Monday, August 3, 2015

Round 2 Feature Match: Wildflame versus Giga


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Wildflame [Nekroz] V. Giga [Nekroz Shaddolls]
Round 2 Feature Match

Going from one match to another, this featured match pits none other than Wildflame against Giga.  What is interesting about this particular match was that both duelists were playing a variant of the very popular Nekroz archtype.  While Wildflame played a strictly Nekroz variant, Giga’s devious mind combined the archtype of Ritual Monsters with the ever-popular Shaddoll archtype.  BUT!  Will the team of Nekroz and Shaddolls be enough to take down Wildflame?

Duel  One:
Wildflame eagerly takes the first move by activating the effect of Nekroz of Clausolas in hand!  By discarding the Level 3 Ritual Monster from his hand, he can add a Nekroz Ritual Spell Card from his hand.  With the effect, he adds Nekroz Cycle to his hand!  However, that is all what Wildflame will do this turn.

Giga commences his turn and activates Reinforcement of the Army.  Through its effect, he can add a Level 4 or lower Warrior-type monster from his Deck to his hand.  Through its effect, he adds Armageddon Knight to his hand!  He then Normal Summons it immediately and, with its effect, mills out Shaddoll Hedgehog.  Because it was sent to the Graveyard for a card effect, Shaddoll Hedgehog’s effect activates, allowing Giga to add one Shaddoll monster from his Deck to his hand.  Through its effect, he adds Shaddoll Beast!  He then discards the Nekroz of Brionac in his hand to add a Nekroz monster from his Deck to his hand.  He adds a Nekroz of Clausolas straight from his Deck to the hand, which is promply discarded to mirror his opponent’s first move and add a Nekroz Cycle from the Deck to the hand.  He activates it immediately, using its effect to tribute Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz to Ritual Summon Nekroz of Brionac from the Graveyard!  Now Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz’s effect activates; because he was tributed, Giga can add one Nekroz Warrior-type Ritual Monster from his Deck to the hand.  Through its effect, he adds Nekroz of Trishula straight out of the Deck!  Giga attacks with Armageddon Knight and Nekroz of Brionac, inflicting 3700 damage to WildFlame (Wildflame: 4300)!  But, that’s not all he will do.  In his hand, he activates the Quick-Play Spell known as El-Shaddoll Fusion!  He sends to the Graveyard the two monsters he added this turn, Shaddoll Beast and Nekroz of Trishula, so that he can Fusion Summon El-Shaddoll Anoyatyllis during his Battle Phase and continues his assault, inflicting 2700 damage to WildFlame (Wildflame: 1600).  Giga then ends his turn.

Before I report on WildFlame’s turn, there are two things to note.  First, whoever came up with that Fusion monster’s name is an unpleasant person who hates life.  Two, with El-Shaddoll Anoyatyllis out on the field, the Fusion monster prevents WildFlame from Special Summoning monsters from the hand and Graveyard through the effects of Spells and Trap.  On paper, it may not seem like much.  But then you realize that this card’s mere presence poses a huge difficulty to the Nekroz since they rely on Spells to get their monsters out on the field.  So how will WildFlame get around this?
Wildflame opens up his turn with a Dark Hole, destroying all of his monsters.  It is a very anti-climactic way of taking down Giga’s field.  With El-Shaddoll Anoyatyllis destroyed, however, Giga can use its effect to add one Shaddoll Spell/Trap card from his Graveyard to his hand.  In this case, he adds the only Shaddoll Spell Card in his Graveyard, El-Shaddoll Fusion.  WildFlame then Normal Summons Denko Sekka.  He then plays his Nekroz Cycle from the hand.  Giga chains by discarding Maxx “C”, hoping to get a winning draw from the ensuing Ritual Summon.  Wildflame tributes a Nekroz of Clausolas in hand so that he can Ritual Summon the Nekroz of Clausolas in his Grave!  With Giga’s field cleared, Wildflame unleashes a direct attack with both of his monsters to inflict 2900 points of damage (Giga: 5100)!  Wildflame then ends his turn.

Giga commences his turn with a draw filled with fervor.  He immediately activates Raigeki as his opening move, getting rid of Wildflame’s Denko Sekka and Nekroz of Clausolas!  With the Dark Hole and Raigekis thrown around, the field is a breeding ground for destruction!  Giga then discards Nekroz of Brionac so that he can add Great Sorcerer of Nekroz from his Deck to his hand.  He promptly Normal Summons his added monster and attacks directly.  Wildflame takes 1500 damage from the battle (Wildflame: 100).  Giga then ends his turn with a confident smile on his face.

Wildflame draws his card.  With his Life Points down to just a mere 100 Life Points, he looks onto the monster that stared him down.  However, he smirks.  He discards his Nekroz of Brionac and uses its effect to add Nekroz of Trishula from his Deck to the hand.  He uses the effect of Nekroz Cycle in his Graveyard, banishing it and Nekroz of Clausolas so that he can add a Nekroz Ritual Spell Card from his Deck to the hand.  He adds yet another Nekroz Cycle from his Deck to his hand.  The Ritual Spell he uses isn’t the added card, but it is none other than Nekroz Mirror!  With its effect, he banishes both Nekroz of Clausolas and Nekroz of Brionac in his Graveyard and Ritual Summons the added Nekroz of Trishula from his hand.  He then uses the effect of Nekroz of Trishula, banishing the Shaddoll Beast in his hand, Nekroz Cycle in the Graveyard and his face-down El-Shaddoll Fusion!  Not many can cope with having not one, not two, but three key cards banished from the game.  Nekroz of Trishula attacks Giga’s Great Sorcerer of Nekroz, destroys it and inflicts 1200 damage to Giga (Giga: 3900).  Wildflame ends his turn with a cocky smirk on his face.

Giga draws… and does nothing.  Boring, nothing to see here.

All what Wildflame did in the turn was attack Giga with Nekroz of Trishula directly for 2700 damage (Giga: 1200).  Wildflame ends his turn.
Giga draws… and he has no moves and passes.  He is seriously a sitting duck in this scenario.
When Wildflame tried to attack for game, Giga uses the effect of Nekroz of Valkyrus in his hand, discarding it and banishing Great Sorcerer of Nekroz to negate the attack and end the Battle Phase.  Because Great Sorcerer of Nekroz was banished, its effect activates and allows Giga to mill a Nekroz monster.  He mills Nekroz of Unicore.  Wildflame ends his turn.

Giga actually has moves of his own on the following turn.  He activates Preparation of Rites, which adds a Level 7 or lower Ritual Monster from his Deck to the hand.  Then, if he has a Ritual Spell Card in his Graveyard, he can add that as well.  He adds a Nekroz of Unicore from his Deck to the hand.  He uses Nekroz of Unicore’s effect, allowing him to discard the card so that he may add a Nekroz card from his Graveyard to the hand.  His card of choice is the Nekroz of Clausolas.  He discards it to use its effect, allowing him to add Nekroz Mirror from his Deck to the hand.  He activates it, banishing the two Nekroz of Unicores in his Graveyard to Ritual Summon Nekroz of Valkyrus from his hand!  Before the actual summon itself, Wildflame chained to the spell with Maxx “C”, netting a draw from the Ritual Summon.  Nekroz of Valkyrus has more than enough power to attack Nekroz of Trishula and win the game.  When it attempted to battle however, Wildflame discarded his Nekroz of Valkyrus from the hand and banished the Nekroz Mirror in the Graveyard to negate the attack and end the Battle Phase!  Giga had no choice but to end his turn.

Wildflame laughs with maniacal intent, activating his Raigeki and destroying Giga’s Nekroz of Valkyrus!  Seeing that his loss was imminent, Giga admits defeat and gives the first round to Wildflame.

Wildflame wins game one.

Duel Two:
Wildflame begins the game, opening up with a Reinforcement of the Army straight off the bat!  With its effect, he adds Nekroz of Clausolas from his Deck to the hand.  He discards his newly added monster to activate its effect.  He searches out the Ritual Spell Card known as Nekroz Kaleidoscope.  He activates it, sending Herald of the Arc Light from his Extra Deck to the Graveyard and Ritual Summoning Nekroz of Unicore from his hand!  Giga chained Maxx “C” to the Ritual Summon, netting one draw to it.  Because Herald of the Arc Light was sent to the Graveyard, Wildflame can use its effect to add one Ritual Monster or Ritual Spell Card from his Deck to the hand.  Yo dawg, I heard you like searching, so I gave your searcher a searcher so that you can search cards while you search cards!  That Xzibit joke had to be made because Nekroz of Brionac was searched out through the effect.  He then discards Nekroz of Brionac and adds Nekroz of Valkyrus from his Deck to the hand.  He then Normal Summons Senju of the Thousand Hands and, with its effect, he adds Nekroz of Trishula to his hand.  He then ends his turn.

Giga starts the second turn of game two by activating Raigeki, wiping out Wildflame’s Nekroz of Unicore and Senju of the Thousand Hands!  He then discards Nekroz of Brionac to add Nekroz of Clausolas to hand.  But, it won’t stay for long, because he discards it to add Nekroz Kaleidoscope to his hand.  He proceeds to activate it, sending Armityle the Chaos Phantom from his Extra Deck to the Graveyard to Ritual Summon Nekroz of Valkyrus and Nekroz of Unicore at the same time!  He follows up by Normal Summoning Shaddoll Squamata.  He attacks with Nekroz of Valkyrus, but Wildflame activates the effect of Nekroz of Valkyrus by banishing Nekroz of Clausolas from his Graveyard.  Giga activates the effect of Nekroz of Valkyrus, tributing his Nekroz of Unicore and Shaddoll Squamata on the field to draw two cards.  Because the tribute is indeed a card effect that sends cards to the Graveyard, Shaddoll Squamata’s effect activates, allowing him to mill one Shaddoll card.  He mills Shaddoll Beast and uses its effect to draw one card.  He sets one card and ends his turn.

Wildflame commences his turn by drawing.  He activates the effect of Nekroz Kaleidoscope in his Graveyard, banishing it and Nekroz of Unicore in his Graveyard to add another copy of Nekroz Kaleidoscope from his Deck to his hand.  He proceeds to activate Nekroz Cycle, but Giga sprung the nasty trap known as Vanity’s Emptiness in response to the Ritual Spell Card.  Nekroz Cycle falls flat without being able to resolve.  Wildflame closed his eyes and sighed, using the effect of Nekroz Cycle to banish it and Nekroz of Valkyrus in his Graveyard to add Nekroz Mirror to his hand.  With regret, he ends his turn.
Giga begins his turn by Normal Summoning Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands.  Because he Normal Summoned it, he can use its effect to add one Ritual Monster or Ritual Spell Card from his Deck to the hand.  He adds Nekroz of Trishula to his hand.  He attacks with Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands and Nekroz of Valkyrus to inflict 4300 points of damage to his opponent (Wildflame: 3700)!  Giga then ends his turn.

Wildflame draws.  He discards his Nekroz of Clausolas in his hand so that he may add Nekroz Cycle to his hand.  He then discards Nekroz of Unicore so that he may add Nekroz of Brionac from his Graveyard to the hand.  Finally, he discards Nekroz of Brionac so that he may add Nekroz of Valkyrus from his Deck to the hand.  He ends his turn, because Giga’s Vanity’s Emptiness will not allow him to do any more.

Giga draws and immediately attacks with Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, but Wildflame negates the attack by discarding Nekroz of Valkyrus and banishing Nekroz of Clausolas from his Graveyard.  With no other possible moves, Giga ends his turn.

Wildflame draws and finally summons a monster!  In this case, it is Senju of the Thousand Hands.  He uses its effect, which allows him to add Nekroz of Unicore from his hand from the Deck.  He then declares an attack, ramming his Senju of the Thousand Hands against Giga’s Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands.  Because they both have the same ATK, both monsters are destroyed.  As a consequence, Giga’s Vanity’s Emptiness destroys itself since a card on the field was sent to his Graveyard.  In his Main Phase 2, Wildflame activates Nekroz Mirror.  Giga chains a Maxx “C” to the activation so that he may net a draw from the ensuing Ritual Summon.  He is going to need it, because Wildflame tributes Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz in his hand so that he can Ritual Summon Nekroz of Trishula from his hand!  Nekroz of Trishula’s effect activates, banishing Giga’s Nekroz of Valkyrus on field, Nekroz Kaleidoscope in the Graveyard and sniping Nekroz of Trishula in Giga’s hand!  Because Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz was tributed by a card effect, he can activate its effect so that he can add Nekroz of Brionac from his Deck to the hand.  Wildflame ends his turn.

Giga begins his turn by Normal Summoning Senju of the Thousand Hands onto the field.  He activates its effect, allowing him to add Nekroz of Unicore from his Deck to the hand.  He discards his added card so that may use its effect, giving him the ability to bring back Nekroz of Clausolas from his Graveyard to the hand.  He then activates his Nekroz Kaleidoscope, sending his Star Eater from the Extra Deck to the Graveyard to Ritual Summon Nekroz of Valkyrus and Nekroz of Clausolas from his hand!  He makes an attempt to attack with his Nekroz of Valkyrus, but Wildflame discards Nekroz of Valkyrus from his hand and banishes another copy of Nekroz of Valkyrus from his Graveyard to negate the attack and end the Battle Phase.  Giga then uses the effect of his Nekroz of Valkyrus to tribute his face-up Nekroz of Clausolas and Senju of the Thousand Hands to draw two cards.  He then ends his turn.

Wildflame begins his turn by immediately activating Nekroz Kaleidoscope, sending Herald of the Arc Light from his Extra Deck to the Graveyard and Ritual Summoning Nekroz of Unicore from his hand.  The effect of Herald of the Arc Light activates, allowing him to add Nekroz of Decisive Armor from his Deck to the hand.  His Nekroz of Trishula attacks Nekroz of Valkyrus.  Normally, because Nekroz of Trishula is weaker than Nekroz of Valkyrus, Nekroz of Trishula would be destroyed.  However, Wildflame activates the effect of his added Nekroz of Decisive Armor, discarding it and granting his Nekroz of Trishula 1000 ATK!  With the added power boost, Nekroz of Trishula destroys Nekroz of Valkyrus and inflicts 800 points of damage to Giga’s Life Points.  He then attacks with Nekroz of Unicore directly to inflict 2300 points of damage (Giga: 4900).  With both of his monsters finished attacking, Wildflame sets a card and ends his turn.

Giga draws!  He uses the effect of Nekroz Kaleidoscope in his Graveyard, banishing it and Nekroz of Unicore to add Nekroz Mirror to the hand!  He then activates Reinforcement of the Army, adding Armageddon Knight to his hand.  He activates the effect of his monster, milling one Shaddoll Dragon from his Deck to the Graveyard.  Shaddoll Dragon’s effect activates, which destroys the obviously set Vanity’s Emptiness on Wildflame’s side of the field.  He proceeds to activate yet another Reinforcement of the Army, using it to grab a Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz from his Deck.  He then activates his Nekroz Cycle, using Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz as a tribute to Ritual Summon Nekroz of Valkyrus from his Graveyard!  Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz’s effect activates, allowing Giga to add Nekroz of Trishula from his Deck to the hand.  Then, Giga activates his added Nekroz Mirror, banishing the Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz and Nekroz of Clausolas in his Graveyard so that he may Ritual Summon Nekroz of Brionac from his hand.  His Nekroz of Valkyrus attacks Wildflame’s Nekroz of Trishula, destroying it and inflicting 200 points of damage to Wildflame.  Then, Giga rams his Nekroz of Brionac into Wildflame’s Nekroz of Unicore, destroying both monsters.  Finally, Giga attacks directly with Armageddon Knight to inflict 1400 points of damage to Wildflame (Wildflame: 2100).  In his second Main Phase, he activates the effect of Nekroz of Valkyrus, tributing itself and Armageddon Knight to draw two cards once more.  He ends his turn.

Wildflame draws and proceeds to Normal Summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands.  He uses its effect to add Nekroz of Clausolas from his Deck to the hand.  Because Giga tributed all of his monsters, Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands attacks Wildflame directly for 1400 (Wildflame: 3500).  Wildflame then ends his turn.

Giga begins his turn by activating the effect of Nekroz Cycle from his Graveyard, banishing itself and Nekroz of Brionac to add a Nekroz Cycle from his Deck to the hand.  He goes ahead and Normal Summons Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, using its effect to grab a Nekroz of Valkyrus from his Deck.  He activates Nekroz Cycle, tributing his Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands to Ritual Summon Nekroz of Unicore from his Graveyard!  He battles Wildflame’s Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands with Nekroz of Unicore, destroying it and inflicting 900 points of damage!  Giga then activates his El-Shaddoll Fusion to bring out El-Shaddoll Anoyatylis, attacking Wildflame for the win!

Duel Three:
I’ll be honest here; fans of the first two rounds were heavily disappointed with the third round.  Even the duelists admitted that this round was terrible.  If you want to know what happens, this is what happens.

Giga goes first and… he ends his turn.

Wildflame commences his turn by Normal Summoning Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, but its effect was negated by Giga’s Effect Veiler.  Wildflame attacks Giga with Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands directly and ends his turn.

Giga draws.  He sets a monster and ends.

Wildflame’s turn is a go and he battles Giga’s face-down monster with Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands.  The face-down monster is revealed to be Shaddoll Dragon, which is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard.  Giga could use Shaddoll Dragon’s FLIP effect to return Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands back to Wildflame’s hand, but he isn’t dumb enough to let Wildflame re-use his monster’s effect while Giga himself has no potential counters to it.  Wildflame ends his turn.

Giga draws and… he passes his turn by doing nothing once more.

Wildflame plays.  To spare you all of the small details of what happened, Wildflame’s field ends with Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, Nekroz of Unicore and Nekroz of Valkyrus.  He attacks directly and wins.  That’s it.  No fancy defenses by Giga or anything else more complex where there to make this anticlimactic finish better.  Wildflame wins because Giga couldn’t even make any plays.

Wildflame wins game three.


While the first two rounds of the match were great, the third round suffered heavily in entertainment factor and potential.  Regardless, Wildflame takes the match from Giga with a score of 2-1.  As for Giga, you can see that he had a tendency to dead draw into unplayable hands in his rounds while Wildflame was still able to make plays even if he could not do anything.  What does this tell us?  Maybe Nekroz and Shaddolls aren’t better than pure Nekroz.  They were both enemies in the Duel Terminal series, so it should be expected that they do not work well with each other as well.  But regardless, it was a great show from two fine duelists… even if that last round was bad.

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