Alexander Amari and George Velasquez are both natives of New York City playing here in each one's first major event. Alexander frequents King’s Games while Alexander is now getting back into the game after a rather long absence. George is here playing a combo deck conceived by Ethan Nardone that repeatedly revives Destiny Hero — Disk Commander to draw a huge number of cards that are then converted into Snipe Hunter fuel. It’s an interesting twist on the Ojamachinegun deck and it apparently served him well in the first round. Alexander on the other hand has chosen a more conventional route today and is playing an Apprentice Magician engine Monarch variant.

Alexander won the roll and started things off a set to each zone. George set a monster and a pair of spell or trap cards and passed over to Alexander, who quickly flipped Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive and activated Nobleman of Crossout to remove George’s Morphing Jar from play. The Locomotive swung and Alexander set another card to each zone before ending. Without Morphing Jar, George had no opportunity to reset his hand, and he thought long and hard before flipping Reckless Greed to draw two. He then set a card to each zone and passed over to Alexander, who flipped Gravekeeper’s Spy to fetch another one out in defense.

Alexander then flipped Heavy Storm, but George chained with Needle Ceiling to wipe Alexander out! Alexander set a card to each zone and passed back to George, who simply set a spell or trap and passed. Alexander set a monster and George simply passed. Alexander’s set Sangan was then tributed for Zaborg to destroy George’s set Destiny Hero — Disk Commander! Sangan fetched Treeborn Frog and Zaborg attacked directly! George set a card to each zone, and Alexander set a monster, opting not to develop his back row any further. It had turned into a passing game with both players content to draw and end. Finally, Alexander attacked into George’s set Destiny Hero — Fear Monger, setting up George to special summon Disk Commander and activate Inferno Reckless Summon in his standby phase. Alexander duplicated his Zaborg. George summoned Elemental Hero Stratos to destroy Alexander’s set Mirror Force. Lightning Vortex blasted the Zaborgs, discarding Fairy of the Spring as the cost, and George set a pair of cards before attacking into a set Old Vindictive Magician. Stratos was destroyed, and play was back to Alexander. Confiscation revealed George’s hand of Snatch Steal, two The Warrior Returning Alive, Card Destruction, Lightning Vortex, and Symbol of Heritage. “That’s ridiculous. He’s gotten two of everything!” remarked Alexander. He decided to pitch the Lightning Vortex and passed back to George, who used The Warrior Returning Alive to bring Stratos to his hand. Stratos was summoned, destroying a useless Scapegoat, and George attacked into Spirit Reaper.

George set a fourth spell or trap and passed back to Alexander, who set a spell or trap. George passed back, and Alexander knocked his graveyard off the table before activating Call of the Haunted to resurrect a Zaborg. Zaborg attacked into Stratos, sending him back to the graveyard, and Alexander set another spell or trap. The Warrior Returning Alive brought Stratos back again, and he was summoned. George only opted to destroy the Call of the Haunted, and attacked into Alexander’s set Treeborn Frog. During his draw phase, Alexander flipped Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy George’s set Inferno Reckless Summon and then brought Treeborn Frog back to the field. The Frog was tributed for Mobius the Frost Monarch, and George went to his calculator for a quick number crunch. He chained Ring of Destruction to blow up Mobius, but had to lose Magical Explosion due to his enormous hand. Alexander had no further plays, and play was back to George. George used his Snatch Steal to waste the Reaper, and Elemental Hero Stratos took down a set Apprentice Magician prompting Alexander to fetch out a second Apprentice Magician from his deck. George passed his turn, and Alexander declined to bring back Treeborn Frog, instead playing Pot of Avarice. Alexander shuffled a pair of Monarchs, an Apprentice Magician, an Old Vindictive Magician, and Dekoichi back into his deck and drew two. George needed Alexander to not draw Ring of Destruction. He set a spell or trap and passed back to George who was relieved to not lose in his draw phase. Despite the huge number of cards he had drawn, George was still unable to win the game. Stratos hit the new Apprentice Magician, and this time Old Vindictive Magician hit the field. George set a new monster and passed back to Alexander who flipped Old Vindictive Magician to destroy George’s set Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu before tributing him for Cyber Dragon and attacking Stratos.

Reinforcement of the Army came down for George next turn to bring Destiny Hero — Fear Monger to his hand, and he set a card to each zone before passing. Alexander attacked the set Fear Monger and passed back to George, who simply set a monster and passed. Alexander passed back, and George set a spell or trap. Soul Exchange tributed off George’s set Blacksmith for Thestalos, robbing him of Heavy Storm, and play passed back to George. He set a new monster and passed back to Alexander, who switched Cyber Dragon to defense position before attacking the set card with Thestalos. The third Iron Blacksmith flipped, and George searched out Premature Burial. He had 900 life points left, just enough to play the Premature, but he would need to win in short order if he did. “Your hand’s bigger than your deck,” remarked Alexander before setting a monster.

George passed without play, and Alexander flipped Dekoichi. He kept Cyber Dragon in defense, but the rest of his monsters were destroyed by Mirror Force. He set another spell or trap, likely to goad George into using Premature, and passed. George passed his turn once again, as did Alexander. George now had seven cards in hand and he threw away Destiny Draw to play Lightning Vortex! Alexander’s field was clear of monsters, and George counted out his deck before playing Premature to bring back Stratos. Torrential blasted the field, but Alexander also lost Sakuretsu Armor to Stratos before everything went away. Now that all the Disk Commanders were in the graveyard, he could special summon one with Symbol of Heritage. After drawing two, George only had 3 cards left in his deck. Snipe Hunter came down next, and George attacked for 1800 before setting a spell or trap and passing with only 100 life points. Treeborn Frog came back for Alexander, and he tributed it to summon Mobius. Inferno Reckless Summon was destroyed, but Mobius was taken down by Torrential Tribute before all was said and done. In the end, Premature Burial brought Mobius back up and Alexander was finally able to end the game! “I had plus six, man, plus six!” lamented George between games, living proof that having all the cards in the world isn’t going to help you if none of them can deal with your opponent.

George opted to start game 2 with 10 minutes to go, and he did so with a set spell or trap. Alexander set a monster and activated Confiscation to rob George of Lightning Vortex. He then set a spell or trap and passed back to George who activated Reinforcement of the Army to fetch Elemental Hero Stratos. Stratos searched out Disk Commander. Stratos attacked Alexander’s set Dekoichi, and in the end phase Dust Tornado blew away George’s Ring of Destruction. He chained to obliterate his own Stratos, and Alexander set a card to each zone. The score was tied, and George set a monster and a pair of spell or trap cards before ending. Alexander flipped another Dekoichi and attacked into the set Disk Commander before setting a monster and passing. George set a new monster, and Alexander had to answer a call from his worried parents, probably the most embarrassing thing ever to occur to a featured player. He then activated Soul Exchange to tribute away George’s set Fear Monger for Thestalos, which took away George’s other Fear Monger and put him down on life points. Heavy Storm came down next to obliterate the backfield and Morphing Jar was then removed from play by Nobleman of Crossout! George was wide open with one card in hand, but Spirit Reaper from Alexander made that 0! One turn later, it was all over as Alexander swung through with everything for game! Alexander Amari can call his dad back to let him know that he defeated George Velasquez, 2-0!