16 year-old Phong Nguyen hails from Greenville South Carolina, and is one of many duelists here this weekend playing Perfect Circle Monarch. He’s up against Shane Scurry, a player who is renowned for his innovative deckbuilding and tight play. The 22 year-old Overdose star hails from Brooklyn, and is playing a very devoted Dimensional Fissure / Macro Cosmos build here today.  

Nguyen won the roll and opened with Reinforcement of the Army, searching his deck for Elemental Hero Stratos. He summoned the Hero, immediately searching for Destiny Hero – Disk Commander with Stratos’ effect. He activated Destiny Draw, pitched Disk Commander, drew two, and set two cards to his back row. “Go ahead.” He was holding Premature Burial and had set Call of the Haunted.

Scurry activated Dimensional Fissure, then summoned D.D. Survivor and attacked Stratos; Phoenix Wing Wind Blast was flipped in response, sending Dimensional Fissure back to the top of Scurry’s deck. Without Fissure to remove him from play D.D. Survivor went to the graveyard instead, an unexpected blow. Scurry set two cards to his back row, and, in the end phase, Nguyen flipped Call of the Haunted to bring back Disk Commander and draw two cards!

He summoned Card Trooper next turn and activated its effect, sending both of his copies of Destiny Hero – Malicious to the graveyard alongside Mystic Tomato. Scurry took attacks from both monsters, Nguyen set a spell or trap, and play was back to Scurry.

He activated Dimensional Fissure, set two cards to his back row, and set a monster, ending. Nguyen flipped Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Dimensional Fissure next turn, then tributed his Disk Commander for Raiza the Storm Monarch; he targeted Scurry’s monster with Raiza’s effect, but Scurry chained Pulling the Rug! Raiza was destroyed and his effect was negated.

Nguyen boosted Trooper with its effect and set his remaining two cards before attacking into Scurry’s Morphing Jar, clearly reading Scurry’s play. Nguyen activated Pot of Avarice, but Scurry chained Trap Dustshoot to send Cyber Dragon back to Nguyen’s deck on the chain. He drew two cards for Avarice and ended with Call of the Haunted and two set spell or trap cards on the field, reinforcing his Card Trooper.

Play was to Scurry, who was hoping his new hand would give him a fresh lease on life in this duel. He set three cards to his back row, set a monster, and ended, still on the defensive. It wasn’t where he wanted to be.

Macro Cosmos was flipped by Scurry, but Nguyen brought out a second Malicious by removing his first from play. He tributed Malicious for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch immediately, destroying Scurry’s set D. D. Assailant, but losing Zaborg to Bottomless Trap Hole. Card Trooper attacked for 400 damage and Nguyen set two more cards to his back row. One of them, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, was destroyed by Scurry’s Mystical Space Typhoon in his end phase, but Nguyen still had three cards set in his back row.

Scurry summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior and Nguyen debated flipping Torrential Tribute. After a moment’s thought he did it, drawing for his Card Trooper and eliminating Breaker. Scurry ended with one card set and Macro Cosmos on the field.

Premature Burial was activated by Nguyen, threatening to return Disk Commander to the field for yet another two-card draw. Scurry was not happy and muttered to himself; he chained Solemn Judgment to stop the Premature. Nguyen ended.

Scurry summoned D.D. Survivor but attacked into Scapegoat! He just couldn’t get a break. He checked Nguyen’s graveyard and refused to attack any of the Tokens. Nguyen flipped Brain Control next turn, took D.D. Survivor, and tributed him for Raiza the Storm Monarch, bouncing Macro Cosmos back to the top of Scurry’s deck; it was enough for him to scoop.

Phong Nguyen utterly devastates Shane Scurry, robbing him of the element of surprise! Scurry would need to play exceedingly well to regain his footing in this match.

He opened game 2 moments later with a set card to each zone. Nguyen set one spell or trap, ended, and lost it Mystical Space Typhoon in the end phase: Pulling the Rug. Shane flip summoned D. D. Assailant, summoned D.D. Survivor, set one spell or trap, and activated Dimensional Fissure before attacking. Nguyen dropped to 4500 life points and became the turn player.

He special summoned Cyber Dragon, attacked D.D. Survivor, and Shane thought a moment, fearing Twister or Mystical Space Typhoon. Sure enough, he activated Mirror Force and had made the right read; Nguyen was holding Twister. He set a monster, set two cards to his back row and ended.

Exiled Force came down for Shane, and he tributed it to target Nguyen’s set monster for destruction. Nguyen chained Twister, destroying Dimensional Fissure and keeping his destroyed Destiny Hero - Fear Monger from being removed from play. Phoenix Wing Wind Blast sent Scurry’s Assailant back to the top of his deck while letting Nguyen discard Malicious, and D.D. Survivor attacked directly.

Nguyen was forced to activate Lightning Vortex next turn, discarding the last card from his hand. Assailant came off the top of Scurry’s deck and made a direct attack. Nguyen set his topdecked card a turn later to his back row, brought out his second Malicious in defense and ended. Scurry summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior but lost his field to Torrential Tribute. Nguyen set a spell or trap, Scurry summoned D.D. Survivor, and Enemy Controller turned him to defense mode. Scurry was clearly the aggressor though, and a turn later Nguyen found himself without an answer to the Warrior onslaught. Another attack from Survivor hit home and the match was pressed to a third game!

A mistake in side decking seems to cost Nguyen the second duel, siding in Pulling the Rug while Scurry gives no sign of Monarchs.

Nguyen opened game 3 with just one set card to his spell and trap zone, leaving Scurry to set two spell or trap cards alongside a monster. Nguyen set one to each zone, but lost his freshest spell or trap, Heavy Storm, to Dust Tornado in the end phase. Scurry set a card off of Dust Tornado’s resolution, and then set another to his back row next turn. He activated Dimensional Fissure, flip summoned Morphing Jar, and discarded Raiza the Storm Monarch to draw five more cards. He summoned D. D. Assailant, attacked with him to destroy and remove his opponent’s Sangan from play, and then attacked directly with Morphing Jar. Things seemed to be going very well, and a fourth set spell or trap ended Scurry’s turn. Destroying that Heavy Storm had meant big things.

Nguyen activated Reinforcement of the Army and grabbed Stratos from his deck, summoning him to dig for Destiny Hero – Disk Commander yet again. Stratos attacked Morphing Jar, but Scurry responded with Sakuretsu Armor. Nguyen chained Twister to destroy Dimensional Fissure, keeping Stratos in his graveyard. “Go ahead.” He ended with just one set card on the field.

Scurry turned Morphing Jar to defense mode and attacked with D. D. Assailant, lowering his opponent to 5100 life points. Scurry still had 8000, and set two more cards to his spell and trap zone. Nguyen special summoned Cyber Dragon and looked at his hand: three Raiza the Storm Monarch. He resisted the temptation and attacked D. D. Assailant, resulting in both monsters being removed from play. Nguyen then set a monster to finish his turn.

A pass was Scurry’s only play, and Nguyen passed back. “Man . . . a Phoenix Wing Wind Blast set . . .” remarked Scurry. He summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, but had made the wrong read; Nguyen flipped Torrential Tribute! He destroyed his own Destiny Hero – Disk Commander, but prolonged his life. Scurry ended, Nguyen set one spell or trap, and Scurry blew it away with Dust Tornado in the end phase; this time he hit Wind Blast, and Nguyen was left defenseless.

But Scurry couldn’t capitalize! He set one more back row card, passed, and Nguyen set two cards to his back row. Scurry passed, Nguyen fingered his set Lightning Vortex and Scapegoat, and passed back. Another pass followed from Scurry, and Nguyen set Spirit Reaper. Scurry special summoned Cyber Dragon, normal summoned Exiled Force, and tributed it to destroy the Reaper! Cyber Dragon attacked and, when Nguyen flipped Scapegoat, the Dragon attacked a Token. Scurry flipped Mystical Space Typhoon to finish out his turn and destroy Nguyen’s set Lightning Vortex. Scurry wanted to keep the duel simplified and wasn’t going to give his opponent any room to breathe.

Nguyen activated Destiny Draw, discarding Malicious. He activated Brain Control to target Cyber Dragon, and Scurry activated Trap Dustshoot in response, revealing Nguyen’s hand: three Raiza the Storm Monarch, a Cyber Dragon, and Nguyen’s second Malicious. The Dragon was shuffled back, and Scurry had gained dangerous information; Nguyen was essentially drawing dead. Nguyen attacked moments later and Scurry took the damage, dropping to 5500 life points.

Nguyen tributed the Dragon for Raiza in main phase 2, but Scurry responded by chaining an untargeted card: Torrential Tribute! He’d have a clear shot at Nguyen’s life points next turn, and Nguyen would have to resort to topdecking his way out of the situation. Sure enough, Scurry activated Reinforcement of the Army and searched out D.D. Survivor. Survivor attacked, Nguyen dropped to 2500 life points, and Scurry set two more cards to his spell and trap zone.

Snipe Hunter came off the top of Nguyen’s deck and he summoned it immediately, but Scurry activated Solemn Judgment to negate the summon! The trap was closed, and Scurry summoned Exiled Force next turn to swing for 2800 damage total and end the match.

Shane Scurry overcomes a brutal game 1 loss only to chalk up two consecutive wins, taking his first match of the day!