Two of America’s greatest duelists were now going head-to-head, in a Machine beatdown mirror match. While Luna’s build is more conventional, T’s version packs multiple off-theme Dark monsters and Crush Card Virus. This one was going to be interesting.
T opened with two set back row cards and a monster. “Dustshoot?” asked Luna, drawing for his first turn. T nodded, and flipped it to reveal Luna’s hand: Brain Control, Mystical Space Typhoon, Giant Trunade, Snipe Hunter, Cyber Phoenix, and Dark Magician of Chaos. He considered briefly, and then shuffled back the Phoenix. Luna set one spell or trap and ended.
T set Megamorph, then another spell or trap, and flipped Morphing Jar! With no monster but Cyber Dragon in hand, he tributed the Morphing Jar for it, claiming a fast 2100 damage with a direct attack. “Your go.”
“Dustshoot?” asked Luna again. T shook his head. Luna special summoned Cyber Dragon: “Yep, it’s fine.” Luna sent his Cyber Dragon at T’s, and both were destroyed. He set a monster, set a spell or trap, then another, and ended.
“This is fun.” T put his hand down on the table briefly, considering his options.
“I feel like I’m in a refrigerator,” remarked Luna: the feature match table was right below the convention center’s air conditioning system. It was possible we were actually sitting in the coldest five foot by five foot square in all of Arizona. After briefly rubbing warmth back into his shoulders, T set a card to each zone and ended. He had Heavy Storm in hand, and was creating the illusion of a very complicated field.
Luna set another monster, and followed T’s lead with another spell or trap. Each duelist now had four cards set in their back row. T flip summoned Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, then flipped his set Giant Trunade!
Luna had to consider. “Hmm. Do you have game? That would be crazy.” He sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Lemme see. What does T’s deck run. Can he OTK me . . . ?” Luna continued musing.
“Arizona is so freaking cold!” exclaimed T as Luna considered his play.
“No chains,” replied Luna.
“Is that a Jar down there?” teased T with a grin. He summoned Card Trooper, activated Machine Duplication and special summoned two more Troopers. He sent a total of nine cards to his graveyard to boost the ATK of all three Troopers, losing Jinzo and Crush Card Virus in the process. He set three back row cards in case of Jar, and then sent Dekoichi to attack: it hit Luna’s set Card Trooper and Luna drew. One Trooper hit Luna’s set Sangan, Luna searched his deck for Snipe Hunter, and the remaining two Troopers hit directly. Luna dropped to 2100 life points. “You’re up,” announced T.
Luna labored over his decisions. “This sucks.” He needed to do something big to pull this duel out of the fire, and he started with Premature Burial.
“Target?”
“Dark Magician of Chaos.”
“And what does he target?” asked T.
“Giant Trunade,” replied Luna. He activated it, and T lost his spell and trap zone.
“You got game, or what?” asked T.
“I’m gonna try,” stated Luna with a grin.
He activated Premature Burial again, this time targeting Cyber Dragon. He summoned Snipe Hunter, discarded Cyber Phoenix to target Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive with its effect, and rolled a six! “Not a good start.” He discarded a Dekoichi of his own and hit. Two more discards met with two more misses, and Luna discarded Call of the Haunted, trying to destroy a Card Trooper.
. . . He rolled a 1. He promptly put the die away, pulled another from his bag, and rolled three test rolls: two more ones. “Forget it.” He pressed all three of his monsters to attack over the three Card Troopers. Shane Scurry would be proud. Luna set a spell or trap and ended.
T activated Heavy Storm, but Luna flipped Ring of Destruction! He targeted his Dark Magician of Chaos and drew the duel.
After a devastating turn from each duelist, Fili Luna is forced to draw the first game! The match will proceed with another three duels.
“I missed three times in a row!” bemoaned Luna, who couldn’t believe his luck. Four misses out of five shots with Snipe Hunter; it was an epic level of failure that you just don’t see every day. Both duelists took their time siding and shuffling.
Luna blew hot air into his clenched fists, warming his hands. He looked at T, who was wearing a hoodie. “You have got to be the only person here smart enough to pack a sweater.” T laughed and observed his opening hand: Raiza the Storm Monarch, two Trap Dustshoot, Jinzo, Card Trooper, and Snatch Steal. He set both Dustshoots and flipped one: Luna had a Dustshoot himself, along with Call of the Haunted, Nobleman of Crossout, two Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, and Cyber Dragon. The second Dustshoot sent back the other Dekoichi, leaving Luna with offense as his only option. “That’s kinda scary,” he remarked. He was going to have to work to keep himself on the field this game.
He activated Nobleman of Crossout, removed T’s set Card Trooper from the field, and set Dustshoot. It revealed T’s hand next turn, and he shuffled back Raiza. T then activated Confiscation, discarding Luna’s Call of the Haunted instead of Cyber Dragon. He passed, doing nothing, and Luna passed back. This duel had quickly been simplified into nothingness.
T passed, Luna passed, and T set a spell or trap. Luna passed, T set a monster, and Luna set a card to his back row. T flip summoned Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, attacked for 1400 damage and set another monster. “Go ahead.”
Luna special summoned Cyber Dragon, and then attacked T’s Dekoichi. He set another spell or trap, ended, and T activated Snatch Steal to take the Dragon. He tributed it for Jinzo, flip summoned Spirit Reaper, and attacked . . . into Scapegoat! Reaper and Jinzo each hit a Sheep, and play was to Luna.
He activated Confiscation, making T show his hand: Cyber Dragon, Royal Decree, and Call of the Haunted. Call was discarded, and Luna summoned Snipe Hunter! It attacked Spirit Reaper and T took the damage. The duel stood at 5600 to 5100 with Luna leading. Luna then discarded Overload Fusion to destroy Jinzo with Snipe Hunter, finishing his turn.
Smashing Ground let T destroy Snipe Hunter, and he turned Reaper to defense. A set spell or trap ended his turn, and Luna passed back. T summoned Cyber Phoenix, turned Reaper to attack and hit a Sheep, but when Cyber Phoenix attacked Luna flipped Mirror Force! T chained Royal Decree, and the attack went through!
Luna special summoned Cyber Dragon, attacked Cyber Phoenix, and set a second spell or trap card. T tributed Reaper for Raiza the Storm Monarch, bounced Cyber Dragon away, and attacked directly, dishing out 2400 damage. T now led, 4200 to 3200.
Brain Control let Luna take control of Raiza, and he attacked directly with him before tributing Raiza in main phase 2 for Cyber Dragon. The duel was now 1800 to 2400, with Luna in the lead.
T ran the numbers. He special summoned Cyber Dragon, normal summoned Card Trooper, boosted it to 1900 ATK, and attacked. The Cyber Dragons clashed, both were destroyed, and Card Trooper hit directly!
Luna couldn’t drop a monster! He passed his next turn and T struck for game with the Trooper!
Luna gave a good-natured groan. “That sucked. I couldn’t draw a monster. I got Dustshooted, and, yeah . . .”
Theerasak Poonsombat capitalizes on an opening of double Trap Dustshoot, repeatedly knocking Luna off the field to take the first victory!
Siding and shuffling was faster this time. “I’ll go first,” announced Luna, drawing to begin the third duel.
He activated Future Fusion! One Cyber Dragon, then a second hit the graveyard, as Luna announced his intent to bring out Cyber Twin Dragon. He set one spell or trap and ended.
He flipped it, Trap Dustshoot, and robbed T of Spirit Reaper in his draw phase, his only monster. T set two cards to his spell and trap zone and Luna summoned Cyber Phoenix, attacking for 1200 damage. Confiscation revealed T’s remaining hand, Snatch Steal, Smashing Ground, and Brain Control, and Luna forced his opponent to discard Smashing Ground. “Go ahead.”
T passed, and Luna brought out Cyber Twin Dragon with Future Fusion! The Dragon attacked, and T flipped Scapegoat. He lost three of his tokens and Luna ended.
Snatch Steal and Brain Control were dead cards thanks to Cyber Phoenix: Luna’s monsters were both Machines. T set another spell or trap, ended, and Luna brought down Snipe Hunter. A discarded Cyber Dragon destroyed T’s freshly-set Brain Control, and Premature Burial special summoned the Cyber Dragon. Cyber Phoenix destroyed the last Sheep token, and Cyber Twin Dragon, Cyber Dragon, and Snipe Hunter finished the duel!
The match moved to a fourth game!
T had Future Fusion, Cyber Phoenix, Morphing Jar, Mirror Force, Snatch Steal, and Trap Dustshoot in his opening hand. He set Mirror Force and Dustshoot to his back row, set Morphing Jar, and flipped Dustshoot next turn: Luna had Cyber Phoenix, Nobleman of Crossout, Pot of Avarice, Morphing Jar, Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, and Gravekeeper’s Spy. The latter was returned to Luna’s deck, and he activated Nobleman of Crossout to remove T’s set Morphing Jar from the field. He summoned Cyber Phoenix, attacked, and T activated Mirror Force to destroy it! Luna ended with nothing on the field.
T summoned Cyber Phoenix and attacked, dishing out 1200 damage. He activated Future Fusion next, sending two Cyber Dragons to his graveyard to put Cyber Twin Dragon on layaway, just as Luna had last game. T set a spell or trap and ended.
Luna summoned Card Trooper and sent Heavy Storm, Confiscation, and Torrential Tribute to the graveyard for its effect. Trooper attacked Cyber Phoenix, T drew for its effect, and Luna ended.
And then it was over. T special summoned Cyber Dragon, activated Snatch Steal to take Luna’s Card Trooper, and revealed Limiter Removal! There was nothing Luna could do to save himself, and the match was over.
Four duels lead to a brisk final turn from Theerasak Poonsombat, who moves on to the Top 4!