YCS Kansas City is under way, and we’re ready to jump right into the action! Take a look at the four tables we took a look at for our Round 1 Feature!

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At the first featured table, we had Michael Friend using a Fabled Deck, facing off against Robert Grasso’s Dark World Deck.

In Duel 1, Friend used Snipe Hunter to take down Grasso’s field and Summon a bunch of Fabled Monsters. Then he used his swarm to Synchro Summon Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, and banished Grapha plus 2 other cards with Trishula’s effect. Grasso couldn’t recover from Trishula’s devastation. Grasso told us exactly what went wrong in this Duel. “I overextended,” he told me. “I should’ve held onto Grapha.” Grasso discarded Grapha from his hand with Dark Smog to get it into the Graveyard and quickly Summon it, but didn’t get to banish anything useful from Friend’s Graveyard when he did it. Grasso knows that if he saved the Dark Smog’s activation for when Friend discarded The Fabled Cerburrel, he could’ve banished Cerburrel before it hit the field, AND destroyed a card with Grapha, stopping Trishula from ever hitting play. It’s always best to use cards when you can maximize their effectiveness. If Grasso had held onto Grapha until the time was right, he most likely would have won.

In Duel 2, Grasso activated Torrential Tribute to destroy 2 of his opponent’s Reborn Tengus while he had Wind-Up Zenmaines on the field. Zenmaines protected itself with its last Xyz Material, and when the Tengus hit the Graveyard, Grasso used Debunk to negate one of their effects; but he didn’t realize the other Tengu would still activate its effect to Special Summon the third Tengu from the Deck! Grasso immediately regretted his play. If he had saved the Debunk for a point at which it would serve a use, he would have been better off.

Ultimately, Grasso lost Duel 2 when he tried to end it by discarding Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World with Dark Smog in his Battle Phase, and Special Summon Beiige to the field. He was hoping Beiige would score the Duel-ending attack he needed to win. But Grasso lost out to Torrential Tribute! “I didn’t think he had Torrential,” Grasso told me. I thought he’d Torrential when I brought the Grapha out, if he had it.” Grasso said, “I made 2 uncontested swings with Grapha, and thought he couldn’t stop Beiige.” But even though Grasso’s play was carefully considered, it turned out that he miscalculated. Consequently, he lost his field to Torrential Tribute.

Michael Friend defeated Robert Grasso’s Dark World army in a 2-0 triumph!

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At the next featured table, we had Robbie Kohl using Gadgets, Dueling against Geo Stephens and his monster-heavy Deck featuring Gallis the Star Beast.

In Duel 1, Kohl had Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, Smashing Ground, Bottomless Trap Hole, and Yellow Gadget in his hand, with Reborn Tengu on the field and only a Solemn Warning face-down. His opponent Normal Summoned The Agent of Creation – Venus, and Kohl flipped Solemn Warning when Venus used its effect.

I asked Kohl why he activated Solemn Warning on Venus, and if he was afraid that he enabled Master Hyperion to strike the field by doing so.

“Gachi Gachi Gantetsu is more of a problem than Hyperion,” Kohl told me. “I can easily destroy Hyperion with one card, because I’m playing Gadgets.” Kohl knows the strengths and weaknesses of his Gadget Deck, and made a calculated decision to decide which monster is worth preventing from reaching the field.

Waiting for Venus to use its effect before activating Solemn Warning, instead of negating its initial Summon, was also a great place since it caused Stephens to pay 500 Life Points that he would’ve kept if Kohl had negated its initial Summon.

Kohl eventually won Duel 1 with his Gadgets. When he had Yellow Gadget, Bottomless Trap Hole, and Reborn Tengu on the field, Stephens Synchro Summoned Mist Wurm to try to win the Duel. “He had 3 targets,” Stephens told me. “If he didn’t have Bottomless, I’d have won.” But Kohl flipped Bottomless Trap Hole to banish Mist Wurm, and quickly won the Duel.

Kohl controlled Duel 2 with Thunder King Rai-Oh and a bunch of back rows. Stephens couldn’t break through Kohl’s Rai-Oh and back rows. When Stephens used Heavy Storm to try to destroy Kohl’s face-down Solemn Judgment and Solemn Warning, Kohl paid 3400 Life Points with Solemn Judgment to protect the Warning. By doing so, he made it even more difficult to destroy Rai-Oh.

Kohl eventually won the Duel by keeping his Rai-Oh on the field all the way through to his last turn. Rai-Oh is a great card for controlling a Duel, since it can negate the Special Summon of monsters, and prevents players from searching their Decks for cards to add to their hand.

Robbie Kohl defeated Geo Stephens 2-0 with his Gadgets!

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At our third featured table, we had Mark Oberfist using Resonators to Duel against James Reed’s Synchro-heavy Deck.

Duel 1 hit a stalemate, as Oberfist’s Gachi Gachi Gantetsu withstood potential attacks from Reed’s Wind-Up Zenmaines. Neither monster was easy to destroy, but Reed finally broke through when Oberfist used Fissure in an attempt to destroy Zenmaines, and Zenmaines’ effect activated. From there, Reed gained gradual control and leveraged his lead into a victory.

In Duel 2, Oberfist Set 3 cards and activated Card Destruction on his first turn, discarding 2 cards including a Starlight Road. Reed drew Heavy Storm off of the Card Destruction’s effect, but figured Oberfist probably had another Starlight Road, since he was willing to discard one. Consequently, Reed resisted activating it. Instead, he took down Oberfist’s back row cards 1 at a time before activating Heavy Storm and sealing the Duel.

James Reed used his Synchro-heavy Deck to take a 2-0 victory over Mark Oberfist!

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At our last featured table, we had David Miles using a Master Hyperion Deck to Duel against Bradley Ewell’s Blackwings.

In Duel 1, Ewell managed to Summon 2 copies of Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame and used Solemn Warning to negate the Summon of Miles’ Wind-Up Zenmaines, but still couldn’t clinch a victory. Once Ewell used Icarus Attack to destroy The Agent of Creation – Venus, Miles Summoned Master Hyperion and used it to assure his victory. Ewell considered saving Icarus Attack for Master Hyperion, but decided against it. “Then he would’ve had Gachi Gachi and Venus for me to get through,” Ewell told me.

In Duel 2, Miles Summoned Number 17: Leviathan Dragon with Tour Guide From the Underworld and protected it with Effect Veiler. Ewell simply couldn’t destroy Number 17: Leviathan Dragon, and faced defeat because of it. Sometimes, all it takes is one powerful monster to dominate a Duel.

David Miles took a quick 2-0 victory over Ewell’s Blackwings.

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Friend, Kohl, Reed, and Miles are moving on with 1-0 records!