John Meyers is from right here, in Indianapolis. Like his opponent, he’s a fifteen year-old high school student who plays Yu-Gi-Oh! in his free time. Smart, very measured plays and double Decree had brought his non-Return non-Recruiter Chaos deck to Day 2.
Joe Hletko is a definite rising star. Yesterday his was one of a handful of standout decks, as he brought Hydrogeddon all the way to the final rounds of the tournament.
Meyers won the opening roll, and kicked off the day with Confiscation! He revealed Hletko’s hand: Pot of Avarice, Cyber Dragon, Enemy Controller, Royal Decree, and Torrential Tribute. He discarded the latter, set a card to each zone, and ended. “Your turn.”
Hletko drew into Hydrogeddon! He opted not to special summon Cyber Dragon, normal summoned Hydrogeddon, attacked, and hit Spirit Reaper, leaving himself unable to use the Dinosaur’s effect. Enemy Controller destroyed the Reaper, Hletko set a spell or trap, and passed.
Asura Priest blew away Hydrogeddon on the following turn—no Rush Recklessly for Hletko, who set a spell or trap before passing back. Asura Priest came down again and hit him for 1700 directly, then play was back to Hletko. He passed and ate another 1700 from Meyers. His caution on turn 1 in not playing the Cyber Dragon had really cost him—since Meyers was only attacking with Asura Priest, the Dragon was now a dead card, and Hletko was having trouble drawing monsters to block the Priest’s attacks. It had knocked him down to 4500 LP, while Meyers sat at a comfortable 7000, knowing that he was keeping Cyber Dragon dead in Hletko’s hand.
Hletko summoned Mystic Tomato and hit directly for 1400. Meyers topped into Graceful Charity, activated it, and discarded Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, then Mystic Tomato, loading his graveyard with a Light and Dark for Chaos Sorcerer. Sure enough, he brought it out immediately, and used the Sorcerer’s effect to remove Hletko’s Tomato from play. Then he tributed the Sorcerer for Mobius the Frost Monarch, destroyed Hletko’s two set cards (both Royal Decree), and hit directly for 2400! He set a card to his back row and passed.
Cyber Dragon came down for Hletko, who followed it up with Exiled Force to destroy Mobius. Dragon attacked, but Scapegoat blocked—no Sheep were touched. Hletko set a spell or trap, play passed to Meyers, and Meyers set a monster before passing back.
Hletko set Sangan, another spell or trap, and passed. He lost Sangan to Nobleman of Crossout on the following turn, but Meyers was still locked down. Meyers activated Heavy Storm though, blowing away Hletko’s defenses. He flip summoned Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, tributed it for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, destroyed Hletko’s one remaining monster, Cyber Dragon, and attacked with Zaborg for game!
Some clever plays from Meyers and some rough draws for Hletko lead to a 1-0 match point score for the Indianapolis native!
Both duelists did some side decking, and the second duel began quickly, with Hletko activating Confiscation to reveal Meyers’s hand: Graceful Charity, Magician of Faith, Nobleman of Crossout, Confiscation, and Enemy Controller. Hletko had D. D. Warrior Lady, Spirit Reaper, Reinforcement of the Army, Rush Recklessly, and Book of Moon, and he opted to force Meyers to discard Graceful Charity. He summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, set two spell or trap cards, and ended his turn.
Meyers activated Confiscation too, discarding Reaper over Book of Moon. He set a card to each zone and passed. Hletko drew into Graceful Charity, activated it, and netted Cyber-Stein, Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, and Don Zaloog. “I only got to use one of mine!” Meyers complained jokingly. Hletko discarded Book of Moon and Don Zaloog, then tributed D. D. Warrior Lady for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch. It destroyed Meyers’s set Magician of Faith, and then attacked for 2400 damage directly, bashing Meyers down to 4600.
He set a monster and play passed back to Hletko. Hletko activated Reinforcement of the Army, searched his deck for Exiled Force, summoned it, and tributed it to destroy Meyers’s set Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive. Zaborg swung again, taking Meyers down to 2200 life points!
Meyers activated Premature Burial, going down to 1400 life points to bring back Dekoichi. Dekoichi attacked Zaborg, was aided by Enemy Controller, and Zaborg went to defense before being destroyed. Hletko ended his turn with one card left in his hand.
Hletko shuffled his hand—Cyber-Stein, Reinforcement of the Army, and Last Will with a mystery card set in his spell and trap zone. He activated Reinforcement to search his deck for D. D. Assailant. He summoned it, attacked, and wiped out Dekoichi to knock Meyers down to 1100.
“I’ll end.”
Meyers special summoned Cyber Dragon, and it attacked Hletko’s D. D. Assailant, a great desperation move! But Hletko had the answer: “In the damage step, I’ll flip Rush Recklessly,” he announced. Assailant’s blade cleaved Cyber Dragon in half, and Meyers knew it was over.
“I concede.”
The match moved to a third duel! Both competitors side decked, and each counted out their sided cards to ensure proper side decking. Meyers was up, and both duelists’ hands shook a bit as the final duel began.
“I’ll go first.” Meyers opened with a set card to his back row, then summoned Sangan. “Your turn.” Hletko had Breaker the Magical Warrior, Last Will, Cyber-Stein, Enemy Controller, D. D. Warrior Lady, and Mystical Space Typhoon in hand. He activated Mystical Space Typhoon, destroyed Meyers’s Royal Decree, and summoned Cyber-Stein! He paid 5000 life points, brought out Cyber Twin Dragon with Stein’s effect, tributed Stein for Controller to steal Sangan, and activated Last Will. He had 6600 damage on the board—the Cyber Twin Dragon would attack twice for 2800 damage each time, while Sangan would hit for a grand. All he needed was 1400 more damage, and when he special summoned Mystic Tomato with Last Will he had exactly 8000 damage at his disposal. It was game.
Meyers took in stride, shaking hands with Hletko. “I hate losing like that, but good luck man.” He smiled and scooped his cards, nonetheless seeming to be very pleased with what was only his second SJC showing.
Joe Hletko moves on, progressing to the semi-finals!