Sang Bui was the runner up in the US National Championships of 2004, losing only to Theeresak Poonsombat in the finals. He represented the country at the World Championships that year, and is a mainstay of the West Coast Yu-Gi-Oh! scene.

Pace won the flip and opened the first duel, setting a card to each zone. Sang did the same, but Pace summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, destroying Sang’s set Widespread Ruin. He flipped Skill Drain, flip summoned Giant Rat, and ran the Rat straight into Spirit Reaper, destroying it! Breaker attacked directly!

Sang summoned Don Zaloog and send it into Pace’s Rat, not knowing that the Rat would get its effect in the graveyard! Pace pulled another Rat to the field, Sang set a back row card, and play passed to Pace.

He summoned Sangan, but Sang flipped Torrential Tribute! With Sangan’s effect, Pace pulled Giant Rat, and then set one card to his back row. Sang had earned himself a moment’s reprieve.

Sang set one spell or trap and ended his turn. Pace summoned the Giant Rat he’d pulled last turn, attacked with it, and hit for 1400. Sang played Smashing Ground to destroy it, summoned Exiled Force, and attacked with it directly for 1000. Pace summoned Nimble Momonga, attacked with it, but lost it to Sakuretsu Armor. It was 5000 to 6000 for Pace.

Sang evened the gap with another attack from Exiled next turn. Pace set a card to each zone and Sang drew for his turn. Exiled Forces attacked Pace’s face down, but it was another Exiled, and the attack bounced.

Pace summoned Nimble Momonga, and ran it into Sang’s Exiled Force, pulling another from his deck and gaining 1000 life points. His own Exiled Force was turned to attack position, then he attacked directly. Sang drew, set a monster, and passed, leaving Pace to draw and activate Pot of Avarice, shuffling back two Momongas, two Giant Rat, and Breaker the Magical Warrior! It was a brutal play, since Pace had that one last Momonga set on his side of the field!

He flip summoned that set Momonga, played Dark Hole, and then chained Pole Position! Because Reaper and Exiled were tied, neither was effected by Dark Hole, but Sang’s face down Gravekeeper’s Spy was destroyed! The Exiled and Momonga both attacked directly, and it was Sang with 2000 to Pace at 6000. Robert Pace was dominating the duel.

Sang activated Premature Burial, targeting Don Zaloog. It resolved successfully, but Pace flipped Torrential Tribute to clear the field. Sang normal summoned Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, but Pace flipped Call of the Haunted, bringing back his Giant Rat! Sang set a back row card, but next turn Pace normal summoned Morphing Jar, used Card Destruction to discard and thus special summon Sillva, and attacked for game!

“Cards with the longest rulings are usually the best,” said Pace, referring to his Pole Position play. “If your opponent doesn’t know what he’s playing against . . . ” he let the comment hang, and side decked a few cards as Sang did the same.

Sang turned to the table judge and asked why Giant Rat got to claim its effect despite the presence of Skill Drain on the field. The judge explained how Skill Drain interacts with effects that trigger in the graveyard—it can’t negate them—and Sang moved onto the second duel with an important piece of knowledge.

He opened game two with a set card to each zone. Pace immediately set a spell or trap once Sang passed, set a monster moments later, and ended his turn. Once Sang drew, he played Mystical Space Typhoon, targeting Pace’s set Dust Tornado. Pace chained it, setting another card off of its activation. Sang flip summoned a Gravekeeper’s Spy, pulled another into attack position, normal summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, and sent it into the face down monster, which was Nimble Momonga. D. D. Warrior Lady removed it from play. Sang set two back row cards and ended.

Pace set one more spell or trap and passed. Sang tributed one Spy for Mobius but Pace chained Skill Drain. Sang Chained Royal Decree, but Pace chained Dust Tornado to destroy it! Sang attacked with Mobius, destroying a Momonga, and the Spy cleaned out a second. With three cards in hand and Skill Drain on the field, Pace drew for his turn and then scooped. It was an odd move.

“You had three cards in your hand?” I asked.

“Yeah, three,” Pace confirmed. “Three very, very useless cards.”

They began the third and final duel after a prompt bit of side decking. Pace set a card to each zone, Sang played Reinforcement of the Army, searched out Exiled Force, and special summoned Cyber Dragon. He used the Exiled to destroy Pace’s set monster, Nimble Momonga, and set two back row cards – Pace used Mystical Space Typhoon in Sang’s end phase, destroying Widespread Ruin.

Pace summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, breaking Sang’s set with his token, but getting hit with the chained Book of Moon turned Breaker face down. Still, Pace used Creature Swap to trade the Breaker for Cyber Dragon, attacked Breaker, and took it back. Next turn, Sang set a monster and a spell or trap. Pace played Dark World Lightning on the monster, which was Dekoichi, and brought out Goldd with Lightning’s effect. Torrential Tribute cleared the field, though, stopping him short. Still, he summoned Giant Rat, attacked directly, and hit.

Two turns later, as the game flew by at a rapid pace, Sang was playing defensively. He had a Spirit Reaper in defense, and a set monster. Another Dark World Lightning / Goldd combo hit the face down monster, Mystic Tomato, and Pace flipped Skill Drain. Giant Rat cleared out Reaper and Goldd hit directly.

Sang drew, set his only in-hand card to his back row, and passed. Gold attacked directly, and hit Sakuretsu. Giant Rat hit though, cleaving away more life points from Sang’s total. The Rat attack continued on the following turn, and Pace summoned another Rat to keep the hurt coming. The second copy was stopped by Widespread Ruin. Sang was totally on defense, setting every card he drew to his back row.

He set another, and passed, prompting Pace to use Premature Burial to bring back that second Giant Rat. The first Rat attacked, but Sang flipped Call of the Haunted to bring back Cyber Dragon. It stopped Pace’s offense completely, and he was forced to pass. Sang again drew, and again set his new card. Cyber Dragon attacked Giant Rat, and Pace pulled Exiled Force. Sang flipped Royal Decree, it resolved, and then he played Heavy Storm. It kept his Dragon on the field, but Pace’s Exiled was still there too. He set a monster and passed to Pace.

Pace tributed Exiled Force, targeting the face down monster. It was Sand Moth! It came back up from the graveyard at full power, with 2000 ATK! Pace set a monster, set his last two cards to his spell and trap zone, and passed. It was 100 to 3400, in Pace’s favor. Sang Bui was holding on by a thread!

Sand Moth attacked Pace’s face down monster, and it was Morphing Jar. He lost his Chaos Sorcerer in the process, but Cyber Dragon attacked directly, leaving the duel at 1300 to 100, with both players freshly stocked with five cards. Sang examined the graveyards on each side of the field, and then played Pot of Avarice. He set a monster, set a spell or trap, and ended his turn.

Pace drew, and played a Pot of Avarice of his own. He summoned Exiled Force, used its effect with priority to destroy Sang’s set monster, Magician of Faith, and played Snatch Steal on Cyber Dragon. If the Dragon’s attack went through, it would deal exactly the 100 damage that Pace needed to win! He sent the Dragon at Sand Moth, but Sang flipped Enemy Controller, tributing his Moth to take back his Dragon. Pace was stymied, and set one spell or trap before passing.

Sang special summoned another Cyber Dragon, and sent it to attack Pace’s. Sakuretsu Armor destroyed it, and Sang set another monster. He had an all-monster hand at this point, and was practically at Pace’s mercy because of it.

Pace summoned Nimble Momonga and flipped Torrential Tribute to clear the field. He then played Card Destruction, bringing out Sillva, Warlord of Dark World! Confronted by an open field, Sillva swung directly, and Sang was defeated!

“That was a good call, tributing the Moth for the Enemy Controller” said Pace. “I had a Controller in hand too.” If Sang had only decided to turn the Dragon to defense, Pace would have turned it right back to attack and Sang would have lost then and there.

Robert Pace moves on undefeated, halfway through the tournament with a 5-0 record!