Lue Yang is yet another Minneapolis local whose been paired up against one of the few heavy-hitters who made the trip to Minnesota. Both of them are playing Destiny Hero beatdown variants, though Lue has opted to use a fair number of Monarchs in his build whereas Shane has not. “I’m playing T’s deck, except I have Morphing Jar instead of Giant Trunade,” he remarked. Lue seemed somewhat surprised when I approached them for a feature match, but he soon warmed to the concept.

Lue won the roll and started off with Elemental Hero Stratos to fetch out Destiny Hero — Malicious. He followed up with Destiny Draw, pitching the Malicious, and set a spell or trap before ending. Shane looked incredulously at Paul Levitin who was on the side lines before beginning his turn with Cyber Dragon. Cyber Dragon beat Stratos, and Shane set a card to each zone before passing. Lue was back up, and he used Mystical Space Typhoon to blow up Shane’s set Ring of Destruction before summoning his own Cyber Dragon and dropping Nobleman of Crossout to remove Shane’s set Sangan. Next, he summoned his own Sangan and rammed the Dragons together before attacking directly with his searcher. Lue set a spell or trap and passed to Shane who pitched Dasher to Destiny Draw. He set a pair of spell or trap cards, but ate 1000 damage from Sangan once again next turn. Lue set a monster, and Shane was up again.

Shane merely passed his turn, but this time he blocked the attack of Sangan with Scapegoat! Lue attacked a token and Shane passed his turn once more before Lue threw down a Snipe Hunter and pitched Treeborn Frog to fail to destroy Shane’s set card. He attacked anyway, but the set card was Mirror Force, and Lue lost his attackers! Sangan fetched out Spirit Reaper for Lue, and play returned to Shane, who simply passed again, content to hide behind his Sheep. Lue passed as well, unwilling to take action, but this time Shane set a spell or trap before ending. Next turn, Lue tributed his set Disk Commander for Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch, relieving Shane of a token and his in-hand Pot of Avarice before passing! Shane now had to act, and he summoned Card Trooper choosing to send the top 3 cards of his deck to the graveyard before attacking into Thestalos. Limiter Removal in the damage step allowed the Trooper to pump over, and Shane set a spell or trap before ending his turn. Trooper went to the graveyard and Shane got to draw while Lue simply set a monster and passed.

Shane passed right back; he had no intention of attacking a Fear Monger. Lue asked for a quick hand count before setting a monster and passing. After a quick glance at the field, Shane used Premature Burial to bring back his Card Trooper, and he knocked a pair of Malicious into his graveyard with it along with a Destiny Draw in order to pump it up. This time, he made an attack, but he hit Lue’s Destiny Hero — Fear Monger! Lue got his Disk Commander back during standby along with a pair of new cards, and he now saw fit to bring another Malicious to the field by removing his first from the graveyard. Metamorphosis traded out the Malicious for Ryu Senshi, and Shane’s traps were looking distinctly useless. Raiza was up next for Lue, and he used the Monarch to target one of Shane’s set spell or trap cards. Shane checked his graveyard, but wound up allowing the card to go on top of his deck. Snatch Steal stole away Shane’s Card Trooper, and Lue pumped it up before flipping Spirit Reaper and using Brain Control on a Sheep token! Spirit Reaper hit the remaining token, and Shane looked at it longingly before allowing the attack and using Mystical Space Typhoon to reclaim his Trooper. Ryu Senshi attacked over it for 100, but Shane still had to bear the brunt of Raiza’s assault, leaving him at 3000. Heavy Storm from Shane cleared out Lue’s set Torrential Tribute, and Shane brought out his third Malicious. Brain Control then took control of Raiza, and Shane tributed him along with his Malicious for Dark Magician of Chaos. The Magician brought back Premature Burial which in turn brought back Dasher, while Metamorphosis traded out the Magician for Cyber Twin Dragon. Everything piled into the exposed Reaper, and Shane took game 1!

Lue was up first again for game 2, and he opened things up with a set to each zone before passing. Shane had Card Trooper, and he knocked Reinforcement of the Army, Morphing Jar, and Cyber Dragon into the graveyard to pump it before attacking. Lue allowed his Sangan to go to the graveyard and searched out Treeborn Frog while Shane set a spell or trap and passed. Cyber Dragon came down for Lue, and he attacked, only to be blocked by Ring of Destruction. In main phase 2, Lue set a monster, and play was back to Shane who pumped his Trooper again, this time pitching Brain Control, Cyber Dragon, and a Malicious. Shane attacked again with the Trooper, but this time lost it to Sakuretsu Armor. He got to draw a card though, and he then used Destiny Draw to pitch Disk Commander and draw two. Play was back to Lue, and he tributed his set Frog for Raiza to blow Shane’s spell or trap to the top of the deck. He passed with no backfield though, and Shane took the opportunity to bring out his second Malicious and use Metamorphosis to change it into Dark Blade the Dragon Knight. Snatch Steal took Raiza, and Shane summoned Snipe Hunter before attacking with everything for game! Shane Scurry claims victory over Minnesota native Lue Yang, 2-0!