“We’ve never even played before,” noted Suffridge as he took his seat. Though both competitors had mad the Top 8 at US Nationals last year, they’ve managed to never go head to head before, in or out of major competition. Both duelists were pumped. “This is gonna be a good one,” said Max.

“What are you playing?” asked Wang.

“What are you playing?” smirked Max. “Typical Overdose stuff?”

“Yeah!” Wang grinned. Both duelists joked with each other as they shuffled and rolled off. “Good luck, man” said Max, shaking Wang’s hand. Max rolled a five, Wang rolled a 1, and Max opened with a single set card to his back row.

Wang summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior and broke Max’s set card, but found it to be Scapegoat! Breaker hit a Sheep, Wang set a spell or trap, and play passed to the reigning US champ . . .

 . . . briefly. He did nothing and passed. Wang hit a Sheep with Breaker, passed back, Max summoned Sangan, played Smashing Ground to destroy Breaker the Magical Warrior, and attacked directly for 1000 damage. He ended his turn, looking at a hand that featured two Chaos Sorcerers and one Cyber Dragon, all of which were useless at the moment.

His opponent set a monster and ended. Max summoned Don Zaloog, but Wang flipped Torrential Tribute, clearing the field! He lost Gravekeeper’s Spy in the process, and Max pulled Spirit Reaper with Sangan’s effect, but he would have a clear monster field on the following turn. Max set a back row card and ended.

Wang didn’t press as he perhaps could have, setting a card to each zone. Max flipped his set Nobleman of Crossout, removed Apprentice Magician from play, and attacked directly with Spirit Reaper. It cost Wang his Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch. Max set one back row card, passed to Wang, Wang set a card to each zone.

“Is that the one you just drew?” asked Max.

“Yes.” Wang thought a moment. “Stop playing with me!” Max played Nobleman of Crossout, removed Wang’s set Morphing Jar from the game, and he swung with Reaper again, hitting Magician of Faith out of Wang’s hand. Wang set a monster, but lost it to Exiled Force next turn – it was Treeborn Frog, but Spirit Reaper again hit directly, costing Wang Zaborg the Thunder Monarch. Still, Wang had Pot of Avarice next turn, and used it to refill his now-empty hand. “Gimme some cards I could use, at least,” sad Wang as Max shuffled his deck.

“Avarice was good.”

“Yeah, but not good enough.” Wang looked at his two new cards. “Definitely not good enough.” He set a card to each zone, again emptying his hand, and passed.

Max asked to see Wang’s graveyard, and then set a monster. Wang debated the card he drew before setting it—a monster. Max drew, tributed his Spirit Reaper for the Cyber Dragon he had been stuck with since the first turn of the duel, and then attacked the freshest set monster Wang had. “Attack the Faith,” said Max. The attack was blocked by Book of Moon, which turned Cyber Dragon face down.

“It’s not Faith though,” said Wang. Max looked at his hand: “I guess it’s your turn.”

Wang flipped the other monster, and that one was Magician of Faith! He brought back Book of Moon, flipped the other set monster, and showed it to be Tsukuyomi! He targeted Magician of Faith, but Max flipped Torrential Tribute! Still, Wang trumped him with Royal Decree! “That’s spicy,” said Max. The single main decked Royal Decree was actually a piece of tech that Max was also running, but he didn’t tip his hat to that fact.

Still, next turn Max blasted Wang with Heavy Storm. He flip summoned Spirit Reaper, sent Cyber Dragon into Magician of Faith (it got Wang Pot of Avarice), and Reaper hit the Tsukuyomi in a flurry of cards. Wang special summoned Chaos Sorcerer, removed Spirit Reaper from the game, and ended his turn.

Smashing Ground destroyed Chaos Sorcerer, Cyber Dragon attacked directly, and it was 3700 to 7200 for Max. Wang special summoned his Treeborn Frog, tributed for Cyber Dragon (needlessly), and crashed his Dragon into Max’s to clear the field. A turn later, Max removed Reaper and Cyber Dragon from his graveyard to bring out Chaos Sorcerer, summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, and swung for the game with both!

The US National Champion claims a long and grueling first duel!

Both duelists side decked, and presented their fifteen-card altered side decks to the table judge. “DQ, DQ, DQ,” chanted Wang jokingly, as Max counted out his perfect fifteen.

Wang opened the second duel, doing so with a set card to each zone. Max special summoned Cyber Dragon, normal summoned Exiled Force and tributed it to destroy Wang’s Morphing Jar. Cyber Dragon hit directly, and Max played Confiscation: Wang’s hand was Mobius, Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World, Chaos Sorcerer, and Brain Control. He quickly discarded Brain Control and passed.

Smashing Ground blew away his Cyber Dragon, but Wang had no followup. Max drew, set a spell or trap, passed, leading Wang to set a second spell or trap and pass too. Max flipped his set Heavy Storm, and attacked with Spirit Reaper, but hit Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World! Goldd came to the field, destroyed Reaper, and Max passed with no field! Wang summoned Sangan, swung with both of his monsters and passed. Business was picking up for Jerry Wang!

Max special summoned another Cyber Dragon, and then special summoned Chaos Sorcerer to remove Sangan with Priority. Smashing Ground destroyed Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World, and both Cyber Dragon and Chaos Sorcerer attacked directly! Max set a back row card and passed. Wang drew, set a monster, and ended. Cyber Dragon hit it: Apprentice Magician! It fetched Wang a Magician of Faith, which in turn got him Brain Control when Chaos Sorcerer attacked it.

Wang played Graceful Charity, and the life point totals were 3500 to 3700 in Max’s favor. Wang discarded Tsukuyomi and Mirror Force. He special summoned Cyber Dragon, tributed it for Mobius, and targeted Max’s one set spell or trap card!

Max took some time to consider the situation. His set card was Enemy Controller, and he was taking a great deal of time before deciding on which effect to use. He did, turning Mobius to defense position. Wang then special summoned his own Chaos Sorcerer, but did not activate its effect! He activated Brain Control, took Max’s Sorcerer, removed it from play with its own effect, and that was enough for Max! A little bit quieter than before, he conceded the duel.

He opened the third duel, quickly drawing his cards and rapidly shuffling his hand. He set a card to each zone, and Wang fired back the same. Max summoned Mystic Swordsman LV2, flipped Sangan, and attacked with the Swordsman, but was repelled by Book of Moon. Sangan attacked, hit Magician of Faith, and Wang retrieved his Book. Max passed and Wang drew for his turn.

Nobleman of Crossout removed Mystic Swordsman LV2 from the field, and Wang set a spell or trap card, then a monster. Max played Reinforcement of the Army, searched his deck for Exiled Force, and summoned it. He tributed it, destroyed Wang’s set Spirit Reaper, and hit directly with Sangan before ending his turn.

Wang set another monster, now firmly on defense. Max summoned Spirit Reaper, played Premature Burial, and brought back Exiled Force to destroy Wang’s set monster again, which was another Spirit Reaper. Reaper and Sangan hit Wang, and Reaper made him discard Morphing Jar, the one card that could have compensated for the damage Reaper was doing. Wang was forced to set a monster again, as the momentum was clearly on his opponent’s side.

Sangan attacked the set monster, and Book of Moon turned it face down to block the attack. Spirit Reaper followed up, flipping Magician of Faith and allowing Wang to retrieve Nobleman of Crossout. In main phase 2, though, Max tributed his Sangan for Cyber Dragon, pulling D. D. Warrior Lady with its effect. Doing so completely stymied Wang’s plan, and Max passed.

Wang summoned Tsukuyomi though, and turned Magician of Faith face down! Wang then debated attacking the Reaper to score some damage. He needed to lean on Max to some degree, just to get the ball rolling, but if he lost the Tsukuyomi he could lose out in the long run. Smashing Ground destroyed Cyber Dragon, Wang opted not to attack, and he set a spell or trap before passing.

Max summoned a second Spirit Reaper, played Nobleman of Crossout to remove the Magician of Faith from play, and each duelist cleared a Magician of Faith from his deck. “You don’t seem too disappointed” observed Max, probably reading Wang as having a Mirror Force set. Sure enough, the first Reaper attacked and Max lost both of them to Mirror Force!

Wang set a back row card, Max set one too, and he then summoned D. D. Warrior Lady. She poked for 1500, making it 4200 to 7100 for Max. Wang summoned Tsukuyomi, turned D. D. Warrior Lady face down, and then removed her from play with his set Nobleman of Crossout. He set another spell or trap, Max set another monster, and play passed back to Wang.

He set a card to each zone, ended his turn, and Max played Graceful Charity. He discarded Royal Decree and Call of the Haunted, flip summoned Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, and normal summoned Blade Knight. Dekoichi attacked first, hitting Wang’s set Sangan. He used it to fetch himself Gravekeeper’s Spy, and Blade Knight attacked directly. Wang dropped to 2600 and Max ended his turn.

Wang set another monster, now back on defense again. Max removed Cyber Dragon and Reaper from his graveyard, special summoned Chaos Sorcerer, and attacked with Dekoichi into Gravekeeper’s Spy. Wang didn’t have another to pull. “Did you rip Spy off the top?” asked Max. Wang nodded, confirming that his draw for the turn had rendered his spy useless. Max used Enemy Controller to take the Spy from Wang’s side of the field, and with his only defense gone, there was nothing Wang could do but concede.

Max Suffridge moves on with a 3-0 record!