Two featured duelists from the US National Championships were paired up here in Round 1 and, with the event still in its early stages, this was a no-brainer to cover. Interestingly enough, while both of these competitors are well-recognized here in the US, neither competitor was familiar with the other’s track record.
Augusto Mota is a long-standing member of Team Comic Odyssey. At twenty years of age he’s from North Hollywood, and took a Top 8 placing at last year’s Shonen Jump Championship San Jose. Glass is a 25 year-old military man currently residing in Sierra Vista, right here in Arizona. A repeated Top 8’er and a Shonen Jump Champion, he was one of the most successful up-and-coming duelists of the 2007 season.
Play began with a handshake, and the tournament was underway!
Mota opened the match with Confiscation, revealing Glass’ hand of Reasoning, Dark Magician of Chaos, Monster Gate, Heavy Storm, and Mirror Force. Mota quickly narrowed the choice down to Mirror Force and Reasoning, selecting Reasoning moments later to cut Glass off from doing anything whatsoever barring a useful topdeck next turn. Mota continued by setting a card to each zone and ending.
He flipped Trap Dustshoot, to send Dark Magician of Chaos back to Glass’ hand on the following turn, but revealed Glass’s draw: Reinforcement of the Army! He used it to search out Elemental Hero Stratos, summoned him, got Destiny Hero - Diamond Dude with his effect, and attacked into Card Trooper before setting a back row card. With just a single draw Glass moved from a purely dead hand to a pretty darn respectable position in this duel.
“Draw,” announced Mota. He considered his hand briefly, then activated Premature Burial to special summon Card Trooper. He sent Call of the Haunted, Raiza the Storm Monarch, and Future Fusion to his graveyard to fuel the Trooper, then attacked over Stratos.
“Done?” asked Glass.
“Go ahead,” confirmed Mota.
Glass summoned Diamond Dude, used his effect to send Reasoning to the graveyard, and then attacked over Card Trooper! Mota gave a bit of a sigh, and then prepared to take his turn. He special summoned Cyber Dragon, asked for a response, and then took Diamond Dude with Snatch Steal. He activated his effect, sent Heavy Storm to the graveyard, and then tributed Diamond Dude for Jinzo. Jinzo and Cyber Dragon attacked directly and Mota was clearly in control!
A set spell or trap card ended his turn, and Glass activated the effect of the Reasoning Diamond Dude had put on layaway last turn at his first opportunity. Mota called level 4, and Glass sent a fistful of spell cards to the graveyard (including two Divine Sword – Phoenix Blades) before special summoning Destiny Hero – Dasher. He activated Premature Burial to target and special summon Stratos, destroyed Mota’s Mirror Force with his effect, and then summoned Diamond Dude. His effect sent Card Destruction from the top of Glass’ deck to the graveyard, and he went on to tribute Diamond Dude for Monster Gate — Jinzo was flipped and special summoned! Dasher ate Stratos to gain a quick ATK boost, attacked over Mota’s Jinzo, and Glass’ Jinzo cleared Mota’s Cyber Dragon. Dasher went to defense and Glass ended.
The tables had clearly turned!
“Heavy,” announced Mota, claiming Heavy Storm’s effect and blowing away Glass’ set Mirror Force. The duel stood at 2600 to 4100, with Mota still in the lead but down to just three cards. He summoned Cyber Phoenix, attacked Dasher, and set one back row card to finish up. Machine beatdown’s ability to maintain card presence through Cyber Phoenix and Card Trooper never ceases to amaze me.
Glass removed monsters in his graveyard to bring back both Divine Swords, and then activated the effect of Card Destruction from his previous turn, trading them in for new cards! With a fresh hand of four cards total he activated Reinforcement of the Army, searched out Diamond Dude, and summoned him to use his effect and send away Monster Gate. Lightning Vortex wiped away the Cyber Phoenix, keeping Mota from drawing, and Jinzo and Diamond Dude attacked directly: Mota was down to 300 life points!
He drew for his turn, set a monster, set a spell or trap, and ended. Mota would need something big to pull this duel out of the fire.
Glass claimed the Monster Gate he sent to the graveyard Last Turn, special summoning Destiny Hero – Malicious. He summoned Card Trooper, powered it up to 1900 ATK, and attacked into Spirit Reaper. In main phase 2 Glass activated Snatch Steal to target Reaper and destroy it. “I end my turn.” Mota had one chance to reverse this increasingly bad situation, and he had just two set spells or traps plus a draw phase to do it.
He drew into Card Trooper and ran the numbers: he had Limiter Removal set. Glass had a vulnerable Trooper of his own on the field and Mota summoned his, pumped it to 1900 ATK, then doubled it to 3800 with Limiter! A single swing sealed the deal, as Mota’s Card Trooper attacked over Glass’ and drew the duel to a close!
An explosive, back-and-forth game between two veterans results in Augusto Mota taking the first win of the day!
Both competitors sided and shuffled relatively swiftly, neither taking the full three minutes allotted. The second duel would be very different now that each duelist knew what he was up against, a factor that might work in Mota’s favor: Glass’ deck likes the element of surprise.
“I’ll go first,” he announced, starting the second duel with Destiny Draw to discard Destiny Hero – Malicious. He activated Swords of Revealing Light and then ended. “Go ahead.”
Mota had Confiscation yet again, and he activated it to reveal Glass’ hand of Heavy Storm, Monster Gate, Jinzo, Spell Reproduction, and Lightning Vortex. With none of the cards being an immediate threat he elected to discard Monster Gate. He set a monster and ended.
Glass summoned Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude, missed on his effect, and attacked into Spirit Reaper. “Go ahead.” Mota’s hand consisted of Raiza, Brain Control Cyber Phoenix, Thestalos, and Snatch Steal, an excellent range of options. He activated Brain Control, took Diamond Dude, used his effect (hitting nothing but an unfortunate Scapegoat) and then tributed Diamond Dude for Raiza the Storm Monarch. He sent Swords of Revealing Light back to Glass’ deck, letting Reaper and Raiza attack directly. Reaper discarded Jinzo, Glass activated Swords of Revealing Light again, and Mota set a monster while turning Reaper to defense. Glass passed, Mota flip summoned Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, and set a monster. The duel moved at a lightning pace.
Glass set a spell or trap and Mota turned Dekoichi to defense position. Swords of Revealing Light was destroyed. Glass drew, sighed, and passed. Mota flip summoned Dekoichi and Glass chained Threatening Roar, keeping himself alive. Mota set a spell or trap to conclude his turn.
Diamond Dude came down for Glass yet again, and when Glass activated his effect he was disappointed — no normal spell. Diamond Dude attacked the defense position Dekoichi and passed after setting another spell or trap. If it wasn’t Mirror Force or Threatening Roar, he was in trouble.
Mota considered his options, fingering his defense position Spirit Reaper and then removing his hand from it. He seemed to think and re-think his move repeatedly, finally settling on an action: “Sure.” He tributed Reaper for Raiza the Storm Monarch, targeting Glass’ set spell or trap, but watched powerlessly as it was chained: another Threatening Roar! Mota had Dekoichi and two Raizas on the field, plus a set spell or trap card.
Heavy Storm hit the field for Glass, destroying Mota’s set Chain Disappearance. A flurry of Malicious left him with Dark Magician of Chaos on the field, returning Monster Gate to his hand with the Magician’s effect. He brought out his last Malicious, tributed him for Monster Gate, and brought out Diamond Dude as a result. Glass removed his last Malicious and a Diamond Dude from his graveyard to bounce Divine Sword – Phoenix Blade back to his hand, activated Diamond Dude (another whiff), and then discarded the Blade for Lightning Vortex! Dark Magician of Chaos and Diamond Dude then attacked directly. “That sucks,” he noted, hoping to finish the game this turn.
Mota once again set to doing some aggressively-minded math. He activated Snatch Steal, took control of Dark Magician of Chaos, and then summoned Cyber Phoenix. Dark Magician of Chaos attacked Diamond Dude, followed by Cyber Phoenix attacking directly, and Glass was left at 2700 life points. Mota set one card to his back row to end.
Spell Reproduction let Glass retrieve Heavy Storm, destroying Mota’s set Limiter Removal and letting Glass take back his Dark Magician! Play was to Mota moments later.
He set a card to each zone and Dark Magician of Chaos attacked the freshly-set monster: The Light - Hex-Sealed Fusion. Mota had clearly done some creative side decking. “Go ahead,” announced Glass. Mota set another card to each zone and Glass activated Destiny Draw to discard Destiny Hero – Dasher! He drew and activated Reinforcement of the Army, searched for Stratos, summoned him, and then searched his deck; he had no Destiny Hero left to take, and was forced to reveal the rest of his deck to Mota. He took a brief look and passed it back. Dark Magician of Chaos attacked, destroying Mota’s Sangan to remove it from play. Stratos attacked next and Mota took it, dropping to just 200 life points!
Moments later Mota conceded the duel, a hand of cards like Jinzo and Machine Duplication providing no help for his situation.
Marc Glass rides Dark Magician of Chaos all the way to a game 2 victory, the addition of Spell Reproduction to his tried and tested build paying off in the form of a huge and unexpected Heavy Storm!
Mota began the third and final duel with the quick summon of Cyber Phoenix and a set spell or trap. Glass sent Malicious to the graveyard with Destiny Draw and set one back row card. Cyber Phoenix tried to attack, but Glass repelled it with Threatening Roar, a strange play. Glass set another spell or trap, and Mota attacked directly next turn with Cyber Phoenix. This time it hit.
“Go ahead,” announced Glass, passing without doing anything. Mota summoned Card Trooper, pumped it to 1900 by ditching Mind Crush, Sangan, and Dekoichi, and that prompted Glass to flip another Threatening Roar. Mota set another back row card and ended. One had to wonder just how many Roars Glass had seen in his opening hand. That musing would be answered soon enough.
He special summoned Malicious from his deck in defense, and then set yet another back row card. Mota tapped his Trooper with his hand, this time sending Dekoichi, Cyber Phoenix, and Trap Dustshoot to the graveyard to boost its ATK. He eyed his hand: Cyber Phoenix, Pot of Avarice, Heavy Storm, Limiter Removal, Brain Control, and Snatch Steal: a game turn if Glass would allow it.
Mota activated Heavy Storm, but Glass chained yet another Threatening Roar! Mota lost his Mirror Force, but chained his set Call of the Haunted to return Cyber Phoenix to the field. He summoned another and ended.
Glass blasted him with Lightning Vortex, discarding Divine Sword – Phoenix Blade! Diamond Dude hit the field, missed on his effect, and Malicious shifted to attack mode. Both monsters attacked Mota and Glass set another back row card!
Mota special summoned Cyber Dragon, activated Brain Control to take Glass’ Destiny Hero – Malicious, and then activated Pot of Avarice to shuffle back Card Trooper, three Cyber Phoenix, and Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive. “Don’t mention that,” he grinned. “I just realized I could use Avarice.” Mota blushed, and drew Ring of Destruction and Dekoichi, then tributed his pilfered Malicious for Raiza the Storm Monarch to spin away Glass’ set spell or trap. Snatch Steal let him take Diamond Dude, and with Glass’s field completely bare he revealed Limiter Removal, giving him more than enough damage for game!
Augusto Mota takes down Marc Glass, in an intense 2-1 match!