Semifinals: Juan Cardenas vs. Nareg Torossian

Torossian won the roll. He opened with a single spell or trap set and quickly ate an attack from Sangan. Cardenas set a spell or trap himself, and it was Torossian’s turn yet again.Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer smashed into Sangan, and Cardenas took a copy of Tsukuyomi into his hand. Torossian set one more spell or trap and passed. Cardenas blew away his original set—Ring of Destruction—with Dust Tornado. He then drew for his turn, took out Kycoo with Tsukuyomi, set a spell or trap, and passed. Torossian set one too, passed back, and Cardenas looked to press his advantage!

​Cardenas summoned D. D. Assailant and attacked, but he ran clean into Magic Cylinder! It was 5500 to 7000 for Torossian, who looked to lean on Cardenas with Graceful Charity but couldn’t find an offensive follow-up. A turn later he was defending himself from the Assailant yet again with Scapegoat.The tables would turn though, as Torossian topdecked Metamorphosis and brought out Thousand-Eyes Restrict. He attacked directly, armed with the Assailant, but was confronted with Scapegoat—he opted not to attack any.Cardenas summoned Tsukuyomi, turned Thousand-Eyes face down, and tried to attack it, but Ceasefire flipped the Thousand-Eyes face up to lock the field again. Torossian tributed it for Airknight Parshath and attacked, but the Thousand-Eyes was destroyed by Sakuretsu Armor.It was now Cardenas’s chance yet again to be aggressive. He spent one turn attacking with D. D. Warrior Lady, played Pot of Greed on the following turn, and tributed for Airknight Parshath; Torrential Tribute destroyed it. The field was clear though, and Cardenas summoned Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning and attacked directly! It was 4000 to 4500, with Cardenas finally in the lead!Cardenas had four cards in hand, one set spell or trap, and Black Luster Soldier on the field, while Torossian only had four cards in hand. He set one to each zone and passed. Cardenas cut through him like butter, using Nobleman of Crossout to remove Torossian’s face down Asura Priest from play and then swinging directly for 3000. He set a monster and Torossian had one Last Turn to pull the game out. He flipped Call of the Haunted, brought up Airknight, and attacked Cardenas’s face down Magician of Faith with it. He then used Pot of Greed, then Snatch Steal to take the Black Luster Soldier and remove it from the game. He set a monster and passed back to Cardenas.Cardenas used his own Pot of Greed again, then used Premature Burial to bring back an Airknight. It smacked Torossian’s face down monster (D. D. Assailant), pressed through 300 damage, and was then removed from play by Assailant’s effect. Cardenas wasn’t finished though. He used Graceful Charity, discarding Spirit Reaper and Metamorphosis.  He then activated Delinquent Duo to reduce Torossian to just one card in hand. After losing his Heavy Storm, Torossian needed to think hard before letting go of his in-hand D. D. Warrior Lady. Cardenas set his remaining spell and trap cards and passed.Torossian did the same—he had one set card in each zone and that was it. Cardenas flipped Scapegoat in Torossian’s end phase, used Metamorphosis next turn to convert a Sheep into a Thousand-Eyes, and sucked up Torossian’s face down. Both players repeatedly passed, building up their spell and trap zones for two, three, and then four turns. Despite the LP totals being 700 to 1200, neither player could eke out a win, as neither seemed capable of destroying the Thousand-Eyes or turning it face down!As the turns wore on, Torossian gained a field of four set monsters and two set spells or traps. Cardenas seemed ready to finally make a move, using Nobleman of Crossout to remove Torossian’s facedown Tribe-Infecting Virus from play.  He backpedaled though, and ended up waiting one more turn before topdecking Jinzo and tributing away the Thousand-Eyes to summon it.Torossian again had four facedown monsters, and Swords of Revealing Light flipped them all: two Tsukuyomi, a Sinister Serpent, and a D. D. Assailant. Both Tsukus turned themselves face down. After two minutes of thought, Cardenas passed—a poor follow-up considering he had broken his own lock.Still, Torossian had nothing—he set a fifth monster and ended his next turn. Cardenas passed straight back, leaving himself with a set monster, three Sheep, Jinzo, Swords of Revealing Light, and two set spells or traps. Cardenas only had four cards remaining in his deck, while Torossian had five.Torossian set a third card to his spell and trap zone and ended. Swords blew off the field.  Cardenas joined Torossian in setting one more spell or trap and passed back.Torossian tributed his Sinister Serpent for Jinzo, played a Swords of Revealing Light of his own, and flipped Cardenas’s face down Magician of Faith; he took back Heavy Storm. Torossian looked annoyed with himself and passed. Cardenas activated the Heavy Storm, responded to it with Book of Moon on his Magician of Faith, and it looked like the game might be over!Cardenas ran his Jinzo into Torossian’s, destroying them both. He then flipped his Magician of Faith, took back Swords of Revealing Light, and used it. Torossian flipped a Magician of Faith this time and mirrored Cardenas by taking back his Heavy Storm. Cardenas then summoned Tribe-Infecting Virus and discarded twice to destroy the Magician of Faith and Assailant—the two Tsukuyomi had turned themselves face down again and were hence out of Cardenas’s reach. He needed to win next turn, as he had only a single card remaining in his deck!Torossian just had to wait—he played Heavy Storm against Cardenas’s Swords of Revealing Light and face down spell or trap. That face down flipped though, and with just a single turn between himself and defeat, Cardenas chained Ring of Destruction to his own Tribe-Infecting Virus! Play moved to game two, with the first duel being a draw!Game two began with Torossian leading off, again with just a single set card to his spell and trap zone. Cardenas played it safe, opting to set two cards. Torossian set a monster and passed, and Cardenas passed right back. Torossian passed again, Cardenas gestured to the same effect, and play was again to Torossian, who played Swords of Revealing Light.Cardenas summoned King Tiger Wanghu, used Dust Tornado on the Swords, and attacked right into Magician of Faith to give the Swords back to Torossian.Torossian set another monster and played Swords of Revealing Light yet again. Cardenas drew for his turn, played Graceful Charity (discarding Jinzo and Metamorphosis to do so), set a spell or trap, and that was all. His opponent set one more spell or trap and passed play back yet again.Cardenas set a monster, and Torossian did the same. Cardenas set another (Sangan), and Swords of Revealing Light was again sent to the graveyard.“How many cards?” Cardenas asked.“Seven. You?”“Six.”Torossian flipped another Magician of Faith, took back and AGAIN activated Swords of Revealing Light, and used Ring of Destruction on King Tiger. Torossian played Tsukuyomi to try to turn the Magician face down. Cardenas chained Ring of Destruction, but Torossian chained Book of Moon! He then used Delinquent Duo and turned play back to Cardenas.Looking at the Delinquent Duo he’d eat next turn, Cardenas knew he needed to move fast. He summoned Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning, removed the Magician of Faith from play, and let Torossian take his next turn. It was a forced play, but a brilliant one that pressured his opponent while removing the threat of Delinquent Duo! The LP totals were 5300 to 6300 in Cardenas’s favor.Torossian used Snatch Steal to attempt to take the Black Luster Soldier, but Cardenas chained Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy it before it could resolve! Torossian flip summoned D. D. Warrior Lady but lost it to Bottomless Trap Hole! With nothing else up his sleeve, he passed.Cardenas was still confronted by the Swords, so he simply set another monster and another spell or trap. Torossian set a second face down spell or trap and passed right back. It was like watching a tennis match.There was one turn left on Swords, so Cardenas passed and watched them travel to the graveyard for the third time in the duel. Torossian had no move and passed back. Cardenas started evaluating the chance of taking the game on his turn. He pressed for it, sending Black Luster Soldier to attack. Torossian flipped Scapegoat and responded to its resolution with Torrential Tribute, blowing away Cardenas’s Black Luster Soldier, Sangan, Spirit Reaper, and Magician of Faith! A brilliant play!Cardenas set one card to his spell or trap zone and passed. Torossian had an open field to swing against! He summoned Asura Priest, readying for Scapegoat, but no Sheep arrived. He dished out 1700 damage, and a turn later, Cardenas swung back with D. D. Warrior Lady. The LP totals were 3800 to 4600, with Cardenas still leading. Torossian used Heavy Storm, and Cardenas chained Scapegoat.  “You’re at 4600?” he asked?  Cardenas confirmed.“I’ll play Lightning Vortex.” The D. D. Warrior Lady and Sheep were destroyed. “I’ll remove a Light and a Dark, summon Black Luster Soldier, summon Asura Priest, and attack for game.”  That was it for the second duel!Cardenas opened with a face down to each zone, and his Dust Tornado was promptly destroyed by Torossian’s Mystical Space Typhoon. A few turns passed uneventfully, and both players ended up with two set spells or traps. Cardenas used Pot of Greed, examined his hand, summoned Asura Priest, and attacked into Magic Cylinder yet again. He then used Delinquent Duo, hitting Metamorphosis and Lightning Vortex. While Torossian had won the battle, his status in the war was questionable. He summoned Asura Priest next turn and it was swallowed up by Bottomless Trap Hole. Swords of Revealing Light came down though, and he passed, confident that he was protected.Cardenas used Heavy Storm, and Torossian chained Scapegoat; the Sheep were wiped away by Asura Priest. Next turn, Torossian tried to attack with Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer, but Torrential Tribute destroyed it. Cardenas attacked with King Tiger Wanghu, but Torossian took it with Snatch Steal and attacked into Mirror Force. A turn later, Cardenas removed Torossian’s Sinister Serpent from the game with D. D. Warrior Lady and the fields were again devoid of monsters. Torossian, however, was also devoid of a hand, and he had only two set spells or traps.He ate a direct attack from Asura Priest, set another spell or trap, and passed. Cardenas summoned the Priest again and attacked once more, again scoring a hit. It was 2900 to 5400 in Cardenas’s favor. Torossian needed to limit Cardenas’s options, and activating Delinquent Duo accomplished this—but brought him down to 1900 LP. Next turn, Cardenas brought up Jinzo with Premature Burial, summoned Asura Priest, and attacked with the Priest. Torossian flipped Scapegoat, the Priest cut through the Sheep, and Jinzo evened up the match total to a game a piece!“I’ll go first,” announced Torossian, setting a single spell or trap as he had in the prior duels. Cardenas set a card to each of his zones and passed; Torossian matched him, setting a monster.Cardenas flipped his—Magical Merchant—and it bought him a Torrential Tribute. He passed immediately. Torossian drew, tributed away his D. D. Assailant, and attacked with Jinzo for 2200 LP damage! He set another card to his spell and trap zone and passed.Cardenas took advantage of the play by activating Heavy Storm. After some thought, Torossian activated Scapegoat on the chain and passed on chaining his Book of Moon. The latter decision took him a great deal of thought, and the face-up Book hovered over the table in his hand before he decided to send it to the graveyard. Sure enough, Cardenas grabbed the Jinzo with Snatch Steal. Jinzo mauled a Sheep token, Cardenas set a monster, and Torossian took his turn.He activated Delinquent Duo, hitting Torrential Tribute and prompting Cardenas to ditch his own Jinzo. He set one monster, passed, and a turn later Cardenas sent the Jinzo into it— it was a Magician of Faith. Torossian took back the Delinquent Duo. Cardenas set a monster, and he was left with two cards in hand. Torossian activated Duo yet again and nailed Magician of Faith and Mirror Force. He then activated Heavy Storm, took back his Jinzo, activated Premature Burial for D. D. Assailant, and attacked with a huge advantage. . .. . .into Morphing Jar! Cardenas moved from a definite losing situation to being back in the game!The Assailant then attacked the last face down—Spirit Reaper—and it was Cardenas’s turn to fire back.He summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, sent her on a kamikaze mission into Jinzo to remove him from play, and passed. Torossian activated Graceful Charity, tributed for Airknight Parshath, and sent it after the Spirit Reaper; Sakuretsu Armor destroyed it.Torossian continued leaning on Cardenas for a few turns. Since Torossian had more than double the cards at his disposal, it seemed like just a matter of time before Cardenas would fall, but the Spirit Reaper was proving troublesome. Torossian found an answer, though—he summoned Tribe-Infecting Virus, attacked Cardenas’s one other monster (Sangan, from which he pulled Sinister Serpent), and passed. If he could keep the Tribe until next turn he could press for the win.Cardenas tried to attack the Tribe with Asura Priest, but that Magic Cylinder came yet again! Cardenas set a spell or trap and passed. Tribe ate the Reaper, and Torossian attacked for 1600 damage. Cardenas had 1000 life points remaining, but Torossian had more than 7000 life points left!Cardenas rallied, getting out a Thousand-Eyes Restrict, but he ran it clean into Sakuretsu Armor. He had two set spells or traps and one card in hand. Torossian summoned D. D. Warrior Lady and watched her fall into a Bottomless Trap Hole. He set one spell or trap and passed, still defended by one Sheep. Cardenas set Sinister Serpent—it was his last chance at defending himself. Torossian drew and quickly activated Nobleman of Crossout! He summoned D. D. Assailant, eyed Cardenas’s last face down, and attacked.“Attack for game?”  He extended his hand to Cardenas.“Yeah man.” Cardenas had nothing to save himself with.  That was the match, and Torossian moved on!

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.