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Round 3 Feature Match:
Bobby Chambers Versus Cesar Gonzalez
Bobby Chambers came off a big win yesterday, claiming victory (and a set of Duel Terminal cards) in the Pegasus League Deck Challenge. It’s a whole different game today though, as now he’s up against Cesar Gonzalez here in the main event!
‘You know if you beat me you get four packs!’ grinned Chambers. He was one of several players bearing bounties here today, meaning that he would earn two extra booster packs for every match he won. If he lost a match, his opponent would win four boosters, all supplied by our friends at Konami. Pretty cool!
Cesar’s playing the Deck he built with Adam Corn, which we profiled earlier in the day. It’s a really well-developed “Black Salvo” build, and it’s been tearing up California tournaments for months now. Chambers was running Lightsworn, a Deck that can have the tendency to play right into the patterns Salvo strategies try to create.
Cesar won the roll and opened the match with “Torrential Tribute,” “Dark Armed Dragon,” “Sangan,” “Mind Control,” and two copies of “Threatening Roar.” He Set “Sangan,” Set “Torrential Tribute,” and ended his turn. Chambers set a card to each Zone, ended, and Cesar drew “Bottomless Trap Hole.” He set “Threatening Roar” to end.
Chambers activated “Solar Recharge,” discarded “Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior,” and drew two. He sent “Celestia, Lightsworn Angel” and “Plaguespreader Zombie” to the Graveyard, then summoned “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner.” He discarded “Necro Gardna” for Lumina’s effect with priority, and Cesar chained “Torrential Tribute”! Cesar grabbed “Cyber Valley” with his “Sangan’s” effect and Bobby ended his turn.
Cesar topped “Scapegoat,” Set it, and then Set “Bottomless Trap Hole.” Chambers Summoned another Lumina, then discarded “Monster Reincarnation” to bring back Garoth – but Cesar removed it with Bottomless! Lumina struck for 1000 damage and Chambers was looking pretty low on cards.
“Cyber Valley” hit the field, and Cesar had the “Mind Control” to pair it with! He took Lumina with “Mind Control,” removed her and “Cyber Valley” for two draws, and just kept whittling away at Chambers’ cards. He drew “Gold Sarcophagus” off the Valley’s effect, activated it, and removed “Reinforcement of the Army” from his Deck.
Chambers Summoned “Honest,” attacked, and sent it back to his hand. Cesar drew to five in hand, holding “Black Salvo,” another “Cyber Valley,” “Dark Armed Dragon,” “Threatening Roar,” and “Destiny Draw.” He still had two Set Spell or Trap Cards. Chambers attacked with “Honest” again next turn. Cesar knew he could get to Plasma next turn if he needed to, thanks to “Elemental Hero Stratos,” so he flipped “Scapegoat” to block the relatively small amount of damage from “Honest.” Chambers capitalized – on the replay, he didn’t attack a Sheep token, opting instead to take back “Honest” to finish out his turn.
Cesar drew “Return from the Different Dimension,” took his “Reinforcement of the Army,” and searched for “Elemental Hero Stratos.” He Summoned it, but instead of searching out Plasma he nabbed Malicious – after all, there was nothing to take with Plasma. He discarded Malicious for “Destiny Draw,” drew “Monster Reborn” and “Trap Dustshoot,” and attacked for 1800 damage.
Dustshoot next turn: “Judgment Dragon,” “Celestia, Lightsworn Angel,” “Beckoning Light,” “Honest,” and Lumina. He sent Lumina back to Chambers’ deck. Chambers Set “Honest,” ended, and Cesar drew “Mystical Space Typhoon.” He wasn’t going to attack into “Honest,” so ended his turn. Chambers passed next turn and Cesar Drew another Valley – it was useless at the moment since his field was locked with Stratos and four Sheep Tokens.
He spent some time checking Chambers’ Graveyard, before considering setting “Return from the Different Dimension.” He eventually went for it. Chambers passed again, Cesar drew “Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive,” and he passed. Chambers passed back, Cesar drew “Plaguespreader Zombie,” passed, and discarded the Zombie.
Chambers discarded “Celestia, Lightsworn Angel” for “Solar Recharge,” drawing two and sending “Monster Reborn” and “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast” to the Graveyard. He Special Summoned Wulf. He still had no real follow-up though, and ended his turn by Setting another Spell or Trap. Cesar destroyed his previous one, “Threatening Roar,” with “Mystical Space Typhoon” in the End Phase.
He drew and sent Stratos to attack Chambers’ Wulf to try and clear his field. Chambers knew he was in trouble and blocked by removing “Necro Gardna.” (That’s a sad situation, when you have to use your “Necro Gardna” to stop your opponent from throwing away cards.) Cesar ended, Chambers turned Wulf to Defense Position, and Set another Spell or Trap. Next turn Cesar destroyed Wulf with Stratos. He had four DARK’s in his graveyard and was loathe to put a fifth there, so when he had to discard in his End Phase he threw down another “Cyber Valley.” Chambers drew, passed, and discarded “Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior” in his End Phase as his fourth Lightsworn.
Cesar Tributed Stratos to Set “Destiny Hero – Malicious” next turn, then Tributed it on the following turn for “Crush Card Virus” – Chambers lost Wulf and two copies of “Judgment Dragon”! He revealed the rest of his hand: Lumina, “Card of Safe Return,” Ryko, and “Crush Card Virus.” His face-down “Honest” remained on the field. Chambers set “Crush Card Virus,” then activated “Beckoning Light” to trade his “Card of Safe Return,” Ryko, and Lumina for two copies of “Judgment Dragon” and another Lumina. He Flip Summoned “Honest,” returned it to his hand, and sent Lumina back to the top of his Deck to Special Summon “Plaguespreader Zombie.” He mistakenly tried to activate the “Crush Card Virus” he’d just Set, a huge misplay! The play was disallowed, and Chambers had to seriously rethink the rest of his turn.
Chambers shook his head, frustrated with his mistake. He Special Summoned “Judgment Dragon,” debated using its effect with priority, and eventually decided to pay for the effect: Cesar chained “Threatening Roar,” losing Return and “Mirror Force.” Chambers lost his “Crush Card Virus” and “Foolish Burial,” and ended.
Cesar now had a hand of “Dark Armed Dragon,” “Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive,” “Gold Sarcophagus,” “Black Salvo,” “Monster Reborn,” and “Threatening Roar.” He had five DARK Monsters in his yard, and activated “Monster Reborn”! He took “Destiny Hero – Malicious,” Normal Summoned “Black Salvo,” used it to Special Summon “Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive,” and then Special Summoned “Dark Armed Dragon”! He used Dekoichi and Salvo to Synchro Summon “Dark Strike Fighter,” then activated “Gold Sarcophagus.” He removed another Salvo from his Deck, then sent Dekoichi back to the top of his Deck to Special Summon “Plaguespreader Zombie.” That let him Tune to Malicious for “Stardust Dragon,” he removed Malicious for “Dark Armed Dragon’s” effect to blow away “Judgment Dragon,” and attacked with “Stardust Dragon.” Chambers had two “Necro Gardna” to block “Dark Strike Fighter” and “Dark Armed Dragon’s” attacks, but he only had 2700 Life Points left – not enough to survive “Dark Strike Fighter’s” effect!
Cesar Gonzalez waits for the big move from Bobby Chambers, blocks it, and then fires back for the win! That’s exactly how this Deck is supposed to work, and if it worked that well one more time Cesar would be heading into Round 4 undefeated!
“I’ll go first,” announced Chambers. He opened with “Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid,” and Set a Spell or Trap. In the End Phase he sent “Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress” and “Beckoning Light” to the Graveyard. Cesar was up.
He Normal Summoned “Mystic Tomato,” attacked over Aurkus, and called Chambers’ bluff! There was clearly no “Honest” in sight for Chambers. Cesar had “Gold Sarcophagus,” “Destiny Hero - Defender,” “Dark Grepher,” “Black Salvo,” and “Elemental Hero Stratos.” He activated Sarcophagus to remove “Destiny Draw” from his Deck for later.
Chambers activated “Card of Safe Return,” then followed up with “Foolish Burial” for “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast”! He drew a card with “Card of Safe Return’s” effect, Set a monster, and ended without attacking. Cesar drew “Destiny Hero – Malicious,” making that “Destiny Draw” play next turn even easier. He sent “Mystic Tomato” to attack Chambers’ face-down Ryko and Ryko destroyed the Tomato, but Chambers lost two copies of “Honest” and a copy of “Charge of the Light Brigade” from his Deck! Ouch.
Cesar Normal Summoned “Elemental Hero Stratos,” searched for “Destiny Hero - Defender,” and ended. He was setting up the possibility of big things next turn thanks to “Dark Grepher.” Chambers sent Wulf to run over Stratos, Set another monster, and ended.
Cesar discarded Malicious for “Destiny Draw,” drawing into “Allure of Darkness.” He activated it, and removed “Destiny Hero - Defender” for Allure’s effect. He Normal Summoned Grepher, discarded his second Defender for Grepher’s ability, and sent “Plaguespreader Zombie” from his Deck to his Graveyard. He placed a card back on top of his Deck to bring out “Plaguespreader Zombie,” removed one Malicious to Special Summon his second, and Synchro Summoned “Stardust Dragon.” He sent the Dragon to attack Chambers’ face-down “Necro Gardna,” set three cards to his Spell and Trap Card Zone, and ended.
Chambers activated “Charge of the Light Brigade” next turn, sending “Celestia, Lightsworn Angel,” “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner,” and a Wulf to the Graveyard. He searched for another Lumina and Special Summoned Wulf to draw a card.
He Normal Summoned Lumina, discarded another “Necro Gardna” with priority for her effect, and brought back “Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress.” He drew again, then activated Lyla’s effect. Cesar Tributed “Stardust Dragon” to negate Lyla’s ability, and she was destroyed. Chambers then activated “Mystical Space Typhoon,” and Cesar chained the targeted card: “Threatening Roar.” Exactly what Chambers didn’t want to see! Chambers Special Summoned “Judgment Dragon,” activated its effect with priority, and fell right into “Bottomless Trap Hole”! The field was completely wiped. He set one of his remaining cards to his Spell and Trap Card Zone and ended. Cesar took back his “Stardust Dragon.”
Next turn Cesar attacked for 2500 damage with the Dragon, but Chambers drew and flipped “Beckoning Light” on the following turn! He took back “Honest,” Lumina, and “Celestia, Lightsworn Angel,” discarded Celestia for Lumina’s effect, and brought back Wulf. Chambers sent “Honest” back to his Deck to Special Summon “Plaguespreader Zombie,” Synchro Summoned “Goyo Guardian,” and attacked to take control of “Stardust Dragon”! Lumina made a direct attack and Chambers passed with an empty hand.
Cesar drew: he had “Black Salvo,” “Brain Control,” and “Monster Reborn” in hand. He activated Reborn, took Lumina, and Normal Summoned Salvo to make his own “Goyo Guardian”! He attacked “Stardust Dragon,” ran into “Necro Gardna,” and next turn Chambers traded his Goyo for Cesar’s in battle. He attacked with Stardust for 2500 damage.
But Cesar was far from finished! He activated “Monster Reborn” on “Goyo Guardian,” attacked his “Stardust Dragon,” and forced Chambers to use one of his “Necro Gardna” effects. Chambers activated “Solar Recharge,” discarded Lumina for it, and drew two cards. The Duel stood at 4300 Life Points to 3100 with Chambers leading. But he drew nothing off that Recharge, and ended.
Cesar drew: he had “Black Salvo” and “Skill Drain” in-hand, and he sent Goyo to attack into Chambers’ third “Necro Gardna.” He set “Skill Drain” and ended. Chambers activated “Heavy Storm,” destroyed “Skill Drain,” and Set a monster. Cesar drew “Mind Crush,” and finally succeeded in attacking the “Stardust Dragon” with “Goyo Guardian”! He Special Summoned it in Defense Position. He Set “Mind Crush,” activated it next turn, called “Judgment Dragon” and!... completely missed. No “Judgment Dragon” meant Cesar had to discard “Black Salvo.”
But it didn’t matter – “Judgment Dragon” was the only thing that could save Chambers at this point, and a turn later Cesar was taking Chambers’ Garoth with “Goyo Guardian.” That was it – Chambers’ field was overrun, and he immediately offered the handshake.
Cesar Gonzalez is now 3-0!
reported by
Jason Grabher-Meyer
