It all comes down to this.  Michael Walters has been playing the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME since the beginning, but this is the first big tournament showing of his Dueling career.  A local Duelist from Brampton Ontario – a suburb just outside of Toronto proper – Walters is running a teched out version of the Burning Abyss Phantom Knight Deck.  Cards like Phantom Knights’ Wing and Chaos Hunter have given him an edge all weekend, but would those risks of using those cards continue to pay off?

We’re about to find out, as Walters is up against Sydney, Australia’s Bohdan Temnyk!  We Feature Matched Temnyk in Round 1 yesterday, with Temnyk coming off his appearance at the 2016 World Championship last week.  Temnyk was the runner-up in the Oceanic WCQ this year, and has a long string of also-ran finishes in big events like Nationals and WCQ’s.  With a wealth of Top 16, Top 8, and Top 4 finishes in the past, Temnyk is looking to finally nab that big win on the YCS stage.  Would this be his weekend?

We’re about to find out.

Walters won the roll and opened with Chaos Hunter; Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss; Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss; Phantom Knights’ Sword; and Soul Charge.  He Special Summoned Farfa, Normal Summoned Scarm, and overlaid for Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss.  Walters detached Scarm to send three cards from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard: Raigeki; Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss; and Allure of Darkness.  He revived Scarm with Cir, then activated Soul Charge to Special Summon Cir for 1000 Life Points.

He overlaid those for another Dante, detching Scarm once again, this time sending Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots, and Reinforcement of the Army to the Graveyard!  Walters was off to a great start, and used the Graff effect to Special Summon Scarm from his Deck.  He banished Boots to search for Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade, Set Fog Blade and Phantom Knights’ Sword, and resolved Scarm to search for Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss in the End Phase.

Temnyk was up: he searched for The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves with Reinforcement of the Army, drew two with Allure of Darkness, and banished Gloves to complete Allure’s effect.  He Special Summoned Speedroid Terrortop, but Walters shut it down with Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade… or at least he tried.

Temnyk Chained Twin Twisters, discarding another Twin Twisters to take out both of Walters’s Trap Cards in one fell swoop.  That’s less than pretty.  Temnyk got Speedroid Taketomborg from his Deck and Special Summoned it, giving Walters the chance to pitch Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss and Special Summon his Chaos Hunter, banishing Terrortop with Farfa oh-so temporarily.  Temnyk Set a monster, Set a card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone, and brought back his Speedroid Terrortop.  Walters searched for Tour Guide from the Underworld with Scarm.

Walters drew another Farfa, then activated Dante’s effect, detaching Farfa to send The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak, Maxx “C”, and Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard.  He detached Cir from the other Dante, this time sending Foolish Burial, The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak, and The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves to his Graveyard.  He revived Scarm with Cir and it was destroyed immediately due to Chaos Hunter’s presence on the field.

Walters banished Phantom Knights’ Sword to Special Summon The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak, then Special Summoned The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots.  He overlaid for The Phantom Knights of Break Sword, but lost it to Temnyk’s Solemn Warning.   He Normal Summoned Tour Guide from the Underworld to Special Summon Libic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his Deck, then Xyz Summoned another The Phantom Knights of Break Sword.  He detached Libic to destroy Break Sword and Terrortop, reviving Gloves and Cloak in the process.  He overlaid those next for Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, detached for its effect on Speedroid Taketomborg, and attacked with everything for game!

Michael Walters gets some serious action off his Dantes on Turn 1, then drops Chaos Hunter to buy just enough time to steal the first Duel in this Match!  The Brampton native was now just one win away from claiming Championship gold.  Temnyk was going to have to work extra hard if he was going to finally get that title.

Temnyk offered Walters a handshake and wished him good luck.  He led in with Allure of Darkness, drawing two and banishing Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss.  He banished ten cards for Pot of Desires and drew two more.  “I’m playing around Chaos Hunter,” he announced to the crowd.  “I’m not even kidding!  Normal Summon.”  Temnyk played The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak, then Special Summoned The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots, overlaying them for Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss.  He detached Boots to send Speedroid Terrortop, Allure of Darkness, and Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade to his Graveyard with Dante’s effect, then pitched Libic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to turn Dante into Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal.

Temnyk resolved Libic’s effect to Special Summon Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, then banished Fog Blade to Special Summon Boots.  That made another Dante, and he detached Boots to send Maxx “C”, Ghost Reaper & Winter Cherries, and Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to his Graveyard.  He banished Boots to search for another Fog Blade, then Set two cards to his Spell and Trap Card Zone and got Tour Guide from the Underworld with Scarm’s ability in the End Phase.

Walters had Phantom Knights’ Wing; Reinforcement of the Army; Burial from a Different Dimension; Solemn Warning; The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak; and The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots.  He searched for The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves with Reinforcement, then Normal Summoned Gloves.  Temnyk responded, detaching Dante from Beatrice to send Cir to his Graveyard, since all his Farfas were gone.  He revived his Dante with Cir and got his Scarm back with Dante’s effect.  Temnyk flipped Mischief of the Gnomes, lowering the Levels of all the monsters in Walters’s hand!

Walters Special Summoned The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots, then Set Warning, Burial, and Wing.  In the End Phase Temnyk flipped Twin Twisters, discarding Scarm to destroy Walters’s Warning and Wing!  Devastating.  That Scarm resolved to get Temnyk Calcab, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, threatening that last Set card that was standing between Temnyk and a 1-1 Match score.

Temnyk drew for his turn and pitched Calcab to make another Beatrice, bouncing away Walters’ Burial from a Different Dimension.  “This would be so much easier with a Farfa, man.  Ah well.”  He Normal Summoned Tour Guide to Special Summon Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss.  Temnyk turned everything to Attack Mode: Dante attacked to destroy Gloves as well as itself, getting back Cir, and then Tour Guide ran over Silent Boots before Temnyk attacked with everything else to drop Walters to 2000 LP.  Temnyk overlaid Tour Guide and Barbar for Dante, pitched Cir to make his third Beatrice, then revived Dante with Cir.  “End my turn.”

Walters drew The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak, and during the Draw Phase Temnyk banished Mischief of the Gnomes, once again swerving Walters’s plans for his Xyz Summons.  Walters banished Gloves from his Graveyard to send Phantom Knights’ Sword to his Graveyard, then banished The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots to get Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade.  “It’s gonna be a Burial from a Different Dimension, isn’t it,” quipped Temnyk.

“It is,” responded Walters, flipping Burial to return Boots and Gloves to his Graveyard.  He banished Fog Blade to Special Summon; Temnyk Chained Maxx “C”, and Walters Chained the effect of his Sword to ensure that Temnyk wouldn’t get more than one draw.

Walters overlaid Boots and Gloves for Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss, and Temnyk drew a card before considering his face-down back row.  “That’s fine.”  Walters detached Boots, hitting Twin Twisters, Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade, and Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to his Graveyard.  Farfa banished the Beatrice with the most Materials, and Temnyk used his Dante and Barbar effects.  Dante got him back his Barbar, and then Barbar banished his Scarm and Libic for 600 points of damage.  Walters was down to 1400 Life Points.  He Normal Summoned The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak, turned it to Defense Mode, and Set Fog Blade.

“During the End Phase…” Temnyk detached Cir from Beatrice to send Pot of Desires to his Graveyard, using Cir to revive his Calcab, destroying it to bounce away Walters’ Fog Blade.  He brought back his third Beatrice off Farfa.

Next turn Temnyk detached The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak from a Beatrice to send Ghost Reaper & Winter Cherries to his Graveyard, thinning his Deck, and banished Cloak to get The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots.  Temnyk started running numbers – he needed 1400 more damage.  He overlaid two Beatrices to make Number F0: Utopic Future, then Normal Summoned The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves and Special Summoned The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots.  That was all Walters needed to see, who scooped up his cards and entered Duel 3.

Bohdan Temnyk battles back, losing Duel 1 only to claim Duel 2, but Walters would have the option to open the final Duel; a definitive advantage!

Both of these men were worthy competitors, but only one could walk away from this table a Champion.  Could Temnyk pull this out to finally score that coveted ‘W’ Billy Brake had spoken of hours before in their Feature Match, or would this be another near-miss for the fan-favorite Australian?  Michael Walters is packing a ton of variation and tech; could that win him the Championship?

Walters opened with Twin Twisters; The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves; Ghost Reaper & Winter Cherries; The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak;  and Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss.  He Set Twisters and passed, looking for a chance to use that Reaper.

Temnyk drew two with Allure of Darkness, banished Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, and Special Summoned Speedroid Terrortop to search Speedroid Taketomborg.  He Special Summoned it and Walters unleashed Ghost Reaper & Winter Cherries, revealing one of his Dantes to banish all of Temnyk’s!  That could seal the Match right there; could Temnyk find some way to kick out?

He pressed on, banishing ten cards for Pot of Desires and drawing two.  Temnyk spent some time riffling through his hand and considering his options, shaking his head.  He attacked with the Speedroids for 1800 Battle Damage total, then overlaid for Super Quantal Mech Beast Grampulse in Main Phase 2 to detach Taketomborg, destroying Walters’s Twin Twisters.  He Normal Summoned Scarm to destroy it, then Set three cards to his back row.  He searched for Tour Guide from the Underworld with Scarm.

Walters drew The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak, holding Farfa, Gloves, and another Cloak.  He Set one of the Cloaks with nothing else to do.  It was starting to look as if Temnyk might actually pull this out of the fire, even with no Dantes!

Temnyk Normal Summoned Tour Guide from the Underworld to Special Summon Scarm, and overlaid for Number 20: Giga-Brilliant. He detached to make Digital Bug Corebage, used it to bounce away the face-down Ancient Cloak, and turned Grampulse to Attack Mode.  He attached Giga-Brilliant to Digital Bug Corebage again and attacked for a total of 4000 Battle Damage – Walters dropped to 2200 Life Points.

Temnyk had three cards in hand, three cards Set in his Spell and Trap Card Zone, and his two Xyz Monsters on the field.  Scarm got him Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss.  The title was practically Temnyk’s to lose and he knew it, ending his turn and giving a subtle dab in the direction of the audience.

Walters drew The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots.  He Normal Summoned The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak and Temnyk flipped Mischief of the Gnomes!  This one was over!  Walters had Farfa, Gloves, and Boots in hand, and that wasn’t going to be enough.  He Special Summoned Boots anyways, but moments later he was done, and was giving Temnyk the handshake.

Bohdan Temnyk wins the final Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series Tournament of the format, capturing victory in a fearsome 2-1 Burning Phantom Knight mirror Match!

Five years ago, YCS Toronto 2011 represented the end of a life-long quest for Billy Brake, who won his first Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series Tournament.  Today that honor goes to Australia’s finest, who finally chalks up his first big win in a sanctioned Championship.

Congratulations to the winner of YCS Toronto 2016 and our newest Champion, none other than Bohdan Temnyk!