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JAELOVE's Smooth Journey
TopiYugioh.com's
Match 6 of the Battle for North America
August 22, 2006
With Chris Simoes and Dale Bellido on
Canada's side left versus the seemingly impervious wall of
Emon Ghaneian, Anthony Alvarado, and Kris Perovic still
left, Dale Bellido realized he had to play his heart
out against Overdose's monster. The two duelists met up,
exchanged handshakes, and rolled dice. Emon would open game
one, a huge edge between such equally matched pros. The face
of Canadian Yu-Gi-Oh! would clash for the first time with
the most successful American duelist in history!
Emon Turn One:
Emon opens with Confiscation, revealing Dale's Mirror Force,
two Magician of Faiths, Zaborg, and Mobius. A quick discard
of Force leaves Dale with no defensive options. Emon sets a
monster and passes. 8000 7000.
Dale Turn Two:
Dale sets one of each and passes.
E3: Emon crosses Dale's set Magician (a bold play
with no spells in the yard!). Because Emon removes zero, his
face-down monster must be Magician. He summons Reaper and
hits for 300, discarding Zaborg.
7700 7000.
D4: Dale plays Smashing Ground on Reaper. He then
sets his Faith.
E5: Emon flips
the telegraphed Faith, crossing out Dale's last Magician. He
then pokes for 300. 7400 7000.
D6: Dale summons Reaper which attacks Faith. Emon
flips Mirror Force.
E7: Emon moves Magician to defense and passes, Dale
passes, and Emon sets a monster.
D9: Dale summons Sangan, which hits Emon's Magician
of Faith.
E10: Emon flips Dekoichi, removing the floating
Sangan for 400 damage. Dale digs out Morphing Jar. Emon sets
one of each and passes. 7000 7000.
D11: Dale decides to burn his hand, having seen the
one Crossout (of two in deck) leave play earlier. Having the
fortitude to put such a play out on the field is a hallmark
of a good player. He summons Cyber Dragon, attacking into
Sakuretsu Armor. He then summons Sorcerer, removing the
Dekoichi, and sets his Morphing Jar.
E12: Emon has the answer though. He special summons
Cyber Dragon, then uses Zaborg to hit Dale's face-down
Morphing Jar. He then summons Sorcerer to remove Dale's
Sorcerer, and attacks for 2400 with Zaborg.
4300 7000.
D13: Dale plays Premature Burial on his Sangan,
tributing for Mobius. Emon smacks himself for setting the
Return (a misplay because Mobius had been flashed on the
turn one Confiscation and Return was unnecessary). Dale
takes Spirit Reaper from hand and attacks Chaos Sorcerer for
100 damage. He summons his topdecked Sorcerer to remove
Emon's Zaborg. Emon holds two cards in hand, so the exchange
leaves Dale in good shape. 3500 6900.
E14: In a play
that observers claim was not topdecked whatsoever, Emon with
three cards in hand summons Chaos Sorcerer to remove Dale's
Sorcerer, then summons Zaborg to destroy Dale's Mobius and
hit for 2400. 1100 6900.
D15: Dale is in deep trouble now. He sets one of each
and passes.
E16: Emon, attempting to go for game, makes his
uncharacteristic second huge misplay of the match. He
summons Dekoichi, knowing Dale had flashed Reaper from the
Sangan search. Zaborg attacks into Sakuretsu, and the
worthless Dekoichi reveals Reaper.
D16: Dale sets a spell/trap and passes. He is in
topdeck mode after the flurry of exchanges.
E17: Emon sets a spell/trap, which is MSTed at the
end phase.
D17: Dale sets a Controller.
E18: Emon plays Shrink and Dale's Controller is
useless. When Dekoichi attacks for game, Dale has to play EC
on it. This is a forced but terrible play. Dale has no
choice, obviously, being at 1100 life points.
D19: Dale topdecks Breaker, which hits the marauding
Dekoichi.
E20: Emon topdecks Premature Burial. He had Cyber
Dragon in hand, but Premature seals the deal.
In a game that best exemplifies the rapid
fire nature of the format, Emon's hoarding of resources and
key Confiscation win the game for him. Play moves to game
two, with Team Canada's backs to the walls.
Dale Turn One: Dale returns Emon's favor by playing
Confiscation. He discards Emon's Graceful, playing a
Graceful of his own. He then sets one of each and passes.
7000 8000.
Emon Turn Two:
Emon summons Cyber Dragon which attacks Magician. Dale
returns Graceful Charity to hand. Emon sets a spell or trap
and passes.
T3: Dale summons
Cyber Dragon, Tsukuyomi, and picks up the +1 while cracking
for 1100. The early Confiscatoin let him move past Emon's
bluff. 7000 6900.
E4: Emon summons Newdoria which cracks the Cyber
Dragon. He then passes. 7000 6000.
T5: Dale sets a second s/t and passes. The two
duelists pass for the next five turns.
D11: Dale breaks the flirtatious teasing by summoning
reaper. It runs into Torrential.
E12: Emon sets a second s/t and a monster.
D13: Dale plays Crossout on Morphing Jar. He smells a
Heavy lurking, and plays Space from hand on Emon's Shrink.
The two duelists again pass the next two turns.
E16: Emon sets a monster and passes.
D17: Dale is still holding Charity. With seven cards
in hand, he finally plays it, drawing into two Goldds! He
discards both. One Goldd is tributed for Zaborg (since
Torrential is gone), and both monsters attack into
Scapegoat. Two goats are removed. This free +2 is huge, and
Dale will undoubtedly win the duel due to this fortuitous
circumstance.
E18: Emon
summons Chaos Sorcerer. He takes priority to remove Goldd.
He then moves a goat to attack, attempting to swap for
Dale's Zaborg. Dale chains Scapegoat, and Emon has made
another mistake (he should have removed the Zaborg). This is
uncharacteristic of Mr. Ghaneian. D19. Dale attacks the
Sorcerer for a +1. He then moves the goat to defense.
7000 5900.
E20: Emon plays a huge Premature Burial, removing
Zaborg. He then sets a third s/t.
7000 5100.
D21: Dale believes he has the +1 pro storm after
flipping it, but Emon works a wonderful Decree/Call chain to
make it a two for two. He targets Sorcerer. Dale summons
Cyber Dragon, then summons Sorcerer removing Emon's
Sorcerer. Cyber Dragon hits for 2100, then Dale sets a s/t.
7000 3000.
E22: Emon summons Banisher to hit Dale's goat. He
then attempts to play Enemy Controller on his last goat to
take Sorcerer, but Dale has the huge Deck Devastation Virus!
Emon can't believe his bad fortune and is left with one card
in hand.
D23: Dale
summons Tsuku, which clears Banisher. Dale has 4 cards in
hand and two spell or traps to Emon's topdeck.
E24: Emon draws
two Spirit Reapers and scoops.
Dale hits a huge hand after passing six
turns with Graceful Charity conserved. The lucky double
Goldd allows him to pull out a win over the invincible Emon.
Emon opens the pivotal game three.
Emon Turn One: Emon sets a monster and passes. Again,
this is a very conservative opening.
Dale Turn Two:
Dale has another monster hand. He plays Graceful with one
Goldd in hand, drawing into the second. Discarding both
gives him two Goldds to the field again. Hitting the
Merchant reveals Book of Moon (important), and the other
Goldd hits for 2300. Dale then sets one of each and passes.
8000 5700.
E3: Emon can't
believe Dale's good fortune, muttering and sighing to
himself. He sets one of each and passes, obviously trying to
weather the storm.
D4: In what Matt
Peddle and I call the crucial turn of the match, Dale makes
two semi-misplays in one turn. The first is summoning Mobius
after seeing the Moon flashed last turn. The other is
attacking Goldd into the face-down, then trying to activate
his DDV in the damage step. Emon's Night Assailant destroys
a Goldd, leaving Dale with a still impressive board after he
sets another of each.
E5: Emon now knows that Dale has a DDV down. So Dale
plays DDV in the draw phase. Emon discards DDWL, and has
Sorcerer Graceful and Cyber Dragon in hand. He summons
Dragon which hits Mobius for a +1 (huge).
D6: Dale flips
his Magician for another Graceful. He discards Morphing Jar
and MST. He summons Breaker, which hits Emon's Call. He then
summons Sorcerer to remove Cyber Dragon. Incredibly, the
game is now near even. Breaker attacks.
8000 4100.
E7: Emon has drawn Premature Burial. He summons
Sorcerer, attempting to remove Dales. Dale chains DDV (it'll
be the only time he can use it really), revealing Emon's
Premature, Graceful, and Mirror Force. Premature and
Graceful are the two best cards for the situation Emon is
in, so his board is stabilizing quite well. DDV is missing
all of Emon's draws as well. Emon sets a s/t and passes.
D8: Dale plays Call of the Haunted. This is his last
chance for board control. He removes Emon's Sorcerer.
Breaker attacks for 1600. 8000
2500.
E9: Emon is forced to play Graceful with DDV active.
He discards Magician and Sakuretsu Armor. However, he had
drawn two more Sorcerers off Graceful Charity! He summons a
Sorcerer, removes Dale's, and passes. Dale passes. Emon
removes Breaker and passes, and Dale sets a monster.
E13: Emon summons Tsukuyomi, which is quite unusual.
Dale triggers Torrential, destroying his own Reaper.
D14: Dale sets a monster and passes. Emon sets a
second s/t, Dale sets a s/t, and Emon seizes the initiative.
E17: Emon plays Premature Burial which brings out
Sorcerer. It hits Dale's face-down Tsukuyomi. Dale's
defenses seem to be bare.
D18: Dale summons Cyber Dragon. He Crosses the
Sorcerer, attacking into Mirror Force.
E19: Emon plays Space. Dale has no response. Emon
flips Return for game, climbing back from a huge hole for a
stunning 2-1 defeat over Dale Bellido!
Emon seizes victory from Dale Bellido's
grasp, leaving Chris Simoes to take down three Overdose in a
row.
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