There’s only two rounds left here on Day 1 of YCS Vancouver, and Duelists will need 16 points in order to make it to Day 2. For this round’s feature match, we have two Duelists that have 15 points each; a win will guarantee them a spot on Day 2, so both will be playing to the best of their abilities! In this match, we have Brian Chen, playing the brand new Dracotail K9 strategy that debuted in Justice Hunters, taking on Aryan Sonik and his Blue-Eyes Deck! Let’s find out which of these Duelists can guarantee themselves a spot to Day 2. It’s time to Duel!

Duel 1

Sonik won the die roll and chose to go first! His opening hand contained Effect Veiler, Sage with Eyes of Blue, Nibiru, the Primal Being, and two copies of Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion. During the Standby Phase, Chen activated the effect of Mulcharmy Purulia. Sonik started his turn by Normal Summoning Sage with Eyes of Blue, searching for Maiden of White. He then discarded Maiden to place True Light to his backrow, then used Sage to Link Summon Spirit with Eyes of Blue and search for Mausoleum of White. He activated the Mausoleum’s effect, sending a Blue-Eyes White Dragon to the Graveyard, then activated Spirit’s effect, Special Summoning Blue-Eyes from his Graveyard, which then allowed him to Special Summon back the Maiden of White! Here, Chen activated the effect of Dracotail Faimena, discarding it to use Dracotail Mululu and Shaddoll Dragon to Fusion Summon Dracotail Arthalion! He used Arthalion’s effect to return Faimena and Shaddoll Dragon back to his hand, Dragon’s effect to destroy Sonik’s True Light, and Mululu’s effect to Set Ketu Dracotail from the Deck; Sonik Chained the effect of True Light to Set Wishes for Eyes of Blue to his side of the field. Since True Light was destroyed, Sonik’s Blue-Eyes and Maiden were destroyed! Sonik then activated Wishes, discarding a copy of Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion to search for another Sage with Eyes of Blue and Roar of the Blue-Eyed Dragons! He used Mausoleum’s effect to Normal Summon the second Sage and search for Effect Veiler, then activated Roar, Special Summoning another Blue-Eyes White Dragon from his Deck. On resolution, Chen Special Summoned K9-17 Izuna from his hand and sent K9-ØØ Lupis to the Graveyard. However, when Chen attempted to Special Summon back Lupis, Sonik responded with Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion! Sonik used Sage and Blue-Eyes to Synchro Summon Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon, then ended his turn. 

Chen began his turn by activating Ketu Dracotail to search for Dracotail Pan, then used Pan and two copies of Mulcharmy Fuwalos to Fusion Summon Dracotail Arthalion! He activated Arthalion’s effect, as well as Pan’s effect, but Sonik responded by using Spirit Dragon’s effect to negate Pan, and also used Effect Veiler to negate the effect of Arthalion! Chen activated Lupis’ effect, Special Summoning it back, and used Lupis and Izuna to Xyz Summon K9-17 “Ripper”! In response to the summon, Sonik activated Spirit Dragon’s effect, Tributing Spirit Dragon to Special Summon /ultimatespirit dragon. Chen activated Ripper’s effect, but Sonik Chained the effect of his Blue-Eyes Ultimate Spirit Dragon to negate it! Chen followed up with Rahu Dracotail, using Dracotail Urgula from his Deck and Shaddoll Dragon in his hand to Fusion Summon Dracotail Gulamel! Sonik Chained the effect of Nibiru, the Primal Being, and when Chen tried to negate Nibiru’s effect with the effect of Ripper, Sonik followed it up with the effect of Effect Veiler! Chen resolved Urgula’s effect to Set Dracotail Horn, and in a separate Chain, activated the effects of Gulamel and Arthalion to Special Summon them back to the field. Finally, he activated Urgula’s effect, returning it to the bottom of the deck to add Faimena back to hand, then ended his turn. 

Sonik drew Primite Lordly Lode for turn! He activated it to start his turn, but Chen responded with Dracotail Horn to return Nibiru, the Primal Being to Sonik’s hand, then Chained the effect of Gulamel to destroy Lordly Lode. With that, Chen takes game 1! 

Duel 2

Sonik chose to go first in the second Duel, and opened with Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Maiden of White, Called by the Grave, Bystial Magnamhut, and Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring. He started by activating the effect of Maiden of White, placing True Light to his side of the field, then used True Light’s effect to Set Wishes for Eyes of Blue to his side of the field. He activated Wishes, discarding Blue-Eyes White Dragon; Chen Chained Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, but Sonik responded with Called by the Grave! Sonik resolved Wishes to add Roar of the Blue-Eyed Dragons and Sage with Eyes of Blue to his hand, then Normal Summoned Sage with Eyes of Blue and searched for Effect Veiler. On resolution, Chen activated the effect of Mulcharmy Fuwalos. Sonik activated Roar of the Blue-Eyed Dragons, Special Summoning Blue-Eyes from his Graveyard, then banished Wishes from his Graveyard to equip Blue-Eyes with Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. He used the Blue-Eyes and Sage to Synchro Summon Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon, then ended his turn. 

Chen started his turn by activating the effect of Dracotail Faimena, using Dracotail Urgula and Shaddoll Dragon to Fusion Summon Dracotail Arthalion! He used Arthalion to try and return Urgula and Faimena to hand, Dragon to destroy Sonik’s True Light, and Urgula to Set Ketu Dracotail from his Deck, as Sonik used the effect of True Light to Special Summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon back from his Graveyard. Sonik used the effect of his Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon to stop True Light from destroying his monsters! Next, Chen activated Ketu, searching for Dracotail Pan, then using Pan and Faimena to Fusion Summon Secreterion Dragon! He used Pan and Faimena’s effects to Set Dracotail Flame and Rahu Dracotail from his Deck and destroy Sonik’s Spirit Dragon. Chen then activated Rahu, using the Urgula in his hand and Dracotail Lukias from Deck to Fusion Summon Dracotail Gulamel; Chen Chained the effect of Gulamel to try and destroy Sonik’s Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but Sonik responded with Effect Veiler, negating Gulamel’s effect! Chen used Urgula’s effect to return Lukias to his hand, activated Secreterion Dragon’s effect, returning Lukias to the bottom of the Deck and Special Summoning Dracotail Pan, then entered the Battle Phase. First, he used Pan to attack Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Next, Sonik Special Summoned Bystial Magnamhut, but was unable to activate its effect due to Chen’s Secreterion Dragon, so Chen attacked it with Gulamel. Finally, Chen attacked Sonik’s Life Points directly with Secreterion Dragon and Arthalion.

Sonik drew a card for turn, but was not able to make any plays and knew that he could not withstand Chen’s next turn, so he conceded.

Chen advances to the next round with a 6-1 record. He is guaranteed a spot on Day 2, but will have to continue winning to give himself the best possible chance of making it to the Top 32!