If you follow competitive Yu-Gi-Oh!, you are definitely familiar with YCS Tacoma and Columbia Champion Barrett Keys as well as YCS Las Vegas Champion Denny Yu. Neither are strangers to the Feature Match Area, but maybe you did not know they are also longtime friends. Not only are they staying in the same hotel this weekend, but their Decks are nearly identical with only a single card difference. Both are using Nekroz, the tried and true strategy that we have seen dominate since its release at YCS Tacoma. Keys beat Yu out of the Top Cut of YCS Chicago, and Yu is looking for payback. Can Keys continue his positive streak or will Yu settle the score?

Keys won the roll and opted to go second.

Duel One:

Yu started with Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, and used its effect to add Nekroz of Unicore to his hand, which he then activated Nekroz Kaleidoscope to Summon. He sent Herald of the Arc Light to his Graveyard to resolve the Ritual Spell, so when it triggered he searched Nekroz of Brionac and used it to find Nekroz of Valkyrus. He then activated Nekroz Cycle, tributing Performage Trick Clown and Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz, to Special Summon Nekroz of Valkyrus from his hand. Both of the materials triggered, letting Yu ad Nekroz of Valkyrus to his hand and Special Summon Performage Trick Clown. He then overlayed the Performage Trick Clown with Nekroz of Unicore for Daigusto Emeral and used its effect to shuffle back all of the Monsters in his Graveyard but Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz and draw a card. He then activated the effect of Nekroz of Valkyrus to tribute Daigusto Emeral and Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands to draw two cards before he ended.

Keys opened with of Performage Damage Juggler, Performage Trick Clown, Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz, and two copies of Nekroz of Clausolas before he drew Maxx “C” for turn…a little late. Keys thought for a bit and ultimately chose to ditch one of his copies of Nekroz of Clausolas to find Nekroz Cycle. He Normal Summoned Performage Trick Clown and went to Battle Phase, which he did just so he could discard his Performage Damage Juggler. He banished the Juggler to add Performage Hat Tricker, then Special Summoned it. He overlayed both Spellcasters for Number 80: Rhapsody in Berserk and detached both materials to banish all of the Ritual Spells in Yu’s Graveyard. The Performage Trick Clown triggered to bring itself back, and Keys ended his turn.

Yu drew to 5 cards with Nekroz of Valkyrus already in play and considered his possible lines of play. He activated Nekroz of Valkyrus and tributing Senju of the Thousand Hands along with Performage Damage Juggler from his hand to draw two cards, then banished Performage Damage Juggler to add Performage Hat Tricker. At the resolution of the search, Keys chose to activate Maxx “C” in an attempt to ward off Yu from pressing forward or at least draw a few cards if he chose to push through. Yu Normal Summoned Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands and used its effect to add Nekroz of Unicore, then activated Nekroz Kaleidoscope to Special Summon it, which let Keys draw Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands. He sent Herald of the Arc Light for the Ritual Spell once again, which he used to search Nekroz of Trishula, before he activated Nekroz of Brionac to add Nekroz of Clausolas, which he immediately discarded to add Nekroz Mirror. He activated it and Special Summoned Nekroz of Trishula from his hand by banishing materials from his Graveyard, which let Keys draw Performage Damage Juggler, then used its effect to banish Keys’ in hand Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands along with his on Field Performage Trick Clown and in Graveyard Nekroz of Clausolas. He Special Summoned Performage Hat Tricker next which let Keys draw another card off Maxx “C”, this time Nekroz Kaleidoscope. He moved to Battle Phase and swung over the Number 80: Rhapsody in Berserk with Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, and swung directly with the rest of his Monsters in an attempt to win the game, but Keys used Performage Damage Juggler to block the Nekroz of Valkyrus. Yu ended.

Keys drew Nekroz Mirror for turn. He activated Nekroz of Clausolas to add Nekroz Kaleidoscope and then used Nekroz of Brionac to add Nekroz of Unicore. He activated Nekroz Kaleidoscope to Special Summon Nekroz of Unicore, sending Herald of the Arc Light to the Graveyard which triggered and let him add Nekroz of Trishula. He activated Nekroz Mirror next to banish his Nekroz of Brionac and Nekroz of Clausolas from his Graveyard to Special Summon Nekroz of Trishula. Its effect activated and banished Yu’s in hand Nekroz of Valkyrus, his on Field Nekroz of Valkyrus, and the Nekroz Kaleidoscope from his Graveyard. Keys Normal Summoned Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz and moved to Battle Phase, but when he declared an attack Yu’s last card in hand was the third Nekroz of Valkyrus! He used it to not stop the Battle Phase by banishing his Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz, which then triggered to send Exa, Enforcer of the Nekroz. Keys tried to find some way to dig himself out but couldn’t, and ended.

Yu drew and as soon as he moved to Battle Phase Keys conceded.

With a solid opening hand, Yu takes the first game against Keys’s less impressive opening in timely fashion. Both Duelists dove to their Side Decks and agreed to side out Vanity’s Emptiness. They shuffled up and Keys announced he would go second once again.

Duel Two:

Yu started with Reinforcement of the Army for Nekroz of Clausolas and activated the Nekroz of Clausolas to add Nekroz Cycle. He Set two to his back row and passed.

Keys opened with Nekroz of Brionac, Nekroz of Clausolas, Maxx “C”, and two copies of Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands. He drew Nekroz Mirror for turn and surveyed his hand trying to figure out the best way to navigate through Yu’s two mystery back row. He started off with Nekroz of Brionac to find Nekroz of Valkyrus and then Nekroz of Clausolas for Nekroz Kaleidoscope to minimize damage from a potential Shared Ride. When he Normal Summoned a Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands it was clear he made the correct decision as Yu responded with Shared Ride to draw a card while Keys added Nekroz of Unicore. He then activated Nekroz Kaleidoscope, sending Dragon Master Knight to his Graveyard, to Special Summon both Nekroz of Unicore and Nekroz of Clausolas. He moved to Battle Phase and tried to swing, but Yu stopped his offence with Nekroz of Valkyrus. Keys overlayed his Nekroz of Unicore and Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands for Abyss Dweller before passing the turn back.

Yu drew and activated Nekroz of Unicore to add Nekroz of Valkyrus without any other actions.

Keys drew Nekroz of Valkyrus for turn and thought for a moment, pulling a Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands to the front of his hand and before he Normal Summoned it. The effect activated and Keys found a Nekroz of Unicore with no response from Yu. He declared an attack with Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands but Yu activated Nekroz of Valkyrus to block the attacks once again. Keys then activated Nekroz of Unicore to add back Nekroz of Brionac and then ditched it to add Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz. When he tried to activate the effect of Nekroz of Valkyrus Yu had Breakthrough Skill, but things were still looking grim.

Yu drew and shook his head before he activated Instant Fusion, which Keys responded to with Maxx “C”. Once Elder Entity Norden hit the board Keys drew Preparation of Rites, but Yu didn’t activate its effect. Yu then activated Nekroz Cycle, which Keys responded to with the effect of Abyss Dweller, and Yu tributed his in hand Performage Hat Tricker along with Elder Entity Norden to Special Summon Nekroz of Valkyrus. He activated the effect of Nekroz of Valkyrus and tributed itself along with Exa, Enforcer of the Nekroz from his hand to draw two cards, but couldn’t find enough to do to get himself back into the game so he conceded.

After some masterful navigation, Keys capitalizes one Yu’s weak hand and takes the second Duel. Both shuffled up as Yu chose to go second in the final game.

Duel Three:

Keys opened with Instant Fusion, Senju of the Thousand Hands, Nekroz of Brionac, Reinforcement of the Army, and Nekroz of Valkyrus. He thought for a second and then Normal Summoned Senju of the Thousand Hands, used its effect to add Nekroz of Clausolas, and then used it to add Nekroz Cycle. He activated Reinforcement of the Army next to find Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz, and then used Nekroz Cycle to Special Summon Nekroz of Valkyrus from his hand by tributing the Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz. The Shurit triggered which let him add Nekroz of Brionac, and he traded that way for Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz. He then activated the effect of Nekroz of Valkyrus and tributed Senju of the Thousand Hands along with Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz to draw Nekroz Mirror and Performage Damage Juggler. The Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz triggered and while Keys considered, Yu shook his head realizing how many resources Keys had amassed. Keys eventually added Nekroz of Unicore from the effect of Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz, and then activated Instant Fusion to Special Summon Elder Entity Norden which let him Special Summon the Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz. He overlayed both Level 4s for Abyss Dweller and ended.

Yu Normal Summoned Senju of the Thousand Hands and added Nekroz of Brionac, then activated Reinforcement of the Army to find Nekroz of Clausolas which he ditched to add Nekroz Mirror. He then used Nekroz of Brionac to add Nekroz of Trishula and activated the Nekroz Mirror, banishing his Nekroz of Brionac and Nekroz of Clausolas from the Graveyard. The Nekroz of Trishula activated once it hit the Field, banishing Keys’ Nekroz of Valkyrus, his in hand Nekroz Mirror, and the Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz from his Graveyard. Yu moved to Battle Phase and declared an attack over Abyss Dweller with Nekroz of Trishula and then directly with Senju of the Thousand Hands to put Keys down to 5100 Life Points. He Set two to his back row and ended.

Keys drew Senju of the Thousand Hands for turn and thought for a while before he activated Nekroz of Brionac. Yu responded with Shared Ride while Keys added Nekroz of Valkyrus to his hand, allowing Yu to stifle any further moves from Keys. He then Normal Summoned Performage Damage Juggler and declared an attack over Senju of the Thousand Hands before he passed back.

Yu drew and activated Instant Fusion! He Special Summoned Elder Entity Norden and used its effect to Special Summon Senju of the Thousand Hands from his Graveyard. Yu Normal Summoned Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands and added Nekroz Kaleidoscope to his hand, then threw it down to Special Summon Nekroz of Unicore by sending Herald of the Arc Light to his Graveyard. The Herald of the Arc Light triggered which let Yu add Nekroz of Decisive Armor, which was enough for Keys as he conceded.

And that’s it! Denny Yu takes a victory over Barrett Keys in the Nekroz mirror match to move on undefeated!