Round 2 Feature Match: Nikos Houris vs George Abatzidis

We continue our coverage of the event with another Gravekeepers vs Six Samurai match-up for the second round, between two other greek players that have made it to the top 32 players in european YCS tournaments this season. George Abatzidis is playing Six Samurai and managed a top 32 finish in YCS Bochum. Nikos Houris is playing Gravekeepers and was able to advance to top 16 in YCS Milan. Let's see if Gravekeepers are going to claim this as well, in what appears to be the most frequent match-up of the event.

Abatzidis wins the dice roll and will play first. We will watch the game from the side of Nikos Houris.

Opening hand of Houris: Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind, Necrovalley, 2x Pot of Duality and Royal Oppression.

Abatzidis started the game with Gateway of the Six and Six Samurai United! He normal summoned Hand of the Six Samurai but he had no follow-up! He set 3 spells or traps and ended his turn.

Houris drew Gravekeeper's Commandant, activated Pot of Duality to reveal Dark Hole, Gravekeeper's Spy and Royal Tribute and picked the Spy to add to his hand. After a bit of thinking he normal summoned the Commandant and then activated his Necrovalley. However, his attack was blocked by Book of Moon and then he set one card to his backrow to end.

Abatzidis drew for his round and set his new card in his backrow before passing.

Back to Houris that drew Solemn Warning. His second Pot of Duality reveals Gravekeeper's Spy, Gravekeeper's Stele and Gravekeeper's Commandant and after some thought he again picked the Spy to add to his hand. He flipped Commandant and attempted another attack, but Abatzidis activated Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Necrovalley and send both monsters to the graveyard. He then set a monster and ended his turn.

Abatzidis activated his new card Dark Hole, to send the face down Gravekeeper's Spy to the Graveyard and passed.

Houris drew Dark Hole as well in his turn and set another monster face down.

Play is back to Abatzidis. He activated Upstart Goblin to draw one more, but his next card Monster Reborn is negated by Solemn Warning.

Houris on his following turn drew Solemn Judgment. He flipped the Spy but Abatzidis responded with Solemn Warning to destroy it. He set the Solemn Judgment and passed.

Abatzidis at last drew another monster, a Kizan but its summon is negated by Solemn Judgment! The life points are 6000 to 3500 with Abatzidis leading.

Houris summoned and attacked with Gale in his round. He set the Dimensional Prison he drew to his backrow and passed.

Abatzidis drew for his round and decides to use the Six Samurai United to draw one more card. But again he finds no monsters and concludes his turn by setting two more spells or traps.

Houris drew Mirror Force. He declares another direct attack with Gale. Abatzidis thought for some moments and then let it pass. In main phase 2 he activated Gravekeeper's Stele to take back from his grave a Spy and the Commandant. Commandant fetched Necrovalley from his deck which he activated it and then set the Spy and one card to his backrow. End phase Abatzidis activates Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Mirror Force.

His drew for his turn and normal summoned Kizan! At last the Gateway has enough Bushido counters and he is able to get a Grandmaster from his deck. He special summoned it and entered battle phase. Kizan run over Gale and then ended his turn without attacking with Grandmaster.

Houris drew Solemn Warning. He flipped the Spy but was met with Royal Oppression! He activated Dark Hole to clear the field but Abatzidis had Magatama to protect his monsters! He set the Warning to end his turn.

Play is back to Abatzidis who drew for his round and after much consideration normal summoned Kagemusha of the Six Samurai. Houris had to negate the summon with Warning. But, Abatzidis used the 2 bushido counters from Gateway to boost Kizan and attacked for game.

Very close match. Abatzidis had the ideal setup for a Six Samurai deck but he could not draw into any monsters. Houris will go first in the second duel.

Initial hand of Houris: 2x Gravekeeper's Recruiter, Gravekeeper's Commandant, Puppet Plant, Gravekeeper's Stele.

Houris drew Caius the Shadow Monarch. He used Commandant to get Necrovalley from his deck and activated it. He set one card to each zone and passed.

Abatzidis kicked off his turn with Gateway of the Six again! He normal summoned Kageki with effect for Kagemusha in defense position. He then used the bushido counters to get a Grandmaster from his deck and special summon it. Synchro summon for Shi En. Another search for Kizan and ended his turn by setting 2 cards in his backrow.

Houris drew Thunder King Rai-Oh. He used Puppet Plant to get control of Shi En, then flipped his set Recruiter and attack with both monsters to destroy Grandmaster and inflict 2100 damage to his opponent. In main phase 2 he tributed Shi En to remove Gateway from the game.

On the following turn, Abatzidis activated Shien's Smoke Signal to get a Yaichi from his deck. He normal summoned it and then special summoned Kizan to activate Yaichi's effect and destroy the set Stele. Kizan run over Recruiter and Houris activated its effect to add Assailant from his deck to his hand. Abatzidis passed with 3 cards in his backrow and zero cards in his hand.

Houris drew Warning for his turn. In battle phase, Caius is destroyed by Mirror Force to protect Yaichi. He concludes his turn setting a monster.

Abatzidis activated his set Reinforcements of the Army to get a Kagemusha from his deck. He normal summoned it and then tuned all 3 of his monsters to synchro summon Trishula. Trishula removed the set monster, which was revealed to be Gravekeeper's Recruiter and the Solemn Warning from his opponents hand. He could not remove any cards from the graveyard due to the effect of Necrovalley. Trishula attacked for 2700 damage and he ended his turn.

Houris drew Kinetic Soldier. He set a monster and passed.

Abatzidis drew another Signal for his round. He got Hand of the Six Samurai from his deck and normal summon it. He attacked with hand and destroyed Thunder King and then attacked directly with Trishula.

Houris has 2600 life points left. He drew Gravekeeper's Descendant. He normal summoned it and tried to attack Hand but Abatzidis activated Dust Tornado to destroy Necrovalley! Immediately Houris offered his hand and Abatzidis claimed the victory!