Mario Matheu is playing a Zaborg-only Monarch deck, but now he’s up against a Lazaro/Spicer Monarch build armed with both Zaborg the Thunder Monarch and Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch. His opponent,14 year-old Alex Ballard, is from Newark, California, and is a teammate of Justin Trias’s. Both of these duelists are running Cyber-Stein, so this match might be very long, or exceedingly short.  

Matheu won the roll and opened things up with one set back row card. Ballard set two to his back row, and Matheu matched him on the following turn. Ballard set a monster, Matheu special summoned Cyber Dragon and tributed it for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch to destroy Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive. Zaborg attacked into Mirror Force and was destroyed.

Ballard set a second spell or trap and ended. Both duelists were playing really conservatively, which continued when Matheu set a monster. Ballard activated Soul Exchange, tributing the set Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive to summon his Thestalos. Thestalos in turn forced Matheu to discard Snipe hunter. “That’s exactly why I didn’t want to set that,” noted Matheu with a twinge of regret.

“Cards?” asked Matheu. Ballard had three remaining in hand. “Go ahead.”

Thestalos swung into Sakuretsu Armor and Ballard set another monster. “Nobleman?”  Matheu didn’t have it, but he activated Premature Burial to bring back Snipe Hunter. He targeted the monster with Snipe Hunter’s effect, discarding Sakuretsu Armor to destroy Sangan! Ballard searched his deck for Treeborn Frog and Matheu attacked, losing the Hunter to Sakuretsu Armor. Still, he activated Last Will in main phase 2, bringing out Sangan in defense position. His opponent would be up a card after his draw, so Matheu needed to recover before Ballard could use his superior quantity of Monarchs to simplify the game while he had more cards. The Sangan was the best way to accomplish that.

Ballard set a monster, passed, and Matheu flipped his set Dekoichi to draw another card. He tributed his Sangan for Mobius the Frost Monarch, but Mobius’s target was chained: Scapegoat. Sangan fetched Matheu his Treeborn Frog, Dekoichi attacked a Sheep and Mobius nailed Ballard’s set monster, Treeborn Frog. Ballard tributed it for Zaborg next turn, destroying Mobius the Frost Monarch with its effect and then attacking into Mirror Force. Ballard activated Pot of Avarice in his second main phase. He counted out the monsters in his graveyard and was a bit startled to realize he’d have to shuffle back his Treeborn Frog. He drew two for Pot of Avarice, proceeded to activate Graceful Charity and was looking at an all-monster hand. He discarded Thestalos and Dekoichi and passed, with nothing in his back row.

Dekoichi attacked a Sheep and Matheu set a monster. Ballard summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, but lost it to Ring of Destruction. “I made a big mistake with that Pot. Oh my god.”  Matheu counted through his graveyard and then flip summoned Magician of Faith to take back Last Will. He tributed Magician of Faith for Cyber Dragon, activated Last Will and special summoned Cyber-Stein from his deck! He paid 5000 life points, special summoned Cyber Twin Dragon, nailed the two Sheep with Dekoichi and Cyber-Stein, then swung directly with Cyber Dragon. Two shots from Cyber Twin Dragon finished Ballard off.

A misguided grab for card presence backfires on Alex Ballard, resulting in a game-losing Pot of Avarice and a duel win for Mario Matheu!

Both duelists sided a bit before performing thorough shuffles. Ballard was still beating himself up as he opened the second duel, setting a monster and two cards to his back row. Matheu activated Graceful Charity, discarding two Mystic Tomato. He summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, but broke into Ring of Destruction which was promptly chained. He set Torrential Tribute and passed, but lost the Torrential Tribute to Mystical Space Typhoon in the end phase!

Ballard flip summoned his set Spirit Reaper, summoned Cyber-Stein and paid 5000 life points to special summon Cyber Twin Dragon! All three of his monsters attacked directly, dishing out just enough damage to finish Matheu off.

Alex Ballard redeems his loss in the first duel with a game-win in just two turns!

Both duelists immediately smoke-screened, shuffling their side decks into their mains and then removing fifteen cards in order to obfuscate their side decking choices. Ballard was the first to finish, and Matheu wasn’t far behind.

“I’ll go first,” announced Matheu. He set one spell or trap and ended. Ballard summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, but lost it to Ring of Destruction. He set one card to his back row and ended. Matheu set a card to each zone, passed back, and Ballard did the same. “Go.”

Graceful Charity was activated by the Comic Odyssey duelist, discarding Cyber Dragon and Creature Swap. Matheu flip summoned his set Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior himself and debated which card to break: he picked Scapegoat, and it was chained. Dekoichi hit a Sheep and Breaker attacked Ballard’s set monster, but ran into Sakuretsu Armor. “Aww, I did that wrong!” Matheu passed, Ballard set another spell or trap and Matheu was up again.

Another Sheep was lost to Dekoichi. “Go ahead.” Ballard activated Graceful Charity, discarding Cyber Dragon and Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, then set another monster. “Go.”

Matheu hit another Sheep with Dekoichi, then set a second Dekoichi to the field. Ballard tributed his set Spirit Reaper for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch to destroy the set Dekoichi, but lost Zaborg to Mirror Force when it attacked. Ballard had three cards in hand, a set monster, and a set spell or trap (plus a Sheep token!) to his opponent’s Dekoichi and five cards in hand.

Matheu drew a sixth and activated Heavy Storm, destroying Torrential Tribute. Brain Control took Ballard’s Sheep, and it was quickly shifted to attack position. Ballard knew what was coming before Matheu even made the plays.

Creature Swap traded the vulnerable Sheep back to Ballard for his face down monster, and Matheu summoned Cyber-Stein! He paid 5000 life points to special summon Cyber Twin Dragon, which tore through the Sheep token and then nailed Ballard directly. Cyber-Stein and Dekoichi batted cleanup, and that was all she wrote for Alex Ballard.

Mario Matheu moves on to the finals!