Ritual Beast Decks enjoyed a short surge in popularity a few months ago, but gradually faded away on the tournament scene. Tyler Stebner is here this weekend to show everyone that Ritual Beasts are still a force to be reckoned with. Stebner has updated his Ritual Beast Deck with Instant Fusion, to accommodate the addition of Elder Entity Norden in his Extra Deck and to facilitate the Special Summoning of his Ritual Beasts. Now, he’s facing off against John Wells’s Burning Abyss Deck in this Round 10 Feature Match! Wells’s Burning Abyss Deck is teched out with 2 copies of Vanity’s Fiend, 2 copies of Majesty’s Fiend, and Storming Mirror Force, differentiating it from most of the other Burning Abyss Decks competing this weekend. Stebner and Wells both currently have 8-1 records, but only one of them will be able to win this Round 10 Feature Match to virtually lock himself into a spot in the Top 32. It’s time to Duel!

Duel One

Stebner opened up Duel 1 with Ritual Beast Tamer Wen, Spiritual Beast Rampengu, Dimensional Fissure, and 2 copies of Ritual Beast Ambush. He activated Dimensional Fissure and then Summoned Rampengu. He activated Rampengu’s effect to banish Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio from his Extra Deck and Ritual Beast Tamer Zeframpilica from his Deck. He Set Ritual Beast Ambush before passing.

Wells Special Summoned Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his hand in Defense Position and then Special Summoned Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his hand in Defense Position. He combined Farfa with Graff to Xyz Summon Ghostrick Alucard in Attack Position and then detached Farfa to activate its effect and destroy the face-down Ritual Beast Ambush. Next, he Normal Summoned Tour Guide From the Underworld and activated her effect to Special Summon Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his Deck in Attack Position. He combined Scarm with Tour Guide to Xyz Summon Wind-Up Zenmaines and then attacked Rampengu with Zenmaines. He detached Scarm as an Xyz Material from Zenmaines to protect it, and then attacked Rampengu with Alucard to destroy Rampengu. He Set a card to his back row in Main Phase 2. In his End Phase, Wells destroyed Dimensional Fissure with Zenmaines’s effect and added Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to his hand with the effect of Scarm.

Stebner activated Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Wells’s face-down The Traveler and the Burning Abyss. Next, he Normal Summoned Ritual Beast Tamer Wen and activated her effect to Special Summon Spiritual Beast Rampengu from his Graveyard. He banished Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk from his Extra Deck to send Spiritual Beast Cannahawk from his Deck to his Graveyard with Rampengu’s effect. Next, he banished Rampengu and Wen to Special Summon Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk from his Extra Deck. He returned Ulti-Gaiapelio and Ulti-Cannahawk from his Banished Zone to his Graveyard to add Ritual Beast Steeds from his Deck to his hand. He Set Steeds and Ritual Beast Ambush before passing his turn.

Wells activated the effect of his Alucard to destroy Stebner’s face-down Steeds by detaching Graff as an Xyz Material, and Stebner Chained his Steeds to destroy Alucard. Stebner activated his Graff’s effect to Special Summon Libic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his Deck. Libic destroyed itself with its own effect since Zenmaines was on the field, and then Stebner Special Summoned Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to the field with its effect negated. He Tributed Cir to Summon Majesty’s Fiend and then attacked Ulti-Cannahawk with Majesty’s Fiend to destroy it. He attacked directly with Zenmaines next, and then upgraded his Zenmaines into Downerd Magician and Set a card to his back row in Main Phase 2. Stebner activated Ritual Beast Ambush in the End Phase to Special Summon Spiritual Beast Cannahawk and Ritual Beast Tamer Wen from his Banished Zone.

Stebner drew Torrential Tribute and then banished his 2 monsters to Summon Ritual Beast Ulti-Apelio. He attacked and destroyed Majesty’s Fiend, and then returned Ulti-Apelio to his Extra Deck to Special Summon Cannahawk and Wen to his field. He activated Cannahawk’s effect, but lost out to Wells’s Breakthrough Skill. Next, Stebner combined his 2 monsters to Summon Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk, activated its effect targeting Wen and Rampengu from his Banished Zone, and then Chained Ulti-Cannahawk’s effect to Special Summon Spiritual Beast Rampengu and Ritual Beast Tamer Zeframpilica to his field. He added Ritual Beast Steeds to his hand with the effect of his Ulti-Cannahawk. Next, he used his Rampengu’s effect to banish Ulti-Apelio from his Extra Deck and send Spiritual Beast Apelio from his Deck to his Graveyard. He fused his 2 monsters together to Summon Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk next, and sent Ritual Beast Ulti-Apelio and Spiritual Beast Rampengu to his Graveyard with its effect to add Ritual Beast Ambush to his hand. He Set Torrential Tribute, Ritual Beast Steeds, and Ritual Beast Ambush to his back row before ending his turn.

Wells entered his Battle Phase and Stebner flipped Ritual Beast Steeds to destroy Downerd Magician. Next, Wells banished Breakthrough Skill from his Graveyard to negate Ulti-Cannahawk’s effect, and Stebner Chained his Ulti-Cannahawk’s effect to return it to the Extra Deck and Special Summon Spiritual Beast Cannahawk and Ritual Beast Tamer Zeframpilica from his Banished Zone in Defense Position. Wells Set a monster, and in his End Phase, Stebner activated Ritual Beast Ambush to Special Summon Ritual Beast Tamer Wen and Spiritual Beast Apelio to his field. He used his Apelio’s effect to banish Rampengu from his Graveyard.

Stebner drew a card and Wells discarded Maxx “C” from his hand! Stebner activated his Cannahawk’s effect to banish Lara from his Deck and then used Apelio’s effect to banish Ritual Beast Ulti-Apelio from his Graveyard. He banished Zeframpilica and Cannahawk to Special Summon Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk in Defense Position from his Extra Deck, allowing Wells to draw a card. Next, Stebner activated his Cannahawk’s effect to send 2 of his banished cards back to his Graveyard, and Chained its effect to Special Summon Zeframpilica and Cannahawk back to the field. He added Spiritual Beast Apelio to his hand with Ulti-Cannahawk’s effect, and Wells drew another card. Stebner used Spiritual Beast Cannahawk’s effect to banish Pettlephin from his Deck, and then banished Cannahawk and Zeframpilica to Special Summon Ulti-Cannahawk again, allowing Wells to draw another card. He once again used its effect to target 2 of his banished cards, and then Chained its effect to Special Summon Pettlephin and Lara from his banished zone, giving Wells another card. This time Stebner added Ritual Beast’s Bond to his hand with its effect. He discarded a card to activate Pettlephin’s effect and return Wells’s face-down monster to his hand. Next, he Normal Summoned Apelio and activated its effect to increase the ATK of all of his monsters. He combined 2 of his monsters to Summon Ritual Beast Ulti-Apelio, and then switched all of his monsters into Attack Position. Direct attacks from all of Stebner’s monsters wiped out all of Wells’s Life Points!

An explosive combination of cards for Tyler Stebner allows him to take a quick victory in Duel 1!

Duel Two

Wells started off Duel 2 by Setting 3 cards to his back row and passing his turn.

Stebner opened up Duel 2 with Ritual Beast Ambush, Spiritual Beast Cannahawk, Ritual Beast Tamer Lara, Spiritual Beast Apelio, Chaos Trap Hole, and Ritual Beast Steeds. He Summoned Spiritual Beast Cannahawk and Wells activated Karma Cut, discarding Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, to banish the Cannahawk. Stebner Set 3 Trap Cards before passing his turn.

Wells Normal Summoned Farfa and then attacked for 1000 points of damage. He Set another card to his back row in Main Phase 2 and then passed his turn.

Stebner drew Spiritual Beast Rampengu! He Summoned it to the field, and then activated its effect to banish Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio from his Extra Deck and send Ritual Beast Tamer Elder from his Deck to his Graveyard. He attacked Farfa with Rampengu next, and Wells activated Storming Mirror Force to return Rampengu to Stebner’s hand; but Stebner Chained Steeds to destroy the Farfa before returning the Rampengu to his hand. Stebner activated Ritual Beast Ambush next, but lost out to Vanity’s Emptiness.

Wells Set a card to his back row and passed.

Stebner Summoned Spiritual Beast Apelio and attacked directly, banishing Ritual Beast Ambush from his Graveyard to increase the amount of damage dealt by his direct attack.

Wells Set a monster and passed his turn.

Stebner drew Dimensional Fissure and activated it. He Normal Summoned Spiritual Beast Apelio and attacked; but Wells activated Mirror Force to destroy both Apelios, which were banished by Dimensional Fissure! Wells also Chained Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying Stebner’s face-down Chaos Trap Hole.

Wells Flip Summoned Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss and then Normal Summoned Libic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. He attacked directly with both, dropping Stebner down to 4000 Life Points. Wells combined Barbar with Libic in Main Phase 2, in order to Xyz Summon Wind-Up Zenmaines in Defense Position.

Stebner drew Upstart Goblin and activated it to draw Ritual Beast’s Bond and give Wells 1000 Life Points. Next, he Normal Summoned Ritual Beast Tamer Wen and activated its effect to Special Summon Ritual Beast Tamer Elder from his Graveyard. He activated Ritual Beast’s Bond to fuse his 2 monsters together and Special Summon Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk, and then activated Ulti-Cannahawk’s effect to send 2 of his banished cards to his Graveyard. He Chained Ulti-Cannahawk’s other effect to Special Summon Spiritual Beast Cannahawk and Ritual Beast Tamer Lara from his Banished Zone by sending his Ulti-Cannahawk back to his Extra Deck. He added Ritual Beast Ambush from his Deck to his hand. He combined his 2 monsters together to Summon Ulti-Cannahawk back to his field and once again activated its effect to search for a card, Chaining its effect to return it to the Extra Deck and Special Summon Spiritual Beast Apelio and Ritual Beast Tamer Zeframpilica from his Banished Zone. He added Steeds to his hand with the effect of his Ulti-Cannahawk. He activated Apelio’s effect by banishing a card from his Graveyard and then combined his 2 monsters together to Summon Ulti-Cannahawk back to the field. He sent 2 of his banished cards back to his Graveyard to add Ritual Beast Tamer Elder from his Deck to his hand with Ulti-Cannahawk’s effect and then Set his Ambush and Steeds.

Wells activated Dark Hole! Ulti-Cannahawk was banished by the Dark Hole, and Wells protected Zenmaines by detaching Libic from it. In the End Phase, Wells attempted to destroy Stebner’s face-down Ritual Beast Ambush with his Zenmaines’s effect, but Stebner Chained it to Special Summon Ritual Beast Tamer Lara and Spiritual Beast Apelio in Defense Position.

Stebner banished Ritual Beast Ambush from his Graveyard with Apelio’s effect and then combined his 2 monsters to Summon Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk. He targeted 2 cards to return to his Graveyard with Ulti-Cannahawk’s effect, and then Chained Ulti-Cannahawk’s other effect to Special Summon Spiritual Beast Cannahawk and Ritual Beast Tamer Lara to his field. He added Spiritual Beast Pettlephin to his hand with Ulti-Cannahawk’s effect. He Normal Summoned Ritual Beast Tamer Elder next, and then used its effect to Summon Spiritual Beast Pettlephin. He discarded Spiritual Beast Rampengu to activate Pettlephin’s effect and return Wind-Up Zenmaines to Wells’s Extra Deck. Wells combined 2 of his monsters into Ulti-Cannahawk and then activated its effect to target 2 cards to send to his Graveyard, and then Chained his Ulti-Cannahawk’s effect to Special Summon Spiritual Beast Apelio and Ritual Beast Tamer Elder to his field. He added Ritual Beast Ambush from his Deck to his hand with Ulti-Cannahawk’s effect. Next, he combined his 2 monsters to Special Summon Ulti-Cannahawk, activated Ulti-Cannahawk’s effect to target 2 cards to send back to his Graveyard, and Chained Ulti-Cannahawk’s effect to Special Summon 2 more Ritual Beasts to his field. He added Ritual Beast Steeds to his hand. Next, he combined 2 Ritual Beasts to Special Summon Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk in Attack Position, and sent 2 of his banished Ritual Beasts to his Graveyard to add Ritual Beast Tamer Elder from his Deck to his hand. He combined Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk, Spiritual beast Cannahawk, and Ritual Beast Tamer Lara to Summon Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio in Attack Position! He attacked directly with it and then Set 2 cards before passing his turn.

Wells drew a card and conceded, with no cards in his hand or on his field, completely outmatched my Stebner’s Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio.

Tyler Stebner is moving on with a 9-1 record using Ritual Beasts!