Luke Chen is currently playing in the first Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament in which he didn’t go 0-2 drop. Cas is here representing the Netherlands. Both players were extremely friendly as they shuffled up, and they shook hands before starting. Cas won the die roll and opted to go first. He started off with the standard face down card to each zone and passed. Chen opened with the monster, and two face down spells or traps instead of one.

Cas flipped over Night Assailant, getting rid of Gravekeeper’s Guard, then summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior. He removed the counter to destroy Chen’s Scapegoat, which he chained. Night Assailant killed a Sheep token, but Breaker got hit by a Sakuretsu Armor. Chen drew and set a monster and two face down spells or traps before ending. Cas was looking good with four cards in hand and three on the field, and after some brief thought about the chances that Chen was playing Gravekeeepers, he attacked a Sheep token and passed.

Chen flipped over Morphing Jar to even out that card advantage, and followed it up with Pot of Greed. Cas negated it with Spell Shield Type-8. “Okay,” said Chen. “At least I’m bigger than your Night Assailant”. He then summoned D. D. Warrior Lady and announced the attack of Jar against Assailant. It went through, as did the Lady’s attack, and Chen ended.

Cas went down 1000 life points to play Delinquent Duo, causing Chen to discard two Gravekeeper’s Spy. He then played Snatch Steal on D. D. Warrior Lady and dropped two Wave-Motion Cannons. He attacked into Mirror Force, then set a monster and ended. Chen drew and returned Sinister Serpent to his hand before summoning Tsukuyomi to flip down his Morphing Jar. He chose to reflip the Jar immediately to draw five new cards. He was met with a pretty lousy hand off the flip, but he played Delinquent Duo anyway, hitting Cas’s Tsukuyomi. Cas discarded Sinister Serpent. Ouch.

Afterwards, he attacked with Tsukuyomi, running into Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive. Cas drew a card, then took a hit from Morphing Jar. Looking worried about the Cannons, Chen used Metamorphosis to bring out Thousand-Eyes Restrict. He then set a card and passed. Cas returned his Serpent to his hand, then set a card. He then summoned Sinister Serpent in attack mode and passed. During the end phase, Chen let loose a Dust Tornado to take out one of Cas’s Cannons. Chen absorbed the Serpent with Thousand-Eyes, then summoned Tsukuyomi to flip down Thousand-Eyes Restrict. He played Swords of Revealing Light, set a card, then declared the attack of Tsukuyomi against Cas’s life points.

Cas flipped Ceasefire to make the attack illegal and hit Chen for 1500 damage. On his turn, Cas set a card and did some quick math before deciding to end his turn. Chen drew and got the answer to his Wave-Motion troubles—Mystical Space Typhoon. He blasted the Cannon and then resummoned Tsukuyomi. Thousand-Eyes Restrict went back face down, and Tsukuyomi attacked again. Cas flipped Scapegoat, and Chen’s monsters ate nothing but Sheep tokens. Thousand-Eyes Restrict ate a Sheep token, and after deliberation by the judges, the goat was determined to become a Token Equip Card, equipped to Thousand-Eyes Restrict.

Cas continued to be stuck under Swords of Revealing Light, so he played Graceful Charity to look for an answer. He discarded Sinister Serpent and Magical Merchant, then removed a Light and a Dark monster for Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning. He used priority to try and remove Thousand-Eyes Restrict from the game, and after some deliberation, Chen let it happen. Cas set a monster and two cards, then passed the turn. Chen drew and summoned his own Breaker the Magical Warrior. Breaker destroyed Cas’s face down Book of Moon, and it was chained to flip Breaker down in retribution. Chen flipped his face down Snatch Steal, to take Cas’s Soldier, and decided to remove Cas’s face down Magician of Faith from the game. He then used Metamorphosis to turn the Soldier into a Gatling Dragon.

After a quick review of the Dragon’s rules text, Chen used his effect and got one heads, killing Cas’ final Sheep token. He then declared a direct attack and Cas played another Scapegoat. Chen took down two sheep and ended his turn. Cas played Premature Burial to return Black Luster Soldier to the field, and Chen thought very hard before chaining Torrential Tribute to the ability of Black Luster Soldier to destroy everything. Cas set a monster and passed. He pointed out that he knew two out of the three cards in Chen’s hand after he drew, and Chen set a monster and a spell or trap before ending. Cas began his turn by flipping Magical Merchant revealing his third Wave-Motion Cannon. He played it and set a monster, then ended his turn

Chen drew and then flipped Heavy Storm. Cas chained Waboku, and was safe for the turn. Chen summoned Tsukuyomi to flip down the Merchant and attacked it. Cas discarded Sangan, then revealed Ring of Destruction. Chen set a card and passed. On Cas’s turn, he flipped Magician of Faith to get back Wave-Motion Cannon, played Heavy Storm and prompted Chen to chain his Scapegoat, then summoned Tsukuyomi to flip the Merchant back down. He brought it up again revealing a Book of Moon. Cas’s monsters took out two Sheep tokens and a Sinister Serpent. He finished by setting two cards and playing the freshly returned Wave-Motion Cannon.

With six cards left in Cas’s deck, Chen decided to summon Sangan in attack mode. Chen had it attack Magical Merchant, and Cas used Book of Moon to flip down his Merchant. The attack continued, and the Merchant revealed Swords of Revealing Light. Chen ended. Cas flipped down his Magician of Faith with Tsukuyomi, then flipped it back up to get back Premature Burial. He brought back the Soldier, attacked Sangan, then set off his Wave-Motion Cannon to win the game.

Cas 1, Chen 0

Game Two

Both players chose to side deck eight cards and then had a lively discussion on how good Morphing Jar is. With four minutes left in the round, they shuffled up, and Chen requested a judge for the second game to make sure that everyone played at a reasonable pace. Chen chose to go first, and started playing a lot faster. Chen set two cards and a monster, while Cas opened with one and one. Chen drew, then flipped Dust Tornado and destroyed Scapegoat, which Cas chained. Chen flipped Gravekeeper’s Guard to bounce a Sheep token, then tributed it for Airknight Parshath and attacked. Cas morphed a Sheep and sucked up the Airknight with Thousand-Eyes Restrict. It attacked, but ran into Scapegoat. Cas set a card and ended his turn.

Chen drew and played Graceful Charity, probably looking for a Lightning Vortex, but didn’t find it. He discarded Magician of Faith and Sinister Serpent, then summoned Chiron the Mage. There was a lengthy controversy over whether or not the player received priority when summoning Chiron, and it was eventually decided that he did. Chen pitched Heavy Storm, and Cas chained Ring of Destruction. Chen then stole Thousand-Eyes Restrict with Snatch Steal and attacked a Sheep token. Cas stole it right back and hit one of Chen’s Sheep tokens. He then summoned Tsukuyomi to flip it down and ended. Seeing no way to win in the time allotted, Chen scooped the game.

Cas Stomphorst wins the match, 2-0.