Steven Brill is one of two twin brothers playing here today with identical decks, and they’ve really made their mark thanks to a unique strategy: Normal monsters, backed by Skill Drain, Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror, and Justi-Break. Hailing from Cincinnati, the 14 year-old brothers turned a lot of heads, and now Steven is on the bubble with a 7-2 record.
His opponent is Anaheim’s Sang Bui, one of many duelists who came out of what appeared to be semi-retirement to play at Costa Mesa. After putting forth a Day 2 showing there, he’s got at least some chance to do so again this weekend. He’s packing even more innovative picks in his Dark Armed Return deck this weekend, but he also has no idea what he’s up against, so this one’s going to be memorable.
Brill opened with Mad Dog of Darkness and set two cards to his back row. Bui set a monster, set two cards, and lost one of them, Mirror Force, to Dust Tornado. Brill summoned Gladiator Beast Andal next turn, attacked with it, and hit Old Vindictive Magician: he lost his Mad Dog of Darkness to the Magician’s effect and set a third spell or trap card.
Bui passed, and Brill summoned Luster Dragon! Both monsters attacked directly, dropping Bui to 4200 life points. “Go.” In the end phase, Bui destroyed Skill Drain with Mystical Space Typhoon. Play passed to Bui.
He labored over his next move, before finally deciding to summon Zombyra the Dark. Zombyra attacked, and Brill flipped Justi-Break! Bui had to borrow it to read it, and Zombyra was destroyed. Bui pressed on, special summoning Zombyra as a wall with Premature Burial.
Play was to Brill, who set another Justi-Break, then set Torrential Tribute. “Go.” Bui attacked, ate the other Justi-Break, and Zombyra was destroyed again! Bui set a monster, set two cards to his back row and ended. Brill swung next turn, hitting into Gravekeeper’s Spy with Andal and losing 100 life points. He was holding Lightning Vortex.
He activated it in main phase 2, discarding Alien Shocktrooper to blow away both copies of Gravekeeper’s Spy! Next turn Bui activated Monster Reborn, took the Shocktrooper, and then took Andal with Brain Control. Andal crashed into Luster Dragon, and Shocktrooper attacked directly. Brill drew and set his topdeck to his back row.
Shocktrooper hit him for another 1900 damage. Next turn he drew one of his own, summoned it, and passed. Bui activated Allure of Darkness and removed D.D. Crow for its effect. He activated a second copy of Allure and removed Dark Armed Dragon. Shocktrooper then ran into Shocktrooper, clearing the field.
Brill topped Gemini Elf, summoned the twins, and swung to drop Bui to 700 life points! Brill had no cards in hand, but still had Torrential Tribute and what appeared to be Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror set. Bui summoned Strike Ninja, didn’t call priority, and Brill flipped Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror: Strike Ninja chained to dodge, removing a Spy and Zombyra.
Bui followed up with Heavy Storm! He chained Return from the Different Dimension, then brought back Strike Ninja, Spy, Zombyra, and D.D. Crow, all in attack mode. Strike Ninja rammed into Gemini Elf and Sang dropped to 150 life points. Zombyra attacked over the Elf, and Crow and Spy both attacked directly. Bui dropped his last card, Dark armed Dragon, and removed the rest of his monsters. A turn later it was all over as Dark Armed Dragon attacked for game! Bui reeled, glad to escape with his victory.
Sang Bui escapes one of the most bizarre threats of this tournament, narrowly squeaking out a win with 150 life points remaining!
Brill opened the second duel by summoning Gladiator Beast Andal and setting one spell or trap. Bui fired back with Allure of Darkness, removing Darklord Zerato and then setting a card to each zone. Play was back to Brill, who summoned Luster Dragon and attacked with it: he responded with Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror, but ran into Spirit Reaper. Its continuous effect was unaffected by the Mirror. Bui set another card to his back row, passed, and Brill set another spell or trap card. “Go.”
Bui flipped Heavy Storm, and then flipped Return from the Different Dimension: Brill had Solemn Judgment, but decided not to use it. Darklord Zerato came back, Bui discarded Dark Magician of Chaos to blow away Brill’s monsters, then activated Monster Reborn to bring back the Magician. He took back Monster Reborn with the Magician’s effect, activated it to steal Gladiator Beast Andal, then counted damage. He still needed a little bit more . . . “This one time . . . Here we go!” He summoned Old Vindictive Magician in attack mode, and turned Reaper to attack! That was all he needed to finish the match.
Sang Bui overcomes one of the most unique decks here today, moving on with at least some hope for Day 2!