“Good luck,” said Herdzik, offering Lloyd a handshake to get things started. Lloyd won the opening roll and began the first duel.

He set Scapegoat and ended, a strong way to open the duel. Sure enough, it drew out Breaker the Magical Warrior, which broke the chained Scapegoat. Herdzik attacked a Sheep, set a spell or trap and ended. Lloyd set another card to his back row, Herdzik hit another token with Breaker, set a monster, and passed. Lloyd summoned Exiled Force and tributed it to destroy the set monster — it was Herdzik’s Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu.

Breaker hit a third Sheep and Herdzik set a second card to his spell and trap zone. Lloyd, now with just one token, set a monster in order to ensure that he could block two attacks. Herdzik summoned Mystic Tomato, Lloyd responded with Torrential Tribute, but Royal Decree shut it down! Herdzik then activated Nobleman of Crossout, removing Lloyd’s set monster, Sangan, from the game! Tomato destroyed the last Sheep, Breaker hit directly, and Herdzik concluded a very solid turn!

His stellar board now peeled apart, Lloyd was forced into action. He activated Reinforcement of the Army to search his deck for D. D. Warrior Lady. He special summoned Cyber Dragon, normal summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, and attacked. Cyber Dragon took down Breaker, while D. D. Warrior Lady removed the Tomato from play. Lloyd set Mirror Force and passed.

It was a bluff, but it worked; Herdzik did nothing but set a monster and end his turn. Lloyd’s hand was Graceful Charity, Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World, Reinforcement of the Army, and Strike Ninja. He activated Reinforcement, searched his deck for Don Zaloog, and then activated Graceful Charity. He discarded Zombyra the Dark and Goldd, brought back Goldd, and summoned Don Zaloog. Cyber Dragon attacked, hitting Herdzik’s set Apprentice Magician. Herdzik used its effect to special summon another, guaranteeing that Don wouldn’t be hitting directly. Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World hit the second Apprentice, and it special summoned Magician of Faith in face down defense for Herdzik. Don Zaloog attacked it, Herdzik took back Nobleman of Crossout, his only option for recursion, and Lloyd passed, seeming confident in his superior board presence. At this point, Herdzik’s own Royal Decree was just working against him.

Herdzik special summoned Chaos Sorcerer, removing Apprentice and Faith. Sorcerer then removed Goldd from Lloyd’s side of the field, tossing it out of the game. Herdzik needed to commit himself to the field, or Lloyd’s Smashing Ground would cost him dearly. He set one back row card and passed.

Lloyd activated Smashing Ground, but Herdzik chained his freshly-set Enemy Controller, tributing his Sorcerer to take control of Cyber Dragon. When the chain resolved it was the Dragon that was destroyed by Smashing Ground. Don Zaloog attacked, but hit nothing but Sheep, as Herdzik chained Scapegoat. Lloyd destroyed a token and passed.

Herdzik turned a Sheep to attack, used Creature Swap to trade it for Don, but then made a misplay — he summoned Tsukuyomi, turning the Don down. Because of Swap, he couldn’t turn it to attack. He attacked with Tsukuyomi, shaking his head at his own mistake, and lost the Don next turn to Strike Ninja.

Tsukuyomi came down a turn later, turning Ninja face down. Herdzik then removed it from the game with Nobleman of Crossout, and Lloyd took another hit from Tsukuyomi. “Go,” said Herdzik, still looking like he hated himself for costing himself the Don shot.

Lloyd set a second back row card and passed. Herdzik summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, attacked, and it was 7400 to 3800 with Lloyd on the losing end of the duel. Despite his misplay, Herdzik was still in a good position.

Lloyd summoned Tsukuyomi, turned down D. D. Warrior Lady, attacked a Sheep, and used Nobleman of Crossout to remove his opponent’s Warrior Lady from the field. He passed, his arms folded in a showing of defensive body language. Herdzik set a monster and passed back. Neither duelist seemed confident in their standing at the moment.

Herdzik set a card to each zone, leaving himself with three set back row cards. Herdzik flip summoned Magician of Faith, took back Nobleman of Crossout, and used it. The Crossout removed Lloyd’s set Morphing Jar from play, a big hit considering the options it would have presented him with. Herdzik turned his Magician of Faith down with Tsukuyomi and swung for another 1100 damage.

Confiscation dropped from Lloyd’s hand, revealing Tsukuyomi, Creature Swap, Mirror Force, and Ekibyo Drakmord in Herdzik’s hand. He discarded Tsukuyomi, robbing Herdzik of his only monster, his Magician of Faith loop, and his Creature Swap combo all at once. Herdzik summoned Asura Priest and attacked, but Lloyd used Mystical Space Typhoon to clear out Royal Decree and blasted Asura Priest with Mirror Force! Herdzik set a spell or trap and ended.

Lloyd passed back, still clearly on the defensive. Herdzik pressed on the next turn, summoning another Asura Priest, and this time the attack went through! Lloyd’s one set card couldn’t save him, and Asura Priest struck for game!

Eric Herdzik claims the first duel, dominating his opponent after some initial jockeying for position!

Both duelists smokescreened and began side decking. Each was silent, direly wanting this win.

Lloyd opened the second duel with Confiscation, revealing Herdzik’s hand of Enemy Controller, Magician of Faith, Apprentice Magician, Premature Burial, and Royal Decree. He decided to force the discard of the latter, probably in order to protect his Deck Devastation Virus. He set a spell or trap and Herdzik knocked him for 1700 with Asura Priest. Herdzik set a spell or trap and Lloyd was back up.

His set card was Smashing Ground, and he summoned Zombyra the Dark to use as a blocker, bluffing Deck Devastation Virus. The bluff would hopefully fend off monster removal and Snatch Steal, because if Herdzik thought that a card would resolve unsuccessfully, he wouldn’t activate it. Herdzik set a monster and ended his turn with a big sigh. Like Lloyd before him in the last duel, his body language suggested a lack of confidence.

Lloyd activated Reinforcement of the Army and searched his deck for Exiled Force. He summoned it and tributed it, destroying Herdzik’s set Apprentice Magician and ending his turn. Herdzik just passed back — the Zombyra was doing a great job of keeping the game in a weird sort of stasis.

Lloyd’s hand consisted of Snatch Steal, Breaker the Magical Warrior, Cyber Dragon, Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World, and another Smashing. He summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior and attacked, ignoring Herdzik’s set card! Breaker then broke Herdzik’s back row card, Enemy Controller. Herdzik chained it to turn Zombyra to defense, but Lloyd just turned him back. It was a poor chain of events for Herdzik, who should’ve used the Controller to block Breaker and save himself 1900 damage.

He came back though, special summoning Cyber Dragon and attacking Breaker. Herdzik then set a monster, and set a spell or trap to conclude his turn. Lloyd attacked Herdzik’s set monster, Magician of Faith, with Zombyra, and Herdzik retrieved Enemy Controller. Zombyra dropped to 1900 ATK, so Lloyd flipped his set Smashing Ground, destroying the Cyber Dragon that would otherwise attack and destroy Zombyra. Lloyd then set a monster to finish up, and passed to his opponent.

Herdzik summoned Asura Priest, and responded with his own Torrential Tribute to clear the field. He then activated Premature Burial, targeting and special summoning Cyber Dragon from his graveyard. Cyber Dragon hit directly, lowering Lloyd to 2700. Herdzik was at a healthy 5300 life points, but Lloyd was still armed with Smashing Ground and Snatch Steal.

He special summoned Cyber Dragon himself, stole Herdzik’s with Snatch Steal, and turned it face down with Tsukuyomi. Herdzik’s Dragon was flip summoned, and all three monsters attacked directly for game!

Dwight Lloyd wins the second duel and pushes the match to a third game!

“Did you topdeck the Tsukuyomi?” asked Herdzik.

“Yeah,” said Dwight.

“Did you have another monster?”

“I had Goldd”, Lloyd replied, “but it wouldn’t have helped me.”

“I had game next turn with Controller,” said Herdzik. “I should’ve set Sakuretsu Armor.”  Or the Controller. Either would have kept him in the game, but he’d gone for the potential win and lost because of it.

Herdzik opened the third duel with Confiscation, discarding Lloyd’s Heavy Storm and setting a card to each zone. Lloyd special summoned Cyber Dragon, searched his deck for Exiled Force with Reinforcement of the Army and summoned it. He tributed it to destroy Herdzik’s set monster, Apprentice Magician, and then swung clean through for 2100 damage with Cyber Dragon! “Pass,” said Lloyd, looking a bit more confident. “Topdeck Stein?” Lloyd had nothing in his back row, but Herdzik didn’t have 5000 life points any more.

He didn’t. He special summoned Cyber Dragon and crashed it into Lloyd’s to equalize the field, and then set a monster. Lloyd set a monster too, passing back. Herdzik shuffled his hand, considering his move. He set another monster, developing field presence and dictating the tempo of the game.

Lloyd flipped his set Spirit Reaper and summoned Tsukuyomi, turning Reaper face down again. Tsukuyomi attacked, and nailed Herdzik’s set Cyber-Stein. Herdzik fired back next turn with Asura Priest, attacking and flipping Spirit Reaper. Megamorph then destroyed the Reaper in main phase 2, and Herdzik ended. Lloyd set another monster and passed.

It was 4900 for Herdzik, and 8000 for Lloyd. Herdzik summoned Asura Priest, flip summoned Spirit Reaper, and Lloyd was alarmed. “I thought that was Apprentice!?” Asura Priest destroyed his Sangan, and he used its effect to search his deck for Spirit Reaper. Herdzik’s Reaper hit directly, discarded Lloyd’s in-hand Smashing Ground, and Herdzik ended his turn.

Lloyd summoned his own Reaper, and then flipped his set Snatch Steal to destroy Herdzik’s. Lloyd’s Reaper hit, and Herdzik was robbed of Banisher of the Radiance! He had two cards remaining in his hand and one card set. Lloyd set a back row card and passed with two cards in his hand as well. The game was still a tight one.

Herdzik drew and set a card to each zone. Lloyd summoned Zombyra the Dark and attacked with it, destroying Magician of Faith. The Magician returned Megamorph to Herdzik’s hand, and Reaper smacked him directly. Lloyd picked the Megamorph, ensuring some safety for his Reaper. “Pass.”

Herdzik summoned Asura Priest and activated Snatch Steal, taking Zombyra! Both monsters hit Spirit Reaper, nailing Lloyd for 3000 damage total! Lloyd gained 1000 life points for Snatch Steal, summoned Tsukuyomi, turned Zombyra face down and attacked it with the moon diviner. Spirit Reaper then attacked directly, discarding Asura Priest, and Lloyd ended. Herdzik set his topdeck to his back row, Lloyd summoned Tsukuyomi, turned Reaper down, and attacked for 1100. Herdzik flipped Nobleman of Crossout to remove the Reaper from play, set a monster, and ended.

Cyber Dragon hit Lloyd’s side of the field, and he activated Premature Burial — he wasn’t going to let up, and wanted to keep the pressure on Herdzik. He brought back Exiled Force, cleared out Herdzik’s set Old Vindictive Magician, and hit for 2100 with Cyber Dragon, lowering his opponent to 800 life points.

Herdzik drew, set a monster, and passed. Lloyd summoned Tsukuyomi to turn down his Dragon, flipped it and attacked, but Old Vindictive Magician shut down his attacks for the turn. Herdzik set Book of Moon, and it blocked Cyber Dragon next turn. Lloyd set a monster, Herdzik summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, and it attacked and destroyed Lloyd’s set Cyber Dragon.

Herdzik activated Creature Swap in main phase 2, but Lloyd chained Scapegoat! Lloyd got Breaker for a Sheep, and Breaker attacked it next turn as Lloyd set a monster. Herdzik set a monster, Lloyd flip summoned Magician of Faith and took back Premature Burial — his field was clogged! Breaker attacked, hitting Sangan, and Herdzik pulled Apprentice Magician with its effect. Magician of Faith attacked directly for 300 damage. “Talk about a misplay,” declared Lloyd, regretting his pull of Premature Burial. “Pass.”

Herdzik special summoned Cyber Dragon and smacked through 1800 damage on Magician of Faith. He then set a monster and ended. Lloyd was down to 3100. He activated Premature Burial, brought back Exiled Force, and tributed it to destroy Herdzik’s set Apprentice Magician. Smashing Ground destroyed Herdzik’s Cyber Dragon, and that was it — Herdzik’s only set card was Royal Decree, and it couldn’t stop Breaker from attacking for game!

Dwight Lloyd moves on to the semi-finals!