Round 9: Bryan Coronel vs. Wilson Luc

Judge Ken Jackson placed the match slip onto the feature match table, prompting Bryan Coronel to examine the one in his hand. “Oh. This isn’t mine.” He blinked, and the judge scurried off to run the match slip back to a very confused table 12.

Both of these legendary competitors were on the “bubble.” With 6-2 records, the winner would stand a chance of making Day 2, while the loser would most certainly not. Luc won the die roll and opted to go first. He opened with a set card to each zone and Coronel was up.

 

He summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, broke Luc’s Royal Decree, and played Delinquent Duo. Breaker attacked Sinister Serpent, Coronel set a card to his spell and trap zone, and Luc had some recovery work to do.

He summoned Asura Priest and sent it after Breaker, but Book of Moon prevented the attack from finishing. Luc set a spell or trap, and next turn, Coronel attacked the Priest with Breaker. He set another monster, played Swords of Revealing Light, and was mildly dismayed to see his freshly-set Magician of Faith removed from the game next turn by Luc’s Nobleman of Crossout. Luc set a monster and passed.

D.D. Assailant came down on Coronel’s side and bashed Luc’s set Sangan. He took Spirit Reaper with Sangan’s effect. Breaker attacked directly, and Luc started playing defensively by setting a card to each of his zones. It held off Coronel for the remainder of Swords’ time on the field.

Fast forward to a few turns later, and both duelists had tenuous but somewhat stable setups on the field. Coronel used Nobleman of Crossout to get rid of Luc’s face down Sinister Serpent, but Spirit Reaper kept the Jersey boy at bay. A turn later, Luc had Thousand-Eyes Restrict to suck up Assailant, and Thousand-Eyes Restrict quickly took out Breaker. Coronel bumped himself up to three set cards in his spell and trap zone and passed.

Thousand-Eyes Restrict was tributed for Airknight Parshath, and Coronel used Torrential Tribute. Royal Decree was chained to negate it. Spirit Reaper robbed Coronel of Graceful Charity, the Airknight bought Luc some advantage, and play passed to Coronel.

He used Monster Reincarnation to return Breaker to his hand and summoned it. It blasted the Royal Decree, swung through the Spirit Reaper, and things briefly looked bright for Coronel. However, victory wasn’t in the cards yet, as next turn Luc would play Heavy Storm, Premature Burial up his Sangan, tribute for another Airknight, and attack directly with both. Metamorphosis converted one Parshath into Dark Balter the Terrible, and a turn later, the duel ended. Wilson Luc had won game 1!

Both players side decked, and did so at a quick but careful pace. Coronel opened with a single set monster, and Luc fired back with Delinquent Duo the moment play passed to him. It cost Coronel Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning. Luc attacked with Sangan, crashing into D. D. Assailant, set a spell or trap, and passed. Coronel set a spell or trap, passed, and Exiled Force promptly ate the Assailant. Sangan nibbled on Coronel.

He set one more spell or trap and was again nibbled by Sangan. He set yet another spell or trap, was again gnawed upon by Sangan, and Luc again passed without setting another spell or monster.

Coronel flipped Call of the Haunted, brought up Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer and attacked, but it fell to Sakuretsu Armor. A turn later he lost Mirror Force and Dust Tornado to Heavy Storm, and he shook his head. While Team Overdose is a great bunch of actors, Coronel’s disappointment seemed very real—the life point totals were 2300 to 6600 after an attack from Asura Priest and Sangan.

He topdecked into Swords of Revealing Light, and it kept him in the game for another turn. Bryan fought valiantly to fend off Luc, who continued not committing himself to the field any more than he needed to. He waited out Swords of Revealing Light with practiced patience, only playing a Swords of his own and, eventually, setting another spell or trap.

Finally the Swords went down on Coronel’s side. Luc summoned Tribe-Infecting Virus, used its effect on the Assailant, and Coronel held on only by the tips of his fingers and a Scapegoat. Luc ate two sheep and Coronel was up next.

He cleared Luc’s two spells or traps with Heavy Storm and used Metamorphosis to bring out Thousand-Eyes Restrict. It inhaled Tribe-Infecting Virus, smacked Sangan, and Luc pulled Tsukuyomi with a mind to turn off Thousand-Eyes’s effect. He did, and then attacked it. A lone sheep sat on Coronel’s side of the field, and that was all that was in play.

Premature Burial and a tribute gave Coronel Airknight Parshath, and he then activated Pot of Greed. He used Metamorphosis to bring up Dark Balter the Terrible, swung directly, set a spell or trap, and passed.

Luc drew for his turn, set a spell or trap, and passed. Balter attacked, ran headlong into a row of Sheep tokens, and decided to attack none. Luc managed to deal with Balter through Tsukuyomi and Nobleman of Crossout, but still, neither player had clear command of the game.

Comic Odyssey’s “Mr. Shonen Jump” took some advantage next, as he stole a two-for-one from Coronel. Breaker broke a trap and then wiped out a set Tsukuyomi. Tsukuyomi turned Breaker face down, and a turn later Coronel ate it with Tribe-Infecting Virus. He set his last two cards, but Luc called his bluff and next turn he killed the Tribe off with Asura Priest. He then used Call of the Haunted to bring up Sangan, attacked with it as well, and triggered a replay as Sheep tokens hit the field. Asura Priest wiped them all away and Sangan again attacked. It was dangerously close to game over.

Coronel drew and set Sinister Serpent, but a turn later Luc tributed for Airknight Parshath. With one last attack it was over, and Wilson Luc moved to a 7-2 record. Now the tiebreakers would determine whether or not he’d have a shot at making Day 2!  

---

Metagame.com (2005)

This article was originally written by Metagame.com, what was formerly the official website for large Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament coverage.  It has been preserved by GoatFormat.com so that players can learn from this historical tournament coverage.