One of Canada’s perennial underdogs, Ervin So, was now just one match away from winning his way into the Top 8 of the National Championships. In his way was one of the biggest crowd favorites in the room: 2005 Canadian Champion, Dexter Dalit!

The lighting system in the convention hall went out, prompting So to joke that his best chance to win this match was to incapacitate Dalit under cover of darkness. “When these lights come on, Dexter’s going to be crumpled over there by the garbage can.” Dalit laughed.

So opened the match with a set card to each zone. Dalit special summoned Cyber Dragon, normal summoned Yellow Gadget, and searched his deck for Green. Cyber Dragon attacked, ran into Gravekeeper’s Spy to destroy it, and So pulled a second in defense position.

“Attacking? E-Con suicide?” So was fishing for bad moves. “Scoop?” Nice try.

Fissure cleared the Spy and play was to So. He set another spell or trap and another monster, thought for several seconds, then set a third card to his back row. Cyber Dragon attacked So’s set Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, So took a card, and then took 1200 damage. “Set one,” Dalit announced, setting a card to his back row. So passed and Dalit was up again.

Yellow Gadget attacked and So needed to run some numbers. So had 6800 life points left, and dropped to 5600 when he took the hit from Dalit’s Gadget. He sunk even lower when he took a shot from Cyber Dragon next.

“Scoop?” asked So one more time, hoping. “He smiled! In my country, that means ‘yes’!” Dalit ended, So set a monster and passed. Cyber Dragon attacked again and slammed into Spirit Reaper. Dalit moved to main phase 2, summoned Green Gadget, and searched his deck for Red Gadget. “Go.”

So passed. Dalit activated Fissure to try and destroy Spirit Reaper, but So chained Scapegoat! A Sheep token absorbed Fissure, and Dalit cleared the rest of the tokens with Gadget attacks. Smashing Ground in main phase 2 hit Dalit’s side of the field, but So chained Call of the Haunted to bring back his Gravekeeper’s Spy! Dalit’s efforts to destroy the Reaper were denied yet again, but So was running out of options.

He summoned Card Trooper, boosted it to 1900 ATK with three cards off the top, and then took Cyber Dragon with Brain Control. Dalit lost Red and Yellow Gadget, set a card to his back row, and then handed back the Cyber Dragon.

Dalit summoned Snipe Hunter and used its effect with priority to toss Yellow Gadget and blow away Spirit Reaper. He then discarded Drillroid to destroy So’s Royal Decree, and ditched Banisher of the Radiance to try and destroy the last set spell or trap: it missed, but one more discard let Dalit destroy it, and, without revealing what it was, So scooped.

Dexter Dalit is just one game away from his third straight Top 8 appearance at the National Championships!

“. . . That’s why he wants to scoop,” chimed in So. “I mean, seriously: who wants to Top 8 Nationals three years in a row?”

The second game began after some more joking, from both sides of the table. So opened with just a set monster this time and Dalit summoned Red Gadget to search for Yellow. Red Gadget attacked into Gravekeeper’s Spy, and Dalit took 700 damage as So fetched another from his deck and special summoned it in defense position.

A set spell or trap concluded Dalit’s turn, and So promptly activated Brain Control. Dalit thought for a while, then countered by flipping Enemy Controller to steal control of one of the Spies, tributing his Red Gadget. So set a monster and ended, building his defensive presence.

Dalit summoned Yellow Gadget. “Want to attack into the Spy?” asked So. Dalit activated Nobleman of Crossout, removed So’s set Sangan from the game and set another Enemy Controller. So tributed one Spy for Raiza the Storm Monarch the next turn, but the targeted Controller was chained and turned Raiza to defense.

Green Gadget came out for Dalit, netting him Red Gadget from his deck. He attacked Raiza with Green, turned Yellow to defense, and ended. Another Raiza came down for So, bouncing Dalit’s set spell or trap and running over Green Gadget! So set a card to his back row, Dalit set one too, and he proceeded to summon Red Gadget. Red fetched him Yellow and Dalit passed.

In the end phase So brought back the other Raiza with Call of the Haunted. It attacked Red Gadget on the following turn, and the second Raiza destroyed Yellow Gadget. So had 7200 life points remaining, while Dalit was on the ropes at just 5200.

He summoned Yellow Gadget and took Green to his hand. Fissure wiped out one Raiza and Dalit ended his turn, unable to deal with the last one. It ran over Yellow Gadget and Dalit took 1200 damage. So set a card to each zone and ended.

Dalit riffled his graveyard and activated Pot of Avarice.

“Oh man! I thought you were going for Overload Fusion!” So was just waiting to get OTK’d out of the game, but it wasn’t going to happen. Dalit summoned Green Gadget, attacked So’s set Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive and set a second card to his spell and trap zone. So activated Brain Control, took Green Gadget, and tributed it for Cyber Dragon. Desperate, Dalit had to activate Shrink to cut the damage from Raiza. He was down to 700 life points! So set another card to his back row.

Dalit debated for a while, and then activated Royal Decree. He used Snatch Steal to take control of So’s Raiza, and then summoned Green Gadget to search for Red and add it to his hand. Raiza attacked and destroyed Cyber Dragon, Green Gadget attacked to bring So down to 4700, and Dalit set another spell or trap.

So brought out two Cyber Dragons, one from his hand and one with Premature Burial. One Dragon went after Green Gadget, but Limiter Removal in the damage step turned the tables on So: Cyber Dragon was destroyed and So took 700 damage. He was down to 3400 life points and opted to end his turn: Green Gadget shorted out and hit the graveyard.

“That’s game,” said Dalit.

So’s face sunk.

“I’m just kidding!” Dalit grinned.

“I’LL KILL YOU!” So laughed. Dalit attacked Cyber Dragon with Raiza and set a monster. So special summoned Cyber Dragon in defense and Raiza took it out, allowing Dalit to set another monster. So set another, and lost it to Raiza next turn: Dekoichi. Dalit set another monster and tried to stabilize, due to his exceptionally low life point total.

It gave So an opening: he shuffled back Raiza the Storm Monarch, two Cyber Dragon, and two Gravekeeper’s Spy with Pot of Avarice and drew two more cards. He activated Brain Control, tributed Raiza for Thestalos, and forced the discard of Yellow Gadget. Dalit took 400 damage and was down to 300 life points!

Thestalos attacked and destroyed Dalit’s set Red Gadget. Fissure tore through Thestalos on the turn that followed though, and Dalit passed. So set a monster and play was back to Dalit. He summoned Snipe Hunter, discarded Premature Burial, and blew away So’s set Gravekeeper’s Spy. He flip summoned Yellow Gadget, attacked with both monsters, and lowered So to 2300. So drew a monster and set it, unable to take advantage of the small size of his opponent’s monsters.

Dalit discarded Overload Fusion for another Snipe Hunter shot, and blew away Dalit’s remaining set monster. It was all over!

Dexter Dalit has made it to the Top 8 of the National Championships three years in a row!