I wish I had met Brian Wojdyla earlier. Known around Chicago for his Fairy deck, today seemed to be his big day, as at the start of round 6 he was 4-1. Josh is a consistent high finisher in Regional events. These two are fighting to keep their Top 8 hopes alive.
Game 1
Josh won the opening die roll and started off with Swords of Revealing Light and a D.D Survivor in attack mode. Brian summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior and used its ability to destroy the Swords. He then used Creature Swap to take the bigger monster and attacked for 200. He finished off with a facedown card and passed to Josh. Josh had a Breaker of his own, and it destroyed Brian’s Royal Decree. He then followed up with Snatch Steal on the Survivor and attacked for 3400. He had nothing else, so Brian drew, gained 1000 life, then set a monster and passed. Josh wasn’t particularly pleased with the cards he was drawing, so he decided to draw a few more by tributing the stolen Survivor for Airknight Parshath. The Airkinght attacked a facedown Kelbek and returned to Josh’s hand, and the Breaker swung in directly as well. Brian was forced to set a card to each zone and pass. Josh chose to activate his Heavy Storm on the one spell or trap, destroying Enemy Controller. He then brought down Mystic Swordsman LV2 and destroyed Brian’s Shining Angel without triggering its effect. Breaker swung again, and Brian was in dire straits. He summoned D. D. Warrior Lady and attacked Mystic Swordsman. He had nothing to set, though, and passed back to Josh. Josh used Premature Burial to get back D.D. Survivor, then tributed his Breaker for Cyber Dragon. Brian couldn’t do anything about it and the two monsters attacked for game.
Brian-0 Josh-1
In between games, Josh lamented the fact that Kinetic Soldiers were probably forthcoming from Brian. Brian commented that he was siding in something to make Josh not win, but he wasn’t telling what. After thinking for a good while, Josh ended up not side decking. Would it cost him?
Game 2
Brian took the first move in the second game, and used it to set a card to each zone. Josh set two spell or traps and a monster, then passed it back to Brian. He played Giant Trunade and Josh chained with both his facedown cards. Scapegoat and Dust Tornado were played, and the Trunade effectively became a Heavy Storm. Brian then tributed for Airknight Parshath, and attacked Josh’s face-down Magician of Faith. The Magician brought back Scapegoat, and Brian continued with one more set card before ending. Josh took out the face-down Royal Decree with Breaker the Magical Warrior next turn and used Smashing Ground to rid the thorn in his side that was Airknight. Breaker swung and the turn was passed to Brian. Brian summoned Mudora, and with its power boost it was able to defeat Breaker. He dropped a Messenger of Peace and passed back to a slightly startled Josh, who simply passed his turn.
Brian considered paying for the Messenger next turn and decided to go for it. He set a card and a monster and passed back to Josh, who simply set a monster and ended. Brian let the Messenger go and flip summoned Hysteric Fairy. He attacked the facedown card, revealing Spirit Reaper, and passed back to Josh. He tributed the Reaper for his own Airknight Parshath and destroyed the Hysteric Fairy, boosting Mudora high enough to destroy Airknight next turn. Mudora did so, and Brian set a monster. Josh had six cards in his hand, so things were looking pretty good for him as he used Reinforcement of the Army to seek out Exiled Force. The Exiled Force was offered to destroy Brian’s face-down Giant Rat, and Josh summoned Chaos Sorcerer to remove Mudora from play.
It was obvious that Brian didn’t have anything in the way of answers, so he played Swords of Revealing Light to buy himself a little time. Josh still had the four Sheep tokens on the field, so he removed one from play with the Sorcerer and then set a monster in its place. Brian set a monster, and then briefly considered setting another card. He didn’t, though, and it was Josh’s turn. Josh took the opportunity to set another card and end. Brian re-summoned his Airknight using Premature Burial and swung into Josh’s face-down monster, destroying Sangan. Sangan scurried off to fetch Magical Merchant for Josh. After agonizing over it for a minute, Brian used Lightning Vortex to clear Josh’s field. Josh set a card then special summoned Cyber Dragon. The Swords of Revealing Light ended, and the pressure was back on. Brian set a card to each zone, leaving himself without a hand. Cyber Dragon was tributed for Jinzo, and it attacked Airknight for 500. Brian flipped Magician of Faith to get back Premature Burial. Premature got Airknight back to the field again, and the Brian summoned Exiled Force to eliminate Jinzo.
Things were starting to swing back in Brian’s favor, but with five unknown cards in Josh’s hand, the game was still up in the air. Josh summoned a D. D. Assailant and attacked Magician of Faith before setting a card and ending. The Assailant fell to Smashing Ground. Airknight tried to attack, but Call of the Haunted brought back Jinzo. Brian chained with a Call of his own to bring back Exiled Force. In main phase 2, Jinzo fell to the Exiled Force, and Brian ended. Brian’s happiness was short-lived, though, as Josh topdecked Dark Hole and played it to clear the field. Don Zaloog attacked directly, relieving Brian of a Shining Angel. Brian set a card and passed over to Josh, who revealed it with Swords of Revealing Light. It was Kelbek, and Josh wisely chose to pass. Brian set another monster and Josh flipped Magical Merchant, looking for an Enemy Controller to end the game with. He didn’t get it, though, as Heavy Storm was the first Spell to appear. He attacked the facedown monster with Don revealing Sangan. Sangan fetched out Mudora for Brian, and Josh had to pass. Brian set another monster which Brian promptly destroyed with a Mystic Swordsman LV2, courtesy of Reinforcement of the Army. The face-down monster was a useless Injection Fairy Lily, and Josh switched his Don and Magical Merchant to Defense mode for the last turn of Swords of Revealing Light. Brian set a card and passed, having only 1200 life points remaining.
Josh still couldn’t go for the win because of Kelbek, and he passed his turn without playing. Brian added another facedown card to his arsenal, but it was quickly removed by Heavy Storm. The card Josh had drawn was Chaos Sorcerer. He summoned it, removed Kelbek, and attacked for the win.
Josh Kavalauskas defeats Brian Wojdyla 2-0!