YCS first-timer Zachary Sexton from Chicopee, Massachusetts is currently 6-1 in the tournament with his Hieratic Deck. His opponent, Hansel Aguero won last year’s World Championship Qualifier and will be defending his title in July at this year’s World Championship Qualifier. But first, he has his eyes set on winning this weekend’s YCS, and to do it, he’ll have to get past Sexton with his Dino Rabbit Deck!

Duel One

Sexton opened up with Monster Reborn, Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, Hieratic Seal of Convocation, My Body as a Shield, and 2 copies of Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit. He ended his first turn without playing anything!

Aguero Set a monster and a back row.

Sexton drew Hieratic Dragon of Nebthet. He Special Summoned Tefnuit and then Tributed it to Summon Hieratic Dragon of Nebthet. He used Tefnuit’s effect to Special Summon Luster Dragon #2 from his Deck in Defense Position, and then used Nebthet’s effect to Tribute the Tefnuit in his hand and destroy Aguero’s face-down Kabazauls. Next, Tefnuit’s effect Special Summoned Wattaildragon from Sexton’s Deck. Sexton combined Luster Dragon #2 with Wattaildragon to Xyz Summon Hieratic Dragon King of Atum, and Aguero activated Raigeki Break to try to destroy it by discarding Mystical Space Typhoon; but Sexton Chained My Body as a Shield from his hand and paid 1500 Life Points to protect his monster! Next, he detached Wattaildragon from Atum to Special Summon Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon from his Deck in Defense Position, and then he used his Red-Eyes’s effect to Special Summon Tefnuit from his Graveyard. He banished his 0 ATK Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon to Special Summon Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon from his hand in Attack Position, and then used Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon’s effect to Summon Wattaildragon from his Graveyard. He combined Wattaildragon with Tefnuit to Summon another copy of Atum, and used its effect to Special Summon Lightpulsar Dragon in Defense Position. Next, he used Hieratic Seal of Convocation to search his Deck for a copy of Hieratic Dragon of Su and add it to his hand. He put a copy of Gaia Dragon, the Thunder Charger on each copy of Atum, and then attacked directly with both Gaia Chargers, Nebthet, and Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon to eliminate all 8000 of Aguero’s Life Points!

Sexton passes his first turn without making a play and then defeats Aguero on his second turn with a swarm of Dragons! Aguero will be going first in Duel 2!

Duel Two

Aguero opened up Duel 2 with Book of Moon, Raigeki Break, Monster Reborn, Mystical Space Typhoon, and 2 copies of Effect Veiler.

He Set a card to his back row and passed.

Sexton opened up with Mystical Space Typhoon, Tragoedia, Hieratic Dragon of Eset, Wattaildragon, Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit, and Gorz the Emissary of Darkness. He activated Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Aguero’s face-down Raigeki Break and passed.

Aguero Set a card to his back row and passed.

Sexton drew Solemn Warning. He Normal Summoned Eset and Set the Solemn Warning, then attacked for 1000 points of damage.

Aguero Set a card to his back row and passed.

Sexton Tributed Eset to Summon Hieratic Dragon of Su and used Eset’s effect to Special Summon Luster Dragon #2 from his Deck. He combined his 2 Level 6 monsters to Summon Hieratic Dragon King of Atum and then detached an Xyz Material from Atum to activate its effect; but Sexton used Effect Veiler to negate it.

Aguero Set 2 more cards to his back row and passed.

Sexton activated his Atum’s effect by detaching an Xyz Material to Special Summon Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon from his Deck in Defense Position. He used Red-Eyes’s effect to Special Summon Luster Dragon #2 from his Graveyard in Attack Position, and then upgraded his Atum to Gaia Dragon, the Thunder Charger. Luster Dragon #2 attacked, and then Aguero used Mirror Force to destroy Gaia Dragon and Luster Dragon #2.

Aguero used Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Sexton’s face-down Solemn Warning and then used Monster Reborn to revive Gaia Dragon, the Thunder Charger from Sexton’s Graveyard. He used it to attack over Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, destroying it and dealing 2600 points of damage to Sexton. Sexton Special Summoned Tragoedia in Defense Position after taking the damage.

Sexton used Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Aguero’s face-down Book of Moon and then ended his turn sitting behind a 2400 DEF Tragoedia.

Aguero attacked over Tragoedia with Gaia Dragon, destroying it and dealing 200 points of damage to Sexton.

Sexton Special Summoned Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit next turn and then Tributed it to Summon Hieratic Dragon of Eset. He Special Summoned Luster Dragon #2 from his Graveyard with the effect of Tefnuit and then combined his Luster Dragon #2 and Hieratic Dragon of Eset to Summon Photon Strike Bounzer. He attacked with his Bounzer, but lost out to Aguero’s Dimensional Prison.

Aguero Summoned Kabazauls and then attacked directly with it to drop Sexton down to 3500 Life Points. Aguero Set 1 card to his back row before ending his turn.

[Choosing not to attack with Gaia Dragon was a great play; it allowed Aguero to avoid being vulnerable to Gorz.]

Sexton drew Solemn Warning and passed with Gorz still in his hand.

Aguero drew and Summoned Rescue Rabbit next turn! He Special Summoned 2 Kabazauls from his Deck and combined them to Summon Evolzar Dolkka. Dolkka, Gaia Dragon, and Kabazauls wiped out the rest of Sexton’s Life Points, and with Dolkka face-up on the field, Gorz was no help to Sexton between attacks.

Hansel Aguero turns Duel 2 around by reviving Zachary Sexton’s Gaia Dragon, the Thunder Charger with Monster Reborn, and pushes the Match to a third Duel! Zachary Sexton will be going first in Duel 3!

Duel Three

Sexton opened up with Lightpulsar Dragon, Tragoedia, Effect Veiler, Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit, and 2 copies of Electric Virus. He passed without making a play.

Aguero opened up with Effect Veiler, Kabazauls, Dimensional Prison, Snowman Eater, Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, and Solemn Warning.

He Set a monster and a card to his back row.

Sexton drew Gorz the Emissary of Darkness and then Special Summoned Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit. He Tributed it to Normal Summon Lightpulsar Dragon and then used Tefnuit’s effect to Special Summon Luster Dragon #2 from his Deck. He combined Luster Dragon #2 with Lightpulsar Dragon to Summon Hieratic Dragon King of Atum and Aguero activated Solemn Warning to negate its Summon. Sexton passed with an empty field.

Aguero Normal Summoned Tour Guide From the Underworld and tried to activate its effect; but Sexton discarded Effect Veiler to negate its effect. Next, Tour Guide attacked directly for 1000 points of damage, and Sexton Special Summoned Gorz the Emissary of Darkness and an Emissary of Darkness Token! Aguero Flip Summoned Snowman Eater and used its effect to destroy Gorz before combining Snowman Eater and Tour Guide From the Underworld to Summon Number 17: Leviathan Dragon in Main Phase 2. He detached Tour Guide from Number 17: Leviathan Dragon and then Set a card to his back row before ending his turn.

Sexton drew Solemn Warning next turn. He ended his turn with an Emissary of Darkness Token in Defense Position and no other cards on his field.

Aguero Summoned Kabazauls and attacked and destroyed the Emissary of Darkness Token with it.

Sexton drew Hieratic Dragon of Eset and Set Solemn Warning.

Aguero Summoned Kabazauls and attacked directly with it, dropping Sexton down to 5300 Life Points. Sexton Special Summoned Tragoedia from his hand in Defense Position, with 1200 ATK and DEF. Aguero Summoned Sabersaurus in Main Phase 2 and combined it with Kabazauls to try to Summon Evolzar Dolkka; but Sexton flipped Solemn Warning and paid 2000 Life Points to negate its Summon.

Sexton drew Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit next turn. He switched Tragoedia into Attack Position and attacked directly. Aguero lost 1800 Life Points and Special Summoned Gorz the Emissary of Darkness from his hand, along with an 1800 ATK and DEF Emissary of Darkness Token!

Aguero switched his Gorz and Token into Attack Position and then attacked over Tragoedia with Gorz. The Token attacked directly next, dropping Sexton down to 600 Life Points. Aguero Set a card to his back row before ending his turn.

Sexton drew Mystical Space Typhoon and used it to destroy Aguero’s face-down Torrential Tribute. Then he Special Summoned Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit and Tributed it to Summon Hieratic Dragon of Eset. Tefnuit’s effect allowed Sexton to Special Summon Wattaildragon from his Deck. He used Eset’s effect to make it Level 6 and then combined it with Wattaildragon to Xyz Summon Number 25: Force Focus! Force Focus attacked and destroyed the Emissary of Darkness Token, dropping Aguero down to 3200 Life Points.

Aguero switched Gorz to Defense Position and passed.

Sexton drew Mystical Space Typhoon and then attacked Gorz with Number 25: Force Focus. He Set Mystical Space Typhoon before ending his turn.

Aguero Set a monster and passed.

Sexton drew Honest next turn. He attacked Sexton’s face-down Sangan with Force Focus, letting Aguero add a Spirit Reaper from his Deck to his hand with Sangan’s effect.

Aguero Set a monster and passed.

Sexton drew Royal Decree and Set it. He attacked Sexton’s face-down Spirit Reaper with Force Focus to flip it face-up and then ended his turn.

Aguero Normal Summoned Tour Guide From the Underworld and used its effect to Special Summon another Tour Guide from his Deck. He combined his Tour Guides to Summon Number 30: Acid Golem and then attacked Number 25: Force Focus with Acid Golem; but Sexton discarded Honest from his hand to give Force Focus 3000 ATK and win the battle, dropping Aguero down to 400 Life Points!

Sexton drew a card and passed.

Aguero Set a card to his back row. It was a Bottomless Trap Hole, and he lost it to Mystical Space Typhoon. Next, Aguero Set a monster and passed.

Sexton drew Hieratic Seal of Convocation next turn! He activated it to add Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit to his hand and then attacked Aguero’s face-down Effect Veiler to destroy it.

Aguero Summoned Rescue Rabbit next turn and banished it to Special Summon 2 copies of Kabazauls. He combined them to Summon Number 39: Utopia and then upgraded to Number C39: Utopia Ray. With only 400 Life Points remaining, Aguero removed all of Number C39: Utopia Ray’s Xyz Materials to bring it up to 4000 ATK and drop Number 25: Force Focus to 0 ATK. Utopia Ray attacked over Force Focus to finally destroy it and wipe out Sexton’s last 600 Life Points!

[After the Duel, Sexton realized that he could’ve upgraded his Number 25: Force Focus to Gaia Dragon, the Thunder Charger to attack through Spirit Reaper and win the Duel with his Gaia Dragon’s piercing effect.]

Hansel Aguero uses Number C39: Utopia Ray to defeat Number 25: Force Focus and advance with a 7-1 record in the tournament!