Michael State is piloting a super cool 50 Card Paleozoic Deck centered around Card of Demise. In order to make sure that he can constantly trigger the Paleozoics without needing to react, he has filled his Deck with card-drawing Trap Cards like Jar of Greed and Legacy of Yata-Garasu. State’s Deck is a lean mean controlling machine. His opponent, Matthew Wright, also brought a strategy utilizing Card of Demise to Minneapolis this weekend, as he’s piloting a Qliphort Deck. Wright’s Deck has an interesting twist though, as his Qliphort Deck still packs big threats like Qliphort Stealth and Qliphort Shell instead of relying on the smaller Qliphort monsters.

Will Paleozoics or Qliphorts win the grind war in this Round 2 Feature Match? We’re about to find out. It’s time to Duel!

Duel One

Wright won the roll and chose to go first.

Wright started with Pot of Duality and used it to add Card of Demise to his hand. He Normal Summoned Qliphort Carrier and equipped it with Saqlifice, then activated Necrovalley and Set another card to his back row. He activated Card of Demise to draw the full three cards, before he Set another card to his back row and placed Qliphort Stealth in his Pendulum Zone. During the End Phase, he discarded a Qliphort Stealth.

State started with Solemn Warning, Quaking Mirror Force, Legacy of Yata-Garasu, Paleozoic Pikaia, and Moon Mirror Shield. He Set everything but the Spell Card and then ended his turn.

Wright drew and moved to his Battle Phase, declaring an attack for 2400 points of damage. He activated Card of Demise in Main Phase 2, then tried to tribute Helix Carrier for Qliphort Stealth; but State stopped it with Solemn Warning. Wright activated the effect of Saqlifice once it hit the Graveyard, which let him add Qliphort Scout to his hand. He placed it in his Pendulum Scale next, and paid 800 Life Points to add Qlimate Change to his hand with its effect. He Set the rest of his hand to his back row before ending his turn.

State drew a card and activated Paleozoic Pikaia, discarding Paleozoic Hallucigenia to draw two cards. He activated Legacy of Yata-Garasu to draw a card, then used the effect of Paleozoic Pikaia to have it Special Summon itself from the Graveyard. Wright flipped Vanity’s Emptiness but State responded with Paleozoic Hallucigenia to Special Summon Hallucigenia from the Graveyard. He equipped it with Moon Mirror Shield and declared a direct attack before Setting Waboku and Jar of Greed.

Wright drew and activated the effect of Qliphort Scout, paying 800 Life Points to add Qliphort Helix to his hand. He Normal Summoned it and thought for a moment before he ended his turn.

State drew Card of Demise for turn and then declared an attack with Paleozoic Hallucigenia over Qliphort Helix. He activated Jar of Greed and drew Paleozoic Olenoides, which he Set before ending his turn.

Wright drew for turn and tried to activate the effect of Qliphort Scout by paying 800 Life Points, but State Chained Paleozoic Olenoides to destroy it. State pressed on with Qlimate Change, adding back Qliphort Scout, Qliphort Carrier, and Qliphort Helix, which then caused Vanity’s Emptiness to destroy itself. He activated Qliphort Scout in his Pendulum Zone once again and used its effect to add Qliphort Shell to his hand. Wright tried to Pendulum Summon just Qliphort Helix from his hand, but State used Solemn Strike to negate the Summon. Wright Normal Summoned Qliphort Carrier and tried to end his turn, but during the End Phase State activated Waboku which allowed him to Special Summon Paleozoic Olenoides.

State drew Barrier Statue of the Torrent for his turn and declared an attack with Paleozoic Hallucigenia over Qliphort Carrier to deal 100 points of damage thanks to Moon Mirror Shield. Then he attacked directly with Paleozoic Olenoides. He Set Barrier Statue of the Torrent and then activated Card of Demise, which got him Pot of Duality, Jar of Greed, and Floodgate Trap Hole. He activated Pot of Duality next to add Paleozoic Olenoides, and Set it along with Floodgate Trap Hole before discarding Jar of Greed to Card of Demise.

Wright drew a card and Pendulum Summoned Qliphort Monolith and Qliphort Carrier to the field. He Tributed them both away for Qliphort Shell, prompting State to respond with Floodgate Trap Hole. Wright Set a card to his back row and passed his turn back to State.

State drew Quaking Mirror Force. He moved to his Battle Phase and declared an attack over the Set Qliphort Shell with Paleozoic Hallucigenia, then attacked directly with Paleozoic Olenoides to leave Wright with 1000 Life Points.

Wright drew for turn and made a massive Pendulum Summon for his three Qliphorts from his Extra Deck, but when he went to attack he lost out to Quaking Mirror Force!

State drew Wetlands for his turn! He activated it and made attacks over the Set Qliphort Carrier and Qliphort Stealth before passing his turn.

Wright drew and Tributed away his Set Qliphort Monolith for Qliphort Carrier, then responded to his own Summon with Torrential Tribute to clear away the field. Wright then Pendulum Summoned both copies of Qliphort Carrier, Qliphort Monolith, and Qliphort Shell from his Extra Deck. He tried to make a direct attack with Qliphort Monolith, but States responded with Quaking Mirror Force to flip it down, and Chained Paleozoic Pikaia to have it Special Summon itself.

State top-decked Raigeki! He slammed it down and all Wright could do is shrug as he swept away his monsters and State attacked for game!

An intensely grindy back and forth between two Card of Demise centered strategies resulted in State ultimately on top with his Paleozoics. Can Wright ride his Qliphort Scout to victory in the next Duel? Or will State’s unique angle of attack take the second Duel as well?

Duel Two

Wright started Duel 2 with Pot of Duality to find Summoner’s Art before he used it to add Qliphort Scout to his hand. He placed Qliphort Scout in his Pendulum Zone and used its effect to grab Saqlifice. He Normal Summoned Qliphort Helix and equipped it with Saqlifice before Setting two cards to his back row.

State had a hand with two copies of Legacy of Yata-Garasu, Paleozoic Hallucigenia, Paleozoic Olenoides, and Pendulum Storm before he drew Pot of Duality. He activated the Pot of Duality to add Pot of Desires to his hand over two copies of Quaking Mirror Force, then used it to banish the top ten cards of his Deck and draw Card of Demise and Solemn Warning. He followed it up with Pendulum Storm, but Wright negated it with Dark Bribe which let State draw Wetlands. He then activated Wetlands and Set everything but Paleozoic Hallucigenia and activated Card of Demise to draw Solemn Warning and Floodgate Trap Hole.

Wright Tributed his Qliphort Helix for Qliphort Stealth, but State had Solemn Warning to stop it. Wright still triggered Saqlifice and Qliphort Helix, but State responded with Legacy of Yata-Garasu which let him activate Paleozoic Hallucigenia. Wright responded with Vanity’s Emptiness, but State had Paleozoic Olenoides to blow it away! Wright added Qliphort Carrier with Saqlifice and then used Qliphort Scout to add Qliphort Helix to his hand. He tried to Pendulum Summon Qliphort Helix, but State negated it with Solemn Strike. During Wright’s End Phase, State activated Legacy of Yata-Garasu and responded with his own Paleozoic Olenoides to have it Special Summon itself.

State drew to a hand of Jar of Greed, Pot of Desires, and Card of Demise. He declared direct attacks with both of his Paleozoics, then set both Jar of Greed and Pot of Desires before he activated Card of Demise to draw a bunch of traps. He then flipped his Pot of Desires to draw another Trap Card as well as Pendulum Storm, which he activated to clear away both of Wright’s Pendulum Scales and a back row! He Set the rest of his cards before ending his turn.

Wright drew and Pendulum Summoned Qliphort Helix. He moved to his End Phase, prompting State to activate Jar of Greed just to draw a card and free up a zone.

State drew and slammed down Raigeki once again, clearing his way to victory!

In a much quicker second Duel, State efficiently grinds Wright out and quickly capitalizes. Michael State moves on 2-0 with his 50 Card Paleozoic Deck!