We are back for Day 2 of YSC Dallas, both Zhenning Guo and Carlos Medrano are currently 7-2 in the tournament, barely holding on for dear life as they need a 9-2 record to safely get into the Top 32 Cut. Guo is playing a variant of Nekroz utilizing Speedroids from High-Speed Riders! Thanks to Speedroid Terrortop, Guo is capable of easily Summoning Herald of the Arc Light and super strong late game Synchro plays thanks to Speedroid Double Yoyo. Medrano is using a Performage Shaddoll Deck that we have seen quite a lot around the room, with Main Deck tools like Mistake to try to get easy wins against Nekroz.

Guo won the roll and chose for Medrano to go first.

Duel One:

Medrano started with a Set back row along with a Monster and ended his turn.

Guo opened wih Nekroz of Unicore, Nekroz Mirror, Nekroz of Trishula, and two copies of Maxx “C” before he drew Nekroz of Brionac for turn. He tried to activate Nekroz of Brionac but Medrano responded with Mistake! Guo was forced to Set Nekroz Mirror and end his turn.

Medrano Flip Summoned Shaddoll Squamata and Normal Summoned Performage Trick Clown before he declared direct attacks with both, putting Guo down to 4600 Life Points.

Guo drew Nekroz Kaleidoscope for turn and slammed it down, sending Herald of the Arc Light from his Extra Deck to the Graveyard to Special Summon Nekroz of Unicore. He declared an attack over Shaddoll Squamata before ending.

Medrano drew and announced his phases. He Special Summoned Performage Hat Tricker which prompted Guo to activate his Maxx “C” to try to draw out of Mistake. Medrano followed it up with Raigeki, destroying Guo’s Nekroz of Unicore. He then tributed away his Performage Trick Clown to Normal Summon Shaddoll Beast, which then caused Performage Trick Clown to activate and Special Summon itself back dealing 1000 points of damage to Medrano. Guo drew Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz off of the Performage Trick Clown, but Medrano pushed forward and overlayed his two Performages for Performage Trapeze Magician ! Guo drew Nekroz Mirror from Maxx “C” but it was no help as Medrano used the effect of Performage Trapeze Magician on his Shaddoll Beast to put up enough damage to end the Duel!

Mistake completely shuts down Guo’s plans and Medrano is able to capitalize on the situation! Can Guo manage to take these next two Duels or will Medrano end his tournament here?

Guo chose to go second.

Duel Two:

Medrano started things off with two back row before he ended.

Guo opened with Mystical Space Typhoon, Nekroz Mirror, Nekroz of Brionac, Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz, and Denko Sekka before he drew Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz for turn. He announced his phases and then ‘Normal Summoned Denko Sekka! He activated Nekroz of Brionac next to add Nekroz of Valkyrus, and then activated Nekroz Mirror tributing Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz to Special Summon Nekroz of Valkyrus. The Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz triggered, letting Guo add another copy of Nekroz of Brionac. Guo declared direct attacks with both Denko Sekka and Nekroz of Valkyrus, then went to Main Phase 2 and tributed the Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz in his hand for the effect of Nekroz of Valkyrus to draw Nekroz Cycle before he searched Nekroz of Unicore thanks to Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz. Guo considered his options for a moment before he ended.

Medrano drew and gave a sigh while he furiously shuffled his cards in hand. He clarified what Guo searched last turn, and then ultimately chose to Normal Summon Shaddoll Dragon. He declared an attack on Denko Sekka, which Guo was forced to let through, and when the Denko Sekka hit the Graveyard his Set cards were suddenly live again! During the Battle Phase he Flipped his Set Shaddoll Core, then activated El Shaddoll Fusion to fuse away the Shaddoll Core along with Shaddoll Hedgehog to Special Summon El Shaddoll Construct. He sent Shaddoll Beast with the effect of El Shaddoll Construct, then added Shaddoll Squamata via Shaddoll Hedgehog, and added El Shaddoll Fusion to his hand because of Shaddoll Core. He drew a card off of Shaddoll Beast, then declared an attack on Nekroz of Valkyrus with El Shaddoll Construct using its effect to destroy it. Medrano moved to Main Phase 2; he used Instant Fusion to Special Summon Elder Entity Norden and activated its effect to Special Summon Shaddoll Hedgehog. He Flipped his Set Shaddoll Fusion, sending Glow-Up Bulb and Shaddoll Hedgehog to Special Summon El Shaddoll Shekhinaga. He then used Glow-Up Bulb to send Puppet Plant to his Graveyard and then Synchro Summoned Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier using Elder Entity Norden, Shaddoll Dragon, and Glow-Up Bulb as materials. The Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier resolved banishing Guo’s in hand Nekroz of Unicore and his Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz in his Graveyard. Medrano Set a back row before ending.

Guo drew Mirror Force for turn but during his Standby Phase, Medrano Flipped his Set El Shaddoll Fusion to send Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier and El Shaddoll Construct to Special Summon El Shaddoll Anoyatyllis. He activated the effect of El Shaddoll Construct, adding back El Shaddoll Fusion, and Guo was able to enter his Main Phase. He banished Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz and Nekroz Mirror to add Nekroz Cycle, and then sent Nekroz of Clausolas to his Graveyard thanks to the effect of Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz. He Set all of his Ritual Spells along with the freshly drawn Mirror Force before ending.

Medrano drew and went straight to Battle Phase. He tried to declare an attack but Guo responded with Mirror Force! Medrano was forced to Chain El Shaddoll Fusion, sending Shaddoll Squamata and El Shaddoll Anoyatyllis to the Graveyard to Special Summon El Shaddoll Winda. The Mirror Force resolved destroying the El Shaddoll Shekhinaga, and then Shaddoll Squamata and El Shaddoll Shekhinaga triggered sending Shaddoll Beast and adding back El Shaddoll Fusion respectively. The Shaddoll Beast allowed Medrano to draw a card, and then he declared a direct attack with El Shaddoll Winda. He Set three to his back row before he passed.

Guo drew Nekroz of Unicore for turn and Flipped his Set Nekroz Kaleidoscope. He sent Herald of the Arc Light from his Extra Deck to the Graveyard to Special Summon the Nekroz of Unicore, but when he tried to trigger the Herald of the Arc Light Medrano had Mistake! Luckily, Guo had Mystical Space Typhoon to blow it away and resolve his search to add Nekroz of Clausolas to his hand. He Flipped his Set Nekroz Cycle to tribute his in hand Nekroz of Clausolas to Special Summon the Nekroz of Clausolas from his Graveyard. He moved to Battle Phase, and declared an attack with Nekroz of Clausolas on the El Shaddoll Winda. Medrano thought for a moment before choosing to activate El Shaddoll Fusion, which he Chained to with Shaddoll Core. He resolved the Fusion Spell to Special Summon El Shaddoll Shekhinaga, and then added back El Shaddoll Fusion and Shaddoll Core because of Shaddoll Core and El Shaddoll Winda respectively. Guo moved to Main Phase 2, used Nekroz of Brionac to add Nekroz of Unicore and ditched Nekroz of Unicore to add back Nekroz of Valkyrus.

Medrano drew for turn and Normal Summoned Mathematician, sending Performage Damage Juggler to his Graveyard which he banished to add Performage Hat Tricker. Medrano moved to Battle Phase and declared an attack on Nekroz of Clausolas with the Mathematician which Guo chose to negate with Nekroz of Valkyrus. In Main Phase 2, Medrano used Puppet Plant to take Guo’s Nekroz of Unicore, and then Special Summoned Performage Hat Tricker before he overlayed both for Castel, the Skyblaster Musketeer. When Guo tried to negate it, Medrano responded with the effect of El Shaddoll Shekhinaga ditching Shaddoll Core which let him add Shaddoll Fusion to his hand. Medrano Set a back row before he passed.

Guo drew Mystical Space Typhoon. He banished Nekroz Cycle and Nekroz of Clausolas to add Nekroz Kaleidoscope, then he banished Nekroz Kaleidoscope and Nekroz of Brionac to add Nekroz Mirror. He Set all three of the cards in his hand to his back row before he ended.

Medrano drew and gave another sigh fearing the Mirror Force that Guo was trying to represent. He declared an attack with Mathematician and Guo did not have anything to stop it!

After an intense back and forth, Carlos Medrano manages to beat Zhenning Guo 2-0 and only needs one more match win to advance to the Top 32 Cut!