Dragon Duels are for Duelists age 12 & under only, and are usually held on Saturdays and Sundays at  Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series tournaments.

Duelists who place near the top of a Dragon Duel event can get cool prizes like Regional Qualifier Game Mats, special card binders, and Dragon Duel T-Shirts. Here are our Top 4 finalists from Sunday’s event:

In the top Match of Sunday’s Dragon Duel, 12-year olds Jimmy Kenzie and Brandon Miotke, both from the Detroit area, were undefeated. Brandon’s dad got a Top 4 Feature Match in this week’s main event, and Brandon is following in his footsteps with a Feature Match in this final round of the Dragon Duels. Brandon Miotke is running a Chaos Deck, while Jimmy Kenzie is using Infernities.

Miotke won the dice roll and chose to go first. He opened up with D.D. Crow, Sangan, Destiny Hero – Malicious, Destiny Draw, Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress, and Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter. He activated Destiny Draw by discarding Destiny Hero – Malicious and drew Plaguespreader Zombie and Gold Sarcophagus from the top of his Deck. Next, he activated Gold Sarcophagus to remove Card Destruction from his Deck so he could reclaim it 2 turns later. He Set Ryko and ended his turn.

Kenzie Set 2 cards to his back row and passed.

Miotke drew another Ryko next turn. Then he flipped Ryko and targeted Kenzie’s Set Torrential Tribute, which Kenzie chained to destroy Ryko. Ryko sent 3 cards, including a second copy of Destiny Hero – Malicious, from the top of Miotke’s Deck to his Graveyard. Miotke Summoned Lyla next, attacked directly, and activated her effect. “Infernity Inferno?” Miotke asked. He was right. Kenzie Chained it, discarding Phoenix Wing Wind Blast and Infernity Beetle to send Infernity Avenger and Infernity Archfiend from his Deck to his Graveyard. Miotke sent Mirror Force, Krebons, and Enemy Controller from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard in the End Phase due to the effect of his Lyla.

Kenzi used D.D. Crow next turn and removed Ryko from the game with it. Then he Normal Summoned Infernity Necromancer and it switched into Defense Position because of its effect. Next, he activated the effect of Necromancer to try to Special Summon Infernity Archfiend from his Graveyard, but Miotke chained D.D. Crow from his hand to remove it!

Miotke drew Mystical Space Typhoon next turn and added Card Destruction to his hand thanks to Gold Sarcophagus. He used Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Kenzie’s Set Infernity Barrier. Then he Summoned Sangan and activated Card Destruction, pitching his hand to draw Caius the Shadow Monarch and Call of the Haunted. He put a Caius from his hand on top of his Deck to revive the Plaguespreader Zombie he had just discarded, and Tuned it with Lyla to Synchro Summon Goyo Guardian. Goyo attacked Kenzie’s Necromancer and Miotke Special Summoned it to his side of the field in Defense Position thanks to Goyo’s effect. Then Sangan attacked Kenzie directly. Miotke Set Call of the Haunted before ending his turn.

Kenzie Set a monster next turn and passed to Miotke.

Miotke drew Caius again next turn. He Tributed his stolen Necromancer to Summon it, removed Kenzie’s Set Phantom of Chaos from the game with Caius’s effect, and then attacked to end the Duel with Caius, Goyo, and Sangan.

Brandon Miotke wins the first Duel! Jimmy Kenzie will be going first in Duel 2. Both Duelists shook hands and wished each other luck. It was a great showing of sportsmanship as the weekend came to a close.

Kenzie started things off by Setting one monster in Defense Position and ending his turn.

Miotke started off with Mystic Tomato, Enemy Controller, Heavy Storm, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, Caius the Shadow Monarch, and Chaos Sorcerer in his hand. He Set Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, Enemy Controller, and Mystic Tomato, ending his turn.

Kenzie Summoned Dark Grepher next turn. He attacked Miotke’s face-down Mystic Tomato with it and Miotke Special Summoned Sangan from his Deck when it hit the Graveyard. Kenzie passed to Miotke. He seemed to have a bad hand.

Miotke drew Destiny Hero – Plasma next turn. Then he flipped his face-down Enemy Controller and Tributed Sangan to gain control of Dark Grepher. He searched his Deck for Plaguespreader Zombie and added it to his hand with the effect of Sangan. Then he discarded Plaguespreader Zombie and sent Destiny Hero – Malicious from his Deck to his Graveyard with Grepher’s effect. Next, he Tributed Dark Grepher to Summon Caius the Shadow Monarch, and activated Caius’s effect to remove Kenzie’s Set Infernity Archfiend from the game. Kenzie lost 1000 Life Points due to Caius’s effect. Caius attacked directly and Kenzie dropped down to 4600 Life Points. Miotke ended his turn.

Kenzie Set 2 cards to his back row and passed to Miotke, who flipped Phoenix Wing Wind Blast in Kenzie’s End Phase. Miotke discarded Plasma from his hand to spin send one of Kenzie’s cards in his back row to the top of his Deck.

Miotke activated Giant Trunade on his turn in order to return Kenzie’s other Set card. Then he put Chaos Sorcerer from his hand on top of his Deck to Special Summon Plaguespreader Zombie from his Graveyard. Next, he removed Destiny Hero – Malicious from his Graveyard to Special Summon another from his Deck and shuffle the Chaos Sorcerer on top back in, so he wouldn’t have to draw it again next turn. He Tuned Plaguespreader Zombie with Malicious, removing Plaguespreader Zombie from the game, and Synchro Summoned Colossal Fighter. Caius scored a direct attack, and when Miotke declared an attack with Colossal Fighter, Kenzie conceded and extended his arm for a handshake.

Both Duelists put up a tough fight, but Brandon Miotke wins the Match with his Chaos Deck and becomes a Dragon Duel winner of the weekend!

Post-Event Analysis!
See what our panel of experts had to say about this Duel after the event was over.  

Jason Grabher-Meyer (The Old Man of Dueling)
I don’t know what possessed Brandon Miotke to use Gold Sarcophagus to get Card Destruction, but it was pretty brilliant! Card Destruction let Miotke set up a big play by getting Plaguespreader Zombie to the Graveyard, and since he returned Caius the Shadow Monarch to the top of his Deck and Summoned it next turn he didn’t miss a step keeping the pressure on Kenzi. Miotke made an unconventional Deck choice for this tournament, and by making some daring plays he really got the most out of his strategy!

Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
In Duel 2, Miotke used his Enemy Controller to Tribute his Sangan and take control of his opponent’s Dark Grepher. Then he used the effect of Dark Grepher to get Plaguespreader Zombie and Destiny Hero – Malicious into his Graveyard, before Tributing Dark Grepher to Summon Caius the Shadow Monarch. This was a great play by Brandon Miotke. He thought his entire turn through from the start, and systematically made each play so that his turn would play out exactly as he had planned.