There are so many Duelists here at YCS Anaheim trying to qualify for the first-ever Genesys Invitational tomorrow, we are lucky enough to be able to sit down with two finalists as they get ready to decide who gets a Starlight Rare!

Christopher Huls is from San Diego, California, and is coming back to the game from a short break. He was going to play in the Main Event this weekend, but heard about Genesys and had to give it a try! Andrew Bender, on the other hand, has been playing consistently for a while now. He heard about Genesys and knew that he needed to be a part of the format’s history by participating in the first Invitational. 

Both Duelists are using Vanquish Soul for this event and are ready for the finals!

Duel 1:

Bender won the dice roll and opted to go first. Both Duelists exchanged a friendly handshake and started the match!

Bender started the Duel with Pot of Extravagance, he banished 6 cards from his Extra Deck, Huls threw down an Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring to negate it! Bender then Normal Summoned Vanquish Soul Dr. Mad Love and activated its effect to add Vanquish Soul, Start! to his hand. He activated Start, and targeted Dr. Mad Love, adding Vanquish Soul Jiaolong to his hand.

Bender then activated Stake your Soul! and revealed Jiaolong and Special Summoned Vanquish Soul Razen, then revealed Jiaolong for Razen’s effect and added Vanquish Soul Heavy Borger. He activated Heavy Borger and returned Dr. Mad Love to his hand to Special Summon it. Then revealed Dr. Mad Love for Heavy Borger’s effect and drew a card.

Bender activated Vanquish Soul Hollie Sue in his hand and revealed Jiaolong to Special Summon it. He went to his End Phase and used Start’s effect to Set a copy of Vanquish Soul Snow Devil. Bender then activated Hollie Sue’s effect and Special Summoned another Dr. Mad Love from his Deck. He returned Razen to his hand at the end of his turn and passed it over to Huls.

Huls started with Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, Raigeki, Vanquish Soul Hollie Sue, and Vanquish Soul Dust Devil. He drew Vanquish Soul Pantera for his turn.

Huls started by Special Summoning Vanquish Soul Pantera from his hand and used its effect by revealing Hollie Sue and Ash Blossom to destroy all the Spells and Traps in the same column, which just so happened to have the Snow Devil.

Bender Chained Snow Devil and revealed Vanquish Soul Caesar Valius, Vanquish Soul Dr. Mad Love, and Vanquish Soul Jiaolong to wipe out the Pantera.

Huls knew that he wouldn’t be able to play through the rest of the board, so he chose to concede the first Duel!

Duel 2:

Huls chose to go first for Duel 2. 

Huls started with Vanquish Soul Jiaolong, Vanquish Soul Razen, Stake your Soul!, Cosmic Cyclone, and Vanquish Soul Hollie Sue.

Huls Normal Summon Vanquish Soul Razen and activated its effect to add Heavy Borger to his hand. He then activated Stake your Soul!, revealed the Heavy Borger to Special Summon Vanquish Soul Dr. Mad Love. Huls then activated Dr. Mad Love’s effect and added Vanquish Soul, Start! he placed it in the Field Spell Zone, then activated its effect and targeted Dr. Mad Love. Huls added Razen with Start’s effect. Then, he Special Summoned Hollie Sue by revealing Heavy Borger from his hand. Huls then revealed Heavy Borger and Razen to Special from the Deck and then Chained the same Heavy Borger to return the Razen to his hand and Special Summon itself!

Hollie Sue’s effect brought out Caesar Valius, then, on the resolution, Huls revealed and activated Jiaolong to Special Summon itself.

Bender activated Hollie Sue and revealed Heavy Borger and Rescue-ACE Impulse. Huls Chained Jiaolong, revealing two FIRE monsters, Bender Chained Rescue-ACE Impulse. Jiaolong added a Hollie Sue, and Bender Special Summoned his Rescue-ACE Fire Attacker.

Bender activated Fire Attacker’s effect and drew two cards, then discarded Ash Blossom. Huls Set 1 card and then attempted to end his Main Phase. Bender chose to activate Hollie Sue and revealed Heavy Borger and Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring from his hand to Special Summon Vanquish Soul Razen from the Deck. He used Razen’s effect and added Vanquish Soul Caesar Valius to his hand. Continuing the Main Phase, Bender activated Razen’s effect and revealed Borger and Ash to try and destroy cards, but Huls used the protection effect of Vanquish Soul, Start! to save his Heavy Borger from destruction. 

Bender activated and Special Summoned Caesar Valius, then he revealed all three attributes to try and destroy everything, but Huls Chained his own Caesar Valius to protect his field. Bender activated Heavy Borger and bounced his Razen to Special Summon it. He activated Heavy Borger, revealed Dr. Mad Love, and drew a card.

Huls Xyz Summoned N.As.H. Knight using Jiaolong and Hollie Sue; he used its effect to take Bender’s Caesar Valius and put a Number 101: Silent Honor ARK under his Knight, then Xyz Summoned CXyz N.As.Ch. Knight, and used its effect to bring out Number 101: Silent Honor ARK! He used its effect and stole the Vanquish Soul Heavy Borger and put it under Honor ARK as an extra material.

Moving into the End Phase, Huls returned Dr. Mad Love to his hand from Stake your Soul!, then revealed it with Heavy Borger to draw a card. 

Bender drew a card for his turn. He activated Pot of Extravagance and chose to banish 6 cards. Huls thought for a moment but chose not to respond. Bender drew 2 cards and then Normal Summoned Vanquish Soul Razen and activated its effect.

Huls activated Hollie Sue’s effect and revealed Dr. Mad Love in his hand to Special Summon Hollie Sue from his hand. Razen’s effect resolved, and Bender added Vanquish Soul Jiaolong to his hand.

In a new Chain, Bender activated Razen’s effect and revealed Dr. Mad Love and Jiaolong. Huls Chained Hollie Sue’s effect and revealed Razen and Dr. Mad Love to try and Special Summon from the Deck. Huls ended up Special Summoning a Jiaolong from his Deck. Razen’s effect destroyed Caesar Valius, and Bender looked back over his hand.

In the open game state, Huls activated Jiaolong and revealed 2 copies of Vanquish Soul Razen, Bender activated Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring to negate the effect. He then activated Caesar Valius in his hand and returned his Razen to his hand to Special Summon Caesar. He revealed Hollie Sue, Dr. Mad Love, and Razen for Caesar Valius’ effect, Huls Chained Heavy Borger to draw a card. Caesar Valius destroyed a Set Cosmic Cyclone!

With a sigh of relief, Bender then activated his Vanquish Soul, Start! He used Start’s effect and targeted Caesar Valius to add a Heavy Borger to his hand. He then revealed the Heavy Borger to Special Summon Hollie Sue from his hand. 

Bender Tributed Hollie Sue, Jiaolong, and Heavy Borger from Huls’ field for Kurikara Divincarnate!

He moved into the Battle Phase, and had Fire Attacker attack over Honor ARK. Huls detached a material to protect it. He continued to attack with everything, then used Hollie Sue’s effect to Special Summon another Jiaolong from his Deck and attack for the game!

Even in Genesys format, Vanquish Soul is a strong contender as Andrew Bender takes a 2-0 victory to win the Genesys Invitational Qualifier #6! Thankfully, both Duelists have already qualified for tomorrow’s Invitational!

After the handshake, both duelists immediately started talking about their strategies and Side Deck choices for this awesome new format!