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April 25, 2009
Round 4 Feature Match: Matt Johnson Versus James Laurant
Matt Johnson plays for Team Comic Odyssey, and is packing yet another LIGHT Beatdown Deck with “Skill Drain.” If you’ve heard his name before, it might be because he took second place in the 2008 Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME Video Game World Championship. He’s up against James Laurant of Team Illusion, whom we featured earlier in the day for his innovative (and so far undefeated) Counter Fairy Deck. Johnson hails from Southern California, while Laurant traveled here from Florida.
Laurant opened up big, Setting four cards to his Spell and Trap Card Zones and Summoning “Bountiful Artemis”! Johnson Summoned “Elemental Hero Stratos,” Laurant cut him off with “Solemn Judgment,” and drew a card with Artemis’ effect! Johnson Set two cards to his back row, Laurant Summoned “Honest,” made two attacks, and he moved to Main Phase 2. He tried to return “Honest” to his hand with its effect, but Johnson chained “Skill Drain.” Laurant chained “Dark Bribe” to negate “Skill Drain,” the chain resolved with “Skill Drain” negated, and Laurant Special Summoned Van’Dalgyon the Dark Dragon Lord! Van’Dalgyon’s effect then destroyed Johnson’s “Magic Cylinder” card, and Laurant was free to take back his “Honest”!
Johnson Summoned “Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior,” lost it to “Bottomless Trap Hole,” and Set a single Spell or Trap Card. He had 4300 Life Points remaining, but Laurant had 4400 ATK on the table from Artemis and Van’Dalgyon, and he made two direct attacks for the win! Wow.
James Laurant utterly disassembles Matt Johnson in a matter of moments, shattering Johnson’s strategy with a fistful of free cards from “Bountiful Artemis”! Impressive.
After some extensive Side Decking on both sides of the table, Johnson started the second Duel. He Summoned “Elemental Hero Stratos,” searched his Deck for “Elemental Hero Neos Alius,” and Set two cards to his back row. Laurant had a hand of three “Bottomless Trap Hole,” “Bountiful Artemis,” “Trap Eater,” and “Divine Wrath” – an awkward draw for sure, but not a terrible one. He Set two copies of Bottomless, used one to destroy and remove Neos Alius next turn, and took 1800 damage from Stratos. Laurant Summoned “Bountiful Artemis,” Johnson flipped “Torrential Tribute,” and next turn his “Thunder King Rai-Oh” fell straight into the second “Bottomless Trap Hole”!
Johnson Set another spell or trap, Laurant Summoned “D. D. Warrior Lady,” attacked, and Set two cards to his back row. Laurant Set another spell or trap, “D. D. Warrior Lady” crashed towards “Mirror Force,” and “Compulsory Evacuation Device” was chained to save her from destruction. Laurant Summoned her again, lost her to “Bottomless Trap Hole,” and ended his turn. Johnson passed, so Laurant Summoned “Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer,” and attacked for another 1800 damage to remove Johnson’s Stratos from his Graveyard. He Set another spell or trap, so Johnson activated “Soul Exchange,” and Tributed the Kycoo for “Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch.” A flurry of cards later Laurant had “Mirror Force” Set with Thunder King on the field in face-up Attack Position. Johnson had “Solemn Judgment” Set and his own Thunder King, and was the turn player. He sent his Thunder King to attack his opponent’s, and when Laurant flipped “Mirror Force,” Johnson chained “Solemn Judgment.” He then discarded “Honest” for the power-up, ensuring that he’d keep his Thunder King while Laurant’s was destroyed. It was a big turning point in the Duel. Laurant Summoned “Neo-Spacian Grand Mole,” sent it to bump away his opponent’s Thunder King, and took 1900 damage from the same Thunder King when it was re-Summoned next turn. Laurant Summoned Grand Mole again, Set another spell or trap, and ended.
Johnson flipped his Set “Soul Exchange,” Tributed for “Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch” (Laurant’s hand was already empty), and ended, unable to attack due to “Soul Exchange’s” effect. Laurant drew for his next turn and scooped immediately, unable to stop Thunder King and Thestalos.
Matt Johnson pulls out the second Duel, and immediately dives into his Side Deck yet again! A win here would represent an impressive recovery from his crushing Game 1 loss. Laurant was up. The previous Duel had been his first loss of the day.
He opened with “Divine Wrath,” “Dark Bribe,” Kycoo, “Bountiful Artemis,” Bottomless, and “Book of Moon.” He Summoned Artemis, Set everything, and ended. Johnson unleashed “Smashing Ground,” Laurant countered with “Book of Moon,” and turned his Artemis face-down. Johnson Summoned Neos Alius, lost it to “Bottomless Trap Hole,” and Set a spell or trap card.
Laurant Summoned Kycoo, flip Summoned “Bountiful Artemis,” attacked into “Mirror Force,” and negated it with “Dark Bribe” – each Duelist drew a card. Once again, Laurant Set everything to his back row. When Johnson activated “Soul Exchange” Laurant negated it with “Dark Bribe,” drawing. When Johnson Summoned Thunder King, Laurant hit it with “Solemn Judgment,” drawing again. He Summoned another Bountiful, lost it to “Bottomless Trap Hole,” attacked for 3400 damage total, and Johnson activated “Brain Control.” He targeted Artemis, and Laurant chained “Compulsory Evacuation Device” to bring back Artemis to his hand. Johnson Summoned Thunder King to make a direct attack.
It wasn’t enough! Laurant special Summoned “Cyber Dragon,” Normal Summoned Artemis, and had one card in hand with “Divine Wrath” Set. He attacked with “Cyber Dragon,” and before Johnson could play his in-hand “Honest” Laurant revealed the “Divine Wrath” he had Set and at the ready. Johnson was a bit stunned, and conceded the match.
James Laurant takes his first loss of the day, but wins the match anyways! Laurant’s Counter Fairies are undefeated here in Anaheim.
-Jason Grabher-Meyer
