We’re almost at the end! It’s Round 9 here at YCS Vancouver, and the Duelists are excited for the opportunity to make it into the Top 32! For this round’s feature match, we have two Duelists that live quite close to Vancouver; Andrew Xie is from Victoria, while Jared Wong is from Burnaby. Both Duelists boast an impressive 7-1 record, with each choosing to pilot the Vanquish Soul K9 Deck this weekend. The winner of this round will have enough points to make it to the Top 32 cut, so both of these Duelists will have to be at the top of their game. It’s time to Duel!

Duel 1

Xie won the die roll and chose to go first! He started by activating Stake Your Soul!, revealing Vanquish Soul Jiaolong, Special Summoning Vanquish Soul Razen, and searching for Vanquish Soul Dr. Mad Love. He Special Summoned Vanquish Soul Hollie Sue from hand, then activated its effect to Special Summon another Vanquish Soul Jiaolong from his Deck. He activated Jiaolong’s effect to search for Vanquish Soul Heavy Borger, then used Jiaolong and Hollie Sue to Xyz Summon K9-17 “Ripper”. Next, he activated Ripper’s effect and searched for K9-66a Jokul, Special Summoned Jokul and Jiaolong from hand, then activated Jokul’s effect to search for K9-66b Lantern. Xie then Normal Summoned Vanquish Soul Dr. Mad Love and searched for Vanquish Soul, Start!, then activated Start and searched for Vanquish Soul Caesar Valius. He followed up by Special Summoning Vanquish Soul Heavy Borger, returning Razen to hand, then revealed Lantern in hand to draw a card. He used Jokul and Jiaolong to Xyz Summon N.As.H. Knight, used Mad Love to Link Summon Rock of the Vanquisher, then used Rock’s effect to Special Summon Vanquish Soul Caesar Valius from hand. In the End Phase, Xie used Start’s effect to Set Vanquish Soul Snow Devil to his backrow, then ended his turn. 

Wong opened with Vanquish Soul, Start!, K9-X Forced Release, K9-66a Jokul, Vanquish Soul Jiaolong, and Vanquish Soul Dr. Mad Love, and he drew Triple Tactics Talent for turn! He began his turn by Normal Summoning Vanquish Soul Dr. Mad Love, searching for Vanquish Soul Snow Devil, and in response, Xie activated the effect of Rescue-ACE Impulse, Tributing it from hand to Special Summon Rescue-ACE Fire Attacker from his Deck, allowing him to draw 2 cards and discard an extra copy of Impulse. Xie then activated the effect of N.As.H. Knight, attaching Wong’s Mad Love to it as Xyz Material. Wong followed up by activating Triple Tactics Talent, attempting to take control of one of Xie’s monsters! Xie responded by activating the effect of Heavy Borger to draw a card, as Wong took control of Xie’s Ripper. Xie then activated the effect of Caesar Valius, revealing 3 monsters to destroy a card on the field, and Wong responded with K9-X Forced Release! However, Xie Chained Vanquish Soul Snow Devil and the effect of Rock of the Vanquisher to add a Vanquish Soul monster from his Graveyard back to hand. All of the non-Vanquish Soul monsters on the field were destroyed, leaving only Xie’s Caesar Valius and Heavy Borger in tact! 

Wong activated the effect of K9-66a Jokul, Special Summoning it and Jiaolong from hand. Here, Xie activated the effect of K9-17 Izuna in hand, Special Summoning it and sending K9-ØØ Lupis to the Graveyard, then Special Summoning Lupis from the Graveyard and using Lupis and Izuna to Xyz Summon Vallon, the Super Psy Skyblaster. Xie activated Vallon’s effect, turning Wong’s Jokul to face-down Defense Position, then Special Summoned Vanquish Soul Hollie Sue from hand! With Xie threatening to Special Summon Vanquish Soul Razen from the Deck and destroying Wong’s Jiaolong, Wong conceded the first Duel. 

Duel 2

Wong chose to go first in the second Duel! He opened with Reinforcement of the Army, “A Case for K9”, Vanquish Soul Snow Devil, K9-66a Jokul, and K9-17 Izuna. He activated Reinforcement of the Army, searching for Vanquish Soul Razen, then Normal Summoned it and searched for Vanquish Soul Hollie Sue. On resolution, Xie activated the effect of Mulcharmy Fuwalos! Wong used Razen to Link Summon Rock of the Vanquisher, allowing Xie to draw a card. In response, Xie Special Summoned Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay, drawing two cards and returning one to the Deck, as Wong Chained the effect of K9-17 Izuna to Special Summon it, as well as the effect of  Rock to add Vanquish Soul Razen back to hand. Wong sent K9-ØØ Lupis to the Graveyard, then activated Lupis’ effect to Special Summon it from the Graveyard. Next, he Special Summoned Vanquish Soul Hollie Sue, then activated its effect to Special Summon Vanquish Soul Dr. Mad Love and search for Vanquish Soul, Start! He then used Hollie Sue, Izuna, and Lupis to Xyz Summon Number 67: Pair-a-Dice Smasher! Here, Xie activated the effect of Lupis, Special Summoning it, and Wong activated the effect of Pair-a-Dice Smasher. Xie rolled a higher number, so he will not be able to activate monster effects until the end of his next turn! 

Wong activated “A Case for K9”, searching for K9-66b Lantern, then activated Jokul’s effect to Special Summon it and Lantern from hand. He activated Lantern’s effect to search for K9-X Forced Release and Jokul’s effect to search for K9-17 Izuna, then activated Vanquish Soul, Start! and searched for Vanquish Soul Caesar Valius. He Special Summoned Caesar Valius, returning Mad Love to hand, then activated Caesar’s effect to destroy Xie’s Lupis, Set two cards to his backrow, and ended his turn. 

Xie started his turn by activating Stake Your Soul!, Special Summoning Vanquish Soul Hollie Sue from his Deck. He then Normal Summoned Vanquish Soul Dr. Mad Love and used it to Link Summon Rock of the Vanquisher; however, he was not able to activate the effects of monsters or attack! Wong capitalized on this, activating Caesar Valius’ effect to destroy Xie’s Hollie Sue. He then used the effect of Rock to Special Summon Vanquish Soul Razen, searching for Vanquish Soul Jiaolong, then activated Razen’s effect, destroying his own Rock and Xie’s Phantazmay that were in the same column! Here, Xie Tributed Wong’s Razen and Caesar Valius to Special Summon Kurikara Divinarnate, then ended his turn. 

Wong drew Stake Your Soul! for turn. He began his turn by activating the effect of Jokul, and Xie responded by Tributing Rescue-ACE Impulse from hand, as well as activating the effect of Rock to add Hollie Sue back to hand. Xie Special Summoned Rescue-ACE Fire Attacker as Wong searched for Izuna, allowing Xie to draw 2 cards and discard an extra copy of Impulse. On resolution, Xie Special Summoned Vanquish Soul Hollie Sue, then activated its effect to Special Summon Vanquish Soul Razen from Deck and search for Vanquish Soul Heavy Borger. Xie then activated Razen’s other effect, destroying Wong’s Jokul that was in the same column! 

Next, Wong activated Vanquish Soul Snow Devil, revealing Vanquish Soul Dr. Mad Love, Vanquish Soul Jiaolong, and K9-17 Izuna in hand, destroying all monsters on both players’ side of the field and inflicting 1800 damage to Xie’s Life Points! Wong then Special Summoned K9-17 Izuna from hand and Lupis from the Graveyard, then used the two to Xyz Summon K9-17 “Ripper”. He activated Ripper’s effect, searching for Jokul, then activated Stake Your Soul!, Special Summoning Vanquish Soul Razen from the Deck and searching for Vanquish Soul Hollie Sue. Wong then activated Jokul’s effect, Special Summoning it and Izuna from hand. Here, Xie chose to activate the effect of Veidos the Eruption Dragon of Extinction, destroying Wong’s Start and Special Summoning it to Wong’s side of the field, then Wong entered the Battle Phase! With “A Case for K9” giving all of Wong’s K9 monsters a 900 Attack Point boost, Wong was able to attack directly with all of his monsters and wipe out the rest of Xie’s Life Points. We’re onto game 3! 

Duel 3

Wong opened with Mulcharmy Fuwalos, Vanquish Soul Razen, Vanquish Soul Dr. Mad Love, and two copies of K9-17 Izuna. 

Xie chose to go first in the pivotal third Duel! To start, he activated the effect of two copies of Mulcharmy Purulia! Next, Xie activated Stake Your Soul!, and Wong Chained the effect of Mulcharmy Fuwalos. Wong drew Vanquish Soul Snow Devil as Xie Special Summoned Vanquish Soul Razen and searched for Vanquish Soul Hollie Sue, then Special Summoned Hollie Sue and revealed Vanquish Soul Jiaolong and Vanquish Soul Dr. Mad Love in hand to Special Summon Vanquish Soul Heavy Borger. Here, Wong Special Summoned K9-17 Izuna from hand and sent K9-ØØ Lupis to the Graveyard, but this allowed Xie to draw 2 cards thanks to the effect of Mulcharmy Purulia! Wong attempted to Special Summon Lupis from his Graveyard, but Xie Chained Called by the Grave, banishing Lupis! Next, Xie Normal Summoned Vanquish Soul Dr. Mad Love, searching for Vanquish Soul, Start!, then activated Start and searched for Vanquish Soul Caesar Valius. He activated the effect of Vanquish Soul Heavy Borger, inflicting 1500 damage to Wong’s Life Points, then used Hollie Sue to Link Summon Rock of the Vanquisher. He activated Rock’s effect to add Hollie Sue back to hand, used Razen and Mad Love to Link Summon S:P Little Knight, then ended his turn. 

During Wong’s Draw Phase, Xie again activated the effect of Heavy Borger, inflicting another 1500 damage to Wong’s Life Points! Wong started by Normal Summoning Vanquish Soul Razen, searching for Hollie Sue, as Xie Chained the effect of Rock, adding Mad Love back to his hand. Wong activated the effect of K9-66a Jokul, Special Summoning it and Hollie Sue from hand, then used Jokul’s other effect to search for K9-66b Lantern. Wong used his two copies of Izuna to Xyz Summon N.As.H. Knight, but when he activated its effect, Xie Chained the effect of S:P Little Knight, banishing itself and N.As.H. Knight. Wong activated the effect of Lantern, Special Summoning it from hand and Izuna from the Graveyard, then activated “A Case for K9” and searched for Izuna. He used Izuna and Lantern to Xyz Summon K9-17 “Ripper”, but here, Xie activated Vanquish Soul Snow Devil! With no other ways to push through Xie’s board, Wong conceded. 

Xie takes the victory here in round 9, and advances with an 8-1 record!