We’re dipping into the X-1 pool a bit early today for a matchup between fan favorite Andrew Hayton and a duelist who hails from my part of the country, Pittsburgh, PA. Hayton is running a Warrior toolbox with Stratos and Card Troopers today while David is running a Destiny Hero Monarch variant, popularly known as Perfect Circle. At X-1, both players needed this win to keep their hopes alive.

The players rolled about four times before Hayton finally won the roll. He opened up with a pair of spell and trap cards and passed over to David. During the draw phase, he shuffled back David’s Sangan with Trap Dustshoot leaving him with a pair of useless Thestalos the Firestorm Monarchs. He passed with no plays and Hayton drew and passed as well. Treeborn Frog came down in attack position next turn and swung for 100 before passing. Hayton set a monster and David tributed for Thestalos to discard Hayton’s Mirror Force, only to lose him to Ring of Destruction shortly after. Hayton flipped Dekoichi and attacked for 1400 before setting a card to each zone and passing. Frog came back for David next turn, and he used Brain Control to steal Dekoichi and tribute it for another Thestalos, this time hitting Hayton’s in-hand Elemental Hero Wildheart. Nobleman of Crossout came down next and Hayton lost the rest of his Dekoichis.

Thestalos fell to Sakuretsu Armor and play returned to Hayton, who set a spell or trap and passed. Reinforcement of the Army fetched out Elemental Hero Stratos for David, and he summoned him to search out Destiny Hero — Malicious. He now had a Destiny Hero to use for Destiny Draw and he activated it. Stratos hit directly, and David ended his turn. Hayton gave his next card a little kiss, and revealed it to be Card Trooper. He summoned it and knocked Torrential Tribute, Heavy Storm, and Premature Burial off his deck to pump it before attacking Stratos. Hayton set a second card to his back row and hoped to avoid a beating from Mobius. David removed his Malicious to special summon another from his deck, and then activated Premature Burial on Stratos. He used the second effect to blow up Hayton’s freshly set card, but Hayton chained it! Shrink halved the attack of Stratos and Snatch Steal stole Card Trooper. The Trooper was pumped, and David summoned Destiny Hero — Fear Monger. The Trooper hit directly, but Stratos was stopped in his tracks by Call of the Haunted on Hayton’s Wildheart. David passed, and Hayton gained 1000 life points before attacking his own Trooper with Wildheart. Hayton then used Smashing Ground to rid the field of Fear Monger and set a spell or trap before passing. Malicious was tributed for Cyber Dragon next turn, and the Dragon swung at Wildheart. Hayton considered his response, but didn’t have one. Wildheart went down, and Stratos swung through for game! David Keener takes total control of the field and keeps Hayton locked out to take game 1!

“I knew that wasn’t going to go so spicy when I saw his hand with that Trap Dustshoot . . .” remarked Hayton as he pulled his opening hand. He started with a set monster and passed back to David Keener who summoned Treeborn Frog and activated Nobleman of Crossout to remove Hayton’s Card Trooper from play. He followed up with a hit for 100 and a set spell or trap while Hayton set a spell or trap of his own. Thestalos came down for David discarding away Hayton’s The Warrior Returning Alive before attacking into Mirror Force. Hayton set Trap Dustshoot and flipped it in David’s draw phase to send Snipe Hunter back to his deck. He had no avenue to capitalize, however, and passed his next turn. Both players passed for two turns before Hayton set a pair of spell or trap cards. David summoned Snipe Hunter and declined priority, allowing it to fall into Bottomless Trap Hole. He passed back to Hayton, who set a second spell or trap and ended his turn. Reinforcement of the Army fetched Stratos for David, which in turn fetched Destiny Hero — Disk Commander. Stratos connected, and play was back to Hayton, who activated Smashing Ground and summoned Elemental Hero Wildheart for an attack. “It’s true; I run monsters!” remarked Hayton.

Wildheart was stolen by Brain Control, but Hayton chained with Trap Dustshoot to send Thestalos back to David’s deck. Wildheart hit for 1500, and David set a monster before sending things back to Hayton. Wildheart swung into the set Disk Commander, and David set another monster before passing. The set Fear Monger was obliterated by Exiled Force next turn, and Hayton scored some damage. David had Premature Burial though, and he brought up Disk Commander, drew two, and tributed him for Zaborg before attacking directly. Hayton brought up a Wildheart with Premature Burial and then summoned another one before activating Snatch Steal to take Zaborg and attempt a swing for game! It didn’t work though, as Sakuretsu Armor took down Zaborg and saved the game. In the next turn, David summoned Cyber Dragon and activated Snatch Steal to steal one of Hayton’s Wildhearts for game.

David started up game 3 with Elemental Hero Stratos to fetch Malicious just long enough to pitch him to Destiny Draw. He removed the Malicious from play to summon another before setting a spell or trap and passing. Hayton had plenty of monsters this time around, and he started with his own Stratos to fetch out Elemental Hero Wildheart and summon him. Stratos attacked into Malicious, but Ring of Destruction obliterated him before he could do any harm. Hayton set a spell or trap and passed back to David, who attacked with Stratos. Sakuretsu Armor blew him away, and Hayton held out his hand for David to discard from. Soon thereafter, Thestalos hit the field and robbed him of Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive. David passed, and Hayton summoned Wildheart and used Smashing Ground to clear the way for a direct attack. Play was back to David, and he set a monster before passing to Hayton, who blew it away with Exiled Force.

It was Disk Commander, and Wildheart took a swing before Hayton passed back to David. He set another monster and passed back to Hayton, who hungrily eyed his Pot of Avarice. He set a monster and passed back to David, who set a second monster. Dekoichi flipped for Hayton, and he drew before summoning another Wildheart. Treeborn Frog and Destiny Hero — Fear Monger hit the field before Dekoichi swung directly. Hayton set a pair of spell or traps, and David drew before bringing up Disk Commander and Treeborn Frog. Hayton had Trap Dustshoot, and he used it to reveal Zaborg, Thestalos, Malicious, Reinforcement of the Army, Fear Monger, Snatch Steal, Pot of Avarice, and Brain Control. Hayton thumped the table angrily, and sent back Thestalos. Brain Control took Wildheart and swung into Dekoichi before being tributed for Zaborg to take out the other Wildheart. Play was back to Hayton, and he could finally activate Pot of Avarice!

Hayton shuffled back both Dekoichis, Wildheart, Stratos, and Exiled Force to draw two cards, and got Heavy Storm and a Wildheart. Not exactly prime material right now. Smashing Ground destroyed Zaborg, and Hayton set a monster before passing. David had an Avarice of his own, and he used it, shuffling all his graveyard monsters back into the deck before drawing two. Destiny Draw with Malicious followed, and David dropped Reinforcement of the Army to get back Elemental Hero Stratos. Stratos came down, wiped Hayton’s back row, and mauled his Sangan. Sangan fetched out Card Trooper, and David set a card before ending. Hayton drew into The Warrior Returning Alive, and he set a card to each zone before passing. Mobius came down for David to destroy Hayton’s set Heavy Storm, and Stratos attacked his set Card Trooper. Mobius hit directly, and play was back to Hayton. He eyed his graveyard before setting a card to each zone and passing. Snipe Hunter came down for David and he rolled to destroy both of Hayton’s cards, allowing all his monsters to attack for game! David Keener pulls some crazy Destiny Hero tricks to defeat Andrew Hayton, 2-1!