We’re in Round 8 of the Genesys Format Main Event at YCS Columbus! After 4 more Swiss Rounds, the competition will cut to a Top 8! James Yates from Detroit, Michigan and Ryan Hall from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin both currently have 5-2 records in the Genesys Format Main Event, and now they’re facing off against one another! They’re still in contention for a Top 8 finish, but they’ll need to secure some more victories in the Swiss Rounds today in order to transform their Top 8 dreams into reality. Yates is using a Deck built around Red Dragon Archfiend, which got powerful new support in the Blazing Dominion booster set. Hall is using a Naturia Hecahands Deck. While Red Dragon Archfiend is all about power, Hall’s Naturia Hecahands Deck is able to place a tight grip on the pace of a Duel and control the destination of Yates’s cards. Only one of these Duelists can win this Round 8 Feature Match. It’s time to Duel!

Duel One

Yates opened up Duel 1 with Crimson Resonator, Bone Archfiend, Crimson Gaia, Obsessive Uvualoop, and Red Lotus King, Flame Crime.

He activated Crimson Gaia and used its effect to add Power Vice Dragon from his Deck to his hand. He activated its effect in his hand to Special Summon it and then used its on-field effect to add Darkness Resonator from his Deck to his hand. He activated its effect in his hand by revealing Red Dragon Archfiend from his Extra Deck and Special Summoned it. Then he activated its effect to gain a Normal Summon of a Resonator monster and Tuned his 2 monsters together to Synchro Summon The Crimson King. He used its effect to add Crimson Claw from his Deck to his hand and then used his extra Normal Summon to bring out Crimson Resonator. He activated its effect to Special Summon Vision Resonator and Darkness Resonator from his Deck and used his Vision Resonator’s effect to add Synkron Resonator from his Deck to his hand. He Special Summoned Synkron Resonator from his hand and then used Darkness Resonator’s effect to make Darkness Resonator, Soul Resonator, and Crimson Resonator Level 1 monsters. Next, he Tuned all 5 monsters together to Synchro Summon Red Hypernova Dragon! He used his Synkron Resonator’s effect to return Soul Resonator from his Graveyard to his hand and then Normal Summoned Soul Resonator. Next, he activated the effect of Red Lotus King, Flame Crime in his hand. He Special Summoned it and then activated its effect on the field to inflict 800 points of damage to Hall’s Life Points. He Tuned his Resonator with Red Lotus King to Summon Red Rising Dragon and then activated the effects of Red Rising Dragon and Red Lotus King. He sent Red Reign from his Deck to his Graveyard with the effect of his Red Lotus King and Special Summoned Synkron Resonator from his Graveyard with Red Rising Dragon’s effect. Next, Yates sent his Uvualoop to the Graveyard to Special Summon Bone Archfiend from his hand. He activated the Archfiend’s effect by targeting Red Hypernova Dragon and sent Vision Resonator from his Deck to his Graveyard. He used Vision Resonator’s effect to add King’s Resonance from his Deck to his hand. He Tuned Red Rising Dragon with Synkron Resonator next to Summon Crimson Blade Dragon and then used the effects of Crimson Blade Dragon and Synkron Resonator. He returned Vision Resonator from his Graveyard to his hand with Synkron Resonator’s effect and added Chaos Dragon Levianeer to his hand with Crimson Blade Dragon’s effect. He banished 3 DARK monsters from his Graveyard to Special Summon Levianeer from his hand and randomly return a card in Hall’s hand back to his Deck. He Special Summoned Vision Resonator next, and Tuned it with Levianeer to Synchro Summon Bystial Dis Pater. He activated its effect to Special Summon his banished Crimson Resonator and Tuned it with Crimson Blade Dragon to Synchro Summon Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Abyss. Next, he activated the effect of the Uvualoop in his Graveyard. He banished Crimson Blade Dragon to return the Uvualoop to his hand, then used its other effect to Special Summon it by banishing Red Rising Dragon from his Graveyard. He Tuned Bone Archfiend with Obsessive Uvualoop to Summon Scarred Dragon Archfiend and then used the effect of Red Reign in his Graveyard to Set it back to his field.

Hall Normal Summoned Naturia Mole Cricket and then activated its effect by Tributing it. He Special Summoned Naturia Sunflower and Naturia Camellia. He activated the Camellia’s effect to send Naturia Sacred Tree from his Deck to his Graveyard. He then used the Sacred Tree’s effect to add Naturia Blessing from his Deck to his hand. Next, he activated the effect of Hecahands Ibtel by revealing it from his hand. He returned it to his Deck and Special Summoned Hecahands Breus from his Deck. He activated Breus’s effect to look at the card in Yates’s hand, revealing Crimson Call. Next, Hall Tuned Camellia with Breus to Synchro Summon Psychic End Punisher. He activated Naturia Blessing next, but Yates negated it with the effect of Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Abyss. Hall activated The Hidden Hecahands next, and added Hecahands Godos from his Deck to his hand. Hall activated his Punisher’s effect next and paid 1000 Life Points to target his own Sunflower and Yates’s Red Reign, banishing both cards. Next, he entered his Battle Phase and Psychic End Punisher’s effect activated to increase its ATK by 1800. He entered Main Phase 2 without attacking and then Set a card to his back row before passing his turn. In the End Phase, Yates activated the effect of his Red Hypernova Dragon by banishing it. He banished Hall’s face-down Yad’al-Hecahands, then Special Summoned Red Nova Dragon. The Psychic End Punisher remained on the field since it was unaffected by activated card effects. Yates also activated King’s Resonance in the End Phase and Special Summoned Red Hypernova Dragon back to the field.

Yates drew a card and then entered his Battle Phase. Psychic End Punisher’s ATK jumped to 7100 ATK, but with six Tuners in his Graveyard, Red Hypernova Dragon’s Attack Points were at 7500! Red Hypernova Dragon attacked and destroyed Psychic End Punisher, and then Yates’s remaining monsters wiped out all of Hall’s Life Points!

Yates Summons Red Hypernova Dragon and a bunch of other powerful Synchro Monsters on his very first turn to take the victory in Duel 1!

Duel Two

Hall started off Duel 2 by Setting 3 cards to his back row and ending his turn.

Yates opened up Duel 2 with Book of Eclipse, Power Vice Dragon, Crimson Gaia, Fiend Piece Golem, and Vision Resonator. He drew Illusion Gate for his turn and then Special Summoned Power Vice Dragon from his hand with its effect. He added Darkness Resonator from his Deck to his hand and then Special Summoned it by revealing Red Dragon Archfiend from his Extra Deck. He activated its effect to gain a Normal Summon for a Resonator and then Tuned it with Power Vice Dragon to Synchro Summon The Crimson King. He activated its effect to add Soul Resonator from his Deck to his hand and then used his extra Normal Summon to Summon Soul Resonator. He activated its effect to add Bone Archfiend from his Deck to his hand and then activated the effect of Fiend Piece Golem in his hand. He Special Summoned it and then used its effect to reduce its Level by 2. He Tuned it with Soul Resonator to Summon Red Rising Dragon and then used Red Rising Dragon’s effect to Special Summon Darkness Resonator from his Graveyard. Hall activated Book of Eclipse to put all of Yates’s monsters face-down! Yates activated Crimson Gaia next and used its effect to add Darkness Resonator from his Deck to his hand. He sent his face-down The Crimson King to the Graveyard to Special Summon Bone Archfiend from his hand and then activated its effect by targeting the Bone Archfiend. He sent Obsessive Uvualoop from his Deck to his Graveyard to increase the Level of Bone Archfiend to 5 and then Special Summoned Vision Resonator. He Tuned his Resonator with Bone Archfiend to Summon Crimson Blade Dragon. He used the Resonator’s effect to add Crimson Call from his Deck to his hand and used Crimson Blade Dragon’s effect to add Chaos Dragon Levianeer from his Deck to his hand. He activated the effect of Obsessive Uvualoop in his Graveyard to return it to his hand by banishing The Crimson King from his Graveyard and then Normal Summoned Darkness Resonator. He Tuned it with Crimson Blade Dragon to Summon Bystial Dispater and then used its effect to Special Summon The Crimson King. He Special Summoned Chaos Dragon Levianeer from his hand next, and declined to use its effect. Instead, he entered his Battle Phase with more than 8000 total ATK threatening Hall’s Life Points. He declared his first attack, but Hall flipped another Book of Eclipse! All of Yates’s monsters were put face-down. Yates Set Book of Eclipse and then ended his turn. In the End Phase, his 5 monsters flipped face-up and he drew 5 cards. He was forced to discard 2 cards, bringing the number of cards in his hand down to 6.

Hall drew a card and conceded, unable to build a field.

James Yates takes a commanding 2-0 victory with the overwhelming power of Red Dragon Archfiend!