Laurents opened the game with a set card to each zone. Smith returned the favor, adding a second back row card. Laurents flip summoned D. D. Assailant, played Nobleman of Crossout to remove Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive from the field, and stripped two from Smith’s deck. D. D. Assailant attacked directly and Smith ate 1700 damage. Laurents passed play to him.

He set a monster and passed. Laurents attacked it with Assailant, Smith flipped Scapegoat, and Laurents attacked again: he hit Magician of Faith, and Smith took back Scapegoat. Laurents passed, Smith passed, Laurents whacked a Sheep and passed, Smith passed, Laurents whacked a Sheep and set a second spell or trap card, passed, and Smith set a monster and passed.

Whew.

Laurents attacked the face down monster and revealed it: Spirit Reaper. He set a monster, building a field presence with a hand of six cards, and ended his turn. Smith tributed the Reaper for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, destroyed Laurents’ face down monster (Magician of Faith), and used Last Will. In response to Last Will he chained his own Dust Tornado, but Laurents chained the target: Scapegoat!  If Smith had been intent on pulling Spirit Reaper with Last Will, he was now stymied. Zaborg crashed into D. D. Assailant, D. D. Assailant removed itself and Zaborg from play, and Smith pulled Sangan with Last Will. Sangan attacked, leaving Laurents with three Sheep tokens, and Smith set a spell or trap. He lost it to Dust Tornado in the end phase: Book of Moon. Laurents didn’t set anything with its effect.

He drew for his turn, set a back row card, and Smith attacked a Sheep with Sangan. Each player now had two. Play passed to Laurents, and it was 7300 to 6300 with Laurents leading. Laurents drew, set a monster, and ended.

Smith activated Graceful Charity, discarding Asura Priest and Morphing Jar. He attacked a Sheep with Sangan, then tributed it off in main phase two for Zaborg. Laurents played Torrential Tribute in response, chaining it to Zaborg’s effect to wipe the field: his face down monster had been Exiled Force, so the Torrential was a necessary, if not unfortunate, move.

Sangan’s effect got Smith Tsukuyomi. He set one spell or trap and passed, with the single set being his only on-field card.

Laurents summoned Spirit Reaper, but attacked into Scapegoat;  he hit a Sheep, set a spell or trap, and ended. Smith summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, broke Laurents’s set Return from the Different Dimension, and eyed his graveyard; he had Premature Burial in his hand, and one open monster slot. He was debating activating it for damage, but then decided just to hit Reaper with Breaker. Laurents went down to 6000 while Smith sat at 6300. Smith set a spell or trap and finished his turn.

Laurents set another monster and passed with no back field. Smith drew, searched his graveyard again, and then played Snatch Steal to blow away Laurents’ Spirit Reaper. He summoned a Reaper of his own and attacked with Breaker, but Laurents’ face down monster, the attack target, was Mystic Tomato! He pulled Sangan, blocking Spirit Reaper’s telegraphed attack, and Smith passed play to his opponent.

The Sangan was quickly tributed for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch by Laurents, who destroyed Smith’s Spirit Reaper with its effect and pulled Magician of Faith with Sangan’s effect. Zaborg then attacked Breaker the Magical Warrior, creating a big swing in card presence and a small, but notable shift in life points. It was 6000 to 5500 now, with Laurents back in the lead. He passed with nothing set in his back row, seeming to be stuck with a hand full of monsters.

Smith drew for his turn and shuffled his hand: Chaos Sorcerer, Nobleman of Crossout, Tsukuyomi, and Premature Burial. He removed Zaborg and Spirit Reaper for Chaos Sorcerer, removed Laurents’ Zaborg from the game with the Sorcerer’s effect, and ended.

Laurents summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, and targeted Smith’s one set spell or trap. He flipped it, Call of the Haunted, and brought back Sangan. The chain resolved, Sangan came up, Breaker broke the Call, Sangan went back to the graveyard, and Smith searched his deck for Magician of Faith with the little furball’s effect. Breaker attacked a Sheep. Laurents removed Magician of Faith and Spirit Reaper from his graveyard to summon Chaos Sorcerer, used it to remove Smith’s from play, and set a card to his spell and trap zone.

A set monster was Smith’s only move on the following turn, leaving him with two Sheep, a set monster, and four cards in his hand. Laurents drew, and had the Sorcerer, Breaker, a set spell or trap card, and five cards in hand. He brought down Premature Burial for Exiled Force, tributed it to destroy Smith’s set Magician of Faith, and then attacked Smith’s two remaining Sheep. Possessing all the momentum in the match, he was clearly in control at this point.

Smith still had that Premature Burial in his hand, along with Majestic Mech – Ohka, Nobleman of Crossout, Confiscation, and Tsukuyomi. He summoned the Ohka, but lost it immediately to Bottomless Trap Hole; bad beats all around, as he had 5500 life points left and would need to use the Premature Burial just to block. He made the intelligence-gaining move by playing Confiscation, and revealed Laurents’ hand: Cyber Dragon, Treeborn Frog, Sakuretsu Armor, and Magician of Faith. He discarded the Dragon, and played Premature Burial to bring back his Breaker the Magical Warrior. He sent his to attack Laurents’ Breaker, and both were destroyed. Smith was at 3700. The Sorcerer attacked him next turn, dropping him to 1400, and Laurents set a card to each zone to reinforce his position. It would be near-impossible for Smith to generate any sort of forward momentum next turn.

Still, he gave it a valiant effort, summoning another Chaos Sorcerer to remove Laurents’s from play. Nobleman of Crossout removed Laurents’ set monster, Magician of Faith, as well, and Smith set his last card, Tsukuyomi, and ended.

Laurents played Nobleman of Crossout to remove the Tsukuyomi and then set another spell or trap. Smith set his last card again, another spell or trap, and passed without attacking. Laurents flipped Call of the Haunted, took back Exiled Force, and used it to destroy the Sorcerer. He passed, Smith passed, and it was 5200 to 1500.

Mystical Space Typhoon destroyed Smith’s last set card, Nobleman of Crossout, and he knew it was over. Laurents special summoned Chaos Sorcerer, and that was the end.

Both duelists side decked quickly, with less than 15 minutes remaining in the match.

Smith opened the second duel with the near-definite opening of the day, a set card to each zone. He lost his monster, Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, to Nobleman of Crossout, and again had to remove another from his deck. Laurents set a spell or trap, then a monster, and finished his turn.

Asura Priest came down on Smith’s side, and Laurents couldn’t destroy it. Smith had the combo, and played Creature Swap to take Laurents’ Magician of Faith! Smith set a second card, Laurents used Dust Tornado on it, destroying Sakuretsu Armor, and Smith passed.

Laurents was in a bind. If he attacked his own Magician of Faith, Smith would of course get the effect, taking back his Swap. Still, he had no choice, and sent his own Asura to hit the Magician of Faith. Smith took back Swap, Laurents set a spell or trap, and play passed to Smith.

He summoned the Asura again to poke directly, and nailed Laurents for 1700 damage. He set another spell or trap and ended. Laurents tried to give him an Asura beating as well, but lost the Spirit to Sakuretsu Armor. He set another spell or trap, Smith set a monster, and play was again to Laurents.

It was 8000 to 6300, with Smith leading.

Two turns passed with incredible speed, resulting in Smith using Enemy Controller to defend himself. He summoned Asura Priest again, but this time Laurents destroyed it with Torrential Tribute. Smith set a spell or trap card, Laurence passed, Smith passed, and Laurents hit him again with the Priest. Smith set a monster. Laurents special summoned Cyber Dragon and attacked Smith’s set Magician of Faith with it. Smith took back Enemy Controller and he set a monster. Smith summoned Ohka, attacked Cyber Dragon with it, swapped it to Laurents with Creature Swap, but was annoyed with what he stole: Mystic Tomato!  He played Confiscation and revealed Chaos Sorcerer, Asura Priest, and Snatch Steal, none of which were easy choices to make.

He considered for a bit, but then decided to get rid of the Priest. He set a spell or trap, and Ohka was destroyed.

Laurents summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, but when he went to break a card he hit Enemy Controller; Smith chained it to turn Breaker to defense position. Laurents special summoned Chaos Sorcerer, attacked his own Mystic Tomato with it, pulled Spirit Reaper with its effect, and swung directly to force Smith to discard Morphing Jar!  All it left him with was one set spell or trap card and Mobius the Frost Monarch!

He drew one card, set it to his back row, and passed. Laurents turned Chaos Sorcerer to defense and attacked, but lost Breaker and Reaper to Mirror Force! It was 5000 to 6000, and it was still anybody’s game!

Smith drew, special summoned Chaos Sorcerer, but found he had no Dark monster.  With nothing but Sorcerer and Mobius in his hand, he was completely helpless!

“I can’t believe I did that!” He passed, and Laurents hit him with the Sorcerer. Laurents set one spell or trap and passed.

Smith topdecked into Spirit Reaper and set it. Laurents summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, then flipped his set Nobleman of Crossout to remove the Reaper. D. D. Warrior Lady attacked, but Smith flipped Return from the Different Dimension to keep himself in the game. There was nothing he could do with his next topdeck, and he offered Laurents the handshake.

Matt Laurents claims the win and moves on with a 6-1 record, keeping hope alive for multiple Comic Odyssey members in the Top 8!  Could they finally be making a comeback? We’ve got two more rounds left to find out!