There’s only one player that I feel I’ve neglected lately, and that’s Shonen Jump Champion Bobby Chambers. Chambers has had an impressive string of finishes lately, making Day 2 back-to-back at Chicago and Charlotte.
He’s playing against his long-time friend, Robert DiMartino; they traveled here together this weekend. Each had a 6-2 record heading into this round: I’m not sure if either of these duelists has tiebreakers strong enough to carry them to Day 2, but I do know that Bobby Chambers hasn’t had a feature match in ages, and it’s time we remedied that given his newfound consistency.
DiMartino opened with Reinforcement of the Army, searching Elemental Hero Stratos, summoning him, and searching for Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude with Stratos’ effect. He finished his turn by setting one card to his back row.
Chambers played a Reinforcement himself, getting Stratos but then losing him to Solemn Judgment when he tried to summon! Win or lose, this one was going to be over quickly. Chambers was left with Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, Allure of Darkness, Monster Reborn, Dark Grepher, and Destiny Hero – Malicious. He activated Reborn to bring back Stratos, searched out Diamond Dude just as DiMartino had, and activated Allure.
“Trying to mimic me?” smiled DiMartino.
“Hey, just give me a Teleport and I’ll win the game!” Chambers caught a second Wind Blast and his second Malicious instead, a rough beat; he removed the second Malicious. “Discard, special summon Grepher?” He discarded Malicious.
“Sure.”
He sent his Stratos to attack DiMartino’s, and then made a direct attack with Dark Grepher. He set Phoenix Wing Wind Blast to end. DiMartino set a monster, ended, and next turn Chambers summoned Diamond Dude and revealed Wind Blast. DiMartino responded by revealing the three copies of Malicious in his hand. Ouch.
Bobby Chambers takes Game 1, happening to have the Monster Reborn to play around his opponent’s Solemn Judgment on his Stratos! He was one win away from a shot at his third Day 2 in a row.
“Make sure to put in that I’m siding out Dustshoot,” requested Bobby. “That’s for Jessy Samek; he always knows when I side out Dustshoot.”
Game 2 was DiMartino’s to open. Just like Game 1, he activated Reinforcement of the Army, searched for Stratos, and searched out Diamond Dude with him. He set a spell or trap: “Same hand?” asked Chambers, jokingly. Actually, yes: DiMartino was again stuck with multiple copies of Malicious in his opening six cards.
Chambers summoned Stratos, searched for Malicious, and pitched him to special summon Grepher. He removed one Malicious to summon another, activated Emergency Teleport, and brought out Krebons. He Synchro summoned Stardust Dragon, attacked Stratos with it, and then made two direct attacks with Stratos and Grepher. That dropped DiMartino to 3800 life points, and Chambers (at a comfortable 8000 life points) set a spell or trap. He had two cards remaining.
DiMartino took Stardust Dragon with Brain Control, and then ran Stratos over with it. He tributed Stardust for a copy of Malicious in face-down defense, set a second spell or trap, and ended. Chambers summoned Sangan, attacked, and DiMartino had to flip Mirror Force. That let Chambers search his deck with Sangan.
Destiny Draw let DiMartino trade one of his copies of Malicious for two useable cards, and he flip summoned Malicious before normal summoning Krebons. He Synchro summoned Stardust Dragon! He removed his second Malicious to summon a third, activated Emergency Teleport to special summon another Krebons, and Synchro summoned a second Stardust.
Next turn Chambers removed Malicious to summon another in defense mode, leaving himself at three Darks in his graveyard. He special summoned Dark Armed Dragon, normal summoned Krebons, and then Tuned Krebons to Malicious to summon Thought Ruler Archfiend! Both monsters attacked, both of DiMartino’s Synchros went down, and Chambers gained 2400 life points.
DiMartino set a card to each zone. “Go.” Chambers removed his Malicious to target DiMartino’s face-down monster with Dark Armed Dragon, but DiMartino chained Crush Card Virus, tributing his Spirit Reaper to clear Thought Ruler Archfiend and Dark Armed Dragon! Chambers summoned Diamond Dude, attacked, and set Reinforcement of the Army. He lost it next turn to DiMartino’s Heavy Storm.
He summoned Snipe Hunter and attacked over Diamond Dude. He discarded his own Diamond Dude for Snipe Hunter’s effect, blew away Chambers’ set Destiny Hero – Fear Monger, and attacked for 1500 damage. A turn later he finished the duel with Monster Reborn!
That pressed the match to a third and final duel. This was the last game of the day, and Chambers was up.
He summoned Stratos, searched for Malicious, and activated Allure of Darkness with Caius and Diamond Dude in hand — he ditched Diamond Dude. Destiny Draw let him discard Malicious, and he activated Reinforcement of the Army to fetch Dark Grepher. He set two cards to his back row and ended.
DiMartino played Reinforcement of the Army, searching his deck for Stratos and summoning it. “That’s fine,” replied Chambers, and DiMartino searched his deck for Destiny Hero – Malicious. DiMartino traded his Stratos for Chambers’ in battle, then set one card to his back row. “Go ahead.”
Chambers summoned Sangan, attacked for 1000 damage, and had Reinforcement of the Army, Caius the Shadow Monarch, Dark Armed Dragon, and Dark Grepher in hand. “Go ahead.”
DiMartino activated Brain Control, taking the Sangan and poking for 1000 damage. He then tributed it for a face-down monster, and Chambers searched his deck for Krebons with Sangan’s effect. DiMartino ended, Chambers drew for his turn, and then got Fear Monger with Reinforcement of the Army. He removed Malicious from his graveyard to summon another in defense position from his deck, and he tributed it for Caius the Shadow Monarch. Chambers targeted DiMartino’s face-down monster with Caius’ effect, DiMartino tried to chain Crush Card Virus, tributing his face-down Sangan, and Chambers activated Solemn Judgment: DiMartino had no response. Chambers discarded Fear Monger for Destiny Draw, special summoned Dark Armed Dragon, and removed Fear Monger to destroy DiMartino’s face-down Mirror Force!
DiMartino had 6200 life points remaining, while Chambers had 5200 damage on the table. DiMartino still had three cards in hand and would get to draw a fourth if he could survive this turn. Chambers started running numbers; he had Solemn Judgment, two Krebons, and Dark Grepher in hand. He set Solemn, special summoned Malicious, and ended his turn.
DiMartino summoned Krebons, and then attacked into the Malicious. He set one card to his back row.
“Pop Krebons,” announced Chambers, removing his last Malicious to destroy Krebons with Dark Armed Dragon. DiMartino revealed that his last set card was Phoenix Wing Wind Blast: no help against two threats when he only had 1000 life points left.
Bobby Chambers finishes Day 1 with a 7-2 record, and may make Day 2 for the third time in a row!