Before the match began, Emon wanted to let everyone know that he’s dedicating this Top 8 to Londie and Paco Monterroso. Without their generosity, he quite literally wouldn’t be here right now. The favorite to win the event will be taking on the local champion who is now 10-0 after his nail-biting win over Keanson Ye in the quarterfinals. Lindsey was extremely excited to finally play Emon, and after shuffling up they rolled the dice to see who would begin this semifinal match. Lindsey won the roll and opted to begin. The players wished each other luck and drew their hands.
Lindsey started with a set to each zone and Emon took out the monsters with Nobleman of Crossout. Lindsey all copies of Gravekeeper’s Spy and Emon finished with a set to each zone. Lindsey drew into Graceful Charity next turn eliciting a groan from Emon. He discarded Enemy Controller and Book of Moon before summoning Cyber Dragon and using Nobleman of Crossout to rid the game of all copies of Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive. He attacked directly then set another card to each zone before passing. Emon used Mystical Space Typhoon to take out the freshly set Jar of Greed before Lindsey could chain it, but all he had on his turn was a face down spell or trap. Lindsey attacked again and Emon had to take it. He passed without playing any cards and Emon only had a set spell or trap for the next turn.
Linsey tried another attack with Cyber Dragon but lost it to Sakuretsu Armor. In main phase 2, he flipped Magical Merchant netting Mystical Space Typhoon, and he used it on Emon’s Torrential Tribute. Tsukuyomi flipped the Merchant back down in main phase to and he set another card before passing. Emon had to use most of his hand next turn summoning Cyber Dragon and tributing it for Mobius the Frost Monarch to clear Lindsey’s backfield. Jar of Greed was chained and Mobius hit the facedown Merchant. It fetched Nobleman of Crossout for Lindsey and Emon played Confiscation in main phase 2 to take away Lindsey’s Tsukuyomi.
Emon set a monster and Call of the Haunted and passed over to Lindsey, who played his Crossout to remove Emon’s Spirit Reaper then activated Scapegoat and played Creature Swap. Emon had to chain Call of the Haunted to give Lindsey his Cyber Dragon. The Dragon hit the swapped Sheep token and Emon destroyed the Dragon with Mobius next turn. It was all for naught, though as Lindsey had the Snatch Steal to end the game!
Lindsey – 1 Emon – 0
Lindsey opted to use the smokescreen tactic to disguise how many cards he was siding in, but he mentioned that he was unhappy about the prospect of dealing with Creature Swap from Emon’s side. Lindsey explained to Emon why his last match had taken so long, and congratulated him on his win over Ryan Hayakawa last round. Emon opted to go first, and he did so with a face up Mystic Tomato and a set spell or trap. Lindsey opened with Confiscation revealing Nobleman of Crossout, Creature Swap, Royal Decree and Chaos Sorcerer. He opted to drop the Nobleman, but immediately regretted the decision. He set a card to each zone and passed. On the end phase, Emon activated Scapegoat.
He switched a Sheep to attack mode and swapped it over to Lindsey. The Tomato attacked, and Emon set a card before passing. Lindsey simply passed his turn, and Emon swung again with the Tomato. On the next turn, Lindsey flipped Heavy Storm to eliminate Emon’s Decree and then activated Snatch Steal. Tomato took out the Treeborn Frog and Lindsey passed. Emon had a Confiscation this turn and used it to reveal Lindsey’s terrible hand. He had two Chaos Sorcerers, Premature Burial and Nobleman of Crossout with no useable monsters in the graveyard. Emon took the Premature away and passed his turn.
The turns passed quickly and Lindsey was brought to 1400 by the attacks of Mystic Tomato. Lindsey managed to get some momentum going his way with Cyber Dragon to clear away Emon’s tokens. Treeborn Frog came back, and Emon rammed his Tomato into Cyber Dragon to bring out Newdoria which rammed into the Dragon as well to destroy it. Lindsey tried to fight back with a Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer, but Emon had all the answers. Two turns later, Cyber Dragon, Mystic Tomato, and Newdoria finished Lindsey off after his Call of the Haunted was negated by Emon’s second Royal Decree.
Emon – 1 Lindsey – 1
Lindsey opted to go first once again in the deciding final game, and he started off with a set to each zone. Emon had Cyber Dragon and Nobleman of Crossout to remove Spirit Reaper from the game. The Dragon swung directly and Emon passed his turn. Linsey set another monster and passed, but Emon had his other Crossout as well, this time removing all copies of Gravekeeper’s Spy from the game. Lindsey burned Enemy Controller to block the attack this time and on his turn he set another card to each zone. On the end phase, Book of Moon was lost to Dust Tornado, and Emon attacked into a set Skelengel. He set a monster and passed.
Lindsey had a Nobleman of his own, and this time Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive would not be seeing any play. He played his own Cyber Dragon, attacked it into Emon’s Dragon, then set a monster and passed. Emon had another Dragon and a Zaborg the Thunder Monarch to take out Lindsey’s Magician of Faith. He took the attack dropping to 3500 and set a monster on his next turn. Zaborg attacked it revealing Sangan. Lindsey checked his life total before trying to fetch for Sangan. It was irrelevant, however, as Emon had Return set and brought back all his Dekoichis to win the game.
Despite being plagued by terrible hands, Lindsey was a class act all the way to the end. Emon advances to the finals, 2-1!