Hugo Adame has made it to Day 2 yet again, his first Top 16 qualification since January’s Shonen Jump Championship Orlando, with what may come to be viewed as the prototypical Dark Armed Dragon control build. Light and Darkness Dragon, Gravekeeper’s Spy, and Gravekeeper’s Guard define Hugo’s pacing, and the result is a fast, controlling deck that can set tempo and then shatter it.
But his opponent is Chioh Yim, who took ninth place yesterday with Gravekeeper’s Monarchs. I asked Adame what he thought of his matchup, and he had nothing but praise for Yim’s strategy: “I like his deck,” remarked Adame. “I think it’s well done and I think he’s my hardest matchup. Remember Florida?” Adame was referring to his Top 16 match against Matt Tuxford, in which his opponent, a Gadget player packing lots of remove-from-play traps, somehow beat his Macro Cosmos build.
The matchup seemed impossible to lose, but a series of incredibly poor draws paired with Tuxford’s impeccable play kept Adame from advancing. “Now it’s the opposite: I need my opponent to draw like I did in Orlando. But his deck can’t miss its Monarch drop. His deck is designed to not miss it.” Adame was taking his own evaluation in stride, but he was certainly aware that the odds were stacked against him. Could he pull this match out, or would Yim’s innovation let him defeat one of the most experienced duelists here in Day 2? We were about to find out.
Hugo opened with Gravekeeper’s Spy, Reinforcement of the Army, Mind Crush, Trap Dustshoot, Allure of Darkness, and Gold Sarcophagus. Reinforcement of the Army got him Elemental Hero Stratos, who in turn let him search out Destiny Hero – Fear Monger. He activated Allure of Darkness, removed his Spy for its effect, and then activated another Allure!
He’d drawn into Crush Card Virus, another Spy, and Dark Armed Dragon. This time he removed the Fear Monger, and he followed it up with Gold Sarcophagus, searching for Reinforcement of the Army and removing it from play. Yim heaved a sigh, probably making the correct deduction: if Adame didn’t search for Crush Card Virus with Gold Sarcophagus, he was already holding it. Adame set Trap Dustshoot and Mind Crush, thought a moment, and set the Crush Card as well. “Go ahead.”
“Any responses in my draw phase?” asked Yim.
“I’ll Dustshoot.” Yim revealed his hand: Sangan, Legendary Jujitsu Master, Book of Moon, Soul Exchange, Dark Bribe, and Metal Reflect Slime. Adame sent the Jujitsu Master back to Yim’s deck, then activated Mind Crush to strip Yim of Dark Bribe. With this level of control over Yim’s hand, Adame was effectively dictating Yim’s plays. He set the Sangan, set a spell or trap card, and ended, shaking his head. Adame had a huge advantage thanks to his incredible hand, and now all he had to do was lean on Yim.
He summoned Spirit Reaper and sent Elemental Hero Stratos to attack the Sangan — that forced Yim to flip Book of Moon, turning Stratos face down. “Go ahead.” Yim flip summoned Sangan and attacked Stratos, then set another card to his back row.
Adame drew for his turn, then claimed his Reinforcement of the Army from the removed from play pile, courtesy of Gold Sarcophagus. He activated it, searched his deck for Dark Grepher, and counted his graveyard. He discarded Dark Magician of Chaos to special summon Dark Grepher, passed priority, then discarded Gravekeeper’s Spy to send Destiny Hero – Malicious to his graveyard.
He played his last card — Dark Armed Dragon! Adame had Dark Armed Dragon, Spirit Reaper, Dark Grepher, and his set Crush Card Virus to Yim’s Sangan, set spell or trap, and two cards in hand. He removed Gravekeeper’s Spy to blow away Yim’s set Metal Reflect Slime, and then removed Malicious from his graveyard to special summon his second copy in attack position. He removed Dark Magician of Chaos last, destroying Yim’s Sangan — he used its effect to seek out Snipe Hunter. Dark Armed, Grepher, Malicious, and Spirit Reaper all attacked, with Reaper forcing Yim to discard the Snipe Hunter he had just searched out. Yim had just 2400 life points remaining.
Whatever his topdeck was, it didn’t help: “You got it,” admitted Yim. Both players began siding for the second game.
An absolutely broken opening hand let’s Hugo Adame make short work of his opponent, overcoming a hideous game 1 matchup! Would he side in the Doomcaliber Knights?
Yim opened with Necrovalley, and then set four cards to his back row! Adame opened with Allure, Dark Magician of Chaos, Gold Sarcophagus, Monster Reborn, Strike Ninja, and Dark Armed Dragon. He played Allure, drawing Royal Decree and Heavy Storm, giving up the Magician. He activated Gold Sarcophagus, seemingly trying to draw out negation — Yim let it through, and Adame removed D.D.R. - Different Dimension Reincarnation from his deck. He set one card to his back row, the Decree, and ended.
Yim passed, and Adame flipped Decree in the end phase! That forced Yim to activate Dark Bribe, and Adame drew Reinforcement of the Army with its effect. Next turn he drew Destiny Draw, activated the Reinforcement to fetch Elemental Hero Stratos, and summoned him. Stratos got him Destiny Hero – Disk Commander, and he discarded the Commander for Destiny Draw. He went for it, and activated Heavy Storm!
Yim had another Dark Bribe! Adame was wearing him down, and attacked with Stratos, only to be rebuked by Metal Reflect Slime! Adame had six cards in hand and Stratos on the field.
Yim drew to three in hand, with the Slime, a set spell or trap, and Necrovalley on the field. He passed yet again. Play was back to Adame.
He set two cards to his back row, set a monster, and ended: the Slime was keeping him locked down. But next turn he activated Trap Dustshoot, revealing Torrential Tribute, Necrovalley, Soul Exchange, and Mobius the Frost Monarch, the latter of which was shuffled back into Yim’s deck! Yim set another card to his back row and ended.
“Go.” Adame still couldn’t capitalize, and passed. Yim activated Soul Exchange next turn, targeting Adame’s set monster, but he chained Crush Card Virus and tributed the monster himself — Sangan! That cost Yim the Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch he’d been attempting to tribute for, and Adame searched out Snipe Hunter with Sangan’s effect. All three of his Doomcaliber Knights were still in his deck, visible as he shuffled, but at this rate he wouldn’t need them anyway. Yim ended with two spell or trap cards set, Necrovalley and Metal Reflect Slime on the field, and one card in hand.
Snipe Hunter came down for Adame. He called priority for its effect, discarded Dark Magician of Chaos, and targeted Necrovalley — Yim sighed, chained Torrential Tribute to wipe the field, and then lost Necrovalley to Snipe Hunter’s effect. That left Adame free to wreak some havoc.
He removed Destiny Hero – Malicious from his graveyard, and then special summoned Dark Armed Dragon to clear the field. Premature Burial, Monster Reborn, and D.D.R. - Different Dimension Reincarnation were more than enough to finish the match, and Adame slammed his fist to the table, pumped to take a 2-0 victory in such a tough matchup. He shook Yim’s hand, congratulated him, and started shuffling up for his Top 8 match!