Billy Brake and Alistar Albans are no strangers to the top tables. Albans has made it to the Top 32 a total of 6 times, and Brake has made it there a whopping 11 times, including a YCS victory that he took last month in Toronto! Both Duelists entered this weekend’s YCS with near-identical Decks that they built together. Deck construction will not be a factor in this Match! Luck, skill, and experience will help one of these Duelists get ahead and become the champion of YCS Columbus!

Brake opened up Duel 1 with Solemn Warning, Heavy Storm, Reborn Tengu, Thunder King Rai-Oh, Caius the Shadow Monarch, and Gorz the Emissary of Darkness. He Normal Summoned Rai-Oh and Set Solemn Warning, ending his turn.

Albans attempted to Normal Summoned Reborn Tengu, but Brake negated its Summon with Solemn Warning. Albans passed with no field.

Brake drew Glow-Up Bulb next turn. He attacked directly with Rai-Oh, Summoned Reborn Tengu, and passed.

[I asked Brake why he didn’t Normal Summon Reborn Tengu in Main Phase 1 to deal an extra 1700 points of damage, and he replied, “If he had Gorz, I was going to Tribute for Caius in Main Phase 2.” Brake wouldn’t have been able to do that if he had Normal Summoned Tengu before attacking.]

Albans Set a cad to each zone.

Brake drew another Rai-Oh next turn. He activated Heavy Storm to destroy Albans’s Solemn Warning and then Tributed Reborn Tengu to Summon Caius the Shadow Monarch! Brake banished Albans’s face-down Spirit Reaper with Caius, dealing 1000 points of damage to Albans, and then attacked directly with Caius the Shadow Monarch, Reborn Tengu, and Thunder King Rai-Oh to end the Duel!

In a matter of minutes, Billy Brake defeats Alistar Albans in Duel 1, coming one step closer to a second YCS title! Alistar Albans will be going first in Duel 2!

Albans started Duel 2 by Setting a card to each zone and passing.

Brake opened up with Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, Spirit Reaper, Tour Guide From the Underworld, Thunder King Rai-Oh, Foolish Burial, and Torrential Tribute. He Summoned Rai-Oh, and before entering his Battle Phase, Albans discarded Effect Veiler from his hand to negate Rai-Oh’s effect. This telegraphed to Brake that Albans had a Sangan face-down. Brake Set Torrential Tribute before ending his turn.

Albans Tributed his face-down Sangan on the next turn, in order to Summon Caius the Shadow Monarch. He targeted Rai-Oh with his Caius’s effect, and Brake Chained Torrential Tribute to clear the field. Albans searched his Deck for a Lonefire Blossom to add to his hand with the effect of Sangan.

Brake drew Sangan next turn and Normal Summoned Spirit Reaper. He tried attacking directly with it, but Albans flipped Scapegoat to Special Summon 4 Sheep Tokens. Brake destroyed 1 of them with Reaper.

Albans Normal Summoned Lonefire Blossom and Tributed it to Special Summon Spore from his Deck. Then he Tuned Spore with a Sheep Token to Synchro Summon Formula Synchron and draw a card. Albans banished Lonefire Blossom from his Graveyard to Special Summon Spore, and then Tuned Spore with a Sheep Token to Synchro Summon T.G. Hyper Librarian. Hyper Librarian attacked Spirit Reaper, dropping Brake down to 5900 Life Points. Albans Set 2 cards to his back row before ending his turn.

Brake drew Reborn Tengu next turn. He Normal Summoned Tour Guide and activated her effect to Special Summon another Tour Guide from his Deck. Next, Brake combined his Tour Guides to Xyz Summon Leviair the Sea Dragon. Brake detached a Tour Guide from it to Special Summon Albans’s banished Lonefire Blossom, and then Tributed Lonefire Blossom to Special Summon his own Lonefire Blossom from his Deck! Next, he Tributed that Lonefire Blossom to Special Summon Glow-Up Bulb from his Deck in Attack Position. Brake entered his Battle Phase and tried attacking Formula Synchron with Leviair; but Albans flipped Book of Moon and put Leviair face-down to protect his Formula. Next, Glow-Up Bulb attacked and destroyed a Sheep Token. In Main Phase 2, Brake activated Foolish Burial to send Spore from his Deck to his Graveyard. He banished Lonefire Blossom from his Graveyard to try to Special Summon Spore, but Albans flipped Debunk to banish the Spore and negate its effect!

Albans Normal Summoned Reborn Tengu next, and Tuned it with Formula Synchron to Synchro Summon Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier! He drew a card with Librarian’s effect and then Special Summoned another Tengu from his Deck. Next, he discarded a Reborn Tengu to return Leviair to Brake’s Extra Deck. Albans discarded Solemn Warning to return Spirit Reaper to Brake’s hand next. T.G. Hyper Librarian attacked over Glow-Up Bulb, dropping Brake down to 3600 Life Points. Tengu attacked next, and Brake Special Summoned Gorz the Emissary of Darkness from his hand, along with an Emissary of Darkness Token in Defense Position. Brionac destroyed the Token in battle. Albans discarded Debris Dragon from his hand to activate Brionac’s effect and return Brake’s Gorz to his hand. He Set Solemn Warning before ending his turn.

Brake drew Mystical Space Typhoon next turn and activated it to destroy Albans’s face-down Solemn Warning. Next, he activated the effect of Glow-Up Bulb. He sent Reborn Tengu from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard to Special Summon Glow-Up Bulb, and then Summoned Tengu from his hand. He Tuned Bulb with Tengu to Synchro Summon T.G. Hyper Librarian, and Albans drew a card with his Librarian’s effect. Brake Special Summoned another Tengu. Brake destroyed Brionac with Librarian and had the Tengus destroy one another. Both Duelists had no more Tengus left in their Decks.

Albans Set a card to his back row and passed.

Brake drew Maxx “C” next turn and attacked his Librarian into Albans’s; but Albans flipped Dimensional Prison to banish Brake’s Librarian! Brake Set Spirit Reaper to try to survive another turn, but it was all over seconds later!

Albans drew Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning, and after showing it to Brake, Brake immediately conceded.

Billy Brake almost mounts a comeback with Gorz, despite Albans’s field of T.G. Hyper Librarian, Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, and Reborn Tengu, but a topdecked Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning had different plans for Brake! Billy Brake will be going first in Duel 3!

Brake opened up Duel 3 with Spore, D.D. Crow, Tour Guide From the Underworld, Thunder King Rai-Oh, and 2 copies of Reborn Tengu. He Normal Summoned Rai-Oh and passed.

Albans passed without making a play.

Brake drew his third Reborn Tengu next turn. He Set Spore and passed, choosing not to attack with Rai-Oh, in case Albans had Gorz in his hand.

Albans Set a card to each zone and passed to Brake.

Brake drew Scapegoat. He attacked Albans’s face-down Glow-Up Bulb with Rai-Oh in order to destroy it. In Main Phase 2, Brake Set Scapegoat.

Albans Normal Summoned Sangan and then activated Book of Moon to put Rai-Oh face-down. He attacked Rai-Oh with Sangan, destroying it in battle. Brake activated Scapegoat to Special Summon 4 Sheep Tokens in Albans’s End Phase.

Brake drew Monster Reborn next turn! He Flip Summoned Spore and then Tuned it with a Sheep Token to Synchro Summon Formula Synchron and draw Doomcaliber Knight. Next, Brake activated Monster Reborn to try to Special Summon Thunder King Rai-Oh, but Albans negated the Reborn with Solemn Warning. Brake Summoned Doomcaliber Knight next, and used it to attack Sangan. Sangan was destroyed and its effect was negated when Doomcaliber Knight Tributed itself.

Albans Normal Summoned Lonefire Blossom and then Tributed it to Special Summon Dandylion in Defense Position. Next, Albans activated Glow-Up Bulb by sending Monster Reborn from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard. After Special Summoning Glow-Up Bulb, he Tuned it with Dandylion to Synchro Summon Armory Arm and Special Summon 2 Fluff Tokens. Before entering his Battle Phase, Brake Tuned his Formula Synchron with 3 Sheep Tokens to Synchro Summon T.G. Hyper Librarian.

Brake drew Glow-Up Bulb next turn. He Normal Summoned Tour Guide From the Underworld and activated its effect to Special Summon Sangan in Attack Position. Brake attacked Armory Arm with T.G. Hyper Librarian next, destroying it in battle, and then destroyed Albans’s 2 Fluff Tokens by attacking with Tour Guide and Sangan.

Albans drew to 5 cards in his hand, and in Albans’s Standby Phase, Brake discarded D.D. Crow to banish Armory Arm from Albans’s Graveyard, getting rid of his only LIGHT monster. Albans Set a monster and passed.

Brake drew Enemy Controller next turn, adding it to his hand of 3 Tengus, and a Glow-Up Bulb. He Normal Summoned Glow-Up Bulb, and Albans discarded Maxx “C” from his hand. But Brake wasn’t deterred from Special Summoning! He Tuned Glow-Up Bulb with Tour Guide to Synchro Summon Armory Arm, allowing Albans to draw another card. Then he banished Glow-Up Bulb from his Graveyard to Special Summon Spore, giving Albans another card. He Tuned Spore with T.G. Hyper Librarian next to Synchro Summon Black Rose Dragon, allowing Albans to draw another card, and then he banished Spore from his Graveyard to switch Albans’s face-down Spore into Attack Position and reduce its ATK to 0! Albans only had 4500 Life Points remaining, and Brake was taking them out this turn! Brake equipped his Black Rose Dragon with Armory Arm and attacked Spore with it – Albans lost 3400 Life Points from the battle, and then took another 400 points of effect damage due to Armory Arm. With only 700 Life Points remaining, a direct attack from Sangan finished Albans off, and his in-hand Gorz was no help!

Billy Brake makes a miraculous recovery in Duel 3, despite drawing 3 Reborn Tengus! Billy Brake is now a back-to-back YCS winner!