Austin Kulaman and Corey Encinas are both undefeated heading into Round 5. Kulman is running a standard Gravekeeper Deck, while his opponent is running an Anti-Monster Deck packed with Fossil Dynas and Rai-Ohs. Encinas’ Main Decked copies of Breaker the Magical Warrior may make this a tough Match for Kulman if it prevents him from keeping his Necrovalley in play, but an early Royal Tribute can secure Kulman a quick victory.

Encinas started off the Match by Summoning Thunder King Rai-Oh and Setting a card in his back row.

Kulman opened up with Gravekeeper’s Stele, Gravekeeper’s Commandant, Dimensional Prison, Royal Tribute, and 2 copies of Pot of Duality. He Set Dimensional Prison and Pot of Duality to his back row and ended his turn. With Thunder King Rai-Oh preventing him from activating Pot of Duality or using his Commandant, Kulman’s plays were extremely limited.

Encinas attacked with Thunder King Rai-Oh next turn, and Kulman removed it from the Duel with Dimensional Prison. But Encinas had another one, which he Summoned in Main Phase 2!

Kulman drew Book of Moon next turn. He Set it and ended his turn.

Encinas Summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior next turn. He put a Spell Counter on it when it was Summoned and then removed the Spell Counter to destroy Kulman’s face-down Pot of Duality. Next, Encinas attacked directly with Breaker, dropping Kulman down to 6400 Life Points. He tried to attack with Rai-Oh next, but Kulman blocked the attack and put Rai-Oh face-down with Book of Moon. Encinas Set 1 card to his back row before ending his turn.

With Rai-Oh now face-down, Kulman pitched Gravekeeper’s Commandant from his hand to search his Deck for Necrovalley and activate it. He Set all of his cards except for Royal Tribute, and then activated the Royal Tribute. Encinas discarded Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind and King Tiger Wanghu from his hand while revealing Monster Reborn alongside them. Kulman flipped Pot of Duality next, revealing Gravekeeper’s Descendant, Gravekeeper’s Commandant, and Dimensional Prison from the top of his Deck. He added the Commandant to his hand and Set it, passing to Encinas.

Encinas flipped his Thunder King Rai-Oh next turn. He used it to attack Gravekeeper’s Commandant, and Encinas lost 100 Life Points in the battle. Now that the Commandant was face-up, in Main Phase 2 Encinas activated Smashing Ground to destroy it. He Set another card to his back row before ending his turn.

Kulman drew Dimensional Prison and then activated Gravekeeper’s Stele to return 2 Commandants from his Graveyard to his hand. He Set one of them along with a Dimensional Prison before passing.

Encinas drew a card and ended his turn without making a play.

Kulman drew Gravekeeper’s Descendant next turn. He Summoned it and tried to attack Thunder King Rai-Oh, but Encinas flipped Dimensional Prison to remove the Descendant from the Duel.

Encinas attacked Kulman directly with Breaker and Rai-Oh next turn. Kulman took the damage and dropped to 2900 Life Points. In Main Phase 2, Encinas Set 1 card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.

Kulman drew another Gravekeeper’s Descendant next turn. He Summoned it and attacked Thunder King Rai-Oh, but lost his monster to Encinas’s Dimensional Prison.

Encinas attacked with Breaker and Thunder King again next turn. Kulman took the hit from Breaker, dropping down to 1300 Life Points, and used Dimensional Prison to remove Thunder King Rai-Oh from the Duel so that he would survive the turn. In Main Phase 2, Encinas activated Burden of the Mighty.

Kulman Summoned Gravekeeper’s Commandant next turn and used it to attack over Breaker and destroy it.

Encinas Set a monster and passed.

Kulman drew Gravekeeper’s Recruiter next turn. He attacked Encinas’s face-down monster with his Commandant, revealing D.D. Warrior Lady. Encinas removed both monsters from the Duel with his Warrior Lady’s effect.

Encinas Summoned King Tiger Wanghu and ended his turn.

Kulman drew and Set Gravekeeper’s Spy.

Encinas Summoned Banisher of the Radiance and passed back to Kulman.

Kulman drew Gravekeeper’s Descendant and Flip Summon Gravekeeper’s Spy next turn. He Special Summoned Gravekeeper’s Assailant from his Deck with his Spy’s effect. He attacked the King Tiger with his Assailant, switching it into Defense Position with the Assailant’s effect so that the King Tiger would be destroyed in battle. Next, Kulman Normal Summoned Gravekeeper’s Descendant and Flip Summoned Gravekeeper’s Recruiter. He Tributed his Spy with his Descendant’s effect to destroy Banisher of the Radiance, and then Tributed Gravekeeper’s Recruiter to destroy Burden of the Mighty. Kulman added another Gravekeeper’s Recruiter to his hand with the effect of his fallen Recruiter before ending his turn.

Encinas activated Pot of Duality next turn, grabbing Dark Hole from the top of his Deck. He activated it to destroy Kulman’s Descendant and Assailant, and then ended without any cards on the field.

Kulman drew Royal Oppression next turn. He activated Gravekeeper’s Stele to add Gravekeeper’s Descendant and Gravekeeper’s Assailant from his Graveyard to his hand, then Summoned the Descendant and attacked directly with it. But Encinas Special Summoned Gorz! Kulman Set his Royal Oppression as a bluff, but it was all over when Encinas attacked Kulman’s Assailant with Gorz! Kulman dropped down to 600 Life Points when his Assailant was destroyed, and a direct attack from Encinas’s Emissary of Darkness Token finished Kulman off!

Just as Kulman manages to gain control of the Duel, Gorz enters the fray and snatches the victory for Encinas! Austin Kulman will be going first in Duel 2!

Kulman opened up Duel 2 with Dimensional Prison, Gravekeeper’s Spy, Gravekeeper’s Descendant, Royal Tribute, Gravekeeper’s Stele, and Book of Moon. He Set the Spy, Book of Moon, and Dimensional Prison before ending his turn.

Encinas Summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior and added a Spell Counter to it. Kulman flipped Book of Moon to put Breaker face-down before Encinas could remove the Spell Counter to use Breaker’s effect. Encinas Set 2 cards to his back row and ended his turn.

Kulman drew Solemn Warning next turn. He Flip Summoned Gravekeeper’s Spy and activated its effect to Special Summon Gravekeeper’s Recruiter from his Deck. Then he tried to Normal Summon Gravekeeper’s Descendant from his hand, but Encinas flipped Solemn Judgment and paid 4000 Life Points to negate the Descendant’s Summon. Gravekeeper’s Spy attacked and destroyed Breaker, and then Gravekeeper’s Recruiter attacked Encinas directly, dropping him down to 2800 Life Points. Kulman Set Solemn Warning and Royal Tribute in Main Phase 2, ending his turn.

Encinas activated Dark Hole next turn, destroying Kulman’s Spy and Recruiter. Kulman used the Recruiter’s effect to grab a Gravekeeper’s Commandant from his Deck and add it to his hand. Encinas tried to Summon Thunder King Rai-Oh next, but Kulman flipped Solemn Warning and gave up 2000 Life Points to negate its Summon.

Kulman drew Solemn Judgment and Set it before discarding Commandant from his hand to grab a Necrovalley from his Deck. He activated the Necrovalley and then Set Gravekeeper’s Stele. He activated Royal Tribute next, forcing Encinas to discard Gorz and reveal Starlight Road. Kulman activated Stele next, returning Recruiter and Spy from his Graveyard to his hand. He Summoned Recruiter and attacked directly, dropping Encinas down to 1100 Life Points.

Encinas Special Summoned Cyber Dragon next turn and then activated Smashing Ground to destroy Gravekeeper’s Recruiter. Kulman searched his Deck for Gravekeeper’s Assailant with the effect of his Recruiter and added it to his hand. When Encinas attacked with Cyber Dragon, Kulman flipped Dimensional Prison to remove it from the Duel. Encinas instantly conceded, knowing that Kulman would wipe out his remaining 1100 Life Points with the Assailant.

Austin Kulman takes a commanding victory in Duel 2, pushing the Match to a third Duel!

Encinas started off Duel 3 by Summoning Breaker and Setting 3 cards to his back row.

Kulman opened up with Pot of Duality, Cyber Dragon, Gravekeeper’s Descendant, Seven Tools of the Bandit, Necrovalley, and Mystical Space Typhoon. He activated Pot of Duality to reveal Gravekeeper’s Stele, Gravekeeper’s Spy, and Dimensional Prison from the top of his Deck, and added the Spy to his hand while shuffling the other 2 cards back into his Deck. Kulman Set the Spy along with Mystical Space Typhoon, ending his turn.

Encinas activated Breaker’s effect to destroy Kulman’s Mystical Space Typhoon, and Kulman Chained it to destroy Encinas’s face-down Smashing Ground. Next, Encinas Summoned Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo from his hand. Breaker attacked Kulman’s face-down Spy, and when it flipped, Kulman couldn’t use its effect due to the effect of Fossil Dyna. Encinas activated Closed Forest in Main Phase 2, in order to prevent Kulman from activating Necrovalley.

Kulman drew Rivalry of Warlords next turn, and Set it along with Seven Tools of the Bandit. He ended his turn, protected by his 2000 DEF Spy.

Encinas Normal Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh and passed.

Kulman drew Gravekeeper’s Descendant next turn. He flipped Rivalry of Warlords, and when Encinas flipped Seven Tools of the Bandit to try to negate it, Kulman flipped his own Seven Tools to make sure the Rivalry resolved! Encinas sent his Fossil Dyna and Breaker to the Graveyard so that he could keep his Thunder King. Kulman Normal Summoned Gravekeeper’s Descendant next, and Tributed his Spy to destroy Thunder King with Descendant’s effect. Kulman attacked with the Descendant in the hopes of scoring a direct attack, but Encinas flipped Dimensional Prison to remove it from the Duel.

Encinas Normal Summoned King Tiger Wanghu next turn. It gained 300 ATK from the effect of Closed Forest and attacked Kulman directly for 2000 points of damage.

Kulman Special Summoned Cyber Dragon and attacked over the King Tiger, destroying it in battle. He Set Royal Tribute before passing.

Encinas activated Dark Hole to destroy Cyber Dragon and passed.

Kulman Set Mystical Space Typhoon and ended his turn.

Encinas Set a card to his back row, and Kulman destroyed Closed Forest in Encinas’s End Phase by activating Mystical Space Typhoon.

Kulman activated Necrovalley and Summoned Gravekeeper’s Descendant next turn, but he lost his monster to Encinas’s Bottomless Trap Hole.

Encinas Set a card to his back row and play passed to Kulman.

Kulman Summoned Gravekeeper’s Assailant and Summoned it, using it to attack Encinas directly for 2000 points of damage. He dropped down to 4500 Life Points.

Encinas activated Pot of Duality next turn to grab a D.D. Warrior Lady from the top of his Deck and Set it.

Kulman drew and Summoned Gravekeeper’s Recruiter next turn. He attacked Encinas’s face-down D.D. Warrior Lady with his Recruiter, causing Encinas to remove both of the monsters from play, and then Gravekeeper’s Assailant attacked directly, dropping Encinas down to 2500 Life Points.

Encinas drew a card and Set it in his back row.

But that card didn’t scare Kulman! Kulman drew another Recruiter and Summoned it to the field. He attacked directly with his Recruiter and Assailant, wiping out Encinas’s remaining 2500 Life Points. Encinas revealed the Starlight Road, Royal Oppression, and Counter Counter in his back row and then conceded!

Austin Kulman overcomes Closed Forest and activates Necrovalley in Duel 3 to move on in the tournament with a 5-0 record!