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Pojo.com Exclusive: Match 3 of the Battle for North America
September 1, 2005

Down 2-0, the reeling Americans turn to their prodigy, Stephen Lusko, while the Canadians send out their captain, Matt Peddle (better known as Conspire). 

Stephen Lusko, better known as Prodigy, is unquestionably one of the best players in the nation. Finishing twelfth at this year’s Nationals, he has managed to mix online success (one of the best and most feared players on the internet) with real life success at 2003 Nationals and 2004 Nationals. He was hand-selected by the other members of Team USA to compete. 

Matt Peddle has managed to top eight both of the Canadian nationals (a prodigal feat unmatched by any other player in any other nation) and has a top eight in a Shonen Jump.

He opted to go first. 

Matt Turn One: Matt opens with the standard set monster and s/t. 

Lusko Turn Two: Lusko sets a monster and a s/t. 

M3: Matt flips DDWL, the most common play of this event, and attacks his opponent’s DDWL. Lusko skillfully chains an MST to the end phase on Scapegoat.

7900 8000 

L4: Unable to capitalize with his hand, he is forced to set one of each, ending with 3 cards in hand. 

M5: Delinquent Duo is played, hitting Tsukuyomi, and then Lusko pitches Sinister. There are no further plays. Stephen simply retrieves his SS and passes. Matt passes in return.

6900 8000 

L8: Lusko has his Magician of Faith still face-down, with a defensive trap, an excellent play and semi-bluff. However, he draws into his THIRD copy of Metamorphosis and is unable to do anything. 

M9: Peddle is happy with his board position and sets another of each. 

L10: Lusko draws into a Graceful Charity, which is huge. This sort of advantage should theoretically win him the game. Sinister and Morph are discarded. Delinquent Duo is played (twice with the help of Magician of Faith.) Peddle discards Mirror Force, then Tribe. The second Duo discards Tsukuyomi and Metamorphosis. Stephen then plays Morph on his used MOF to take Conspire’s f/d MOF.

6900 6000 

For the next five or so turns, neither player has any plays but to draw and pass. Conspire rebuilds his hand! On turn sixteen, Lusko sets one of each. They pass again. 

S18: Lusko sets a third s/t, which is matched by Peddle.  

S20: This game has turned extremely passive, but Lusko should be turning up the tempo with his advantage. Lusko pitches a Torrential at end phase. 

S24: On turn twenty four, Lusko makes a move. He flips Heavy Storm, triggering Peddle’s Scapegoat. Lusko chains his own Ceasefire. His Heavy Storm hit Peddle’s Goats, Heavy Storm, and MST, while destroying his own Ring of D. The now free TER takes a Scapegoat token, then is sacrificed for Airknight Parshath to do 1900 damage. Airknight and Lusko’s previously set monster (revealed as Sinister from Ceasefire) hit two tokens. Lusko then morphs an Airknight for Balter and sets 2 s/t.

6000 4000 

M25: For all intents and purposes, Stephen’s stunning gambit has broken the game open. Peddle is forced to react with 7 cih. He sets a monster and two s/t, with one goat on the field. 

S26: Lusko summons Breaker, which is Bottomlessed. Then a Crossout removes the Mystic Tomato from the equation. Serpent into a goat, then Balter for 2000. Lusko then plays Call of the Haunted and attacks with Airknight. Peddle is down to100 life points.

6000 100 

M27: Peddle still has a fair amount of cards in hand. He Snatches Balter, then plays Graceful Charity discarding Premature and Metamorphosis. When Balter runs into a Mirror Force, Peddle scoops. 

Prodigy wins game one. Conspire opens game two.

Matt Turn One: Matt plays a Pot of Greed, then sets a s/t. This is the standard conservative play, with setting one of each being slightly more open. 

Lusko Turn Two: Lusko again sets a monster and a s/t. This move is the standard counter, since he likely assumes whatever monster summoned won’t be able to break through the (presumably) set Scapegoat. 

M3: Matt plays a Delinquent Duo. Ordinarily a Pot followed by a Duo played by someone like Conspire means the game is ended. However, Lusko has the serpent to counter, and randomly discards a Premature Burial. Matt does not follow up with any other plays. Stephen attempts to recover. He retrieves Serpent and ends his turn.

7000 8000 

M5: Matt morphs his Sinister Serpent to absorb Lusko’s f/d DDWL. Stephen passes again.

M7: Stephen is trying to recover his resources, and Matt has put himself into a situation where he cannot get rid of his own TER. He sets a monster and pitches Sinister at the end phase. 

S8: Stephen breaks out from a potentially dangerous situation (tribute) by morphing his own Sinister. It takes Matt’s TER, with DDWL going to the GY. 

M9: His fears come true. Matt plays Snatch Steal, sacrifices for Airknight, then hits for 1900. He then sets a second s/t.7000 6100

S10: Stephen plays another Metamorphosis (coming in clumps they are!) and absorbs the rogue Airknight. Play passes to Matt. 

M11: Matt summons Breaker, hitting a f/d Vortex. He plays his own Vortex, pitching Sinister. He then flips Sangan, attacking for 2600. This sort of resource swing is tremendous.

7000 3500

S12: Lusko lucks into a Graceful Charity. He pitches Sinister and Airknight Parshath. Next, summons Mystic Tomato. Sets 2 s/t.

M13: Matt flips his Heavy Storm! It hits his own Mirror Force, hitting Lusko’s MST and Mirror Force. He then summons Asura Priest, which hits Tomato for 300. Lusko realizes bringing Sangan would end the game, so he brings out a Dekoichi. After all attacks (Breaker, Sangan, Asura), Lusko is at 300 life points.
7000 300

S14: Lusko sets one of each. Matt plays a Swords on his turn, flipping up the f/d Tsukuyomi. Stephen concedes the match because a battle phase would end the game.
 

Matt ties up the score! Stephen begins the next game. It was expected for Pot/Duo to win by such an expert player as Conspire, so Lusko simply had to take his lumps and move on. 

Lusko Turn 1: Lusko opens with the standard set 1 of each. 

Matt Turn Two: Conspire sets a monster, possibly signifying weakness by having no backfield to bring out. Lusko passes. See why Spirit Reaper was ranked so high on my list? :-D. 

M4: Matt plays another Duo! This time, Lusko has no Serpent and he loses Tribe and Ceasefire. He then plays MST on Lusko’s f/d Scapegoats. Asura attacks the goats, then hits a face-down Merchant, which pitches BLS and Mystic Tomato before getting him an MST. Losing two resources AND BLS in one turn will make it very difficult for the prodigy to come back.

8000 7000 

S5: Lusko plays his own Duo! It hits Tsukuyomi and Lightning Vortex. He then summons Breaker, which hits into a Newdoria! Breaker loses his counter, Lusko sets a s/t.

7000 7000

M6: Looking to make a move, Matt plays Graceful. He discards Dust and Asura. He summons Mystic Tomato, attacks for 1400. Lusko simply sets a second s/t and passes. It’s found to be Scapegoat, and Tomato hits a goat during Matt’s next turn. Matt still has no backfield, probably a terrible hand.

5600 7000

S9: It gets worse, Lusko plays morph, taking a Tomato and attacking to even the score.

5600 5600 

M10: Matt summons Tribe, discarding Spirit Reaper to call Spellcasters. At this point, the game is over. Matt had to play GC and Tribe without a serpent, signifying a TERRIBLE hand. My *bold* prediction says the game ends at this juncture. Tribe hits a goat. 

S11: Tsukuyomi kills Tribe.

M12: Breaker hits Mystical Space Typhoon, then hits the last Goat. 

S13: Lusko draws a Pot of Greed. Tsuku attacks into Mirror Force while attempting to kill Breaker.
 

M14: The Breaker now attacks into a Ring of Destruction. Matt sets a s/t and summons a Sangan. 

S15: Lusko sets one of each. 

M16: Sangan attacks into a f/d Tsukuyomi. Tsukuyomi moves itself f/d. Matt sets a second s/t.

3600 4000 

S17: Stephen flips up Tsukuyomi, targeting Sangan. He attacks it and then sets a monster. Sangan gets Sinister. 

M18: Matt’s DD Assailant attacks into a Sakuretsu Armor. Call of the Haunted on Sangan attacks a f/d Magician, which retrives a Pot for Stephen.

S19: Lusko plays Pot, then Premature on Mystic Tomato, which attacks Sangan for 400. Sangan brings out a DDWL.

3200 3200 

M20: Matt plays a Pot. He then sets one of each.
 

S21: After a crossout, Sangan and Tomato attack. Matt is at dangerously low life points now. Lusko sets a monster. Matt responds by setting another s/t and a monster. He now has 3 f/d s/ts.
800 3200 

S23: Lusko sets a s/t before attacking into a f/d MOF with Tomato. Magician retrieves pot, while Sangan then hits into a Scapegoat. 

M24: Matt plays Pot. He summons DDWL, which removes itself along with Sangan. Metamorphosis takes down Lusko’s f/d Tsukuyomi. Lusko responds by setting a monster next turn.

800 2700 

M26: Matt activates Heavy Storm, signaling a big push. It hits Stephen’s Mirror Force and his own Book of Moon. TER absorbs the f/d monster, and is sacrified for Jinzo. Jinzo attacks for 2400. Matt then plays SORL.

800 300

S27: Stephen uses Metamorphosis on Sinister to take Jinzo. He then sets a s/t. Conspire responds with his own s/t with two goats on the field. Lusko responds by setting a monster, 1 turn on SORL to go. On turn 30, Matt sets a second s/t, Lusko passes, and Matt sets a third s/t. 

S33: Lusko plays Heavy Storm, hitting Bottomless Trap Hole, Scapegoat, and Premature Burial. An Airknight Parshath ends the game. 

In this slow paced game, Lusko takes advantage of Conspire’s weak opening to take game three! Conspire opens with his survival on the line.
 

Matt Turn One: He opens with a summoned Sangan and a s/t. Summoning Sangan is a great play because you don’t want it crossed out, and you want it to die as a result of battle to fish for Sinister Serpent and such. This is the best opening play in the game. 

Lusko Turn Two: Refusing to take the bait, Lusko sets a monster and a s/t of his own.

M3:  A summoned Asura Priest attacks a f/d Mystic Tomato which searches out a Sangan. The attack on Sangan runs into a Sakuretsu Armor. Matt leaves his Sangan in attack position. This is a debatable play; on one hand, leaving it in attack position will ensure a Sangan cancel, leaving it in defense position will net him a Sangan effect while robbing Lusko’s. This can be taken to indicate Matt doesn’t have any other solid monster bodies; otherwise he’d have no problems grabbing an early Sangan search. 

L4: Lusko sets a s/t and ends with Sangan in attack position. Notice the game within a game? This Sangan vs Sangan square-off has taken hold of all other plays! 

M5: The Sangans cancel, with both searching out a Sinister Serpent. Matt ends with a s/t still down. Lusko sets a second s/t and ends. 

M7: Matt apparently held onto Sinister for a turn; he activates Graceful, discarding SS and Book. He answers my pleas, summoning a Spirit Reaper and attacking into the sheep. It hits a token. 

S8: Stephen’s freshly summoned Breaker is ringed. Premature on Sangan to poke for 700 into Spirit Reaper.

5700 5600 

M9: Matt summons Tribe, pitching sinister for beasts. Tribe hits Sangan, then Reaper for 300, which discards a Magician of Faith.

5700 4700 

S10: Lusko plays a Pot of Greed to bait him out. He sets a Sinister to morph. It takes Tribe, which attacks for 1300. Conspire has left himself in a bad position; his TER-killing out just left the board, and Reaper is stuck in attack position! Lusko sets a s/t and ends.
4400 4700

M11: Matt plays Creature Swap, which is responded to by a Scapegoat. He then sets a s/t and ends. One gets the impression that Matt KNEW there was a Scapegoat down, but wanted to force out a Scapegoat activation to slow the game down.

S12: TER hits the last goat. Lusko drops a SORL to slow the game down even further.
Matt sets a monster in response. Lusko, acting on a read, attacks it next turn; it’s a Magician which retrieves Graceful Charity. 

M15: Matt plays Graceful, discarding Serpent and Dust Tornado. He then sets a monster and a third s/t. 

S16: TER kills the f/d Newdoria, which has worked great in this duel thus far. Matt triggers a Scapegoat to Reaper’s attack. 

M17: Matt plays Breaker, getting rid of SORL. Spirit Reaper is causing problems though, but Matt hits it for 1300.

4400 3400 

S18: Stephen asks for a deck count before deciding a deck out would be near impossible. He sets a monster and ends. 

M19: Matt attacks a f/d Dekoichi. He then discards Sinister at the end step. Lusko sets a s/t and also discards his sinister at the end step. It comes down to hands full of resources on both sides! 

M21: Matt plays a Delinquent Duo, taking advantage of the end step discard! It hits a Morphing Jar and a Spirit Reaper. He then sets a third s/t. Lusko passes.

3400 3400 

M23: Matt plays a morph, taking Reaper. It hits a goat (2 left). Lusko simply sets a monster, Matt hits another goat, and Lusko sets a third s/t.

M27: Matt sacs TER for Airknight. Airknight attacks into a Mirror Force, losing a Breaker as well! At main phase 2, Matt plays another morph, taking the f/d Sinister Serpent. 

S28: Stephen morphs his last goat token, leaving his TER open. It does not absorb any of Matt’s monsters. He then sets a monster f/d. 

M29: Matt capitalizes on this passivity by attempting to go for game. He plays MST on Stephen’s Sinister Serpent to absorb the TER on the field. It’s sacrificed for Jinzo. BLS is also summoned. BLS attacks into the f/d…… only a DDWL will save him. The face-down card is D.D Warrior Lady, and BLS is removed from game! Jinzo attacks for 2400, but this overextension will lead to Conspire’s demise.

3400 1000

S30: Stephen plays Heavy Storm. He then snatches Jinzo, and Tsukuyomi flips it down then up. Lightning Vortex clears the board, and America has come back to leave the series at 2-1!
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