Round 5: Walter Chan vs. Stephan Laikin

​Walter Chan is a member of Team Scrubs, along with Calvin Tsang. This team has been making a lot of buzz with their spectacular performances that dominated the field with non-Chaos decks His opponent was Stephan Laikin, a duelist with a gift for core theory understandings. He was running a Chaos Warrior deck with some neat tech. He flashed me a Big Shield Gardna before the match: “He's the best opening drop. There's nothing more important in a game than the opening.” A man after my own heart.

 ​Chan won the die roll and opened with a face down D. D. Warrior Lady. Next turn it was attacked by the same from Laikin, and he opted to remove both his own and Chan's from the game. He set a face down card in his spell and trap zone and passed. Chan attempted to attack with Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer next turn, but Enemy Controller prevented the attack from resolving. He set a face down spell or trap and passed just as Laikin had. Laikin used Mystical Space Typhoon on Chan's fresh face down spell or trap on the next turn. “Watch it be an MST, too.” Chan flipped it up, and sure enough, it was another Mystical Space Typhoon. Laikin set a monster, a spell or trap, and announced the end of his turn. Chan brought up Thousand-Eyes Restrict next turn with Metamorphosis on a newly set Magician of Faith, and he immediately sucked up Chan's face down. It was an Apprentice Magician, and the disruption of the relatively secure play visibly disappointed Laikin. However, next turn he evened the odds, using Lightning Vortex and then again setting a monster and a spell or trap. ]“No cards in hand, and him with four” he remarked. Laikin knew he was in a bad spot. Chan attempted to gain more card advantage by summoning Breaker the Magical Warrior and breaking a face down spell or trap, but he caught a chained Scapegoat. Breaker took out a Magician of Faith when it attacked, and Laikin took back Lightning Vortex from Magician's effect. Chan played Wave-Motion Cannon to put some pressure on Laikin and announced his turn was over. Next turn Premature Burial brought up Blade Knight for Laikin's cause. Blade Knight attacked and fended off Chan for several turns. The Wave-Motion Cannon was building, though, and every now and then Chan would pause his play to do a little jig. It wasn't a cocky thing, or even a headgame—he just . . . seemed like he was doing a little jig. Laikin started to rebound, and used Reinforcement of the Army to grab D. D. Assailant. He sent it into Chan's only set monster, a Tsukuyomi. Tsukuyomi turned it face down and next turn Chan had the followup with Nobleman of Crossout. “I'm gonna stall, stall, stall!” Chan was now adding, well . . . calling it a “song” indicates a certain level of premeditation and artistry which weren't present, but he was singing in addition to his occasional jig. This could have easily rivaled the infamous Vargas Shuffle. Chan attacked next turn and the aggression forced Laikin to flip Scapegoat. Next turn, Laikin summoned Don Zaloog and he attacked Chan's only face down monster. Zaloog's blades sliced through Sinister Serpent, and as Chan tossed it into the graveyard he again did a little dance. He had Laikin locked down by his own goats. Wave-Motion Cannon couldn't be stopped. A bit later, after Wave-Motion Cannon built up a bit more, Chan popped it for a whopping 5000 damage. Chan summoned Airknight Parshath, ran it into a goat, and then flipped Ring of Destruction for the game! “That Wave-Motion was going forever!” Chan was pleased, to the point of singsong declarations of victory. Chan side decked three cards, while Laikin side decked one. Game Two Laikin went first for game two, and opened with the traditional opening of setting a card in each of his zones. Chan answered back with only a single set card in his spell zone. Laikin set all his cards, flipped Morphing Jar, and Chan grunted. “Damn, look at all this stuff I lost!” He waved Call of the Haunted and several other cards as they were sent to his graveyard. “Heavy?” asked Laikin as he passed. “No. I'd cry with happiness if I had it,” Chan said, just setting a few cards. “Well, I'll have to Heavy then,” quipped Laikin as the turn again passed to him. Chan chained Scapegoats, but Lightning Vortex took them all down, and Laikin summoned Blade Knight to kill Chan's Morphing Jar. “Aww, man! I wanted a new hand.” No jig from Chan after that one. A turn passed and Laikin controlled the field, smashing Chan's Apprentice Magician. He brought up a Magician of Faith. Chan used Metamorphosis to bring up Thousand-Eyes Restrict, but it was immediately hit by Ring of Destruction from Laikin. He flipped Magician of Faith, took back Nobleman of Crossout, and used it on Laikin's face down “Not Big Shield Gardna!” Chan's wish came true, and the monster nailed by his Nobleman turned out to be Magician of Faith. He then summoned Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer and Kycoo plowed into Blade Knight to destroy it. “No So-oldier!” sang Chan, dancing a hopeful little jig. He continued jigging hilariously. Sure enough, Laikin did not have Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, but he dropped Swords of Revealing Light. “Aww craa-aa-ap,” jigged Chan again, mimicking his previous musical outburst about the Soldier. He had no answer to Swords of Revealing Light, and passed his next turn after turning Magician of Faith to defense position. Delinquent Duo ate his hand next turn. “I guess I'm gonna lose this one.” Premature Burial brought up Blade Knight. “I guess I'm reeeally gonna lose this one,” Chan laughed. Chan needed a Heavy Storm—it was his only out, and he couldn't get one. Instead, Scapegoat held Laikin off for a turn. “Come on, Airknight!” Sure enough, Laikin topdecked into Airknight Parshath. It was summoned and Laikin used it to wreck both Magician of Faith and Chan at the same time. “Okay, Pot of Greed for Heavy Storm and a Snatch Steal. It's gonna happen!” Chan was full of jesting optimism. He drew, and showed his Premature Burial - “Dammit! That's not a Pot!” The game was very over. Laikin used Metamorphosis to turn the Airknight into Dark Balter the Terrible, sent it after Chan's last monster, and continued cleaning off the field. Chan went to use Premature Burial, but Laikin immediately used Dust Tornado on it. Next turn, he attacked with Balter to take down a set Tsukuyomi, Kycoo attacked directly, and Chan had only one chance—this final topdeck. It wasn't Pot of Greed. It was Airknight Parshath. “I've got a gamebreaking card!” He grinned, and flopped Parshath to the table before scooping. Fast fact: A one-card scoop? Still technically a scoop, at least within gaming vernacular. “I'm gonna side out six cards,” announced Chan. “Six cards! Damn!” Laikin was pretty surprised. Chan went first, and set only a face down card. “What is that?” asked an unimpressed Laikin.” He promptly activated Delinquent Duo to rob Chan of two cards. He set a card, summoned D. D. Assailant, and tried to swing directly. He hit nothing but sheep, as Chan flipped Scapegoat, his one face-down card. Next turn one of those sheep Metamorphosed into Thousand-Eyes Restrict, sucked up Assailant, and whacked Laikin. Laikin set a Magician of Faith, but Chan removed it with Nobleman of Crossout. Thousand-Eyes Restrict attacked again and the life point totals were 7000 to 4600. Laikin was distinctly on the defensive, and he set another face down. Chan bluffed a face down set Snatch Steal next turn, and Enemy Controller prevented him from attacking. Laikin set another monster next turn and filled his spell and trap zone, dumping his hand. Chan opted not to attack next turn, instead looking to establish his lock. Laikin saw an opening, played Tribe-Infecting Virus, used its effect to blow away Thousand-Eyes Restrict, and then activated Heavy Storm. He flipped Morphing Jar and the players took their new hands. Laikin flipped a Sangan. Sangan and Morphing Jar attacked two sheep. At this point, Chan made a brilliant play. He set a few cards, summoned Tsukuyomi, flipped his opponent's Morphing Jar face down, then attacked it. He looked at his hand. “Aw, man, only two parts of the Trinity!” He played Pot of Greed, Graceful Charity, and set more cards, safe in the knowledge that Laikin had used his Heavy Storm. He passed. Life point totals were 5400 to 3000 in Chan's favor. Laikin opened his turn by grabbing Sinister Serpent, then set three cards to his spell and trap zone. He then attacked with Sangan and Chan checked his row for answers. He flipped Scapegoat and Sangan promptly ate a sheep. Chan summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior and shot with his token. “The middle one.” It was Book of Moon, which hit Breaker. Premature Burial brought up Airknight Parshath for Chan, but it was hit by Enemy Controller in the battle phase to prevent its attack. In this case, Airknight Parshath was a deadly card. “Card advantage! And he lost his Heavy!” Chan was singing again. “You've got a big hand advantage on me. That sucks. I can see that Mirror Force sitting back there just waiting for me to run into it.” “Try baiting it out!” Chan grinned. “I really should, shouldn't I,” Laikin grinned back, knowing it was a horrible idea. Premature Burial brought up Tribe-Infecting Virus for Laikin. He used its effect to lay Airknight low, but then attacked. Sure enough, Laikin attacked straight into Chan's Mirror Force. It was a strange play, given the fact that Laikin had just joked about what a horrible idea it was. Chan flipped Breaker next turn, summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, and attempted to attack to win the game. Laikin had a Scapegoat, though, so Chan's monsters smashed two of the powder puffs and he passed. Next turn Laikin summoned Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning. He used his priority to target D. D., but Chan used Torrential Tribute in response. Laikin summoned D. D. Warrior Lady and attacked, but Chan used Call of the Haunted to bring up Jinzo. Laikin played Book of Moon on it, then used Nobleman of Crossout in main phase two. It wasn't enough though, as Chan summoned Tribe-Infecting Virus, blew everything off of Laikin's field, and then finished it with Black Luster Soldier. Walter Chan wins the match!

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.