We’re kicking off YCS Origins with Christopher Redmer, from Michigan, up against Naveen Shankar from Maryland. Shankar was the winner of the North American Dragon Duel World Championship Qualifier in 2009, and as a result of that victory, earned the honor of attending a ‘King of the Hill’ event at Jump Festa in Japan. Redmer is using a new take on an age-old strategy: Counter Fairies! He’s using Guiding Ariadne and Bountiful Artemis along with tons of Counter Trap Cards like Solemn Strike to control the Duel. Shankar is using Monarchs, one of the most popular choices in recent tournaments. Redmer’s Deck is capable of Dueling against Monarchs, but it’s more geared to handle Kozmo and Burning Abyss opponents – will neglecting the Monarch matchup prove to be his downfall?

Duel 1

Shankar won the dice roll, and started off with a back row card.

Redmer had a hand of Ultimate Providence, Vanity’s Emptiness, Magic Drain, 2 Solemn Strike, and Macro Cosmos. He Set everything he could, keeping a Strike in his hand.

Shankar played Pantheism of the Monarchs, discarding The Prime Monarch. Redmer flipped Magic Drain, and Shankar discarded Return of the Monarchs to force Pantheism through. Shankar used Pantheism’s effect in the Graveyard to get Tenacity of the Monarchs to his hand. He played it, revealing Thestalos the Mega Monarch, and Redmer flipped Macro Cosmos. Shankar thought a moment, and searched for Domain of the True Monarchs. He played Domain and used it on Thestalos. He tried to use The Prime Monarch in his Graveyard, but Redmer flipped Vanity’s Emptiness! With nothing on the field to enable a Tribute Summon, Shankar passed.

Redmer drew Lose 1 Turn. He Set it.

Shankar passed.

Redmer drew Pot of Duality, and passed.

Shankar played Upstart Goblin, then used Reinforcement of the Army. Redmer flipped Ultimate Providence, discarding Pot of Duality to negate Reinforcement.

Redmer drew Solemn Warning and Set it.

Shankar played Eidos the Underworld Squire, and Redmer negated the Summon with Warning.

Redmer drew Ultimate Providence and Set it.

Shankar passed.

Redmer drew Drastic Drop Off and passed.

Shankar played Edea the Heavenly Squire and tried using its effect, and lost it to Solemn Strike. (Note: It was noticed later that Edea could not have activated under the effect of Vanity’s Emptiness, but by that time the Duel had already progressed too far and it became an accepted game state.)

Redmer drew Magic Drain and Set it. Still no monsters at all!

Shankar Set a back row card.

Redmer drew Card of Demise, with a full back row.

Shankar Set another back row card, now with three.

Redmer drew Guiding Ariadne! Finally, a monster after nine turns! He Normal Summoned it and attacked directly, dealing the first damage to Shankar’s Life Points.

Shankar used his Domain’s effect on Mega Thestalos, then flipped The Monarchs Stormforth. Redmer flipped Magic Drain, and Shankar discarded Pantheism. Shankar flipped up Return of the Monarchs, and Tributed Guiding Ariadne for Mega Thestalos! Return gave him Erebus the Underworld Monarch, and Thestalos discarded Card of Demise from Redmer’s hand. Thestalos attacked directly, leaving Redmer with only 2700 Life Points.

Redmer drew Bountiful Artemis and Normal Summoned it. He Set Drastic Drop Off. Shankar flipped The Monarchs Stormforth, and Tribute Summoned Ehther the Heavenly Monarch from his hand! Return put Erebus in Shankar’s hand. With Redmer’s field free of monsters, Ehther attacked directly next turn to take the first Duel!

Duel 2

Redmer chose to play first this time, with a hand of Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer, Pot of Duality, Card of Demise, Solemn Strike, and Mask of Restrict. He played Kycoo and Set everything else, and used Card of Demise to draw The Huge Revolution is Over and 2 Banisher of the Radiance. He Set The Huge Revolution is Over, and lost his Banishers at the end of the turn.

Shankar played Pantheism of the Monarchs, discarding The Prime Monarch. He Set two to his back row.

Redmer drew Quaking Mirror Force. He flipped Pot of Duality, revealing Bountiful Artemis, Card of Demise, and Guiding Ariadne. He took Ariadne, and Shankar chose this moment to flip Royal Decree! Redmer Normal Summoned Ariadne, sending it and Kycoo to attack directly. Shankar dropped to 4500 Life Points.

Shankar flipped up Brilliant Fusion, putting Gem-Knight Garnet and Edea the Heavenly Squire in his Graveyard to Fusion Summon Gem-Knight Seraphinite! Seraphinite gave Shankar an extra Normal Summon, and he used it to Tribute Seraphinite for Kuraz the Light Monarch! Kuraz’s effect destroyed Brilliant Fusion, giving Shankar a new card. Next, he Tribute Summoned Mobius the Mega Monarch! Mobius wiped out The Huge Revolution is Over, Mask of Restrict, and Solemn Strike! Any of those cards could have helped against Mega Mobius, but Royal Decree had them shut down. Mega Mobius moved on to destroy Kycoo in battle. With Kycoo gone, Shankar banished Pantheism from his Graveyard to get Tenacity of the Monarchs to his hand. He played that to search for The Monarchs Stormforth. Shankar Set a card to his back row.

Redmer drew Moon Mirror Shield! He equipped his Guiding Ariadne with Moon Mirror Shield, and Shankar responded by The Monarchs Stormforth! Next, he used Ehther from his hand, Tributing Mobius and Guiding Ariadne, and Ehther’s effect Special Summoned another Ehther from the Deck. Redmer paid 500 Life Points to put his Moon Mirror Shield on the bottom of his Deck. At the end of the turn, Shankar Special Summoned The Prime Monarch from his Graveyard.

Shankar Tributed Ehther to play Erebus the Underworld Monarch, and it sent a Tenacity and a Prime Monarch to the Graveyard to get rid of Redmer’s last card. Shankar Special Summoned the new Prime Monarch, and stacked both of them for Shark Fortress! Its effect let Erebus attack twice this turn! Redmer had no cards to defend himself, and Shankar’s monsters wiped out his Life Points!

Naveen Shankar is the victor, with Monarchs!