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April 25, 2009
Round 9 Feature Match:
Tomas Mijares Versus Brian Snow
Brian Snow hails from San Leandero and is here this weekend playing Lightsworn. His opponent is Tomas Mijares, who has somehow managed to go 6-2 so far this weekend with an Assault Mode Deck! Both of these Duelists know each other from tournaments in the area, so with a quick shout-out to Snow’s girlfriend Alicia, the Match was underway!
Mijares opened the match with “Armageddon Knight,” “Destiny Hero – Malicious,” “Reinforcement of the Army,” “Heavy Storm,” “Upstart Goblin,” and “Brain Control.” He activated Upstart, drew “Assault Beast,” and Summoned the Knight to send “Plaguespreader Zombie” to his Graveyard. “Go ahead.”
Snow activated “Solar Recharge,” discarded “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast” for its cost, drew two cards, and sent “Charge of the Light Brigade” and “Celestia, Lightsworn Angel” to his Graveyard. He activated another Recharge, this time discarding “Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter,” and sent “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast” and “Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior” to his Graveyard! Wulf was Special Summoned.
“I’m so tired” commented Mijares, sounding exhausted. Snow Summoned “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner,” discarded “Necro Gardna” for her effect, and Special Summoned “Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior.” Garoth took down “Armageddon Knight,” Wulf and Lumina made direct attacks, and Mijares was reduced to 4450 Life Points. In the end phase Snow sent “Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter,” “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner,” and Wulf to the Graveyard with Lumina’s effect, Special Summoning Wulf. Garoth then sent another Gardna and “Honest” to the yard.
Mijares drew “Emergency Teleport,” exactly what he needed! He activated “Brain Control,” took control of one “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast,” and then Tributed it for “Destiny Hero – Malicious”! “Emergency Teleport” got him “Krebons” from his Deck, and he Synchro Summoned “Colossal Fighter.” He discarded “Assault Beast,” searched his Deck for “Assault Mode Activate,” added it to his hand, and removed “Destiny Hero – Malicious” from his Graveyard to Summon his second copy. He returned “Heavy Storm” to the top of his Deck, Special Summoned “Plaguespreader Zombie,” and Synchro Summoned “Stardust Dragon”!
“Colossal Fighter” attacked “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner,” and Snow protected her with “Necro Gardna.” Mijares Set “Assault Mode Activate” and ended his turn! In his opponent’s Draw Phase he flipped “Assault Mode Activate,” Tributed “Stardust Dragon,” and Special Summoned “Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode” from his Deck! It finally hit the table in a feature match!
Snow had five cards in hand, with Lumina, Wulf, and Garoth on the field. He activated “Brain Control,” targeted “Colossal Fighter,” and Mijares Tributed “Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode” to negate it. Mijares seemed unsure of his position: “If you’ve got game, you’ve got game. That’s just how it goes.”
Snow didn’t have the followup! He discarded “Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior” to Special Summon him with “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner.” He Set one card to his back row, moved to his End Phase, and quickly sent a total of ten cards off the top of his Deck to the Graveyard – unfortunately that was three more cards than he should have sent, and he added two cards to his hand from Garoth’s effect before the table judge could stop him. There was no way to tell which cards had been added to Snow’s hand by mistake – the game state was irreparable, and unfortunately a game loss had to be employed. There was just no fixing the game state. Everybody was clearly a bit tired.
Tomas Mijares certainly didn’t want to win the way he did, but the facts are the facts: “Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode” finally saw the light of play, and Mijares is one Duel win away from a 7-2 record here tonight!
A couple minutes later Snow opened Game 2 with “Charge of the Light Brigade,” sending “Crush Card Virus,” “Judgment Dragon,” and another Charge to the Graveyard! Ouch. He searched his Deck for “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner,” then Normal Summoned “Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid” – he ended his turn, then sent “Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior” and “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast” to his Graveyard – Wulf came up!
Mijares had “Crush Card Virus,” “Dark Armed Dragon,” “Destiny Hero – Malicious,” “Allure of Darkness,” “Threatening Roar,” and “Mirror Force.” He activated Allure, drew “Reinforcement of the Army,” “Destiny Draw,” and removed “Dark Armed Dragon.” He activated “Destiny Draw,” discarded Malicious, and drew “Mind Control” and “Skill Drain.”
“Reinforcement of the Army” got him “Armageddon Knight.” He used its effect to send “Plaguespreader Zombie” to his Graveyard, sent “Armageddon Knight” to attack Aurkus, and sure enough he drew out the “Honest” he was looking for. Mijares took 1200 damage, “Armageddon Knight” went down, and Mijares Set two cards to his back row: “Mirror Force” and “Skill Drain.” He Set a third card and ended.
Snow turned Aurkus to Defense Position, then attacked with “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast” – Mijares didn’t activate “Mirror Force,” and dropped to 4700 Life Points. Snow ended his turn, tried to send two cards to his Graveyard with Aurkus’ effect, and Mijares let him, not flipping the “Skill Drain.” Celestia and “Beckoning Light” hit Snow’s Graveyard and play was to Mijares.
He drew “Krebons,” and was holding “Mind Control” and “Crush Card Virus”! He Summoned “Krebons,” removed “Destiny Hero – Malicious,” and Special Summoned another copy form his Deck. Mijares tuned “Krebons” to Malicious, Synchro Summoned “Colossal Fighter” in Attack Position, and attacked over “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast” with 3100 ATK. He Set “Crush Card Virus,” then returned “Mind Control” to the top of his Deck to Special Summon “Plaguespreader Zombie.”
Snow activated “Brain Control,” targeting “Colossal Fighter” – Mijares chained “Crush Card Virus,” Tributed his other monster, and Snow lost two copies of Celestia, Lyla, and revealed his hand: “Plaguespreader Zombie” and “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner.” Snow took control of the “Colossal Fighter,” ran some numbers, and Summoned “Plaguespreader Zombie.” He turned Aurkus to Attack Position, tried to move to his Battle Phase, and Mijares activated “Threatening Roar”! Snow passed “Colossal Fighter” back and ended, sending “Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter” and Beckoning to his Graveyard.
Mijares drew his “Mind Control” again, then attacked “Plaguespreader Zombie” with “Colossal Fighter” – Snow dropped to 3500 Life Points, while Mijares had 4700. Mijares ended.
Snow revealed his draw for “Crush Card Virus”: “Necro Gardna.” He Set it, and Mijares drew “Summoner Monk”! He Summoned it, it went to Defense Position, and Mijares discarded “Mind Control” for its effect. “Rose, Warrior of Revenge” hit the field, and Mijares tuned her to the Monk to Synchro Summon “Thought Ruler Archfiend”! Thought Ruler attached Aurkus, and Mijares gained 1200 Life Points. “Colossal Fighter” swatted down “Necro Gardna” and play was to Snow.
He drew to two cards in hand, Set a monster, then Set a Spell or Trap Card. Mijares drew “Elemental Hero Stratos” – he sent “Thought Ruler Archfiend” to attack Snow’s face-down monster, but Snow defended it with “Necro Gardna’s” effect. “Colossal Fighter” destroyed it in battle, and next turn Snow Set another monster. Mijares attacked again with “Thought Ruler Archfiend,” destroying another Lumina and gaining Life Points, then attacked for 3200 damage with “Colossal Fighter”! Snow had just 300 Life Points, and Set another monster.
Mijares attacked with “Thought Ruler Archfiend,” hitting “Honest” – Mijares offered the handshake and Snow accepted it with a smile – Mijares takes the win!
“Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode” hits the table and it’s all down hill from there! One more match win and Tomas Mijares will finish with an 8-2 record and a shot at Day 2. Shocking!
-Jason Grabher-Meyer
