He won the coin flip, and opened with a set to each zone. Long played Heavy Storm and Nobleman of Crossout to clear the way for Spirit Reaper. He summoned it, swung, and stole Widespread Ruin out of Holloway’s hand. Long set one spell or trap and passed.

Smashing Ground came down on Reaper, Holloway set two cards to his spell and trap zone, and passed. Long set another spell or trap after setting a monster and also passed. Holloway set a monster, Long summoned Zaborg the Thunder Monarch but got wrecked by Sakuretsu Armor.

Each player then set an additional spell or trap, and Long set another monster before passing play back to his opponent.

Holloway summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, but Long flipped Bottomless Trap Hole to remove it from the game. He then flip summoned his set Mystic Tomato, attacked directly, and Holloway again blasted Long’s face up monster with Smashing Ground. Long summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, attacked with it, and lost it to Widespread. Holloway was running low on 1-for-1s, and couldn’t draw into a monster. He set another spell or trap and passed.

Long couldn’t hit a monster either and set another spell or trap before ending his turn. Holloway end-phased the card, Mystical Space Typhoon, and then played Heavy Storm on his next turn. Long chained Scapegoat, Holloway special summoned Cyber Dragon, normal summoned Mystic Tomato, and attacked two Sheep. Long set a monster, Holloway set one too, and a turn later Holloway attacked Long’s face down Magical Merchant with Assailant. Long pulled Dark Hole and the entire tone of the duel changed.

Holloway flip summoned his face down Tsukuyomi, flipping Assailant face down, to get Tsukuyomi out of Dark Hole’s reach. The plan worked, and Long did nothing but pass. Next turn Holloway attacked with the Assailant, clearing out the last sheep, and then turned it face down again with Tsukuyomi. Long set another spell or trap, Holloway’s Assailant swung once more, and this time it was destroyed by Widespread Ruin. Long set a monster, Holloway set a monster, and Long was up again.

He flip summoned Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, and swung at Holloway’s face down to reveal Don Zaloog! Long lost Call of the Haunted to Don’s effect, and seemed very thankful that he hadn’t lost Dark Hole.

Two turns later, neither played had any monsters on the field. An attempted Mobius summon on the behalf of Long had gone awry, and everything was blown away in a flurry of cards. Long set Magician of Faith, watched it get blasted by Exiled Force, and again did not have another monster to set. Holloway set one on the following turn, Long didn’t have one of his own when Holloway passed, and Holloway took advantage.

Dust Tornado destroyed one of Long’s several face-down spells or traps, and he then flip summoned Dekoichi to draw a card. He attacked with it, and on the following turn Long pegged it with Dark Hole. He was getting desperate. Holloway summoned Spirit Reaper, attacked with it, and ate Widespread Ruin. Long then attacked with his own Spirit Reaper, but Holloway replaced the card he lost from Pot of Avarice a turn later.

The duel was grueling, and both players appeared to be a bit mentally drained. “Is this still game 1?” asked Long, seeming a bit out of it. Holloway seemed to be in slightly better shape. Both of these guys play really fast, and the mental Toll they were taking on each other was visible.

Holloway drew his two cards, special summoned Cyber Dragon, and then normal summoned D. D. Warrior Lady. Sakuretsu Armor removed the Lady when it struck, but Cyber Dragon still swung through for 1800 life points. Long special summoned Chaos Sorcerer, removed Cyber Dragon from play with priority, and attacked with Spirit Reaper to take away Holloway’s Tsukuyomi. The tables had turned!

But Holloway had the equalizer, in the form of Dark Hole. He activated it and passed to Brian Long, who summoned Sangan and swung directly. It was 6100 to 4700 in Long’s favor.

Reinforcement of the Army hit and Holloway pulled Exiled Force, which seemed to be his only remaining Warrior. He set it, and Long special summoned another Chaos Sorcerer. Sangan attacked directly, Sorcerer swung, and Long had a distinct advantage.

Holloway topdecked Premature Burial and brought out D. D. Assailant. He rammed it into Chaos Sorcerer and passed. Next turn, a third Chaos Sorcerer sealed the deal for Long’s victory!

Brian Long wins an utterly draining first duel.

After a bit of time spent topdecking, Holloway opened game 2 with one set card in each of his zones. Long upped the Ante by doing the same, adding a second spell or trap. Holloway set another as well, and passed, leading Long to set a monster. It was an omen of conservative plays to come.

Holloway summoned Exiled Force and used his right to priority to destroy Long’s first face down monster. He winced slightly when it was revealed to be Sangan. Long searched out a Spirit Reaper and added it to his hand. With his free +1 secured, Long just passed right back when Holloway ended his turn. Holloway passed, Long passed, Holloway passed again . . . it was like the Thousand-Eyes Restrict days all over again.

Long broke the string of passing by setting a monster, prompting Holloway to flip summon Mystic Tomato, but Trap Hole swallowed it up. With the battlefield now empty of monsters, Holloway used Dark Hole to take a quick 2-for-1 trade. He then flipped Dust Tornado to remove Long’s last set spell or trap, summoned Spirit Reaper, and hit Long for another card. It was a masterfully orchestrated string of events by Holloway.

Long played Smashing Ground, set two more spells or traps, and passed. Holloway set a monster and ended his turn. Long flipped Nobleman of Crossout to remove it the face down from play, and upon seeing that it was Magician of Faith, had to pull his own from his deck. He had no follow up, and on the following turn Holloway just set a card to each of his zones.

Long summoned Exiled Force and used his right to priority to destroy Holloway’s face down Dekoichi. Holloway replaced it with another face down, and Long special summoned Cyber Dragon and normal summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior. Breaker broke one of Holloway’s two face down spells or traps, Cyber Dragon swung at the face down monster, and Sakuretsu Armor destroyed it. Breaker took up the attack, smacked Holloway’s face down Sangan, and Sangan fetched Holloway a Spirit Reaper on its way to the graveyard.

Pot of Avarice again came down on Holloway’s side of the field! He shuffled back Sangan, Exiled Force, Mystic Tomato, Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, and a fifth card that frankly moved faster than I could see. Holloway drew his two cards and moved up to seven in hand, with no cards on the field. Long had two cards in hand, but three on the field: two set spells or traps and one monster, Breaker.

Holloway special summoned Cyber Dragon, then normal summoned Tsukuyomi. Tsuku turned Breaker face down with its effect and both monsters attacked. Holloway set one spell or trap, Tsukuyomi bounced back to his hand, and play passed to Long.

Long special summoned Chaos Sorcerer, aimed to remove Cyber Dragon from play, and Holloway flipped Bottomless Trap Hole on the chain. Book of Moon kept Sorcerer on the field, Long set another monster, and then ended his turn.

Reinforcement of the Army brought Exiled Force to Holloway’s hand. Nobleman of Crossout removed the face down Chaos Sorcerer from play, and Holloway then summoned the Exiled Force to remove the other face down. Mystic Tomato was destroyed. Holloway then set a card to each of his zones and passed.

Long set a spell or trap, Holloway flip summoned Mystic Tomato, attacked, and watched the Tomato smack into Sakuretsu Armor. He set a monster, passed, Long passed back, and a turn later Holloway flipped his set Spirit Reaper to attack Long – again, Sakuretsu Armor destroyed the attacker. Holloway kept attacking, this time pressing with a Mystic Tomato for 1400 damage. A turn later he dropped Tsukuyomi, turned the Tomato face down, and flipped it again to attack. Long flipped Call of the Haunted to bring Sangan back to the field, Mystic Tomato destroyed it in battle, and Long took Spirit Reaper from his deck. Tsukuyomi attacked directly and Holloway’s turn was over.

Long set a monster, Holloway attacked it with Mystic Tomato, and it was revealed to be Spirit Reaper. Smashing Ground destroyed it. Long set another monster, Holloway summoned Tsukuyomi again, and Tomato attacked the face down. Widespread Ruin destroyed the Tomato, but Tsukuyomi still got through, revealing yet another set Spirit Reaper on Long’s side. Tsuku bounced.

Each player had a pair of set spells or traps, and Holloway set a third. It hurt him, when Long flipped his set Heavy Storm on the following turn. Reaper turned to attack, charged directly, and knocked Tsukuyomi out of Holloway’s hand. But on the following turn, Holloway dropped all three of his remaining cards to the field. They were Cyber Dragon, Sangan, and a set spell or trap. He pounded on Reaper for a ton of damage and passed!

Long set another monster, turned Reaper to defense, and Cyber Dragon pounced on the face down. It was Mystic Tomato, but Long had nothing to replace it with in his deck. Holloway’s turn ended, Long’s begun, and he summoned D. D. Warrior Lady. She attacked holloway’s Sangan, removed it and herself from play, and Long ended his turn.

“Do you have game?” Long asked, seeing that Holloway might have the win. He didn’t, and just set another card in his back row.

Long activated Snatch Steal, but Mystical Space Typhoon kept it from resolving. He tributed Spirit Reaper for Mobius the Frost Monarch, giving Long a free shot on Cyber Dragon. The Dragon went down, but next turn Holloway’s last remaining card in hand, D. D. Assailant, was matched by a topdecked Smashing Ground! Smashing Ground destroyed the Mobius, Assailant attacked directly, and that was the game!

Two minutes were added to the match clock due to a slow start in arriving to the feature match table. Despite that, less than three minutes remained by the time Holloway was finished side decking.

“Can you hurry up?” asked Long as Holloway started shuffling his deck in a pile shuffle.

Long opened with a set to each zone, with only two minutes remaining on the clock. Holloway special summoned Cyber Dragon, summoned Sangan, removed Long’s face down monster from play with Nobleman of Crossout, and attacked directly with both monsters! He set one spell or trap and passed. All he had to do at this point was wait.

Long needed to play aggressively now that he was so far behind. He special summoned Cyber Dragon, attacked it into Holloway’s Dragon, and set a monster. Holloway turned Sangan to defense position, set a monster, and ended. Long flipped Magical Merchant, played Reinforcement of the Army, took D. D. Warrior Lady and attacked Sangan with it, removing Sangan from play. Nobleman of Crossout removed Holloway’s last monster from the game – Spirit Reaper. Time was called, and it was Holloway’s turn. Three turns would be left to decide the duel, and only one of them was Long’s.

Holloway went into turtle mode, setting a monster and passing. Long attacked it with Mystic Swordsman LV2, but couldn’t deal any damage. All Holloway had to do was end his turn to close the duel and win: it’s exactly what he did.

Jason Holloway moves on undefeated, and Brian Long proceeds with a 5-1 record!