Staten Island, New York’s Stephen Matrangolo qualified for this weekend’s tournament by racking up UDS points in Regional Qualifiers. Now, he’s Dueling against New Jersey’s YCS veteran Ned Salkovitch in our Round 1 Feature Match! Matrangolo is using an innovative Red-Eyes Deck that features several new cards from Clash of Rebellions, including The Black Stone of Legend, Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon, and Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon. Salkovitch is playing a Nekroz Deck – a Deck that has proven itself powerful under the previous Forbidden & Limited List, and that many Duelists believe is still a top contender in the Advanced Format. Will Matrangolo’s new strategy triumph over Salkovitch’s Nekroz Deck? We’re about to find out. It’s time to Duel!

Duel One

Salkovitch started off Duel 1 by Summoning Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands and activating its effect to add Nekroz of Clausolas from his Deck to his hand. He discarded Nekroz of Clausolas to add Nekroz Mirror from his Deck to his hand and then activated Nekroz Mirror banish Clausolas from his Graveyard and Tribute Exa, Enforcer of the Nekroz from his hand in order to Special Summon Nekroz of Valkyrus. He added Nekroz of Decisive Armor to his hand with the effect of Exa, and then activated Valkyrus’s effect to Tribute his on-field Manju and in-hand Nekroz of Decisive Armor to draw 2 cards.

Matrangolo opened up with Dark Armed Dragon, Dragon Shrine, Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, Return of the Red-Eyes, and 2 copies of The Black Stone of Legend. He activated Dragon Shrine first, sending Red-Eyes B. Dragon to his Graveyard, followed by Keeper of the Shrine. Next, he Normal Summoned The Black Stone of Legend, and Salkovitch discarded Maxx “C” from his hand. Matrangolo Tributed his Stone to Special Summon Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon from his Deck, allowing Salkovitch to draw a card with Maxx “C”. Next, Matrangolo Special Summoned Dark Armed Dragon from his hand, allowing Salkovitch to draw another card! He banished Red-Eyes B. Dragon from his Graveyard to destroy Salkovitch’s Nekroz of Valkyrus with Dark Armed Dragon’s effect and then attacked directly with Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon and Dark Armed Dragon to drop Salkovitch down to 2800 Life Points!

Matrangolo Set Return of the Red-Eyes and then combined his Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon with Dark Armed Dragon to Xyz Summon Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon, allowing Salkovitch to draw another card due to the effect of Maxx “C”.

Salkovitch activated Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Matrangolo’s face-down Return of the Red-Eyes, and Salkovitch lost 500 Life Points due to the effect of Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon. Next, Salkovitch Summoned Senju and activated its effect to add Nekroz of Unicore to his hand, losing another 500 Life Points. He activated Nekroz Kaleidoscope next, sending Herald of the Arc Light to his Graveyard from his Extra Deck to Summon Nekroz of Unicore. Nekroz of Unicore negated Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon’s effect, and Matrangolo added Nekroz Cycle from his Deck to his hand with the effect of Herald of the Arc Light. Next, Salkovitch activated Reinforcement of the Army to add Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz from his Deck to his hand. He activated Nekroz Cycle next, Tributing Shurit from his hand to Special Summon Nekroz of Valkyrus. Next, he used Shurit’s effect to add Nekroz of Brionac from his Deck to his hand. Finally, he activated Preparation of Rites, and knowing that Nekroz of Trishula was on its way to the field, Matrangolo conceded.

Ned Salkovitch takes the first Duel over Stephen Matrangolo’s Red-Eyes Deck with his Nekroz monsters!

Duel Two

Matrangolo opened up Duel 2 with Imperial Iron Wall, Return of the Red-Eyes, Summoned Skull, and 2 copies of Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon. He Set Imperial Iron Wall and Return of the Red-Eyes and then ended his turn.

Salkovitch Summoned Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands and activated its effect to add Nekroz of Clausolas to his hand. He discarded it to add Nekroz Kaleidoscope to his hand and then activated Nekroz Kaleidoscope and sent Herald of the Arc Light from his Extra Deck to his Graveyard to Special Summon Nekroz of Unicore from his hand. He activated his Herald’s effect to add Nekroz of Brionac from his Deck to his hand. He discarded Nekroz of Brionac to add Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz from his Deck to his hand and then activated Nekroz Cycle, Tributing Shurit from his hand to Special Summon Nekroz of Valkyrus from his hand. He added Nekroz of Trishula from his Deck to his hand with Shurit’s effect and then activated his Valkyrus’s effect to Tribute Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz and Exa, Enforcer of the Nekroz from his hand and draw 2 cards. He activated the effects of Great Sorcerer and Exa to add Nekroz of Gungnir and Nekroz of Decisive Armor to his hand. Direct attacks with Manju and Nekroz of Unicore dropped Matrangolo down to 4300. Then, Nekroz of Valkyrus attacked, boosted by the effect of Nekroz of Decisive Armor, to drop Matrangolo down to 400 Life Points. In Main Phase 2, Matrangolo combined his Nekroz of Unicore with Manju to Xyz Summon Gagaga Cowboy and activated its effect to finish Matrangolo off!

Ned Salkovitch takes a quick Round 1 win against Matrangolo’s Red-Eyes Deck!