In order to fight back, Robin had to play Graceful Charity, then Cyber Dragon into Zaborg the Thunder Monarch. He then used a Solemn Judgment to stop his opponent’s Breaker the Magical Warrior, and for the first time in the match things seemed in his favour.

Another Judgement stopped Chaos Sorcerer from Dorau, but it meant that each player was rapidly losing life points. Dorau played another Sorcerer, taking care of Robin’s biggest man, then used a Nobleman of Crossout, hitting Magician of Faith on both sides.

It turns out that it was the final Sorcerer that would be the telling one, with Dorau able to ride his to victory, while a frustrated Miehlke could only look to his side deck for answers in the subsequent games.

Game two started in earnest, with Magical Merchant being removed by Nobleman of Crossout, and Dorau looking good with a Cyber Dragon down early. Unfortunately for him, there was an early Chaos Sorcerer from Robin to match it, then a Nobleman of Crossout to take out Dorau’s Magician of Faith blocker. Dorau lost a Swords of Revealing Light to a Spirit Reaper attack, while Chaos Sorcerer just cleared the way.

Dorau next lost Return from the Different Dimension to a Confiscation, followed by a Chaos Sorcerer going the same way, thanks to a Magician of Faith that had survived Nobleman of Crossout due to already being in Robin’s hand when the spell was played earlier in the game.

Robin tried to press his advantage, playing Mobius the Frost Monarch, and another Chaos Sorcerer for a lethal attack. Unfortunately for him, the final card in Dorau’s row was Return from the Different Dimension though, and Dorau had drawn himself an extra turn to survive.

The following turn though, it was all over, as he could not hold off a second attack as formidable as the first.

For game three, Dorau looked to hit back, using Breaker the Magical Warrior to take out one of Robin’s traps, and beating in with the warrior along with Dekoichi, who soon became even more dangerous thanks to Tsukuyomi. Robin tried to hit back, only for Mirror Force from Dorau. Robin tried to counter, but a Mystical Space Typhoon stopped that plan, and Dorau maintained the momentum in this blazingly fast match.

The best hope for Robin was to stall the ground with Spirit Reapers, but this seemed tough in the face of Smashing Ground from Dorau. A Chaos Sorcerer from Robin looked good, but it was quickly answered by one from Dorau. Robin played Mobius the Frost Monarch. Dorau had another way to deal with it. In spite of having a hand that appeared constantly high on characters, he could was still able to keep the pressure on through the control cards of Miehlke.

Robin played Graceful Charity, intensely looking for a way back into the game. He found it in Snatch Steal, into Zaborg the Thunder Monarch. Dorau tried for a big turn of Cyber Dragon and Chaos Sorcerer, but was thwarted by Torrential Tribute. Still with his regular recruit to come, Dorau played D. D. Warrior Lady and beat in, only to hit a wall of Scapegoat tokens.

With this extra time afforded him, Robin worked hard to come out on top in the deciding game between the two Germans. His luck appeared to be running a little thin though when Dorau finally hit his own Graceful Charity, which in turn found Heavy Storm and Return from the Different Dimension. Dorau played a Dark Magician of Chaos in order to use Graceful Charity again, and looked all set for a very big turn as soon as he got to activate his Return. He even had Swords of Revealing Light to keep him safe long enough to get there.

Premature Burial from Dorau brought back Chaos Sorcerer for Dorau, who was being a little cagey about finishing off his opponent while he could still sit behind Swords of Revealing Light.

A Snatch Steal from Dorau was enough to finish things off in a colossal set of swings.