We’re well on our way through the Swiss rounds of Day 1 here at YCS Guadalajara! For this Match we have Ricardo Lora Zavala, Mexico City, up against Jaime Armando Marquez Avila, from Juarez, Chihuahua. Lora is using a popular Deck from last format, Dinosaurs! Like most Dino Decks, he’s paired it with True Kings and True Dracos to make huge combos with Babycerasaurus. Most Duelists have moved on from Dinosaur Decks after the Forbidden & Limited List put restrictions on Miscellaneousaurus and a multitude of True King and True Draco cards, but Lora’s undefeated record shows that the strategy is still capable of winning. Marquez, on the other hand, is using one of the new strategies from Code of the Duelist: Trickstars! He’s got a unique build which also features Windwitches. Trickstars are a flexible strategy, and almost any Deck will be different. Who will remain undefeated? It’s time to Duel!

Duel 1

Lora won the dice roll and chose to play first. He had a hand of True Draco Apocalypse, Terraforming, Souleating Oviraptor, Fossil Dig, and True King Agnimazud, the Vanisher. He played Fossil Dig to get Babycerasaurus, then Terraforming to get Dragonic Diagram. Diagram destroyed Babycerasaurus, adding Master Peace, the True Dracoslaying King to his hand, and Babycerasaurus Special Summoned another Babycerasaurus. He Normal Summoned Souleating Oviraptor, adding Ultimate Conductor Tyranno to his hand, then used Oviraptor’s effect to destroy Babycerasaurus and revive the first one. That triggered the destroyed Babycerasaurus’s effect, and he Special Summoned Miscellaneousaurus. He destroyed Miscellaneousaurus and Babycerasaurus to Special Summon Agnimazud, and used Babyzera to bring Giant Rex to the field. He used Miscellaneousaurus to get Jurrac Aeolo, and tuned it to Giant Rex for Accel Synchron! It sent Jet Synchron to the Graveyard, decreasing Accel Synchron’s Level by 1. He tuned Accel to Oviraptor for PSY-Framelord Omega, then banished Giant Rex and Babycerasaurus to Special Summon Ultimate Conductor Tyranno. Giant Rex’s effect brought it back to the field, and Lora Set True Draco Apocalypse to finish.

In the Standby Phase, Omega returned Miscellaneousaurus to Lora’s Graveyard. Marquez played Terraforming to get Trickstar Light Stage. Lora used Omega’s effect, and managed to banish the Light Stage… but Marquez had a second Light Stage! He played it to get Trickstar Lycoris to his hand. He used its effect to try locking down True Draco Apocalypse, and Lora flipped it up in response. Marquez Normal Summoned Trickstar Candina and activated its effect, then Chained Lycoris from his hand, then played Chain Summoning! That gave him up to three Normal Summons this turn! Lycoris returned Candina to the hand, and Candina added another Candina to his hand. He Normal Summoned a Candina, adding Trickstar Reincarnation to his hand, then played his second Candina to search out his third copy of Candina. He stacked both copies of Candina for Tornado Dragon, and moved to the Battle Phase. He used Tornado Dragon’s effect to destroy True Draco Apocalypse, but Lora used Apocalypse’s effect to Tribute Summon! He Tributed Apocalypse and Giant Rex for Master Peace, and Apocalypse destroyed Lycoris. Then, he destroyed Agnimazud with Ultimate Conductor Tyranno, turning all of Marquez’s monsters face-down. Marquez Set two to his back row to finish. In the End Phase, Master Peace destroyed Marquez’s Mirror Force.

Lora drew Terraforming, and returned Omega to the field. He banished Miscellaneousaurus and Giant Rex to Special Summon Babycerasaurus, then used Diagram to destroy it. He added Mariamne, the True Dracophoenix to his hand and Special Summoned Souleating Oviraptor. Oviraptor’s effect added another Ultimate Conductor Tyranno to his hand. Marquez flipped Trickstar Reincarnation to banish Lora’s hand, and he drew a new hand of Fossil Dig, Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, and Pseudo Space. He sent Giant Rex to destroy Tornado Dragon. Oviraptor attacked directly, and Marquez used Trickstar Reincarnation from the Graveyard to bring Candina back. Oviraptor continued to attack, and Marquez dropped Honest! Lora moved to Main Phase 2, starting with Fossil Dig. He got Oviraptor to his hand, then took 400 damage from Candina and Light Stage. He Normal Summoned Oviraptor and stacked it with Giant Rex for Evolzar Laggia! Marquez saw his next card, and conceded!

Both Duelists had some huge turns, with Babycerasaurus and Chain Summoning putting in work for each player, but Lora was able to use Ultimate Conductor Tyranno to shut down Marquez’s potential plays. Marquez chose to play first in the next Duel.

Duel 2

Marquez began with Windwitch – Ice Bell, followed by Windwitch – Glass Bell, and Windwitch – Snow Bell. He tuned Ice Bell to Glass Bell for Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, then Snow Bell to that for Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon! He played Candina next, adding Trickstar Lycoris to his hand. He Set two back row cards.

Lora had a hand of True King’s Return; Mariamne, the True Dracophoenix; Miscellaneousaurus; Master Peace, the True Dracoslaying King; True King Agnimazud, the Vanisher; and Dragonic Diagram. He Set Return, then played Diagram. Candina dealt 200 damage. Lora activated Diagram, and Marquez bounced Candina to the hand to play Lycoris. Lora continued, destroying Mariamne to add True Draco Heritage to his hand, and took 200 damage from Lycoris. Mariamne’s effect also added Agnimazud to his hand, and he took another 200 damage. He activated Agnimazud, and it was negated and destroyed by Crystal Wing. When it was destroyed, its effect added Mariamne to Lora’s hand, and he took yet another 200 damage. He Normal Summoned Miscellaneousaurus, sending it to destroy Lycoris in battle.

Marquez Normal Summoned Candina and used its effect. Lora flipped True King’s Return, and Marquez had Solemn Warning! Candina resolved, adding Trickstar Lilybell to his hand, and he Special Summoned it. True King’s Return’s effect in the Graveyard destroyed Candina. Lilybell attacked directly, adding Lycoris back to his hand. He Special Summoned it, returning Lilybell to the hand; he attacked directly with Lycoris and Crystal Wing.

The round timer was running out and Lora knew he wasn’t going to win this Duel, so he conceded. He wanted to make sure he could use his Side Deck properly and get an edge in the final Duel.

Duel 3

Lora began the final Duel with a hand of Ultimate Conductor Tyranno, Terraforming, Babycerasaurus, Master Peace, and Mariamne. Terraforming added Dragonic Diagram to his hand, and he used it to destroy Babycerasaurus. He added Agnimazud to his hand, and Special Summoned Souleating Oviraptor. Oviraptor added another Babycerasaurus to his hand, and he Normal Summoned it. Oviraptor destroyed it to Special Summon the first Babycerasaurus, and the destroyed copy Special Summoned Miscellaneousaurus. He destroyed Miscellaneousaurus and Babycerasaurus to Special Summon Agnimazud from his hand, and Special Summoned Giant Rex. He banished Miscellaneousaurus to Special Summon Jurrac Aeolo. He tuned it to Giant Rex for Accel Synchron, sending Jet Synchron to the Graveyard and decreasing Accel Synchron’s Level. He banished Giant Rex and Babycerasaurus to Special Summon Ultimate Conductor Tyranno, and Special Summoned Giant Rex. He tuned Accel Synchron to Giant Rex for PSY-Framelord Omega to finish his turn.

In Marquez’s Standby Phase, Lora used Omega to return Miscellaneousaurus to his Graveyard. Marquez played Candina, adding Lycoris to his hand. Lora banished Omega, also banishing Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring from Marquez’s hand. Marquez played Trickstar Light Stage, adding another Lycoris to his hand. He moved to the Battle Phase, and Lora responded with Ultimate Conductor Tyranno’s effect. Marquez Special Summoned Lycoris in response, bouncing Candina back to his hand, and Lycoris was turned face-down instead. Tyranno destroyed Mariamne for its effect, and Lora got Agnimazud to his hand.

Lora drew another Oviraptor, and returned Omega to the field. He Normal Summoned Oviraptor, getting another Ultimate Conductor Tyranno to his hand. He stacked his Oviraptors for Evolzar Dolkka, and Special Summoned his second Tyranno by banishing Giant Rex. He Special Summoned Giant Rex and finally moved to his Battle Phase. He destroyed Lycoris, and sent his Dinosaurs to wipe out Marquez’s Life Points!

Ricardo Lora is moving on, still undefeated with Dinosaurs!