This round we’re bringing you the matchup from table 1, pitting 2005 Worlds qualifier Bryan Coronel against Ohio native Nikitas Katsourakis. Nikitas, upon finding out that he would be playing in a featured match, attempted to dance with head judge, Jeff Yuschak. Not exactly how I’d want to start my walk over to the feature match table, but to each his own. The players rolled to see who would start and both players rolled a 6. On the second go, Bryan won the roll 5 to 2 and opted to start.

Bryan started with Confiscation revealing Magical Mallet, Waboku, Reckless Greed, Dimension Fusion, and End of the World. He must be playing some sort of Ritual deck, likely, once again, Demise OTK. This variant seems to have a little more draw power though, so that’s nice to see, though Reckless Greed tends to be an all or nothing kind of card. Bryan stopped to read End of the World before deciding to throw away Nikitas’ Magical Mallet. He then set a monster and passed over to Nikitas who drew Ring of Destruction. Still monster-less, he set a spell or trap and passed over to Bryan who flipped Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive to draw a card. Dekoichi swung for 1400 and Nikitas opted to take the attack. Bryan set a card to each zone and passed over to Nikitas who seemed to be in the middle of the worst hand he’s had all day. He picked up Sonic Bird though, and summoned it to fetch Advanced Ritual Art from his deck. He set another spell or trap and passed back to Bryan.

Bryan had a 5 card hand at his disposal. He activated Brain Control to steal the Sonic Bird. Sonic Bird was tributed for Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch, which discarded Ring of Destruction from Nikitas’ hand and left Bryan free to attack into Waboku. Dekoichi was switched to defense position, and Bryan ended. Nikitas drew, and then activated Reckless Greed, digging for a Demise. He didn’t get it, but he did pick up a Magical Mallet, which he used to trade 3 cards he couldn’t use at the time. He picked up Doom Dozer, Injection Fairy Lily, and Megamorph. Nikitas then summoned Senju of the Thousand Hands to pick Demise out of his deck and activated Advanced Ritual Art to send a pair of Insect Knights to the graveyard. If Bryan didn’t have anything, Nikitas had game in his hand. Bryan did have Book of Moon and he activated it to flip Demise down. We then had some problems regarding the rules on Book of Moon vs. Demise, but Head Judge Jeff sorted things out, ruling correctly that Demise recognizes itself even while face down. Nikitas held off for a turn and Bryan summoned Cyber Dragon and attacked Demise before setting a card to each zone and passing.

Nikitas couldn’t draw due to Reckless Greed and immediately regretted not pressing damage through last turn! He summoned his Doom Dozer and played out Injection Fairy Lily as well before putting his Megamorph on the Dozer. Lily attacked Cyber Dragon pumping over it while Doom Dozer smacked into a Sakuretsu Armor instead of Bryan’s set Dekoichi. Dekoichi was flipped next turn and Nikitas was in a tight spot. That one Book of Moon had turned a guaranteed win into an almost guaranteed loss given that he couldn’t draw next turn! Realizing this, Nikitas scooped the game when Bryan summoned another monster. Both players went into their side decks and discussed whether or not Nikitas should have actually pressed with the Dozer on the turn he summoned Demise. The answer? Probably, but Reckless Greed was going to cost him the game anyway. Life lesson: Reckless Greed is dangerous!

Side decking took a bit longer than usual, but that’s to be expected in a match like this. Nikitas was visibly frustrated that his opponent had the one card that could have blocked his win, but he was determined to win this match anyway. It was Nikitas’ turn to go first, and he started things off with a set spell or trap. Bryan drew for his first turn and set a pair of spells or traps before ending. Nikitas looked at his hand very intently before deciding to flip Reckless Greed after his draw for the turn. Similar to last game, he activated Magical Mallet, but this time he traded 4 cards from his hand in for hopefully something better. He then summoned Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands to fetch Advanced Ritual Art and took a swing at Bryan’s life points. Sakuretsu Armor destroyed the searcher, and Nikitas set a spell or trap before ending. Bryan was up next and set a spell or trap before passing to Nikitas who couldn’t draw this turn. He could still get a card however, thanks to a second Manju, which brought out Demise, King of Armageddon from this deck! The second Manju took a swing, and it succeeded where its brethren had failed! The Manju was crushed next turn, however, by a Cyber Dragon from Coronel. He set a spell or trap and passed back to Nikitas who simply passed his last turn without drawing. Cyber Dragon attacked directly, but Waboku saved Nikitas’ life points.

Next turn, Advanced Ritual Art came down for Nikitas, once again depositing a pair of Insect Knights to bring forth Demise, King of Armageddon. Demise’s effect was activated, but this time Bryan had Threatening Roar to buy himself an extra turn. Nikitas set a Waboku and passed, hoping that this time things wouldn’t go horribly wrong. He had outlasted his Reckless Greed, so things were already looking better than last game. He also had a hand to match Bryan’s, which is always a bonus, especially when you’re the guy with the huge Ritual monster. Bryan drew, then set a spell or trap and ended leaving Nikitas to wonder if it was another Threatening Roar. Nikitas paid anyway, and blew away Bryan’s set Torrential Tribute before dropping Doom Dozer and Megamorph for the win! After a dreadful game 1, Nikitas Katsourakis rebounds to force the match to game 3!

Bryan Coronel had the option to start the third and final game of the match, and he took it, starting off with a set to each zone before passing. Nikitas started things off strong with Senju of the Thousand Hands to search his deck for Demise, King of Armageddon. He followed it up by setting Scapegoat, but it was lost in the end phase to Mystical Space Typhoon. Bryan had a Hydrogeddon next turn to take down Senju, which then replicated itself for 1600 damage to Nikitas. Bryan set a spell or trap and passed back to Nikitas, who drew Metal Armored Bug. Choice words were said regarding the bug, but he then shuffled it back into the deck along with Lily using Magical Mallet. He needed Megamorph and Advanced Ritual Art to complete the combo, and from the two cards from Magical Mallet he drew them both! Demise hit the field, but this time Bryan had Needle Ceiling! Four monsters were on the field, so Demise had to go away, along with the rest of the field. Bryan Coronel had a Winged Kuriboh as well, so the Doom Dozer, Metamorphosis, and Megamorph weren’t going to do him much good either. An awful end to a perfect draw. Bryan couldn’t capitalize though and he set a monster before passing. Nikitas drew the dreaded Reckless Greed and pondered his options.

Nikitas agonized over the decision of whether to open himself up to a loss due to Snatch Steal, and eventually decided to go for it. Doom Dozer hit the field and was quickly swapped out for Cyber Twin Dragon via Metamorphosis. He attacked the set monster, but it was Legendary Jujitsu Master! At least the Megamorph was saved for another day, but things weren’t going so well for Nikitas. Time was rapidly running out in the match, and he was likely to take a loss due to time. He drew and activated Reckless Greed, picking up that Metal Armored Bug again. Nikitas summoned Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands and picked another Demise from his deck before attacking Bryan’s set card, a Winged Kuriboh. Bryan had a Cyber Dragon next turn which he summoned and then tributed for Zaborg and attacked to drop Nikitas below the amount he needed to used Demise’s effect. Nikitas flipped another Reckless Greed and drew into two Sonic Birds during the end phase. Time was called as Nikitas searched for End of the World. He activated it, but Demise was blown away by Torrential Tribute on the summon leaving him with nothing. He summoned another Sonic Bird next turn, but it was all for naught as Brain Control and Gravekeeper’s Spy ended the game on Bryan’s turn, the final turn of the game. Demise OTK is now 1-3 in feature matches today as Bryan Coronel defeats Nikitas Katsourakis to move on at 5-0!