. Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Event Coverage » Round 7 Feature Match: Brian Rayos vs. Joseph Linch
Home > 2016/10 - Minneapolis, MN, Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series > Round 7 Feature Match: Brian Rayos vs. Joseph Linch

Round 7 Feature Match: Brian Rayos vs. Joseph Linch

October 16th, 2016

Brian Rayos was undefeated last round before he took his first loss in the tournament. He is piloting a very unique 51-Card Zombie Lightsworn Deck that centers around accelerating Level 4 monsters into play so he can abuse Minerva, the Exalted Lightsworn and PSY-Framelord Omega. Joseph Linch has chosen a bit less powerful but more consistent option in Burning Abyss Phantom Knight. Can Rayos’s high risk high reward strategy pay off? Or is Burning Abyss Phantom Knight too good at capitalizing on an opponent’s poor start?

Duel One

Linch won the roll and chose to go first.

Linch started with Reinforcement of the Army for The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak before activating Upstart Goblin to draw a card. He Normal Summoned The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak and then Special Summoned The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots, overlaying both monsters for Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss. He activated its effect and sent Tour Guide from the Underworld, Pot of Desires, and The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots to the Graveyard. He then banished The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots to add Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade to his hand, and discarded Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to upgrade his Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss into Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal. He Set two cards to his back row and in his End Phase, added Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to his hand thanks to Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss.

 

1

 

Rayos opened with Shiranui Solitaite, Goblindbergh, Pot of Desires, Photon Thrasher, Performage Trick Clown, and Fariy Tail – Snow. He began with Pot of Desires, banishing ten cards from the top of his Deck to draw Mezuki and Reinforcement of the Army. He Special Summoned Photon Thrasher next, then Normal Summoned Goblindbergh and activated its effect to Special Summon Shiranui Solitaire from his hand. This prompted Linch to respond with the effect of Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal detaching Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss to send Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to his Graveyard. The Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss triggered to add back Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, while the Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss banished Rayos’s Shiranui Solitaire. He combined his two remaining Level 4 monsters for Minerva, the Exalted Lightsworn, but when he tried to use its effect, Linch had Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade to stop it. Rayos activated Reinforcement of the Army to add Goblindbergh to his hand, then moved to his End Phase in which Shiranui Solitaire returned to the field.

Linch drew to four cards and fanned through his Graveyard while considering his options. He began with Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal, detaching The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak to send Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to the Graveyard. The Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss triggered to banish Minerva, the Exalted Lightsworn, causing Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade to fall off. Linch then Normal Summoned The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves and activated the effect of Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade to Special Summon The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots. He combined both for Leviair the Sea Dragon, then used its effect to Special Summon The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots. He Special Summoned Speedroid Taketomborg from his hand thanks to Leviair the Sea Dragon being a WIND monster, then banished The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots to add Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade to his hand. He combined The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots and Speedroid Taketomborg for Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss, then used its effect to send Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, and Foolish Burial to the Graveyard. The Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss triggered, banishing just a Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to deal a bit of damage. He switched Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal to Attack Mode and declared attacks with his three Xyz monsters over Shiranui Solitaire, leaving Rayos with only 2400 Life Points. In Main Phase 2 Linch Set a card to his back row, then moved to his End Phase where he added Calcab, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to his hand from the effect of Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. Reyos got his Minerva, the Exalted Lightsworn back in the End Phase, albeit without any Xyz Materials.

Rayos drew another copy of Performage Trick Clown but it was of no help and he conceded!

 

2

 

A strong opening for Linch allows him to disrupt Rayos for a single turn and run him out of gas because of a poor hand. Can Rayos fight to win back-to-back Duels? Or will Linch take another easy victory?

Rayos chose to go first.

Duel Two

Rayos started with a hand of Uni-Zombie, Fairy Tail – Snow, Raiden, Hand of the Lightsworn, Felis, Lightsworn Archer, and Left Arm Offering. He Normal Summoned Raiden, Hand of the Lightsworn and used it to send Goblindbergh and Performage Trick Clown to the Graveyard, which then triggered the effect of Performage Trick Clown to Special Summon itself. He combined both of his monsters for Minerva, the Exalted Lightsworn and sent two Lightsworn to the Graveyard with its effect drawing Gem-Knight Garnet and Uni-Zombie. He then slammed down Left Arm Offering to banish his whole hand for Soul Charge, which he immediately played. He brought back Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress, Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner, Raiden, Hand of the Lightsworn, and Goblindbergh. He Synchro Summoned PSY-Framelord Omega using Raiden, Hand of the Lightsworn and Goblindbergh before he moved to his End Phase. During the End Phase, Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress and Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner sent a total of six cards down including three copies of Mezuki and Fairy Tail – Snow!

 

3

 

During Linch’s Standby Phase, Rayos activated the effect of PSY-Framelord Omega to put Uni-Zombie into his Graveyard. Linch began with Speedroid Terrortop, Special Summoning it and using its effect to add Speedroid Taketomborg to his hand. He immediately Special Summoned it. He moved to his Battle Phase and declared attacks with his Speedroids over Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner and Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress, then went to Main Phase 2 and combined his monsters for Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss. He then used the effect of Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss to send Maxx “C”, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, and Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to his Graveyard. He Special Summoned Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his hand next, prompting Rayos to activate Fairy Tail – Snow! He banished seven cards form his Graveyard to Special Summon Fairy Tail – Snow, and used its effect to put Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss face-down causing the Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to destroy itself. He Set two cards to his back row and moved to his End Phase, where Rayos activated the effect of PSY-Framelord Omega just to see one of Linch’s cards. Still during the End Phase, Linch activated Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to add Tour Guide from the Underworld to his hand.

Rayos drew Shiranui Solitaire and PSY-Framelord Omega returned to the field while Linch added back Calcab, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. Rayos started by banishing Mezuki to Special Summon Uni-Zombie, then tuned it with Fairy Tail – Snow to Synchro Summon Black Rose Moonlight Dragon…but Linch had Solemn Warning to stop it! Rayos followed it up with Minerva, the Exlated Lightsworn, sending three cards to the Graveyard but detaching Performage Trick Clown so he could trigger it to have it Special Summon itself. He then banished a second Mezuki to Special Summon Uni-Zombie again, then tuned it with Performage Trick Clown for Michael, the Arch-Lightsworn. He used its effect to banish the Set Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss, but left himself with only 1000 Life Points. He then activated Mezuki to Special Summon Uni-Zombie and Normal Summoned Shiranui Solitaire, moving to the Battle Phase and attacking for game!

 

4

 

Explosive combos for Rayos make game two look like a breeze! Can his Deck keep up the impressive performance in the final Duel? Or will the consistency of Linch’s Burning Abyss Phantom Knight Deck be too much?

Duel Three

Linch began with Speedroid Terrortop, and Special Summoned it to add Speedroid Taketomborg to his hand. He then activated Pot of Desires to banish the top ten cards of his Deck and draw two. He Special Summoned Speedroid Taketomborg next and combined the Speedroids for Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss, then used its effect sending Maxx “C”, Solemn Strike, and Alich, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to the Graveyard. He then Normal Summoned Tour Guide from the Underworld and Special Summoned Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his Deck, overlaying for a second copy of Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss. He detached Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to send Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, and The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard. He banished The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves to send The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots to his Graveyard, then banished The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots to add Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade to his hand. He Set four cards to his back row and during the End Phase added Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to his hand from the effect of Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss.

Rayos started with two copies of Instant Fusion, Raiden, Hand of the Lightsworn, Brilliant Fusion, Heroic Challenger – Thousand Blades and drew Twin Twisters for his turn. He activated Brilliant Fusion, sending Performage Trick Clown and Gem-Knight Garnet to the Graveyard to Special Summon Gem-Knight Seraphinite. He triggered the effect of Performage Trick Clown to have it Special Summon itself, then used his extra Normal Summon on Raiden, Hand of the Lightsworn. He activated its effect to try to hit something good, but only sent Solar Recharge and Gem-Knight Garnet to the Graveyard. He combined the two Level 4 monsters for Minerva, the Exalted Lightsworn and tried to activate its effect, which prompted Linch to activate Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade; but Rayos had Twin Twisters, ditching Instant Fusion to destroy Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade and another Set card. Linch responded with another Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade, and Twin Twisters resolved sending a Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade along with another Set one to the Graveyard. He activated Instant Fusion next to Special Summon Elder Entity Norden, but lost out to Solemn Strike when he tried to activate its effect. He then Set Heroic Challenger – Thousand Blades before ending his turn.

Linch drew and immediately activated the effect of Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss, sending Anti-Spell Fragrance, Calcab, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, and Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to the Graveyard.  The Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss triggered, banishing Minerva, the Exalted Lightsworn, but Rayos activated the effect of Performage Trick Clown to Special Summon it once it hit the Graveyard from being an Xyz Material. Linch went to Battle Phase and declared attacks with both Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss over Performage Trick Clown and Gem-Knight Seraphnite, then in Main Phase 2 discarded Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to upgrade his Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss with an Xyz Material into Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal. Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss triggered, banishing three Burning Abyss monsters to deal some damage, and then he Set a card to his back row and ended his turn. During the End Phase. Minerva, the Exalted Lightsworn returned to the field.

Rayos drew Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner for turn as the only card in his hand. He Set it and ended his turn, but during his End Phase Linch activated the effect of Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal to send The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak to the Graveyard. With the writing on the wall and Rayos basically out of resources, Rayos conceded!

 

5

 

Linch’s disruption was too strong for Rayos to overcome, and Joseph Linch moves on with a 6-1 record!