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Top 16 Feature Match:
Adam Corn versus Brett Angel
There are three Synchro Cat Decks here in the Top 16, but Brett Angel’s is perhaps the most interesting. While other Duelists are toying with one or even two copies of “Mystic Tomato,” Angel is Main Decking three, giving him superior access to both “Summoner Monk” and a pair of “Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind.” The result was an 8-1 finish in the Swiss rounds of his very first SHONEN JUMP Championship here this weekend, and now a Day 2 Feature Match in the Top 16 against former U.S. National Champion and SHONEN JUMP Champion Adam Corn.
Corn is one of three Duelists packing a “Black Salvo” Deck here in Day 2, running a version of the Deck we profiled yesterday. Corn developed his build in conjunction with Cesar Gonzalez, and it’s been painstakingly developed into the list he’s playing today.
Angel won the roll and opened the day with “Neo-Spacian Dark Panther,” “Bottomless Trap Hole,” “Book of Moon,” “Mind Control,” “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness,” and “Allure of Darkness.” He activated Allure, drew “Cold Wave” and another Panther, and removed the second Panther. Not the kind of opening he wanted – he hadn’t drawn any of this three “Mystic Tomatoes,” and nothing to get to “Summoner Monk” or “Rescue Cat.” Not even a copy of Gale. He Set “Bottomless Trap Hole” and that was it.
Corn Set a card to each Zone and ended. Angel drew and Special Summoned “Cyber Dragon,” attacked, and destroyed Corn’s “Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive.” He drew a card with its effect. Angel ended, wary of the possible “Black Rose Dragon” plays “Black Salvo” could now produce. Getting that Dekoichi into the yard so early is an imposing play, and it costs Corn nothing. Now Angel would have to carefully restrain the number of cards he committed to the field for the rest of the game.
“Gold Sarcophagus” let Corn strip “Monster Reborn” from his Deck. He Set another monster and ended. Angel ripped a second “Mind Control,” but had no Tuner to pair it with, so he attacked with “Cyber Dragon” again – destroying Corn’s “Dark Grepher.” A weird choice from Corn that telegraphed bad things. If Corn was willing to risk a card like that he clearly had aggressive plans for next turn. Corn activated “Heavy Storm” next turn though, clearing the field, then Summoned “Black Salvo” to bring back “Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive.” He Synchro Summoned “Dark Strike Fighter,” then Special Summoned “Dark Armed Dragon”!
“Dark Armed Dragon” attacked first, and Angel Special Summoned “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness”! The Emissary of Darkness Token hit the field with 2800 ATK, and Corn was stymied. He removed DARK monsters from his Graveyard to destroy Gorz and the Token, and ended, unhappy, Setting one Spell or Trap.
Angel drew “Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind,” but Corn flipped “Trap Dustshoot”! That revealed Angel’s hand: “Cold Wave,” “Neo-Spacian Dark Panther,” Gale, “Book of Moon,” and two “Mind Control.” Dark Panther threatened to mimic “Dark Armed Dragon’s” effect, but Corn sent Gale back to Angel’s Deck instead. Corn knew Angel only had one DARK in his Graveyard, and could only destroy one of his monsters with the Panther.
Angel took control of “Dark Armed Dragon” with “Mind Control,” removed Gorz from his Graveyard to destroy “Dark Armed Dragon,” Set “Book of Moon,” then Set the Panther. Corn drew and started running numbers.
He Normal Summoned “Cyber Valley,” then activated “Mind Control” to try and take Dark Panther! Angel chained “Book of Moon,” turning “Cyber Valley” face-down. It was exactly what Corn wanted – he couldn’t do much damage this turn if his Dark Strike was hit with Book in response to its attack. Corn took the Panther, made a direct attack with “Dark Strike Fighter,” launched it for 1400 damage, and then activated “Monster Reborn”! He brought back Dark Strike and launched it one more time for game!
Brett Angel sees virtually none of his signature tricks, and Adam Corn capitalizes to take a quick victory! It looked like Corn was on a beeline to the Top 8. Both competitors spent some time Side Decking, but Corn was a little more lighthearted about it than Angel.
Angel opened Duel 2 with “Mystic Tomato,” “X-Saber Airbellum,” “Rose, Warrior of Revenge,” “Trap Dustshoot,” and two copies of “Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind.” He Set Tomato, set Set Dustshoot, and didn’t use it next turn. Corn Set three cards to his Spell and Trap Card Zone. Angel drew “Sangan” and lost it to Corn’s own Dustshoot next turn. He Flip Summoned “Mystic Tomato,” attacked for 1400 damage, and ended.
Corn just Set another Spell or Trap Card, eating 1400 more damage from Tomato next turn. Angel Set a second Spell or Trap, Corn Set a fourth, and Angel attacked into “Mirror Force,” losing his Tomato. He Set a monster, Corn Set another Spell or Trap, and Angel Flip Summoned “X-Saber Airbellum.” Corn responded with “Bottomless Trap Hole.” Angel Summoned Rose and attacked for a total of 1900 damage. Corn Set another Spell or Trap and was down to 3300 Life Points. What the heck was happening on Corn’s side of the table?
He took another 1900 damage from Rose, and ripped into “Allure of Darkness.” He activated it, drew two cards, and pitched “Dark Armed Dragon” to his removed from game zone. He took Rose with “Brain Control,” attacked for 1900 damage, and then tributed her for a Set monster. Angel was up.
Angel now had “D.D. Crow,” “Dark Armed Dragon,” two Gale, “Mind Control,” and “Giant Trunade,” with two cards Set. He activated Trunade and Corn chained “Threatening Roar.” Angel Set “Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind,” Set Dustshoot, and another Spell or Trap. He flipped Dustshoot next turn, but revealed no monster! Corn had “Mirror of Oaths,” “Destiny Draw,” “Heavy Storm,” two “Mind Control,” and “Torrential Tribute.” Ouch. He activated “Heavy Storm,” destroying Angel’s face-down “Book of Moon,” and Set three cards.
Angel Normal Summoned “Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind,” Flip Summoned his other copy, and Corn flipped “Torrential Tribute.” Knowing he was in the clear, Angel Special Summoned “Dark Armed Dragon” and Corn immediately conceded!
Brett Angel battles back to push this match to Duel 3, destroying Adam Corn as he struggles to draw even a single monster! Rough Beats for the former U.S. Champion…
Corn opened the last Duel with a Set Spell or Trap Card. Angel had “Brain Control,” “D.D. Crow,” “Summoner Monk,” “Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind,” “Monster Reborn,” and “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness.” He Normal Summoned Gale and struck for 1300 damage. Corn fired back with “Cyber Valley” and “Mind Control,” removing Gale and Valley for two draws and a quick hit to Angel’s cards. He Set a Spell or Trap Card and ended.
Angel topped “X-Saber Airbellum,” attacked, and Corn flipped “Scapegoat.” Airbellum took out a “Sheep Token” and Angel ended. Corn Normal Summoned “Mystic Tomato,” slammed it into “X-Saber Airbellum” and Special Summoned “Sangan.” He was telegraphing “Crush Card Virus.” Angel drew “Gravekeeper's Guard.”
Sure enough, Corn activated “Crush Card Virus,” tributing his “Sangan.” Angel lost his “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness” and Airbellum, left with “Brain Control,” Reborn, Monk, Crow, and Guard. Corn went to five cards in hand when he searched out another “Cyber Valley” with “Sangan’s” effect, and still had three “Sheep Tokens” and one Set Spell or Trap Card. Angel Set “Gravekeeper's Guard” and ended.
Corn was happy to Normal Summon his second “Cyber Valley” and draw two more cards by giving up a Sheep Token. He activated “Allure of Darkness” next, drew two, and removed “Dark Grepher” for Allure’s effect. He Set a Second Spell or Trap Card, contemplated a third, and then Set it. He was now back at five cards in hand. He even went so far as to Set a fourth Spell or Trap to finish out.
Angel drew and revealed “Mystical Space Typhoon,” still under “Crush Card Virus’” effect. Angel Set a Spell or Trap himself and ended, just having to wait out Crush Card. Corn was in total control. He drew, added a fifth Spell or Trap Card to his field, and ended.
Angel drew “Crush Card Virus,” and this was his last turn under Crush Card’s effect. He Flip Summoned “Gravekeeper's Guard,” eliminated a Token with its effect, then attacked the last Sheep Token. He Set two more cards to his Spell and Trap Card Zone. Corn drew to five cards and despite his massively invested field, he could actually use “Black Salvo” for “Black Rose Dragon” here and still be ahead – luckily he wasn’t armed with a Dekoichi yet. He Set a monster though, threatening to address that problem.
He flipped “Trap Dustshoot” next turn, revealing Angel’s hand of “Summoner Monk,” “D.D. Crow,” Dustshoot, and “Monster Reborn.” He kicked the Monk back to Angel’s Deck. Angel turned Guard to Defense Position, Set his Dustshoot, and flipped it next turn – Corn had another non-monster hand! Unbelievable. Corn ended and Angel drew “Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter.”
He Set it, ended, and Corn drew and activated “Gold Sarcophagus” next turn. He removed “Dark Armed Dragon,” and Set a fifth Spell or Trap. Angel drew “Giant Trunade,” precisely what he’d need if he was going to pull this out. Unfortunately, he also need Corn to not have multiple copies of “Threatening Roar,” and it was a good bet at least one of those five cards on Corn’s field was a copy of it.
Corn Flip Summoned “Destiny Hero - Defender,” chained “Torrential Tribute,” and Angel chained “Crush Card Virus” to Tribute his Guard! Corn lost nothing to the Virus. Angel drew a second “D.D. Crow.” He activated “Giant Trunade.” “Roar?”
“Yeah, I’ll Chain Roar” replied Corn, flipping it. Angel Set “Mystical Space Typhoon,” then activated “D.D. Crow” to remove Corn’s “Sangan.” Corn drew “Elemental Hero Stratos,” lost it to Crush, and activated “Heavy Storm” to destroy Angel’s “Mystical Space Typhoon.” He then Set four Spell or Trap Cards. Angel drew “Mystic Tomato”!
He Summoned it and attacked, dropping corn to 5100 Life Points. Angel had only three cards left in hand. Corn drew to four. He activated “Monster Reborn” to try and bring back “Elemental Hero Stratos,” but Angel threw down the second Crow! “Another “D.D. Crow”? Are you SERIOUS?” Corn reeled. “Go.”
Angel topped “Pot of Avarice”! He sent back “X-Saber Airbellum,” “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness,” “Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter,” “Gravekeeper's Guard,” and one of his Crows to draw Airbellum and another Pot. He Summoned the Airbellum after confirming that Corn had used his “Torrential Tribute,” and Corn responded with “Bottomless Trap Hole.” He took another 1400 damage from Tomato though, dropping to 3700 Life Points. “How many DARKs in your grave?”
“Two.”
“Yeah, go.”
Corn drew and Set a monster. Angel drew “Cyber Dragon” and considered his “Monster Reborn,” before slamming “Mystic Tomato” into Corn’s face-down “Destiny Hero - Defender.” Corn drew for his turn and time was called. Corn Normal Summoned “Plaguespreader Zombie,” Synchro Summoned “Goyo Guardian,” Special Summoned his “Plaguespreader Zombie” back, and Special Summoned “Dark Armed Dragon”! “Mind Control” let him take “Mystic Tomato” and he Synchro Summoned “Gaia Knight, The Force of Earth”! Angel had 7700 Life Points, but Corn struck for 2800 damage, then 2800 more, and finally 2600 for game!
Adam Corn has some monster problems throughout the third Duel, but explodes onto the field thanks to “Plaguespreader Zombie” after out-drawing Brett Angel all day long! He extended a sincere handshake to Angel, and got ready for the Top 8!
reported by
Jason Grabher-Meyer
