Today’s Dragon Duel tournament has 61 players, and the YCS Dragon Dueling stakes have rarely been higher. As a special prize today, the top ranked Duelist at the end of the Swiss Rounds will receive a Super Rare Blood Mefist prize card, while other highly-ranked Duelists will receive cards from Order of Chaos. Take a look at which Duelists took the first step to tournament victory by winning their first round!

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At Table 1, Gabriel Viera’s Dino Ninja Deck defeated Seth Sapinoso’s Deck 2-0.

In Duel 1, Viera Summoned Number C39: Utopia Ray, White Dragon Ninja, and Thunder King Rai-Oh to swarm the field and win the first Duel by overwhelming Sapinoso. Sapinoso just couldn’t fend them off.

In Duel 2, Viera used White Dragon Ninja and Evolzar Laggia, and Number C39: Utopia Ray to achieve the same result. Sapinoso was once again overpowered, and Viera took the victory!

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At Table 2, Patrick Soga used his X-Saber Deck to defeat Kha Pham’s Deck.

In Duel 1, Soga swarmed the field using Faultroll to defeat Pham quickly with a swarm of X-Sabers.

In Duel 2, Soga was off to a slow start and got hindered by Pham’s Mirror Force, but Soga retaliated with his X-Sabers by using Faultroll. Pham was no match for Soga’s X-Sabers.

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At Table 3, Oliver Tomajko’s Dino Rabbit Deck defeated David Lopez’s Dragon Deck 2-0.

In Duel 1, Tomajko took early control by planting a Thunder King Rai-Oh on the field, but eventually lost it to Snipe Hunter. Lopez Special Summoned Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon as soon as Rai-Oh was destroyed, and scored a direct hit with it! But when Tomajko took the damage, he Special Summoned Gorz the Emissary of Darkness and an Emissary of Darkness Token. Gorz and the Token managed to take down Lopez and seal Duel 1 for Tomajko.

In Duel 2, Tomajko Summoned Evolzar Dolkka by using Rescue Rabbit on his first turn, and used it to attack Lopez’s face-down monster. Lopez had no way to retaliate, and when Tomajko Summoned Evolzar Laggia on his next turn with some more help from Rescue Rabbit, the Duel was as good as over. Evolzar Dolkka and Evolzar Laggia kept attacking, and Lopez was defeated.

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At Table 4 Shane Strobel’s Dark World Deck beat James Gilmore’s Gravekeeper’s Deck 2-1!

In Duel 1, Strobel used Fabled Raven to discard a bunch of Dark World monsters including Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World and Sillva. This allowed him to Summon a bunch of Dark World monsters to the field and take the victory.

In Duel 2, Gilmore used his Gravekeeper’s Spy to Special Summon Gravekeeper’s Descendant. This allowed Gilmore to destroy one of Strobel’s cards, but more importantly, it let him dominate the Duel by Tribute Summoning a 3300 ATK Gravekeeper’s Visionary. (Not even Grapha can take it down!)

In Duel 3, Strobel won with Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World, Stardust Dragon, and 2 copies of Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World.

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Gabriel Viera, Patrick Soga, and Oliver Tomajko, and Shane Strobel are moving on with 1-0 records!

Here are a bunch of pictures of these excited Dragon Duelists from Round 1!