Wilson Luc, a sixteen-year-old student from Los Angeles, came into Columbus hot off his Shonen Jump Championships win in Las Vegas. He was playing a Warrior deck, and battled one of the St. Clair brothers to take his spot in the semifinals.
Patrick Smith is a self-described “stay-at-home son” from Fairborn, Ohio. Also sixteen, he too was playing Warriors and fought his way through a St. Clair in the quarterfinals.
Patrick Smith paired off against Wilson Luc in the semifinal round of the Top 8. The long day was starting to show a bit, as both players needed to make a little extra effort to stay focused on the game. Smith seemed a little more relaxed, while Luc devoted a little more mental effort to the matchup. Both were playing Warrior decks, and Luc opted to go first, summoning Don Zaloog and ending his turn. Smith set a monster and a spell or trap card, and ended his turn. It seemed like it could be a slow beginning. Luc summoned Magical Scientist on his next turn, and paid 1000 life points to special summon Dark Balter the Terrible and attack Smith’s face-down monster. Luc kept a monopoly on attacks for the next turn or so, holding off Smith’s Blade Knight with Ring of Destruction, then tributing Scientist to bring out Jinzo for a direct attack.
Even after Jinzo was removed from the field, Smith needed a comeback. With his life points at 3300 against Luc’s 5000, Smith activated Painful Choice. He looked quickly through his deck, the cards he needed already in mind. He pulled out Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer, Snatch Steal, D. D. Assailant, Smashing Ground, and Reinforcement of the Army. Luc studied the cards carefully, and thought for a while. He looked through Smith’s graveyard before deciding to give him Kycoo. Smith summoned Kycoo, attacked directly and removed both Scientist and Jinzo from the game.
Play continued in a measured fashion, as each duelist strove to gain and keep a field advantage. Fiber Jar reset the game, and Luc finally drew Painful Choice. He took some time to choose the cards, replacing one or two before making his final selection of Tribe-Infecting Virus, D. D. Warrior Lady, The Forceful Sentry, Confiscation and Sinister Serpent. Smith looked them over, and selected Confiscation, knowing that Luc’s life points were now at 3200 and that paying for Confiscation would be risky.
Monsters arrived and left the field quickly in the next series of turns, aided by active Mirage of Nightmare on both sides. Luc slowed it down slightly with Swords of Revealing Light, but Smith summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, broke Swords, then attacked with his remaining monsters to win the game.
Game 2
Luc decided to side deck, and spent some time choosing what to put in. He also decided to go first once again, opening with Painful Choice. He took some time to think about what to choose, and changed his mind a few times before laying out Jinzo, Confiscation, The Forceful Sentry, Nobleman of Crossout, and Sinister Serpent. Smith looked them over, and offered him Sinister. Luc studied his hand for a moment, then set both a monster and a spell or trap card, and ended his turn.
Smith activated his own Painful Choice, and quickly pulled out D. D. Warrior Lady, Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer, Enemy Controller, Sinister Serpent, and Scapegoat. Luc also handed over Sinister, and Smith looked carefully at his hand before summoning D. D. Warrior Lady. Wilson countered with Torrential Tribute. Smith then brought out Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning, set two spells or traps, and attacked directly, bringing Luc down to 5000 life points.
Easy come, easy go—Luc summoned Tribe-Infecting Virus, and named Spellcasters to rid the field of Black Luster Soldier. He attacked for 1600, narrowing the gap in life points. Play sped up, as monsters were summoned and rapidly destroyed. Spells and traps disrupted play for both sides, and few monsters survived more than a turn or so on the field. Luc and Smith sliced away at each other’s life points, reducing them little by little until they were both under 2000—Luc was at 1700, and Smith at 1600. Correct decisions and topdecking became a real issue in this late game, with one misplay carrying the possibility of defeat. Luc needed to win this game to stay in the match, so he thought carefully before making any moves. He looked again through Smith’s graveyard, then set one monster.
Smith drew, and studied the field. A win on this turn guaranteed he would move ahead to the finals. He considered his hand, the number of cards in his opponent’s hand, set a spell or trap card, then attacked Luc’s face-down card with Blade Knight. It turned out to be a Kinetic Soldier, and the resultant damage to Smith’s life points secured a win for Luc.
Game 3
This was the game that would decide who went on to the finals. Luc again decided to side deck, thinking long and hard over the changes he needed to make. Smith did not alter his deck. Smith chose to go first, again opening with Painful Choice. He made his choices quickly, and revealed Sinister Serpent, D. D. Assailant, Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer, and Enemy Controller. Luc gave him the Serpent, then Smith activated Pot of Greed, set two spells or traps and one monster and ended his turn.
Luc drew, and activated The Forceful Sentry. After examining Smith’s hand, Luc sent back Magical Scientist. Luc set two spells or traps, had one destroyed by Smith, then set a monster and ended his turn.
Several quick turns followed. Monsters were summoned and quickly destroyed, and Luc had kept Kinetic Soldier as a strategy for this duel, setting one and slicing a chunk out of Smith’s life points. Spell and trap cards saw a lot of play -- Smith tried to Ring the Kinetic Soldier prompting Luc to Book of Moon it to keep it in the game – and there was plenty of monster attacking monster as each duelist pressed for the advantage. Luc activated Scapegoat to hold the field for a while, and drew into Painful Choice. He took a while to make his selections, and both duelists seemed rather tired at this point. Luc finally chose three, thought about the choices, returned a Pot of Greed to the deck, and sifted through his cards again. The table judge reminded him to make his decision, and he finally chose two copies of Reinforcement of the Army, Pot of Greed, Snatch Steal, and D. D. Assailant. Smith looked at the cards for a long time, thinking over his choices, and decided to give Luc the D. D. Assailant.
The game went on for several turns more, with monsters jousting against each other, sheep tokens and the hindrance of Luc’s Swords of Revealing Light. Luc finally summoned his Magical Scientist, and paid to summon Ryu Senshi to attack Smith’s D. D. Assailant. Smith activated Sakuretsu Armor, and Luc paid to negate the effect, bringing his life total down to 5400 against Smith’s 3600. Luc paid another 1000 life points to bring out Thousand-Eyes Restrict, and sucked up Smith’s set monster to remove it from the field.
Smith drew, then went on the offensive, summoning another D. D. Assailant, taking out Luc’s Scientist and a sheep token, and dropping Luc’s life points below his own. Fiber Jar reset the field, and Luc stretched the game out still further by activating Swords of Revealing Light once again. A few turns went by in a stalled fashion, until Luc again drew into Painful Choice. Again, he took some time deciding what to bring out, but settled on Nobleman of Crossout, Pot of Greed, Magical Scientist, The Forceful Sentry, Premature Burial and Breaker the Magical Warrior. Smith opted for The Forceful Sentry. Another flipped Fiber Jar reset the game, with Luc at 3000 life points and Smith at 3650.
D. D. Warrior Lady joined the fray on both sides, removing several monsters from play, and sheep tokens again littered the field. Smith activated Mirage of Nightmare, using its effect for several turns until he could activate Emergency Provisions and gain back 2000 life points. The sheep were fading fast on Luc’s side as Smith built up his field. Smith summoned D. D. Warrior Lady and attacked into another face-down Kinetic Soldier, which cost him some life points, but then pressed ahead with his attacks to remove the remaining sheep, hit Luc’s life points directly with Kycoo, bringing him down to 1200. Then, Smith activated Ring of Destruction to win the game.
It was a long match and it swung back and forth between both duelists, but in the end Patrick Smith moved on to the final round and a shot at the title.