I’m a big fan of rematches, especially when the rematch is between the two finalists of an earlier SJC. Two years ago Gustavo Reyes and Patrick Smith battled for the title right here in Columbus. Last time, Pat Smith walked away with the win, but Gustavo is determined to make sure that the result is different this time.

He made a good start of things by winning the opening roll, and he began with a set card to each zone. Pat activated Swords of Revealing Light revealing Gustavo’s set Card Trooper. He then summoned Senju of the Thousand Hands to pull Demise, King of Armageddon from his deck. He had no further moves and passed over to Gustavo who simply passed. One turn of Swords had passed, but Pat still had two more attack-free turns to assemble his combo. He activated Heavy Storm, but Gustavo chained Scapegoat. Not really relevant considering what Demise does. Advanced Ritual Art came down next, dropping Neo Bug and Insect Knight into the graveyard, to bring the big blue bruiser to the field. He paid 2000 life points to wipe the field and then dropped Doom Dozer. Metamorphosis or Megamorph would win the game, and Pat had the Morph to change Demise out for a Cyber Twin Dragon to swing for game. Pat Smith wins game 1 on his second turn. Just goes to show that when the Doom Dozer build goes off, it wins huge. “Max’s deck is much better than mine,” commented Smith.

Gustavo spent some quality time with his side deck between games while Pat gave props to Chris Moosman for the deck he was running. Reyes started once again, and set a monster and a pair of spells or traps before passing over to Pat who simply set a pair of spells or traps. Gustavo flipped Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive to draw a card and attacked for 1400. He added a set monster to his field and passed over to Pat, who simply passed without doing anything. Gustavo flipped another Dekoichi to get another card, but this time Torrential Tribute wiped the field of monsters. He then summoned Bazoo the Soul-Eater and activated it, removing one Dekoichi from play. Bazoo connected for 1900, and Gustavo seemed to contemplate Call of the Haunted. He flipped it, but Smith had the Royal Decree to negate it. Gustavo set another spell or trap and passed over to Pat who seemed to have nothing worth doing. He shuffled his hand a great deal before setting a monster and passing. Gustavo added Hydrogeddon to his field and removed the other Dekoichi to pump Bazoo again. Nobleman of Crossout removed Pat’s set Sonic Bird and Gustavo hit for 3500 this time. Pat was at 1200 life points, out of the range of using Demise’s effect, making this game all but over. Smith activated Giant Trunade and then summoned Neo Bug and added a Megamorph. The Bug attacked Bazoo forcing 1900 damage through, but any removal would win the game for Reyes. He had the Smashing Ground and Pat Smith scooped up his cards. Gustavo Reyes takes game 2 easily while Pat Smith faces a textbook case of deck instability. This is where the extra search and Ritual monsters seen in Max Suffridge’s Advanced Ritual Art build would really come in handy.

Gustavo was pretty happy with his side deck choices while Pat made a couple more changes before their final game. It was Pat’s choice of who would start, and he opted to begin. He did so with a set monster and a shake of his head before passing. Gustavo blazed out of the gates with Cyber Dragon and Hydrogeddon. Hydrogeddon mauled the face down Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu, replicating the ‘Geddon while Pat got to search for Premature Burial. Pat was down to 4300 already, and Gustavo set a spell or trap before ending. Ring of Destruction could put a quick end to Smith if he summoned Demise right now, so he had to consider his next move very carefully. He summoned Neo Bug and slapped a Megamorph on it. The Bug swung into Cyber Dragon, but Dust Tornado removed the buff during combat and Pat Smith offered the handshake. Gustavo Reyes wins his rematch versus the 2005 Columbus champion and defeats the extremely popular Advanced Ritual Art/Demise OTK deck in the process!