Tyler Kobrofsky and Jonathan Weigle are playing Chaos Plant Synchro and Gravekeepers, respectively. Necrovalley seems to be a big advantage in Weigle’s favor, but Kobrofsky didn’t get all the way to the Top 8 by being unprepared for Gravekeepers!

Kobrofsky started the Match with a Set monster and 2 Set cards to his back row.

Weigle had Gravekeeper’s Commandant, Gravekeeper’s Recruiter, Seven Tools of the Bandit, Gravekeeper’s Spy, Gravekeeper’s Assailant, and Mirror Force. He tried to Summon Recruiter, but lost it to Solemn Warning. Weigle Set Seven Tools and Mirror Force.

Kobrofsky Flip Summoned Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, destroying Weigle’s Seven Tools. he sent Foolish Burial, Card Trooper, and Solemn Judgment to the Graveyard. He Summoned Card Trooper and sent Spore, Chaos Sorcerer, and Effect Veiler to the Graveyard to power it up. Limit Reverse let him Special Summon back the Trooper he’d just sent to his Graveyard, and he powered it up by sending Warning, another Sorcerer, and Pot of Avarice to his Graveyard. Ryko attacked and Weigle flipped Mirror Force. Kobrofsky Chained Book of Moon to put Ryko face-down, then drew 2 cards for his 2 destroyed Card Troopers.

Weigle drew Gravekeeper’s Guard. He Summoned it and attacked to flip Ryko, destroying Guard and sending Sangan, Torrential Tribute, and Tragoedia to Kobrofsky’s Graveyard. Weigle activated Necrovalley.

Kobrofsky Set a monster.

Weigle drew Gravekeeper’s Recruiter and Summoned it, attacking and flipping Debris Dragon.

Kobrofsky Normal Summoned Lonefire Blossom, Tributing it to Special Summon another, then Tributing that to Summon Dandylion. He Synchro Summoned Black Rose Dragon to clear the field, and Special Summoned 2 Fluff Tokens. Weigle searched his Deck for Gravekeeper’s Commandant with Recruiter’s effect. “I’ll use this while I can,” remarked Kobrofsky, shuffling 5 monsters back into his Deck for Pot of Avarice. He drew 2 cards, now holding 5 cards in hand with 2 Fluff Tokens on the field. He Special Summoned Chaos Sorcerer by removing another Sorcerer and Effect Veiler from his Graveyard, then sent Mirror Force, Card Trooper, and Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter to his Graveyard for Charge of the Light Brigade. That got him another Charge, and he removed Lonefire Blossom to Special Summon Spore from his Graveyard. He Tuned the Level 4 Spore to a Fluff Token and Synchro Summoned Ally of Justice Catastor, attacking with Catastor and Sorcerer.

Weigle drew Solemn Warning. He discarded Gravekeeper’s Commandant to get Necrovalley from his Deck, activating it. He Set Warning, then Set Spy.

Kobrofsky tried to Summon Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress, and Weigle negated the Summon with Solemn Warning. Catastor attacked Spy, Weigle Special Summoned Gravekeeper’s Descendant from his Deck, and Kobrofsky remove it from the game with Chaos Sorcerer.

Weigle drew Dark Hole! He destroyed everything on the field with it, then made a direct attack with Gravekeeper’s Assailant.

Kobrofsky got Tragoedia with Pot of Duality next turn, and Summoned Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind to halve Gravekeeper’s Assailant and attack over it. Weigle drew Gravekeeper’s Descendant and knew he couldn’t attack with it – if he did, he’d lose the Duel to Tragoedia. He Set the Descendant.

Kobrofsky attacked Descendant with Gale, taking 400 Battle Damage as Gale bounced off. That let him Special Summon Tragoedia, and in Main Phase 2 Kobrofsky took control of Descendant by discarding Debris Dragon for Tragoedia’s effect. He Tuned Descendant to Gale for Arcanite Magician, and it was all over a turn later as Tragoedia struck for the win!

Tyler Kobrofsky takes control of the first Duel from the get-go, and takes a decisive win over his Gravekeeper-wielding opponent! Necrovalley caused him no trouble on his path to victory. Could Kobrofsky do it again?

Weigle opened with a hand of 2 Gravekeeper’s Descendants, Gravekeeper’s Spy, Gravekeeper’s Commandant, Dimensional Prison, and Gravekeeper’s Stele. He discarded Commandant to get Necrovalley, then Set Dimensional Prison. He Set Spy to finish.

Kobrofsky Set a monster and 3 cards to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.

Weigle drew Royal Oppression. He Normal Summoned Descendant, then tried to Flip Summon Spy. Kobrofsky negated the Summon with Solemn Warning. Descendant attacked Kobrofsky’s Set Sangan, and he got Card Trooper with its effect. Weigle Set Oppression.

Kobrofsky destroyed Necrovalley with Mystical Space Typhoon, then Summoned Card Trooper and sent Dimensional Prison, Dandylion, and Glow-Up Bulb to the Graveyard to boost Trooper’s ATK.  Dandylion’s effect activated, and Weigley negated it with Royal Oppression. Kobrofsky attacked with Card Trooper, but lost it to Dimensional Prison.

Weigle drew Gozen Match. He activated Gravekeeper’s Stele to take back Commandant and Spy, and discarded Commandant for another Necrovalley. He activated it, attacked with Descendant, and Set Gozen Match.

Kobrofsky Set a monster.

Weigle drew Mystical Space Typhoon. He tried to Summon another Descendant, but was blocked by Solemn Warning. Descendant attacked Mystic Tomato, and Kobrofsky Special Summoned Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind. Weigle Set Gozen Match.

Kobrofsky halved Gravekeeper’s Descendant’s ATK and DEF with Gale, then ran it over. He Set Dust Tornado, but lost it to Mystical Space Typhoon.

Weigle drew Dark Hole and Summoned Gravekeeper’s Spy to attack over Gale.

Kobrofsky Set Debris Dragon.

Weigle drew Royal Tribute and attacked into the Dragon with Spy. He activated Royal Tribute, costing Kobrofsky Gorz the Emissary of Darkness and Lonefire Blossom.

Kobrofsky Set a Spell or Trap, and Weigle flipped Gozen Match.

Weigle got another Gravekeeper’s Spy with Pot of Duality and turned his on-field copy to Defense Position.

Kobrofsky destroyed Necrovalley with Dust Tornado next turn, then sent 5 monsters back to his Deck for Pot of Avarice. He drew 2 cards and ended.

Weigle drew Gravekeeper’s Assailant and passed.

Kobrofsky tried to Summon Gale, and realized he couldn’t, passing.

Weigle drew Cyber Dragon and passed.

Kobrofsky Set a monster.

Weigle drew Chain Disappearance and flipped Dark Hole, destroying Kobrofsky’s Debris Dragon and face-down Ryko. He Summoned Spy and attacked, letting Kobrofsky Special Summon Tragoedia. Weigle Set a Spell or Trap.

Kobrofsky turned Tragoedia to Attack Position and attacked to destroy Spy.

Weigle drew Pot of Duality and Special Summoned Cyber Dragon. It attacked over Tragoedia, dropping Kobrofsky to 100 Life Points.

Kobrofsky Set a monster and a Spell or Trap.

Weigle drew Gravekeeper’s Stele. He attacked with Cyber Dragon to destroy Lonefire Blossom, then got Gravekeeper’s Commandant with Pot of Duality. He discarded it to get Necrovalley and activated the Field Spell.

Kobrofsky Summoned Gale, and halved Cyber Dragon’s ATK and DEF to attack over it.

Weigle drew Gravekeeper’s Recruiter and Summoned Gravekeeper’s Assailant. Assailant attacked Gale, and dealt enough damage to end the Duel!

Jonathan Weigle locks his opponent down under Gozen Match, Royal Oppression, and Necrovalley! Tyler Kobrofsky clung to life for an admirable length of time, but in the end, there was no holding out. We were headed to 1 more Duel.

Kobrofsky started with a Set monster and a Set Spell or Trap.

Weigle had Pot of Duality, Gravekeeper’s Spy, Gravekeeper’s Stele, Mystical Space Typhoon, Mirror Force, and Dimensional Prison. Duality revealed Royal Oppression, Gravekeeper’s Descendant, and Book of Moon from the top of Weigle’s Deck, and he added Descendant to his hand. He activated Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Kobrofsky’s Dust Tornado, then attacked with Descendant to destroy Sangan. Kobrofsky got Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter from his Deck with Sangan’s effect, and Weigle Set Mirror Force and Dimensional Prison.

Kobrofsky cleared the field with Dark Hole, then Set a monster and a Spell or Trap.

Weigle attacked with Gravekeeper’s Spy, hitting Ryko, and losing his Dimensional Prison to Ryko’s effect. Weigle Set a Spell or Trap.

Kobrofsky Summoned Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind. He activated its effect to cut Gravekeeper’s Spy’s ATK and DEF in half and attack it.

Weigle drew Dimensional Prison, then returned Descendant and Spy to his hand with Gravekeeper’s Stele. He Summoned Descendant to run over Gale.

Kobrofsky Summoned Lonefire Blossom and Tributed it to Summon another. He Tributed that Lonefire to Special Summon Dandylion in Defense Position.

Weigle drew another Gravekeeper’s Spy. He Summoned it and attacked to destroy Dandylion, then attacked to destroy a Fluff Token. He Tributed Spy to Descendant to destroy the last Fluff Token.

Kobrofsky flipped Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying his opponent’s Mirror Force. Another Mystical Space Typhoon destroyed Seven Tools, and Kobrofsky used Charge of the Light Brigade to get Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress from his Deck. He Summoned her, then attacked into Dimensional Prison! He had 2 cards left in hand and ended.

Weigle attacked with Gravekeeper’s Descendant and Set a Spell or Trap, then a monster.

Kobroksfy Normal Summoned Debris Dragon and targeted Dandylion with its effect. Weigle activated Chain Disappearance, removing Debris Dragon from the field plus another copy from Kobrofsky’s Deck. Kobrofsky still Special Summoned Dandylion.

Weigle Flip Summoned Gravekeeper’s Spy, but lost it to Solemn Warning. Weigle attacked over Dandylion.

Kobrofsky Set a monster.

Weigle drew and Summoned Gravekeeper’s Recruiter. He attacked both Fluff Tokens, then Tributed Recruiter to destroy Kobrofsky’s Set monster with Gravekeeper’s Descendant. it was Card Trooper! Kobrofsky drew a card with Trooper, and Weigel got another Recruiter.

Kobrofsky Set a monster.

Weigle destroyed it next turn, Tributing another Recruiter to Gravekeeper’s Descendant. it was another Card Trooper. Weigel got another Recruiter. Descendant attacked, and Kobrofsky Special Summoned Gorz the Emissary of Darkness! Weigle Set a Spell or Trap.

Kobrofsky got Bottomless Trap Hole with Pot of Duality next turn, and turned Gorz to Defense Position. The Emissary of Darkness Token destroyed Descendant, and was destroyed itself. Kobrofsky Set 2 cards to his back row, 1 of which was Bottomless.

Weigle still had that Gravekeeper’s Recruiter, and destroyed Gorz with Dark Hole! He Set Recruiter, not wanting to lose it to Bottomless Trap Hole.

Kobrofsky passed.

Weigle drew Gravekeeper’s Commandant. He Flip Summoned Recruiter, lost it to Bottomless Trap Hole, and Summoned Gravekeeper’s Commandant! Kobrofsky immediately conceded.

Jonathan Weigle moves on to the Top 4 with Gravekeepers!

Here’s what our expert(s) had to say:

Erik Mishtar (Modern day pharaoh)

Even one turn without Necrovalley on the field can spell disaster for a Gravekeeper Duelist. Kobrofsky destroyed it with Black Rose Dragon and took the opportunity to make full use of his Graveyard by using Pot of Avarice, Spore, and Chaos Sorcerer to draw cards, set up Synchro Summons, and put himself in a position where Wiegle couldn’t win even if he drew the absolute best card for the situation (Dark Hole), which he did. Unfortunately for Kobrofsky, the cards just kept falling in his opponent’s favor all Match long, and he couldn’t keep up for Duels 2 and 3.

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