Round 5 Feature Match: Fumihiko Sano vs. Shouta Yasooka

By Sideboard Staff

At 2-1-1, both Sano and Yasooka need a win to have a chance of making a run at the Top 8. Both are fielding Psychatog decks, meaning the outcome of the match is likely to ride on who has the better sideboard for the mirror matchup.

Yasooka's hopes of overcoming land difficulties with a Nightscape Familiar were shot down when Sano played one of his main deck Engineered Plagues, naming Zombie. Stuck at two lands, Yasooka could only watch as Sano built up his mana base, using Fact or Fiction to fill up his hand. It appeared that Sano would take the game handily, but Yasooka finally started drawing into land, and was able to stablize. Trying to force the game, Sano attacked and played Fact or Fiction, hoping to pump the Pyschatog up to lethal proportions. This triggered a counter war, with both players pracitally emptying their hands. In the end, Yasooka had one more counter than Sano, and the game ended the next turn when he played Upheaval followed by Psychatog.

The second game started with Sano having land problems, stalling at an Island and 2 Cephalid Coliseums. Casting Compulsion, he started digging through his deck looking for land, but came up empty, with his life total dropping rapidly with the damage from the Coliseum. Meanwhile, Yasooka was quickly set up a stable mana base and started attacking with a Psychatog. Looking to buy time, Sano tried to get rid of the Psychatog with an Innocent Blood, only to have it countered. Finally getting a Swamp, Sano played a Psychatog of his own, but Yasooka again had an answer with AEther Burst, which drew a concession from Sano.

Results: Yasooka wins 2-0