Both players shuffled up, and then smacked hands and wished each other luck. Zach won the high roll and opted to go first. There were a few minutes still before the match would begin, and both players closed their eyes briefly, focusing on the upcoming match. The crowd of spectators had thinned out now that the Regional tournament had begun, and the level of noise was dying down.

Game 1

Zach set one spell or trap, then set a monster, and ended his turn. Andrew opened up aggressively, special summoning Cyber Dragon then destroying Zach’s set monster with Nobleman of Crossout before attacking directly . . . straight into Mirror Force! Andrew used his normal summon for the turn to set a monster, and ended.

Zach drew, then summoned Cyber-Stein. “Paying 5000,” he murmured, as he looked through his fusion deck. He pulled out Cyber End Dragon, set it on the field, and equipped it with Megamorph. Andrew watched intently. “I’ll attack,” Zach announced. Andrew flipped up his set Magician of Faith, and looked at the field. “That’s game,” he admitted. Game 1 was over in less than 5 minutes!

Both players looked through their decks and side decks, as a few dedicated team members watch from the sidelines in silence.

Game 2

They shuffled and began. “I’ll start,” Andrew announced. He drew, glanced through his hand and quickly set his Sangan. Zach drew, and shuffled through his hand rapidly as he considered his options. He selected a monster, moved to set it, then reconsidered. After studying his hand for a few seconds more, he set one spell/trap, then a monster, and ended.

Andrew drew, then tributed his set Sangan for Jinzo. He searched out Kuriboh with Sangan’s effect, then set a spell or trap. He attacked Zach’s set monster with Jinzo, revealing a Spirit Reaper. He ended his turn, and Zach drew. Again Zach considered his choices, shuffling rapidly through his hand before summoning Exiled Force to destroy Jinzo, then turned Reaper to attack directly, costing Andrew a Cyber Dragon from his hand.

Andrew wasn’t daunted. On his turn, he special summoned another Cyber Dragon, followed by D. D. Warrior Lady. He attacked the Reaper with D. D. Warrior Lady, removing both, then attacked Zach directly with the Dragon. Life points were now at Andrew 7700, and Zach 6200.

Zach set a monster, then turned Reaper to defense and ended his turn. Andrew tributed Cyber Dragon for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, using its effect to destroy Spirit Reaper, then attacked the set monster, which was Sangan! Zach fetched out his third and final Spirit Reaper with Sangan’s effect.

Zach drew, activated Wave-Motion Cannon, then set a monster (what could it possibly be?) and ended his turn. Andrew drew, set a monster of his own, then attacked Zach’s set card—yup, it was Reaper—with Zaborg. Zach drew, and passed. Andrew drew, looked through his graveyard, and passed as well.

Zach drew, studied his hand as he shuffled it rapidly, then turned the counter on Wave-Motion Cannon to two and set a monster. Andrew summoned his own Spirit Reaper, then flip summoned another. He activated Snatch Steal targeting Zach’s Reaper and destroying it, then attacked the set monster with Zaborg. It flipped to reveal Des Koala, dealing some payback damage, which Andrew retaliated for by attacking directly with each Spirit Reaper. The double Reaper blow cost Zach his Swords of Revealing Light and a Secret Barrel.

Zach drew and turned the counter on Wave-Motion Cannon to three. He had no monsters on his field, and only one set spell or trap. His expression was serious as he cycled through his hand a few times, then set another spell or trap and ended his turn.

Andrew looked at his own set spell or trap, and thought. “How many cards in hand?” he asked Zach. “I’ve got two,” he responded. Andrew attacked with his first Reaper, and again ran himself into Zach’s Mirror Force, losing both Reapers. Not for long, though. He activated Pot of Avarice, pulling both Reapers, his Sangan, Cyber Dragon, and Zaborg back into his deck. Life points were now at Andrew 6500 and Zach 5600. Andrew set two spells or traps, and ended his turn.

Zach drew, turned the counter on Wave-Motion Cannon to four, checked his set spell/trap, then set a monster and ended. Andrew summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, tributed the token to destroy the Wave-Motion, and attacked, revealing another Des Koala. His life points dropped to 5100, and he activated Call of the Haunted in his battle phase to bring Jinzo back to the field to attack directly.

Zach drew, set another spell or trap, and ended. Andrew summoned Spirit Reaper, then attacked with it, prompting Zach to respond with Scapegoat. Andrew picked off three Sheep tokens in turn with Reaper, Breaker, and Jinzo, and ended his turn.

Zach used Premature Burial to bring back Exiled Force, and attacked Spirit Reaper, then moved to his main phase 2, activating Giant Trunade, then tributing Exiled to destroy Jinzo. He paused to consider the field. Andrew still had Breaker and Spirit Reaper, while he had a lone Sheep token. He set three spells or traps, and ended his turn.

Andrew drew, attacked the final Sheep token with Spirit Reaper, then attacked directly with Breaker, bringing Zach down to 3200 life points. He set three spells or traps and ended.

Zach looked through his graveyard, and at his set cards, and thought, then activated Premature Burial to bring back his Sangan, set his last card and ended.

Andrew drew, and in his draw phase, Zach activated Secret Barrel. Andrew had no response, so he had to take 2000 damage, tying the game at 2400 life points each. Andrew then activated Call of the Haunted to bring back Jinzo. Zach looked at the field. “How much life do I have left?” he asked. “2400,” the judge replied. Zach looked back at the field and at his cards, and conceded the game. Tied at 1-1, they’d be going on to game 3.

Game 3

They both focused intently on their side deck choices, swapping out cards in silence. The crowd of spectators had grown as matches finished in the Regionals and players collected to watch the pair finish side decking, and shuffle.

“I’ll start,” said Zach.

He drew his opening hand and looked at it for a moment before activating Level Limit - Area B and setting a monster. He ended his turn, and Andrew moved in. He special summoned Cyber Dragon, which he tributed for Zaborg to destroy Zach’s set Stealth Bird.

Zach then summoned Exiled Force and tributed it to destroy Zaborg in retaliation, and ended his turn. In Andrew’s draw phase, Zach activated Ojama Trio, filling in 3 of Andrew’s monster zones. Andrew checked the text of the card and returned it to Zach’s graveyard, then summoned Spirit Reaper and attacked directly, stripping Poison of the Old Man from Zach’s hand.

Zach drew, set a spell or trap and ended his turn. Andrew summoned Treeborn Frog, attacked, then attacked with Spirit Reaper, taking another card from Zach’s hand. Zach moved to rebuild his diminished hand by activating Graceful Charity on his next turn, discarding Gravity Bind and Magic Cylinder. He summoned Stealth Bird and attacked Andrew’s Reaper, then ended his turn.

Andrew drew, turned Reaper to defense, then used Metamorphosis to swap Treeborn Frog for Thousand-Eyes Restrict. He sucked up Zach’s Stealth Bird and attacked. Zach drew, looked at his set cards, and ended his turn. Andrew attacked him again with the Bird-equipped Thousand-Eyes, and ended. Zach set a monster, and ended.

Andrew drew, and considered his hand. Then, he activated Heavy Storm, prompting Zach to chain with Secret Barrel – it did a whopping 3200 damage, bringing the life point total to Andrew 4400 and Zach 5900. With a clear zone now for Thousand-Eyes, Andrew pulled over Zach’s set monster, then tributed Thousand-Eyes for Zaborg. He destroyed an Ojama Token with Zaborg’s effect, taking 300 in damage, then removed a light and dark from his graveyard to special summon Chaos Sorceror. He attacked in turn with all of his monsters, bringing Zach down to 900 life points with a completely cleared field.

Things were looking grim for Zach as he drew, and set a spell or trap. Andrew drew, considered the field, and turned his Zaborg to defense position before attacking with the Sorceror. Smart move—the set card was Mirror Force, and Zach activated it to hold on for another turn, sending Chaos Sorcerer to the graveyard.

He drew, set another spell or trap . . . and ended with no monster on his side of the field. His face gave no indication about what he would do next.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t Mirror Force. Andrew attacked directly with Zaborg, and Zach flipped up the card to reveal Just Desserts. Andrew took another dose of direct damage, but Zach had lost the game.

Andrew would be moving on to the finals! He’d made it through two opponents and triumphed over the Scrub Brush Challenge—would he be able to win the entire event?