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April 25, 2009
Round 7 Feature Match:
Hooman Farahbakhsh Versus Matthew Wright
It turns out that Jacob Fonseca was NOT the only undefeated Blackwing Duelist here today! Matthew Wright has taken Blackwings to a 6-0 standing in the tournament, using a dedicated build that’s very different from the Destiny Hero version we saw Fonseca wielding just last round. Packing all the Blackwing monsters you’d expect to see, as well as “Raiza the Storm Monarch” and multiple copies of “Icarus Attack,” it uses “Reckless Greed” to hurry into big combos and end Duels in an instant.
But Wright’s opponent is none other than Hooman Farahbakhsh, repeated Day 2 Duelist and former SHONEN JUMP Champion of Anaheim! Hooman is undefeated with the best ranking in the tournament, and is packing Lightsworn. This Match is taking place at Table 1, and is sure to be huge.
Wright opened game 1 with a hand of “Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn,” “Book of Moon,” “Krebons,” “Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame,” and two copies of “Blackwing – Bora the Spear.” He Set “Book of Moon,” Summoned “Krebons” and ended. Hooman fired back with a single Set monster. Wright drew “Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind,” then Normal Summoned “Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame”! He Special Summoned “Blackwing – Bora the Spear,” then the second copy, and followed up with Gale the Whirlwind! He sent Bora and Gale to his Graveyard to Synchro Summon “Blackwing Armor Master,” entered his Battle Phase, and sent Shura after Hooman’s fae-down monster. It was “Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter.”
Hooman’s Ryko destroyed Armor Master, but Shura’s effect triggered and Wright Special Summoned another copy of Gale. “Krebons,” Gale, and Bora all made direct attacks, dropping Hooman to 3800 Life Points. Hooman’s Graveyard consisted of Ryko, “Charge of the Light Brigade,” “Threatening Roar,” and “Necro Gardna,” courtesy of Ryko’s effect. Wright Synchro Summoned another copy of “Blackwing Armor Master” to finish his turn.
“Heavy Storm” destroyed Wright’s face-down “Book of Moon,” and Hooman Special Summoned his “Necro Gardna” with “Monster Reborn.” He Normal Summoned “Plaguespreader Zombie,” Synchro Summoned “Magical Android,” and Set a card back on top of his Deck to bring back Plaguespreader. He tuned it to “Magical Android,” Synchro Summoned “Black Rose Dragon,” and wiped the field! He ended his turn with two cards in hand.
Wright drew “Emergency Teleport,” and his only remaining card was Sirocco. Hooman Set a monster, Wright Special Summoned Sirocco, and Sirocco attacked Hooman’s face-down “Necro Gardna,” destroying it. Wright Set “Book of Moon,” Hooman Set another monster, and Wright Normal Summoned “Mystic Tomato.” Tomato attacked Hooman’s face-down, Sirocco attacked, and Hooman removed “Necro Gardna” to negate the attack. He still had 3800 Life Points left.
Hooman Summoned “Phantom of Chaos,” removed his “Magical Android” to mimic its ATK, and lost out on his attempted attack to “Book of Moon.” He Set a card to his back row to end. Wright activated “Monster Reborn,” brought back his “Shura the Blue Flame,” attacked with it, and was denied by the other “Necro Gardna.” “Mystic Tomato” attacked, Sirocco attacked, and Wright Special Summoned “Krebons” with “Emergency Teleport” for another attack. He Synchro Summoned “Dark Strike Fighter” in Main Phase 2, tributed “Mystic Tomato” for Dark Strike’s effect, and then tributed the Fighter itself to end the Duel!
Blackwings chalk up their first feature match win at a Shonen Jump Championship! With plays like that, it could be the first of many. Hooman instantly went for his Side Deck, while Wright took the opportunity to give some shoutouts – to Team Invasion, Patrick Booth, and Brad Morgan. Game 2 began moments later.
Hooman activated “Charge of the Light Brigade,” flipping “Heavy Storm,” “Monster Reborn,” and “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast” off the top of his deck – Wulf was Special Summoned, and Hooman fetched “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner.” He Set a monster to end.
Wright had “Brain Control,” Bora, Gale, Teleport, Allure, and “Solemn Judgment” to get things started. He activated “Brain Control,” took control of Hooman’s Wulf, then Normal Summoned Bora the Spear. He Special Summoned Gale the Whirlwind, attacked with Bora, pierced through “Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter” to drop Hooman to 6400 Life Points, but lost Gale to Ryko’s effect. Wulf attacked for 2100 damage, Wright followed up with “Emergency Teleport,” Summoned “Krebons,” and attacked for 1200 more damage.
He moved to Main Phase 2, as Hooman dropped to 3100 Life Points. Wright tuned “Krebons” to Wulf to Synchro Summon “Goyo Guardian,” then finished by Setting “Solemn Judgment.” Hooman activated another Charge, this time sending “Necro Gardna,” “Lightning Vortex,” and “Mystical Space Typhoon” to his Graveyard. He searched his Deck for another “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner,” tried to Summon her, but Wright flipped “Solemn Judgment”! ‘As long as there’s no “Judgment Dragon” I should be good!’ Wright knew Hooman had lost his “Monster Reborn” earlier in the Duel and had virtually no outs to the situation. Hooman Set one spell or trap and ended.
Wright drew “Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind” and added it to his hand of “Allure of Darkness.” He turned Bora to Defense, attacked with “Goyo Guardian,” and Hooman blocked with “Necro Gardna.” Next turn he Summoned his second Lumina, discarded another “Necro Gardna” for her effect, brought back another Lumina, and discarded “Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress” to Special Summon Wulf. He stacked a card to the top of his Deck to Special Summon “Plaguespreader Zombie,” tuned it to the pair of Lumina to make eight Levels, and Synchro Summoned Colossal Fighter! It hit the field with 2900 ATK, and two attacks later Wright’s field was empty.
He drew “Reckless Greed,” and activated “Allure of Darkness” – that got him another Allure and “Trap Dustshoot.” He removed Gale for its effect, Set his hand, and activated the remaining Allure – he hit a pair of traps and instantly conceded.
Hooman Farahbakhsh pulls out a win and brings this Match to a third and final Duel! Both competitors were very careful with their Side Decking.
Wright opened with “Brain Control,” “Reckless Greed,” “Bottomless Trap Hole,” “Light-Imprisoning Mirror,” “Allure of Darkness,” and “Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame.” He Set the Mirror, Reckless, and “Bottomless Trap Hole.” Hooman Set three cards to his back row himself, Set a monster, and ended. Wright drew, flipped “Light-Imprisoning Mirror,” then drew two more cards with “Reckless Greed.” “Allure of Darkness” got him two more cards, and he had “Krebons,” “Dark Armed Dragon,” “D.D. Crow,” Raiza, “Mind Crush,” and “Brain Control.” He removed “Krebons” for Allure’s effect. Shura attacked Hooman’s face-down: it was “Plaguespreader Zombie,” and Hooman flipped “Crush Card Virus” to Tribute it!
Wright lost “Raiza the Storm Monarch,” “Dark Armed Dragon,” and his on-field Shura! He Set another card to his back row and ended. Hooman drew for his turn, flipped his Set “Solar Recharge,” discarded Lumina for it, and drew two before sending two copies of Charge to his Graveyard. He Summoned “Honest,” forgetting he couldn’t return it to his hand, and attacked for 1200 damage. Wright Set “D.D. Crow,” Hooman Summoned “Necro Gardna,” and he sent the Gardna to attack over the Crow. “Honest” made another direct attack.
Hooman activated his Set “Monster Reincarnation,” discarded “Judgment Dragon,” and returned “Plaguespreader Zombie” to his hand – Wright flipped “Mind Crush” and forced Hooman to discard the Zombie. He Normal Summoned Lumina, attacked with all three monsters, and knocked Wright down to 3100 Life Points.
Wright got another draw, but the card he found was “Reckless Greed” – it wasn’t much immediate help. He activated “Brain Control,” took “Honest,” and tried to attack with it, but Hooman flipped “Threatening Roar.” Wright passed the “Honest” back, Hooman sent a card from his hand back to his Deck to get “Plaguespreader Zombie,” then Synchro Summoned “Magical Android” with the Zombie and “Necro Gardna” – Wright flipped “Bottomless Trap Hole”! “Honest” and Lumina attacked, but Wright still had 200 Life Points.
He drew, then flipped “Reckless Greed,” and wound up with “Bottomless Trap Hole,” “Trap Dustshoot,” and “Emergency Teleport.” He Set Bottomless, Set Teleport, and ended. Hooman turned “Honest” to Defense Position, attacked with Lumina, and Wright blocked by Special Summoning “Krebons” with “Emergency Teleport”! Hooman passed. It was over – Wright couldn’t draw any more cards.
He Set “Trap Dustshoot” as a bluff and Hooman attacked with Lumina anyways – it was all over!
Hooman Farahbakhsh loses Game 1 to Matthew Wright , but scores two consecutive victories to continue his undefeated streak. Lightsworn narrowly beat out Blackwings!
-Jason Grabher-Meyer
