I was hoping that Chris Moosman would do well. With a 4-0 record, I could justify my personal curiosity and give Chris Moosman a feature match. I read a post about him on a message board (an interview with him done by a friend of his), and I have to admit that my curiosity was piqued. Who does that—just posting an interview on a random message board not really intended for that kind of content? He was apparently a respected Internet player, and was making his real-life playing debut here at Anaheim. I smelled a story.
Moosman was born in Winnipeg, but moved to California when he was less than a year old. His opponent, David Rodriguez, is a native of Los Angeles and a student at Luther Burbank Middle School. Both duelists were running Warrior Tool Box / Chaos decks, so it was either going to be an astoundingly good or amazingly boring matchup. Luckily, it was not the latter.
Moosman opened up the first game with Confiscation, choosing D. D. Warrior Lady over Spirit Reaper, Don Zaloog, Mobius the Frost Monarch, and Reinforcement of the Army. He set one card to each zone and passed. Rodriguez used the Reinforcement to get a Mystic Swordsman LV2, but it slammed into Widespread Ruin. He set one spell or trap and passed.
Next turn, Moosman flipped his set Spirit Reaper and attempted to attack, but its scythe sunk into nothing but Sheep. He set a spell or trap and ended his turn.
Zaloog came down from Rodriguez’s hand, smashed Moosman’s attack position Spirit Reaper, and forced him to lose Mystic Swordsman LV2. Confiscation nailed Kinetic Soldier, and Rodriguez passed.
Moosman flip summoned Giant Rat, slammed it into Don Zaloog, replaced it with Injection Fairy Lily, and wiped out two sheep. He set one spell or trap card, Rodriguez set a monster, and it was swept out by Exiled Force on the following turn: Spirit Reaper. Moosman then used Call of the Haunted to bring back Giant Rat, swung with Reaper for a card, and attacked with Lily directly. The life point totals were 3900 to 4300.
Rodriguez set one monster. “What did you draw . . . ?” he pondered. He sent the Giant Rat to attack, and it hit another Spirit Reaper. Smashing Ground took it out, Moosman set another spell or trap, and then turned everything to defense position. Rodriguez didn’t have much to do on the following turn, and victory was Moosman’s just moments later.
In the second game, it was Rodriguez’s turn to open with Confiscation, and he took away Moosman’s Mystical Space Typhoon. He set one card to each of his zones and Moosman did the same. Rodriguez passed, Moosman passed, and Rodriguez used Reinforcement of the Army to grab Exiled Force. He flip summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, used the Force with priority to blow away Moosman’s face down Spirit Reaper, and attacked directly for 1500 with the Lady. The life point totals were 6500 to 7000.
Moosman summoned Giant Rat, flipped his set Creature Swap to trade it for D. D. Warrior Lady, but ran into Sakuretsu Armor. Book of Moon kept D. D. Warrior Lady around though, and Moosman set a spell or trap.
That Giant Rat was a liability, so Rodriguez tributed it for Cyber Dragon, used Premature Burial to bring back Exiled Force, and used its effect on D. D. Warrior Lady. The life point totals were 4400 to 6200 after Cyber Dragon attacked.
Moosman summoned D. D. Assailant, used Smashing Ground to clear the field, and attacked. It was now 4400 to 4500. Rodriguez drew, played Brain Control, and tributed D. D. Assailant for Mobius. It destroyed a face down Smashing Ground, attacked, and passed. A turn later, Pitch-Black Warwolf sealed the game in his favor. By taking the second duel, Rodriguez pressed the match to game 3!
Kinetic Soldier and Sakuretsu Armor were both set by Moosman as soon as the game began. Rodriguez beat both plays, first with Mystical Space Typhoon on the Armor and then with Mystic Swordsman LV2 attacking and using its effect to destroy the Soldier. What luck. He set a Sakuretsu of his own, but Moosman used Mystical Space Typhoon on it in turn and attacked with D. D. Assailant. He set one spell or trap and passed. Rodriguez summoned his own D. D. Assailant, continuing the series of mirrored plays, but it was immediately swallowed up by Bottomless Trap Hole.
He set a spell or trap and passed. Moosman attacked into it, revealing it to be Sakuretsu Armor. Moosman again saved himself with Book of Moon, turning his D. D. Assailant face down. Rodriguez attacked the Assailant next turn with Blade Knight, flipping it face up but leaving it on the field, and set another card to his spell and trap zone.
Moosman made a press by using Snatch Steal on Blade Knight, summoning Spirit Reaper, and swinging straight into Scapegoat. Rodriguez added insult to injury next turn by activating Dark Hole, and both players went into topdeck mode, passing for a turn each without doing anything. Rodriguez summoned Don Zaloog, attacked into Moosman’s Call of the Haunted, and Moosman brought back Assailant to trigger a replay. Rodriguez attacked with Zaloog anyway, giving him the Dark monster that he needed to bring out Chaos Sorcerer. He then removed the Assailant form the game with the Sorcerer’s effect.
“Nice play” said Moosman, of the Zaloog-kamikaze. It was indeed. The complement was sincere, but the Sorcerer was quickly blown into the graveyard with Smashing Ground.
Moosman tried to press with a Spirit Reaper but slammed into Sakuretsu Armor. He had one of his own set, so he wasn’t too worried. Rodriguez played Confiscation to discard Mobius the Frost Monarch, but Moosman fired back with Nobleman of Crossout on his face down Magician of Faith. It was Moosman’s three cards in hand and one set spell or trap to Rod’s two set spells or traps and single card in hand.
Rodrigues brought back the Sorcerer with Call of the Haunted and attempted to attack. It slammed into Sakuretsu Armor and both players continued jockeying for control.
Moosman summoned Giant Rat and attacked past Rodriguez’s face down spell or trap. It was hit with Smashing Ground next turn, and Rodriguez then activated Swords of Revealing Light. Moosman passed, and tried to wait out the Swords. He set D. D. Warrior Lady that absorbed a hit from a fresh Cyber Dragon next turn and promptly removed it. Once Swords of Revealing Light was gone, Moosman tried to summon Bazoo the Soul-Eater.
“Priority?” asked Rodriguez.
“Nope” replied Moosman. He had no reason to make use of priority to bump up Bazoo, and if he did, he could lose valuable monsters in his graveyard if his opponent then chained Bottomless Trap Hole. Sure enough, that was what Rodriguez was hoping for—the monkey fell in the hole, and a turn later Rodriguez was swinging directly with Exiled Force. The life point totals were 6000 to 5500.
Smashing Ground destroyed the Exiled Force, but Rodriguez summoned Spirit Reaper and attacked with it on the following turn. It was a hefty blow that cost Moosman yet another Smashing Ground. It was then taken out by Moosman’s own Exiled Force, and both players went a full turn without doing anything. Rodriguez used Premature Burial to special summon Mobius the Frost Monarch, attacked with it, and went straight under the two cards Moosman had set in his spell and trap zone.
Moosman flipped one of them on the following turn, revealing Heavy Storm. It cleared the field, and he summoned D. D. Assailant and attacked, leaving the life point totals at 3300 to 3000.
Snatch Steal grabbed the assailant for Rod though, and it hit for 1700. He set one spell or trap and passed. Moosman played Dark Hole, and looked at his hand: Drillroid and Mystic Swordsman LV2 stared back at him, neither of which were exactly “powerhouses”. He opted to summon and attack with the Drillroid, but Rodriguez topdecked into the win. He flopped his draw for the turn (Reinforcement of the Army), took D. D. Assailant from his deck, and then showed a Brain Control. “That’s game.”
Moosman agreed it was, and both players shook hands, congratulating each other on a good game.
Though Chris Moosman is no longer undefeated, he’s most definitely a superb player. If he doesn’t end up making the Top 8 in this event, I’ll be surprised.