We wanted to get the best of the best for this Round, so we have a Nekroz against Nekroz match up from Table 1. Both Duelists have done exceptionally well compared to the rest thus far in this tournament, and they’re looking to claim the coveted flawless day one record. Who will rise to claim the title?

Soskic won the roll and chose to go second.

Duel One:

Wu opened a hand with two copies of Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz, Nekroz of Trishula, Senju of the Thousand Hands and Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz. He Normal Summoned Senju of the Thousand Hands and used its effect to add Nekroz of Clausolas to his hand before ending his turn.

Soskic Normal Summoned Senju of the Thousand Hands, using its effect to add Nekroz of Valkyrus to his hand. He then activated Nekroz Mirror, sending Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz to the Graveyard to Special Summon Nekroz of Valkyrus. Shurit activated letting Soskic add Nekroz of Brionac to his hand. He attacked over Wu’s Senju with Nekroz of Valkyrus, then directly with his own Senju to put Wu to 5100 Life Points. In Main Phase 2 he sent both Senju of the Thousand Hands and Nekroz of Valkyrus to the Graveyard for the effect of the latter to draw two cards; he activated Nekroz of Brionac, discarding it to add Nekroz of Valkyrus to his hand.

Wu drew Nekroz of Decisive Armor for turn and gave a huge sigh before taking a moment to stare at his hand as if trying to will it into a better hand. He discarded Nekroz of Clausolas, searching his Deck for Nekroz Mirror, but when he went to activate it Soskic had Maxx “C”! Wu Special Summoned Nekroz of Decisive Armor using Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz as the material, searching and then discarding Nekroz of Brionac to add Nekroz of Valkyrus to his hand. He declared an attack with Nekroz of Decisive Armor which prompted Soskic to use the effect of Nekroz of Valkyrus to block the attack by discarding it and banishing a second copy from his Graveyard. Without a way to follow it up, Wu passed turn wide open to a Nekroz of Trishula play.

Soskic drew and shuffled his hand furiously while thinking . He banished Nekroz Mirror from his Graveyard along with Nekroz of Brionac to add Nekroz Kaleidoscope to his hand, then Normal Summoned Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands and used its effect to add Nekroz of Unicore to his hand. He activated Nekroz Kaleidoscope, sending Herald of the Arch Light from his Extra Deck to the Graveyard to Special Summon Nekroz of Unicore, then used the effect of Herald of the Arch Light to add another Nekroz of Unicore to his hand. He then discarded Nekroz of Clausolas to add Nekroz Cycle to his hand, and snapped down Raigeki to destroy the opposing Nekroz of Decisive Armor. He then used the effect of Nekroz of Unicore, discarding it to add Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz to his hand, before activating Nekroz Cycle to Special Summon Nekroz of Valkyrus from his Graveyard using Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz as the material. Shurit activated, letting me add Nekroz of Brionac to his hand, then he went to Battle Phase and tried to attack but Wu used Nekroz of Valkyrus, banishing Shurit, to stop it and end the Battle Phase. In Main Phase 2, Soskic overlayed Nekroz of Unicore and Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands for Number 80: Rhapsody in Berserk, using its effect to banish away Wu’s Nekroz Mirror as well as his Nekroz of Valkyrus. He then used his own Nekroz of Valkyrus, tributing it along with Number 80: Rhapsody in Berserk away to draw two cards. He banished Nekroz Cycle along with Nekroz of Unicore from his Graveyard to add another Nekroz Cycle to his hand. He moved to End Phase, discarding Mystical Space Typhoon to hand size.

Wu drew Nekroz of Gungnir for turn, not exactly what he was looking for. He Normal Summoned Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz and declared a direct attack putting Soskic down to 6500 Life Points before ending.

Soskic drew and thought for a while, then activated Preparation of Rites to add Nekroz of Unicore from his Deck to his hand as well as Nekroz Kaleidoscope from his Graveyard. He tried to use Dark Hole to clear away the Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz but Wu responded with Nekroz of Gungnir to save it frm destruction. Soskic went on unphased, sending Herald of the Arch Light to his Graveyard for Nekroz Kaleidoscope to Special Summon Nekroz of Unicore, letting him add Nekroz Mirror from his Deck to his hand. He discarded Nekroz of Brionac next, adding Nekroz of Trishula to his hand. He ‘Normal Summoned Dance Princess of the Nekroz and activated Nekroz Mirror, banishing Nekroz of Brionac and Nekroz of Clausolas to Special Summon Nekroz of Trishula! He used its effect to banish Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz from the Field, Nekroz of Brionac from the Graveyard, and Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz from Wu’s hand. Soskic went to battle and after the first attack Wu conceded!

After a very unfortunate Set of draws for Wu against an ideal hand from Soskic, Wu eventually gets overrun in a game that seemed much longer than it needed to be. Can Wu fight to tie the score?

Wu opted to go first for game two, a surprising choice in the mirror match.

Duel Two:

Wu opened with a hand of Preparation of Rites, Nekroz of Trishula, Senju of the Thousand Hands, Nekroz of Decisive Armor, and Book of Moon. He Normal Summoned Senju of the Thousand Hands, using its effect to add Nekroz of Brionac to his hand, which he then discarded to add Nekroz of Unicore.; he activated Preparation of Rites next,adding Nekroz of Clausolas to his hand and using that to search Nekroz Kaleidoscope. Now that he had both pieces, he activated Nekroz Kaleidoscope to Special Summon Nekroz of Unicore, using Herald of the Arch Light as the material, ultimately letting him add Nekroz Cycle to his hand. He then overlayed both of the level fours for Lavalval Chain, using its effect, detaching Senju of the Thousand Hands, to send Djinn Releaser of Rituals to his Graveyard. He activated Nekroz Cycle, banishing the Djinn as the material in order to Special Summon Nekroz of Clausolas. He Set Book of Moon before ending.

Soskic drew and activated Nekroz of Brionac, adding Nekroz of Valkyrus to his hand, he Set a card to his back row before ending.

Wu drew Book of Eclipse for turn, then used Lavalval Chain to put Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands on top of his Deck; he attacked directly with Lavalval Chain before Setting Book of Eclipse and ending his turn.

Soskic drew and activated Book of Eclipse, flipping Wu’s Lavalval Chain, but more importantly the Nekroz of Clausolas, face down. He Normal Summoned Psi-Blocker, but Wu responded with Book of Moon to prevent any shenanigans. Sostick then activated Nekroz Kaleidoscope, sending Herald of the Arch Light to his Graveyard to Special Summon Nekroz of Unicore, adding Nekroz of Clausolas from Herald of the Arch Light. He then used the Nekroz of Clausolas, discarding it to add Nekroz Mirror to his hand before using it to Special Summon Nekroz of Trishula by banishing both his Nekroz of Brionac and Nekroz of Clausolas from his Graveyard! He activated its effect, prompting Wu to Chain his Set Book of Eclipse, but Nekroz of Trishula still banished Nekroz of Clausolas from the Field along with Nekroz Kaleidoscope from Wu’s Graveyard and Nekroz of Decisive Armor from his hand. During the End Phase Soskic’s Monsters Flipped face up and he drew three cards. Wu’s Lavalval Chain also Flipped face-up allowing Wu to draw Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands.

After drawing Vanity’s Emptiness for turn, Soskic activated Mind Crush during Wu’s Draw Phase to strip him of the Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands. Wu switched his Lavalval Chain to attack, running over Psi-Blocker and Setting Vanity’s Emptiness before ending.

Soskic drew to five cards in hand, then discarded Nekroz of Brionac to add Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz to his hand; when Soskic activated Nekroz Mirror, Wu responded with Vanity’s Emptiness to hopefully stop him from losing that turn, but Soskic had Raigeki! He attacked with both his Nekroz of Unicore and Nekroz of Trishula before ending his turn.

Wu drew Shared Ride, and added it to his hand but was a little less than pleased. He Set it before ending his turn.

Soskic drew for turn and activated Preparation of Rites, warranting Wu to activated Shared Ride to try to dig for an out. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to and once Soskic went to Battle Phase Wu conceded.

Even though Wu was able to assemble the turn one Djinn Releaser of Rituals combo, Soskic manages to find an out in time to claim the game as well as the flawless Day One record!