Round 1 Feature Match: Denny Yu Versus Travis Holt
Burning Abyss has slowly been building momentum since its release in Duelist Alliance, and YCS Las Vegas Champion Denny Yu has brought the strategy to Duel with today. Using a variety of win conditions such as Raiza the Storm Monarch and a single copy of Rank-Up-Magic Astral Force, Yu hopes to take home his second victory this weekend. His opponent Travis Holt has brought a Shaddoll Artifact variant to the table similar to the one that Joshua Schmidt won YCS Madrid with a couple weeks ago but with his own twist.
Yu rolled a 5 to Holt’s 10, Holt chose to go first.
Duel One
Holt started things off with Foolish Burial sending Shaddoll Squamata to the Graveyard, Squamata’s effect triggered to yard Shaddoll Falco, and Falco Special Summoned itself face-down. After taking a moment to consider, Holt Set 3 cards to his back row and passed turn to Yu.
Yu opened with a hand of Mathematician, Tour Guide From the Underworld, Rank-Up-Magic Astral Force, Mystical Space Typhoon, Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, and drew a copy of Upstart Goblin for his turn. Yu thought for a second, Summoned Mathematician and attempted to activate its effect but got halted by Holt’s Breakthrough Skill. Mathematician declared an attack on Holt’s Set Shaddoll Falco triggering its flip effect to Special Summon Shaddoll Squamata face-down. In Main Phase 2, Yu used Upstart Goblin drawing Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss and granting Holt an additional 1000 Life Points. He then set a Mystical Space Typhoon and ended his turn.
Holt drew for turn and then Flip Summoned his Shaddoll Squamata using its effect to target Yu’s Mathematician, with no response Yu tossed it to the Graveyard. Holt entered Battle Phase and swung for 1800 with Squamata, then Set an additional back row in Main Phase 2 before ending his turn.
Yu drew Solemn Warning for turn, then paused and considered his options. He Summoned Tour Guide From the Underworld and attempted to activate it effect, but Holt had Vanity’s Emptiness to cut it off. Yu simply Set a Rank-Up-Magic Astral Force and passed it back to Holt.
Holt started his turn and quickly moved to Battle Phase, swinging over Tour Guide From the Underworld with his Shaddoll Squamata to put Yu down to 5400 Life Points. After that he had no further actions for the turn.
Yu drew Karma Cut for the turn. He Set Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss as well as the Karma Cut and ended.
Holt once again quickly moved to Battle Phase and declared an attack with Shaddoll Squamata but ran into Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss and took 200 Life Points. Moving to Main Phase 2, Holt Summoned Mathematician and activated the effect, kicking Shaddoll Squamata to the Graveyard. In a new Chain Vanity’s Emptiness’s destruction triggered and then Squamata Chained onto it, Squamata sent Shaddoll Hedgehog which then added Shaddoll Beast to his hand.
Yu drew a second copy of Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss and Normal Summoned it. He overlayed his Graff and Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss for Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss. Yu activated Dante by detaching Scarm and declared that he will mill 3 cards, sending Raiza the Storm Monarch, Karma Cut, and Vanity’s Emptiness to the Graveyard. Holt chose to Effect Veiler the Dante in response to its effect in order to stop it from boosting its attack. Without faltering, Yu activated Rank-Up-Magic Astral Force in an attempt to overlay Constellar Pleiades on top of Dante, but Holt Chained Artifact Sanctum to get Artifact Moralltach. Astral Force resolved Summoning Pleiades and in a new Chain Moralltach triggered, but Yu responded with Pleiades’s effect detaching Dante to return Holt’s last Set card to his hand. Once the Chain resolved, both Dante and Graff triggered; Dante got back a Graff from his Graveyard and Graff Special Summoned a Scarm from Yu’s Deck. End Phase, Yu grabbed a Tour Guide From the Underworld off of Scarm’s effect.
Holt drew and tried to activate Shaddoll Fusion, but Denny negated it with Solemn Warning leaving Holt with three cards left in his hand. Next, Holt declared an attack with Artifact Moralltach to run over Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, and then tried to attack with Mathematician, but Denny had Karma Cut waiting and discarded Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss for cost. Graff triggered to Special Summon Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from Yu’s Deck. In Main Phase 2, Holt tributed Shaddoll Squamata to Set a monster from his hand. During the End Phase, Yu searched another copy of Tour Guide From the Underworld thanks to Scarm’s effect.
Yu drew Phoenix Wing Wind Blast for turn. He Special Summoned Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his hand via its own effect and overlayed the newly summoned Graff and the Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss that was already in play to Xyz Summon Ghostrick Alucard. Activating Alucard’s effect by detaching Cir and targeting Holt’s Tribute Set monster, Shaddoll Beast got blown away. Both Holt’s Beast and Yu’s Cir trigger, letting Holt draw a card and Yu to special Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to the field. Next, Scarm destroyed itself because Yu controls Alucard. Continuing on, Yu summoned Tour Guide From the Underworld and activated its effect to get a Cir from his Deck to Xyz Summon Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss used Tour Guide and Cir as materials. Detaching Tour Guide and choosing to mill 3 with Dante’s effect, Wiretap, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, and Mystical Space Typhoonhit the Graveyard. Dante attacked over Artifact Moralltach and Alucard made a direct attack putting Holt down to 6600 Life Points. Dante switched to Defense Position at the end of the Battle Phase, and in Main Phase 2, Yu overlayed Downerd Magician over his Alucard. During the End Phase he searches Graff with Scarm’s effect.
Holt drew to only 2 cards in his hand, and Sets only a back row and immediately ended his turn. During the End Phase, Denny used Phoenix Wing Wind Blast ditching Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to spin the newly Set card to the top of Holt’s Deck, and with that Holt conceded knowing that he had been Set too far back.
Yu takes Duel one and both Duelists dive to their Side Decks.
Duel Two
Holt chose to go first, and without much hesitation simply Set 2 cards to his back row and ended his turn.
Yu had a hand of Rank-Up-Magic Astral Force, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, Compulsory Evacuation Device, Tour Guide From the Underworld, Karma Cut, and drew an additional copy of Karma Cut for turn. He summoned Tour Guide and used its effect to Special Summon Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his Deck. Overlaying the two monsters, he Xyz Summoned Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss and used its effect detaching Scarm, choosing to mill 3. Vanity’s Fiend, Solemn Warning, and Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss were sent to the Graveyard via Dante’s effect. Next, Yu used Astral Force to overlay Constellar Pleiadeson top of Dante. He declared an attack for 2500 with Pleiades, and in Main Phase 2 Set the remaining cards in his hand to his back row. During the End Phase, he grabbed a Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss via Scarm’s effect.
Holt drew for turn and immediately slammed down Shaddoll Fusion. Sending Effect Veiler and Shaddoll Squamata as Fusion Materials, El Shaddoll Construct hit the table. Holt activated Construct as Chain Link 1 and Squamata as Chain Link 2, sending Shaddoll Beast with Squamata and Shaddoll Falco with Construct. Beast let Holt draw a card and Falco Special Summoned itself face-down. Next Holt entered Battle Phase and declared an attack with Construct on Constellar Pleiades, but Yu responded with Pleiades’s detaching Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss to return Construct to Holt’s Extra Deck. Yu then used Dante’s effect to add back Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to his hand. In Main Phase 2 Holt Set a monster as well as a card to his back row, leaving himself with only 2 cards left in his hand. During the End Phase, Yu used his Phoenix Wing Wind Blast to try to return the newly Set monster to the top of Holt’s Deck, and discarded Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss in the process but Holt had Trap Stun! Graff let Yu Special Summon a copy of Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his Deck, and then Cir destroyed itself to revive Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss which then destroyed itself. Scarm let Yu add Tour Guide From the Underworld from his Deck because this all happened during the End Phase.
Yu drew Mystical Space Typhoon for turn, and Summoned the Tour Guide From the Underworld he had just searched. Holt tried to Chain Disappearance the Tour Guide in response to its effect, but Yu had Compulsory Evacuation Device to both add Tour Guide back to his hand and render the Chain Disappearance useless! Tour Guide’s effect resolved Special Summoning Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, and Cir then destroyed itself and Special Summoned Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss. Yu declared an attack with Constellar Pleiades on the newest Set monster, but Holt activated Malevolent Catastrophe threatening to destroy Yu’s Set back row! Yu responded with Pleiades’s effect targeting itself to both halt his attack and make sure he is not left defenseless against Shaddoll Fusion. Malevolent Catastrophe resolved destroying both copies of Karma Cut. Yu Set Mystical Space Typhoon in Main Phase 2 and passed the turn.
Holt drew and Flip Summons Shaddoll Squamata to destroy Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss. Yu got a Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss off of Dante’s effect. Holt Flip Summoned Shaddoll Falco next to Special Summon a Shaddoll Beast face-down. He declared attacks for 600 with Falco and 1800 with Squamata, putting Yu down to 5600 Life Points. Holt Set a back row in Main Phase 2, considered Summoning an Extra Deck monster for a moment, but opted not to. During the End Phase, Yu used Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy the newly Set Vanity’s Emptiness.
Yu drew Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, and Special Summoned it in defense. He then Special Summoned a Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss in defense as well and overlayed both for Ghostrick Alucard. Alucard used its effect to destroy the recently Set Shaddoll Beast, but Holt still got a draw from Beast’s effect. Yu Normal Summoned Tour Guide From the Underworld to get Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his Deck to overlay for Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss. Yu declared that he’ll mill three and detached Tour Guide, sending Scarm, Mathematician, and Raiza the Storm Monarch to the Graveyard. He moved to Battle Phase and attacked with Dante over Shaddoll Squamata and Alucard swung over Shaddoll Falco putting Holt to 3600. Dante switched to defense at the end of the Battle Phase, and in Main Phase 2 Yu overlayed a Downerd Magician over Dante and another Downerd Magician over Alucard. He netted another Tour Guide off of Scarm’s effect in the End Phase.
Holt drew to 4 cards in hand, and then banished Effect Veiler and Shaddoll Squamata from his Graveyard to Summon Chaos Sorcerer. He used Sorcerer’s effect to banish the Downerd Magician that had Ghostrick Alucard and Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss as Xyz Materials. Cir activated in a new Chain and Special Summoned Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss. Holt summoned another Veiler dives to his Extra Deck to retrieve an Arcanite Magician by using the Veiler and Sorcerer. Arcanite gained 2 spell counters, and he removed the first to destroy the Dante which then added back a Cir. Next he destroyed the other Downerd which had a Dante as an Xyz Material, and the second Dante triggered to get back Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to Yu’s hand. Holt Set 1 back row and ended his turn.
Yu drew a Vanity’s Emptiness for turn! The remainder of his hand consisting of Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, and Tour Guide From the Underworld. He Special Summoned Scarm from his hand, and then Special Summoned Graff both in defense. He overlayed both for Ghostrick Alucard and used Alucard detaching Graff to target Holt’s Set back row, but it was an Artifact Moralltach! Moralltach Special Summoned itself via its effect and destroyed Alucard. Determined to continue, Yu Summoned Tour Guide to get Graff, overlayed them for Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss, and chose to mill 3 with its effect detaching Tour Guide. Mystical Space Typhoon, Vanity’s Emptiness, and Phoenix Wing Wind Blast hit the Graveyard. Yu attacked over Artifact Moralltach with Dante putting Travis down to 3200. In Main Phase 2 he overlayed for Downerd Magician and confidently Set his Emptiness.
Holt drew and paused, then tributed Arcanite Magician to Set a monster and pass the turn.
Yu drew Allure of Darkness for turn and declared an attack with Downerd Magician on the Set monster. Shaddoll Beast flipped and activated its effect, but Holt still took 800 points of piercing Battle Damage from Downerd to put him down to 2400. Drawing two cards with Beast, Holt discarded Shaddoll Dragon to destroy Yu’s Vanity’s Emptiness. Yu then activated Allure of Darkness drawing Wiretap and Upstart Goblin, then banished Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. He used Upstart but drew another copy, and then used that to draw Breakthrough Skill. Yu then summoned Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss which destroyed itself to Special Summon Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss from his Graveyard.
Limited on options, Holt could only Set a monster and a back row. He sheepishly passed the turn back to Yu.
Yu skipped his Draw Phase in order to add back Rank-Up-Magic Astral Force! He used Astral Force to overlay Constellar Pleiades over his Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss. Yu used Pleiades’s effect to try to return Holt’s Set monster to his hand, but Holt had Breakthrough Skill to try to stop it. Yu snap flipped his Wiretap, and Holt immediately conceded.
Denny Yu starts the day off with a 1-0 record!
