raheel’s. It was Magician of Faith, and Pot of Avarice was returned to Raheel’s hand. The loss of Magician also gave him the fifth monster required to play it, which he then did. Raheel drew his two and was looking better than he had any time before in this game, with four cards in hand and a field full of stall. Michael seemed quite unwilling to attack the last Tomato, and Raheel took advantage of it by setting a card to each zone and trying to regain enough card presence to end the game in one swing.

Michael wasn’t about to just let this happen, though, and he flipped Tsukuyomi to flip down Raheel’s Reaper. Tsukuyomi attacked the new face down monster, which was revealed to be yet another Reaper. Spirit Reaper was the sole card that had been keeping Raheel alive and he continued to ride the wave of its invulnerability in battle, as Michael flipped it down with Tsukuyomi.

Raheel set another spell or trap and passed back to Michael, who finally drew Smashing Ground. He had to be careful in applying it, though, as there was still a Mystic Tomato on the board. He decided to hold off on this turn and passed back to Raheel after setting a card to each zone. Michael had a plan though, and he revealed his facedown monster as Tsukuyomi flipping down the Tomato before tributing his spirit for Mobius. Mobius took Raheel’s spells and traps, but one of them was Bottomless Trap Hole, and it took Mobius out of the game. Raheel continued to wait for his cards and decided to only set a spell or trap before ending.

Michael set a monster and again passed back to Raheel. Both players checked the graveyards, and Raheel simply passed his turn. Michael summoned Breaker, taking out yet another Sakuretsu Armor and then flipped his set D. D. Assailant up. Breaker hit the face down Tomato, but Raheel had nothing left to search for. D. D. Assailant revealed a Reaper that was finally destroyed by Smashing Ground. If Michael could grab another Smashing Ground, he could clear Raheel’s field once and for all, and Raheel knew it. He decided to act, equipping Cyber Dragon with Snatch Steal. Book of Moon turned it face down before it could go maverick, and Raheel set a monster. D. D. Assailant attacked it without regard for any possible Kinetic Soldiers, and Magician of Faith was revealed returning Snatch Steal to Raheel for another try.

Michael set a fourth monster, daring Raheel to use Dark Hole. He didn’t take the bait though, and once again chose to activate Snatch Steal. He took D. D. Assailant this time and tried to attack the facedown Cyber Dragon, but a Widespread Ruin blocked his path. At this point Michael had a clear backfield, but he neglected to re-summon his Frog. However, he did have Smashing Ground, and he used it to finally end the Reaper wall.

Raheel summoned Cyber Dragon and Kycoo on his turn and traded the Cyber Dragons. Kycoo was eliminated by Widespread Ruin, and Raheel set a spell or trap, hoping that there was no removal waiting for him in Michael’s hand. Michael got his Frog back and summoned Spirit Reaper robbing Raheel of Mystic Tomato. However, Breaker couldn’t end the game, as Sakuretsu Armor blocked its attack. Raheel set a card to each zone and passed to Michael who simply set a monster and turned his reaper to defense mode. Raheel took a hard look at his graveyard as Michael hoped vigorously that he had not topdecked Chaos Sorcerer. Michael was really looking to end the game before things had a chance to turn ugly.