This Round we are lucky enough to feature not one, but two VIP Duelists! By winning a VIP Qualifier tournament at their local store, they have won a ton of perks including their own private table and two byes, so the chance that two out of our four attending VIPs would play each other is statistically crazy! Yueqi Zhu is Dueling with a 46 card Nekroz Deck, using awesome tech such as Mathematician to send Tackle Crusader as well as Glow-Up Bulb for a ton of cool plays. His opponent is Jesse Hellwig, using Burning Abyss with a lot of Side Deck hate for the match up. Both of these Decks are considered the two that are currently battling for the title of strongest archetype, which will emerge victorious?

Hellwig won the roll and chose to have Zhu go first.

Duel One:

Zhu opened with a hand with two copies of Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, Djinn Releaser of Rituals, Nekroz of Unicore, and Nekroz of Brionac. He Normal Summoned Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, using its effect to add Nekroz of Clausolas, using its effect to add Nekroz Kaleidoscope to his hand. He then activated its, sending Herald of the Arch Light from his Extra Deck to his Graveyard to Ritual Summon Nekroz of Unicore from his hand; in a new Chain the Herald activated, letting him add Nekroz Cycle to his hand. He then overlayed both of them for Lavalval Chain, detaching Nekroz of Unicore to send Nekroz of Valkyrus to his Graveyard. He discarded Nekroz of Brionac, adding Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz to his hand, activating Nekroz Cycle to Special Summon Nekroz of Valkyrus from his Graveyard at the cost of the Shurit, which let him add Nekroz of Brionac once it hit the Graveyard. He used Nekroz of Valkyrus, tributing itself along with Lavalval Chain to draw Glow-Up Bulb and Dark Hole. He banished Nekroz Cycle and Nekroz of Brionac from his Graveyard, adding another copy of Nekroz Cycle to his hand, then ended his turn with a clear Field to play around a potential opposing Nekroz of Trishula.

Hellwig started his turn by Normal Summoning Tour Guide from the Underworld, Special Summoning Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his Deck. He then overlayed both for Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss, detaching Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss and sending Enemy Controller, Book of Moon, and Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss to the Graveyard before Special Summoning Rubic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss off of the Graff’s effect. Hellwig continued by Special Summoning Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his hand, Synchroing with the Rubic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss for Virgil, Rock Star of the Burning Abyss. He used the Virgil, Rock Star of the Burning Abyss’s effect, discarding Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, to return the Nekroz Kaleidoscope from Zhu’s Graveyard to his Deck. The Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss activated, letting him Special Summon Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his Graveyard. Hellwig activated Foolish Burial, sending Libic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss which let him Special Summon another copy of Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his Graveyard. He overlayed the two Malebranches for Number 30: Acid Golem of Destruction, representing exactly 8000 points of damage! He went to Battle Phase, and because Zhu didn’t have a Nekroz of Valkyrus that was the game!

Even though the Duel only lasted two turns, both players had a ton of sequencing in an attempt to play flawlessly. Zhu not being able to add Nekroz of Valkyrus to his hand allowed Hellwig to get rewarded for being very aggressive, stealing a game that he would have otherwise lost in a grind.

After siding, Zhu announced he would be going second.

Duel Two:

Hellwig moved quickly, he normal Summoned Tour Guide from the Underworld, using its effect to Special Summon Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. He then overlayed both for Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss, using its effect to send Dark Hole from the top of his Deck in order to trigger the Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss and Special Summon Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from the Deck from Graff’s effect; he Special Summoned Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his hand, overlaying it with the Cir for another Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss. He thought for a moment, Set a back row and ended.

Zhu opened with a hand of Dark Hole, Preparation of Rites, Nekroz of Trishula, Mystical Space Typhoon, Breakthrough Skill, and drew Nekroz of Brionac for turn. With so many options it took him a moment to consider what he wanted to do, deciding to start by using Mystical Space Typhoon to blow away Hellwig’s Set Vanity’s Emptiness. He activated Preparation of Rites, adding Nekroz of Clausolas from his Deck to his hand, which he then used to search Nekroz Kaleidoscope. He discarded Nekroz of Brionac, searching for Nekroz of Unicore, then used the Nekroz Kaleidoscope to send Herald of the Arch Light to his Graveyard to Ritual Summon the Nekroz of Unicore, adding Nekroz Mirror to his hand via the Herald’s effect. He then used Nekroz Mirror, banishing Nekroz of Brionac and Nekroz of Clausolas from his Graveyard to Special Summon Nekroz of Trishula! He used its effect to banish a Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss from the Field, Dark Hole from Hellwig’s hand, and Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his Graveyard. He then attacked over the other Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss, allowing Hellwig to add back Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. He Set Breakthrough Skill and during the End Phase Hellwig searched Tour Guide from the Underworld off of Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss.

Hellwig drew, Normal Summoned Tour Guide from the Underworld activating its effect, and when Zhu tried to use Breakthrough Skill Hellwig pushed his Guide’s effect through with Enemy Controller! He tributed it away, taking control of Zhu’s Nekroz of Trishula, Special Summoning Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his Deck via Tour Guide from the Underworld’s effect. He went to Battle Phase, attacked over Nekroz of Unicore with Nekroz of Trishula, then directly with Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. He ended his turn, returning Nekroz of Trishula to Zhu.

Zhu drew Maxx “C” and contemplated things as he looked through Hellwig’s Graveyard, ultimately choosing to end his turn.

Hellwig Normal Summoned a Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, making that two copies in play. He then overlayed the two Cirs for Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss, using its effect sending Maxx “C”, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, and Artifact Lancea to his Graveyard. The Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss activated, Special Summoning Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, but Zhu Chained Maxx “C” drawing Book of Moon. Hellwig ended not wanting to push further into Maxx “C”.

Zhu drew Senju of the Thousand Hands for turn. He started off by activating Dark Hole, destroying his own Nekroz of Trishula along with Hellwig’s Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss and Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss allowing him to Special Summon Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss and add back Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. Zhu then banished his Nekroz of Unicore and Nekroz Kaleidoscope to activate the effect of his Kaleidoscope, adding a copy of Nekroz Cycle to his hand. He then Normal Summoned Senju of the Thousand Hands and used its effect to add Nekroz of Brionac to his hand which he then discarded to search Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz. He activated Nekroz Cycle, using Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz as the material to Special Summon Nekroz of Trishula from his Graveyard. When he tried to activate it, Hellwig had Artifact Lancea to stop it! Zhu still got a search off Shurit though, adding Nekroz of Brionac to his hand. He then went to Battle Phase and attacked over Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss, which then activated to return another Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss to the Extra Deck, and then directly with Senju of the Thousand Hands. He Set Book of Moon and during the End Phase Hellwig added Tour Guide from the Underworld to his hand via Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss.

Hellwig drew and Normal Summoned the recently searched Tour Guide from the Underworld and Special Summoned Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his Deck, the overlayed the two for Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss. He used Dante’s effect, sending Vanity’s Fiend, Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, and Artifact Lancea to his Graveyard by detaching Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. He activated Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, banishing Nekroz of Trishula, then used Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to Special Summon Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his Deck. After all of that, he attempted to Special Summon Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his hand which Zhu let through, but once it hit the Field Zhu Flipped his Set Book of Moon to turn Dante face down causing Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss and Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to destroy themselves. Completely halted Hellwig ended, adding Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to his hand from Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss and allowing Zhu to bring back his Nekroz of Trishula from the grips of Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss.

Zhu drew Preparation of Rites for turn! He slammed down the Preparation of Rites, searching his Deck for Nekroz of Unicore and adding back Nekroz Mirror from his Graveyard. He then activated the Nekroz of Unicore, adding back Nekroz of Brionac which he then discarded to add Nekroz of Decisive Armor to his hand. He activated Nekroz Mirror, Ritual Summoning Nekroz of Decisive Armor by banishing Nekroz of Brionac and Nekroz of Unicore from his Graveyard, which prompted Hellwig to activate Maxx “C”. Once Nekroz of Decisive Armor hit the Field, Zhu used its effect to banish the Set Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss, and with Nekroz of Decisive Armor along with Senju of the Thousand Hands and Nekroz of Trishula Zhu had enough for game!

After an impressively long back and forth, Zhu emerged victorious over

Duel Three:

Zhu started off with a hand of Mathematician, Nekroz of Unicore, Nekroz Cycle, Breakthrough Skill, and Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands. He Normal Summoned Mathematician, using its effect to send Glow-Up Bulb to the Graveyard, then he activated its effect, milling Preparation of Rites, to Special Summon itself so he could Synchro Summon Herald of the Arch Light! He Set Breakthrough Skill and ended his turn.

Hellwig tried to Special Summoned Rubic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, but Zhu negated it with Herald of the Arch Light letting him search Nekroz Kaleidoscope to his hand. Hellwig tried to continue pressure by Normal Summoning Tour Guide from the Underworld, but Zhu Flipped Breakthrough Skill to negate its effect. Hellwig Set three to his back row before ending.

Zhu drew Senju of the Thousand Hands for turn. He activated Nekroz Kaleidoscope and Hellwig Chained Vanity’s Emptiness, not letting him Summon Nekroz of Unicore but still getting to send Herald of the Arch Light to the Graveyard so he can search Nekroz of Brionac. He used n’brio to add Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz to his hand, then discarded Nekroz of Unicore to add back Nekroz of Brionac. He banished Nekroz of Unicore and Nekroz Kaleidoscope from his Graveyard to add Nekroz Mirror to his hand, then Normal Summoned Senju of the Thousand Hands and used its effect to add Nekroz of Valkyrus. He went to Battle Phase and swung over the Tour Guide from the Underworld with Senju of the Thousand Hands, causing the Vanity’s Emptiness to destroy itself. He then activated Nekroz Cycle, tributing Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz from his hand to Special Summon Nekroz of Valkyrus. When the Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz activated its effect, Hellwig activated Phoenix Wing Wind Blast discarding Vanity’s Fiend to spin Nekroz of Valkyrus to the top so it would get shuffled in after Zhu searched for Nekroz of Trishula.

Hellwig drew to a single card, and slammed down Tour Guide from the Underworld! “Wow.” was the only word that escaped his lips as he Special Summoned Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his Deck, overlaying the two for Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss and then using its effect detaching Graff to send Vanity’s Emptiness, Dark Hole, and Libic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to the Graveyard. The Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss activated, letting him Special Summon Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss form his Deck. He went to Battle Phase and declared an attack over Senju of the Thousand Hands with Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, then directly with Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss. Hellwig passed back afterwards.

Zhu drew Nekroz of Clausolas for turn, then discarded it to search Nekroz Kaleidoscope from his Deck. He banished Nekroz of Clausolas and Nekroz Cycle from his Graveyard to add a copy of Nekroz Cycle form his Deck, then activated Nekroz of Brionac to search his Deck for Nekroz of Decisive Armor. He activated Nekroz Mirror, banish Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz from his Graveyard to Ritual Summon Nekroz of Decisive Armor from his hand. He then used Nekroz of Decisive Armor to banish Hellwig’s Set Raigeki! He didn’t stop there, Normal Summoning Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands and using its effect to add Nekroz Kaleidoscope to his hand, which he then used to send Herald of the Arch Light to his Graveyard and Ritual Summon Nekroz of Unicore. The Herald of the Arch Light activated, adding Nekroz of Brionac to Zhu’s hand before he overlayed the two level fours for Abyss Dweller, moving to battle and declaring attacks over Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss and Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss leaving Hellwig with no cards!

Hellwig drew, studying Life Points for a minute, then simply Normal Summoned Calcab, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss before ending.

Zhu drew Book of Moon for turn, then used Nekroz of Brionac to add Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz to his hand . He activated Nekroz Cycle, tributing the freshly added Shurit to Special Summon Nekroz of Brionac from his Graveyard. He then used Book of Moon to Flip the Calcab, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss face down, using Nekroz of Decisive Armor to banish it away and having more than enough for game!

After a super intense match showcasing two great Duelists using some of the best Decks, Yueqi Zhu emerges the VIP victor complimenting his byes with a Round three win!