Marcial Bode is well-known for his Top 4 finish in SJC Atlanta. Garrett doesn’t currently have any major finishes to his credit, but he hopes to pick one up today, and he’s got to go through Marcial Bode to do it. Marcial won the die roll and opted to go first. The two players anxiously waited for the official start of the round, and when the bell rang they came out of their corners fighting.

Game 1

Marcial started off with the classic one and one, but Garret had a much more aggressive opening with Breaker the Magical Warrior and Nobleman of Crossout. Crossout took out Gravekeeper’s Spy, and Breaker swung for 1600. Marcial responded next turn with a D. D. Assailant and a face-down card. The Assailant eliminated Breaker, and Garret was on the defensive. He set one to each zone, and passed to Marcial who summoned his own Breaker and broke Garrett’s My Body as a Shield. D. D. Assailant tried to attack but the huge defense of an Exarion Universe stopped it. Garrett set another card to each zone, and Marcial attacked the new monster, revealing Spirit Reaper. He set a card and passed to Garret, who attacked with Exarion, only to lose it to Widespread Ruin. Garrett set a D. D. Warrior Lady that Marcial’s Assailant ran into, removing both from the game. Both players were now playing defensively, taking turns setting cards. A Dust Tornado took out Marcial’s Call of the Haunted, and a Reinforcement of the Army brought D. D. Assailant to Garrett’s field.

It was immediately destroyed upon summoning by Torrential Tribute, and Marcial took advantage of the opening with a D.D. Survivor. Garrett refused to take the damage, though, and flipped the Survivor down with Book of Moon. Marcial set a card which was lost immediately to Mystical Space Typhoon. Garrett decided to go all out, summoning a D. D. Assailant and using Premature Burial on Exarion Universe to swing for some serious damage. Marcial had four cards in hand, though, and one of them was Dark Hole. He cleared the field with the Dark Hole, then fetched D. D. Warrior Lady with a Reinforcement of the Army. D. D. Warrior Lady hit for 1500 and Garrett was forced into topdeck mode. He drew and summoned Drillroid, immediately attacking the Warrior Lady with it. Marcial didn’t remove it, signaling either a Cyber Dragon or a Chaos Sorcerer next turn. It was the Dragon, and Drillroid took a dirt nap along with 500 of Garrett’s life points. Marcial set two cards and Garrett continued to topdeck, losing his freshly drawn Torrential Tribute to a Mystical Space Typhoon. Sangan joined forces with Marcial and defeat seemed to be inevitable for Garrett until he drew a Sangan of his own, and it was destroyed. He searched for Spirit Reaper and played it, but a quick Smashing Ground ruined his chances of a comeback. Two turns later, Cyber Dragon and Mobius the Frost Monarch sealed the deal for Marcial Bode.

Marcial-1 Garrett-0

Both players side decked furiously exchanging nearly no words and it was on to game two.

Game 2

Garrett started off this game with two set spell or traps and a defense monster. Marcial simply set three cards and passed, and Dust Tornadoes destroyed each other during the end phase. Marcial flip summoned D. D. Assailant, but lost it to Widespread Ruin. Marcial pushed for an advantage with Don Zaloog and discarded a Cyber Dragon from Garrett’s hand. Garrett had another one, though, and tried to take down Don Zaloog, only to be hit by another Widespread Ruin. He set a monster and passed over to Marcial, who played Reinforcement of the Army to fetch Mystic Swordsman LV2. The Swordsman destroyed the face-down D. D. Warrior Lady without consequence, and Don swung for yet another card from Garrett’s hand, this time dropping Dark Hole.
 
Garrett drew and played Reinforcement of the Army for a D. D. Assailant, and then used Snatch Steal to take Don. Book of Moon was chained to the Snatch Steal, though, so Don fell to an attack rather than working for the other side. Mystic Swordsman wasn’t very lucky next turn as D. D. Assailant brushed it aside like a cobweb. Both players were topdecking, but Marcial didn’t play his one card in hand, and paid for it when Confiscation stripped him of Spirit Reaper. Marcial tried to defend himself from the Assailant with Scapegoat, but it stopped working pretty fast when Garrett pulled out Exarion Universe. He added D. D. Assailant via Premature Burial and swung for a lot of damage.

Marcial had a plan, though, and he special summoned Cyber Dragon before tributing it for Mobius the Frost Monarch, eliminating D. D. Assailant from the field. Exarion then fell to Mobius’ attack, and the topdeck war was on again. In the end, Marcial got the upper hand with Breaker the Magical Warrior. Garrett destroyed it with a freshly drawn Exiled Force, but Marcial managed to pull out his Sangan and end the game with an assault of extraordinarily fuzzy magnitude. Rawr!

Marcial Bode defeats Garrett Campagna 2-0!