Heading into Round 9, Table 1 was held by Gravekeeper Duelist Ronald Mack set to take on Volcanic Quickdraw Duelist Michael Guzman. Both of these competitors are undefeated, but this matchup seems solidly in Mack’s favor. Necrovalley can stop some of Guzman’s most important effects from working properly, and that could hinder his performance here.

Mack opened with a hand of 2 Gravekeeper’s Commandants, Gravekeeper’s Recruiter, Seven Tools of the Bandit, Pot of Duality, and Book of Moon. He discarded Commandant, using its effect to get Necrovalley from his Deck, and activated Pot of Duality, revealing Gravekeeper’s Recruiter, Gravekeeper’s Descendant, and Dimensional Prison; he added Descendant to his hand, shuffling the rest back. Mack activated Necrovalley, Set Book and Seven Tools, and Set Recruiter.

Guzman activated Dark Hole, destroying Recruiter and letting Mack search his Deck to add another Recruiter to his hand! Guzman Set 2 cards to his back row, and Set a Spell or Trap.

Mack drew Solemn Judgment and Summoned Gravekeeper’s Recruiter: Guzman responded with Bottomless Trap Hole, but Mack negated it with Seven Tools. He attacked with Recruiter, and Guzman blocked the attack with Book of Moon. Mack Set Solemn Judgment.

Guzman activated Cold Wave. He Flip Summoned Dandylion, Normal Summoned Debris Dragon, brought out Black Rose Dragon, and used its effect to destroy everything on the field. He Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens while Mack got another Gravekeeper’s Recruiter. He had 1 card left in hand.

Mack drew Bottomless Trap Hole, holding Gravekeeper’s Descendant, Commandant, and Recruiter. He Summoned Recruiter and attacked a Token.

Guzman Set a card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.

Mack drew Gravekeeper’s Stele, pitched Commandant to get Necrovalley from his Deck, activated it, and Summoned Gravekeeper’s Descendant, Tributing his Recruiter to destroy Guzman’s Set Royal Decree and get Gravekeeper’s Assailant. Descendant attacked and destroyed the last Fluff Token and Mack Set Bottomless.

Guzman Set another monster.

Mack drew Torrential Tribute. He used Stele to bring back his 2 Recruiters, Summoned 1, Tributed it to Descendant’s effect, but lost the effect to Effect Veiler. Descendant attacked Guzman’s face-down Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, and Guzman used Ryko’s effect to destroy Necrovalley. Guzman had no cards left. Mack Set another Spell or Trap.

Guzman drew and Summoned Card Trooper, activating its effect and attacking over Gravekeeper’s Descendant.

Mack drew Dimensional Prison, Summoned Gravekeeper’s Assailant, and attacked to destroy Card Trooper. Guzman drew a card with Trooper’s effect. Mack Set Prison.

Guzman drew and Set a monster.

Mack drew another Stele, using it to get back his Descendant and a Recruiter. He Summoned Descendant, Tributed Assailant to destroy Guzman’s second Ryko, and attacked directly with Descendant.

Guzman had 2 cards, and passed.

Mack drew Royal Oppression. He Summoned Recruiter, attacked for a combined total of 2700 Battle Damage, and ended, Setting Oppression.

Guzman drew to 3 cards. He activated Monster Reborn, Guzman Chained Oppression, and Guzman immediately conceded.

Ronald Mack hits the ground running here this morning, absolutely dominating Michael Guzman in a favorable matchup! Necrovalley pins Guzman down, and Recruiter after Recruiter gives Mack too big of an edge for Guzman to keep up. Guzman would have to do some serious Side Deck work if he was going to pull this one out.

Duel 2 started with Guzman Summoning Volcanic Rocket, getting Blaze Accelerator from his Deck. He sent Card Trooper, My Body As A Shield, and Effect Veiler to his Graveyard for Charge of the Light Brigade, and searched Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter from his Deck.

Mack had Gravekeeper’s Commandant, Mirror Force, 2 Gravekeeper’s Stele, Nobleman of Crossout, and Book of Moon. He discarded Commandant to get Necrovalley, activated it, and Set Mirror Force and Book.

Guzman attacked with Volcanic Rocket for 1900 Battle Damage, and Mack let it through. Guzman Set a monster, and Set a card to his back row.

Mack drew Torrential Tribute. He removed his opponent’s Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter (and 2 more copies from his Deck) with Nobleman of Crossout. He Set Torrential and ended, still holding 2 Stele in hand.

Guzman Summoned Sangan, and Mack responded with Torrential Tribute: Guzman chained Royal Decree! He attacked for 2900 Battle Damage total, dropping Mack to 3200 Life Points.

Mack drew and Set Gravekeeper’s Spy.

“I should probably do the conservative move,” said Guzman. He activated Blaze Accelerator, and discarded Volcanic Shell to destroy Gravekeeper’s Spy! He paid 500 Life Points to get another Shell from his Deck, then switched Sangan to Defense Position. He Set a monster and ended without attacking.

Mack activated Stele, taking back Commandant and Spy to add to his freshly drawn Solemn Warning. He Summoned Commandant, attacked Volcanic Rocket to destroy it, and Set Warning.

Guzman Normal Summoned Debris Dragon, but Mack turned it face-down with Book of Moon. Guzman destroyed Commandant with Blaze Accelerator, discarding 1 Shell to get his third copy.

Mack drew, now holding Gravekeeper’s Recruiter, Gravekeeper’s Spy, and Gravekeeper’s Stele. He Set Recruiter.

Guzman Flip Summoned Debris Dragon, Tuned it to Sangan, and Synchro Summoned Black Rose Dragon. He chose not to use Black Rose Dragon’s effect, and searched his Deck for Quickdraw Synchron with Sangan. He discarded Thunder King Rai-Oh to Special Summon Quickdraw, then Flip Summoned Dandylion, Tuning it to Quickdraw to Synchro Summon Junk Destroyer: Mack conceded immediately.

Michael Guzman fights back! Ronald Mack opens with a rough hand, and Guzman buries him under the weight of Royal Decree and Blaze Accelerator. Guzman successfully turns the tables on Mack, disrupting Mack’s disruption-heavy Deck. Whoever won here would have a 9-0 record, and a guaranteed seat in the Top 32.

Mack started with a hand of Gravekeeper’s Descendant, Pot of Duality, Nobleman of Crossout, Solemn Warning, Royal Tribute, and Necrovalley as his sixth card! He activated Necrovalley, Summoned Descendant, Set everything but Pot, and acrtivated Royal Tribute to reveal Guzman’s hand of Volcanic Shell, Dark Hole, Foolish Burial, and 2 My Body As A Shield.

Guzman activated Dark Hole, Summoned Volcanic Rocket, and immediately lost it to Solemn Warning. He paid 500 Life Points to get another Volcanic Shell from his Deck. Guzman wasn’t confident in his Spell-heavy list of options. “I guess there’s no point in bluffing? Go.”

Mack drew Gravekeeper’s Spy, and activated Duality to reveal Gravekeeper’s Stele, Solemn Warning, and Mirror Force. He took Stele, as Guzman showed the assembled crowd his hand. Mack Set Spy.

Guzman activated Foolish Burial, sending Dandylion to his Graveyard to Special Summon 2 Fluff Tokens. He Normal Summoned Lonefire Blossom: “I knew I should’ve taken the Warning,” remarked Mack, somewhat regretful. Guzman Tributed a Fluff Token for another Lonefire, Tributed the other Fluff Token for the second Lonefire to bring out Tytannial, and attacked with Tytannial to flip and destroy Spy. That Spy let Mack Special Summon Gravekeeper’s Recruiter from his Deck in Attack Position, and Guzman Set 2 cards to his back row. Mack needed to get rid of those Lonefires quick, before they unlocked more Synchro Summoning options for Guzman. Guzman finished his turn by paying 500 Life Points for another Volcanic Shell.

Mack drew Malefic Stardust Dragon! He had Malefic Stardust and Stele in hand, with Recruiter, Necrovalley, and Nobleman of Crossout on the field. He activated Stele to take back Gravekeeper’s Descendant and Gravekeeper’s Spy from his Graveyard, then Set Spy. He Special Summoned Malefic Stardust Dragon by removing Stardust Dragon from his Extra Deck, then atacked to destroy the Attack Position Lonefire Blossom.

Guzman drew to 3 cards in hand, and Tributed Lonefire Blossom to Special Summon Dandylion in Defense Position. He Normal Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh, attacked Gravekeeper’s Recruiter, but forgot that Necrovalley was boosting its DEF! Recruiter survived the attack, and Guzman reeled at his mistake. He attacked with Tytannial to destroy Malefic Stardust and ended. “I can’t believe I did that.”

Mack drew another Gravekeeper’s Spy and Set it. Rai-Oh’s effect was still pinning down his ability to make any effective use of his Gravekeeper’s Descendant.

“I can’t kill a Spy,” remarked Guzman. “If those are both Spies… I flip it…” he ran through his options, descending into muttering before attacking the Recruiter. Thunder King Rai-Oh prevented its effect.

Mack drew Royal Tribute. He Flip Summoned a Gravekeeper’s Spy to Special Summon Gravekeeper’s Assailant, then Flip Summoned the second Spy to bring out a Descendant. He Normal Summoned a second Descendant, then activated Royal Tribute, making Guzman discard his entire hand: 2 Shells and a Thunder King. Descendant attacked to destroy Thunder King, dropping Guzman to 4800 Life Points! Spy attacked Dandylion, and Mack Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens. Gravekeeper’s Descendant and the other Spy attacked to destroy all the Fluff Tokens, and Mack Tributed everything in Main Phase 2 except his last Descendant to wipe the field, destroying a My Body As A Shield, another My Body As A Shield, and finally Tytannial.

Guzman drew and Set Debris Dragon.

Mack clapped, and flipped his long-set Nobleman of Crossout to remove the Dragon! Descendant attacked.

Guzman Set a Spell or Trap.

Descendant attacked again.

Guzman Set Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter.

Descendant attacked, and Ryko destroyed it. Mack Set a back row card.

Guzman Set Debris Dragon.

Mack had another Nobleman of Crossout!

Guzman had just 800 Life Points left! He flipped Royal Decree, Summoned Sangan, and tried to remove a card for Spore, but Necrovalley prevented him from doing so! He attacked with Sangan.

Pot of Duality got Mack Gravekeeper’s Spy. He Set it, trying to finish Guzman off.

Guzman Set another monster.

Mack drew Gravekeeper’s Recruiter. He Special Summoned Gravekeeper’s Descendant with Spy, activated its effect, and Tributed Gravekeeper’s Spy to destroy Guzman’s face-down Ryko. He then Normal Summoned Gravekeeper’s Recruiter, Tributed it to destroy Sangan, and got another Recruiter. Guzman got Ryko with Sangan’s effect. Mack attacked with Descendant and Guzman had to flip Book of Moon to turn it face-down.

As time was called in the round, Guzman drew Card Trooper in the first turn of End of Match procedures. Choosing to go out on his own terms, he Summoned Ryko, attacked into Descendant, and knocked himself out of the Match, splatting Ryko onto Descendant’s 1700 DEF to lose!

Ronald Mack takes a decisive Duel 3 victory over Michael Guzman, and clinches his seat in the Top 32! One more win like that and Mack would go undefeated in the Swiss rounds with Gravekeepers!