“I used to talk to this guy on AIM all the time, but then I got tired of him,” Kris Perovic remarked jokingly as the players began to shuffle up. He then followed it up with a serious question: “Wait, how do you spell your name anyway?” Kris Perovic was very happy to be here, only one win away from being guaranteed a Crush Card Virus and two away from the title. If Keanson Ye was excited at this point, he wasn’t showing it. It was all poker face all the time from Ye’s side of the table, and nothing Perovic could say was going to throw him off his game.
After a fairly huge amount of shuffling, the players finally rolled to see who would start. Keanson won the roll and started us off by setting Treeborn Frog and Torrential Tribute. Kris had Destiny Draw, pitching Destiny Hero — Malicious, and he removed it from the graveyard to bring Malicious number two to the field. He then set a monster and passed over to Keanson. Keanson dropped D. D. Warrior Lady and attacked Kris’ set Card Trooper. He did not remove it however, and Kris got a card. Keanson ended his turn and Kris activated Reasoning! Keanson called something other than 6, and Jinzo flopped off the top of the deck. Kris attacked D.D. Warrior Lady with Jinzo, but Keanson opted not to remove them both. His reasoning became clear next turn when Snatch Steal came down to rob Jinzo from him. It was joined by Spirit Reaper. Jinzo destroyed Malicious, but Reaper only managed to rob a useless Threatening Roar from Perovic before Ye was forced to pass. Kris gained 1000 from Snatch Steal and brought the final Malicious to the field in defense position.
He then decided that it was time to use Monster Gate, tributing Malicious and losing a lot of good spells before revealing Destiny Hero — Diamond Dude. Diamond Dude activated and hit a Reinforcement of the Army. During the Monster Gate, a Divine Sword - Phoenix Blade made it into the graveyard, but Kris couldn’t get it back yet. He equipped the Dude with another Phoenix Blade and used Monster Gate revealing another Diamond Dude but losing Dimension Fusion in the process. One Blade returned to his hand by removing a Dude and a Malicious, but Kris really wanted to get that Dimension Fusion back in order to deal serious damage. “I wish I didn’t think that was a Book of Moon,” remarked Kris referring to Keanson’s set card. He used Magical Stone Excavation to bring back Heavy Storm and used it to retrieve his Jinzo! If he could just hang on he could still win, even without Dimension Fusion. Both monsters attacked Reaper, and Kris ended his extremely long turn.
Next turn, Keanson tributed his set Treeborn Frog for Mobius the Frost Monarch and attacked Diamond Dude. Kris had a Reinforcement of the Army effect to play, and he did so, searching out Elemental Hero Stratos from his very thin deck. Stratos fetched Diamond Dude, and Magical Stone Excavation pulled back Lightning Vortex! It cost him the rest of his hand, but a Divine Sword — Phoenix Blade was returned to allow the Vortex to see play! Just like that, Kris Perovic pulls out a win from a tough situation, proving that Diamond Dude Turbo is still alive and well in the new format.
The players commented on the different ways that match could have gone, and after some smoke-screen side decking and a brief discussion on Jinzo vs. Dreadmaster, we were ready to begin. Keanson opted to start game 2, and he did so with Dimensional Fissure and a set to each zone. Kris activated Destiny Draw, unfortunately removing a Malicious from the game. He checked his cards with dismay and activated Card Destruction removing Dark Magician of Chaos, Exiled Force, and Card Trooper from play and discarding a Reasoning. He played his normal summon next, summoning Stratos to fetch Malicious, and he attacked into a Gravekeeper’s Spy. Kris passed his turn with no backfield, and Keanson activated Snatch Steal and attacked with everything to try to pump through enough damage to put Kris out of the range of using Dimension Fusion. Dimension Fusion at this point would allow Keanson to get some monsters back as well, but a Lightning Vortex would make that irrelevant. In the meantime, Kris summoned Diamond Dude and flopped a Reinforcement of the Army. He attacked a Spy with his Dude, but it was lost to Sakuretsu Armor. Kris Perovic took a moment to think, and ended up scooping to go to game 3. A first turn Dimensional Fissure from Keanson Ye completely shuts Kris Perovic down and moves this match to game 3!
Between games, Kris asked if he could see his picture that I had taken. I remarked that he probably had more important things to think about, but he replied that his picture was clearly more important than this match.
Kris started out with Reinforcement of the Army for Elemental Hero Stratos which he immediately summoned to fetch Destiny Hero — Malicious. He passed without further play, and Keanson summoned Cyber Dragon to attack Stratos. Ye set a spell or trap and passed back to Perovic who activated Snatch Steal. Book of Moon kept the Cyber Dragon firmly planted on Keanon’s side of the field, however, and Premature Burial was activated to bring back Stratos! This time, Stratos fetched Diamond Dude, and Kris paused to consider his rather large hand. Diamond Dude was summoned, but it hit Twister! Twister returned to the bottom of the deck and Kris’ next play was Card Destruction. Neither player lost anything major, but it did get Malicious into the graveyard for Perovic who removed it to summon another in defense position. Stratos took down Cyber Dragon and Diamond Dude swung directly.
Kris ended without further play and Keanson considered his options. He had a Mirror Force which would come in handy if Jinzo didn’t come along to ruin his day, but he opted to start with Reinforcement of the Army to fetch a D.D. Survivor. Survivor came down and attacked into Diamond Dude, and Keanson set his Mirror Force before ending. Action was back to Perovic who searched his graveyard for wealth to plunder. He then took a calculator break to see if he could win the game this turn. He tributed both of his monsters for Dark Magician of Chaos, and chose to return Premature Burial to his hand. Kris followed up with Heavy Storm to destroy Mirror Force and he summoned a new Malicious, in attack position this time. Perovic then played the ever risky Reasoning, and Keanson called 6. He was right, and Jinzo hit the graveyard. Exactly where Kris needed it to be in order to resurrect it with Premature Burial! Kris did some math on his calculator and decided to remove Stratos and Diamond Dude to bring back his Phoenix Blade. Lightning Vortex wiped the Survivor and Premature Burial brought Jinzo into the fold, leaving Perovic with one card in hand. All three monsters attacked leaving Keanson with 600 life points but 4 cards in hand. 3 of them could get a monster off Perovic’s field, but could he turn that removal into a massive come from behind victory?
Keanson had Neo-Spacian Grand Mole, Smashing Ground, and Sakuretsu Armor, and he chose to summon the Mole! After quickly reading the text, he attacked into Kris’ Magician, removing it from play. Smashing Ground dropped Jinzo, and Keanson set Sakuretsu Armor and activated Dimensional Fissure. Malicious attacked, but was destroyed by Sakuretsu Armor and removed from play. Perovic simply passed, and Keanson summoned his Mole to attack. Kris kept drawing nothing and took a hit from the Mole and Asura Priest next turn. He got a quick reprieve thanks to Keanson setting a Gravekeeper’s Spy, and it was destroyed by a Reinforcement of the Army fetched Exiled Force in Kris’ next turn. Keanson needed two more hits to win, but he dared not risk leaving his field bare! He set a card to each zone and passed over to Kris who studied his cards with care. It was now or never for Kris Perovic, and he summoned Destiny Hero — Diamond Dude flopping Dimension Fusion off the top of his deck! Dude got a Sword and Kris set a spell or trap, ending his turn.
Asura Priest couldn’t just attack over the dude, but if Dimension Fusion went off next turn it would be a disaster! Keanson couldn’t do anything however, and he extended the handshake to Kris Perovic! Kris Perovic brings Diamond Dude Turbo to the finals and will take on teammate Emon Ghaneian for the championship!