Denny Yu from Sacramento, California is Dueling against Brian Rayos from Los Angeles, California in the most important Match of their lives. The winner will make it to the Top 4 and be invited to compete in the World Championship – the other Duelist will be eliminated. It’s time to Duel!

Duel One

Yu opened up with Soul Charge, Instant Fusion, Gouki Bearhug, and 2 copies of Droll & Lock Bird.

He activated Instant Fusion and gave up 1000 Life Points to Special Summon Dragoness the Wicked Knight. Then, he Tributed it to Summon Bearhug and activated Soul Charge, giving up 1000 Life Points to Special Summon his Dragoness back. He combined both monsters to Link Summon Isolde, Two Tales of the Noble Knights, and then activated the effects of his Isolde and his Gouki. He added 2 cards to his hand, and then used Isolde’s effect to send Divine Sword from his Deck to his Graveyard in an effort to Special Summon a monster, but lost out to Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring . He equipped Isolde with the Sword and passed.

Rayos activated Engage to add Hornet Drones to his hand and Yu discarded Droll & Lock Bird. He then activated Hornet Drones to Special Summon a Sky Striker Ace Token and used it to Link Summon Kagari. Next, he Set a card in the same column as Isolde and then Special Summoned Mekk-Knight Purple Nightfall. He attacked Isolde with his Mekk-Knight to destroy it and then attacked directly with Kagari, dropping Yu down to 3800 Life Points. In Main Phase 2, Rayos Set a card to his back row.

Yu drew Called by the Grave and then Normal Summoned Riscorpio. He used it to attack Kagari and destroy it. He then Set Called by the Grave to his back row and ended his turn.

Rayos activated Terraforming to add Trickstar Light Stage to his hand, prompting Yu to discard Droll & Lock Bird. Rayos used Purple Nightfall’s effect to banish the Purple Nightfall and add Mekk-Knight Indigo Eclipse from his Deck to his hand. He activated Hornet Drones next to Special Summon a Token and used the Token to Link Summon Kagari. He tried to return Hornet Drones to his hand with Kagari, but Yu Chained Called by the Grave to banish Kagari from Rayos’s Graveyard and negate the effect of Kagari. Rayos Special Summoned Indigo Eclipse and then attacked with his monsters, dropping Yu down to 2200 Life Points and destroying Riscorpio.

Yu drew a card and then Normal Summoned Headbatt. He attacked into Kagari with Headbatt, dropping to 1500 Life Points and destroying Headbatt. He used Headbatt’s effect to add Gouki Re-Match from his Deck to his hand, and then Rayos flipped Trickstar Reincarnation to force Yu to banish his hand from the Duel. Yu replaced it by drawing Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring and Instant Fusion from the top of his Deck, immediately conceding upon seeing his new cards.

Brian Rayos dominates the first Duel and is just a single win away from an invitation to compete in the 2018 Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME World Championship in Japan!

Duel Two

Yu opened up Duel 2 with Instant Fusion, Gouki Suprex, Junk Forward, Instant Fusion, and Divine Sword – Phoenix Blade. He Special Summoned Junk Forward and then used Instant Fusion to give up 1000 Life Points and Special Summon Dragoness to his field. He combined both monsters to Xyz Summon M-X-Saber Invoker, and then detached an Xyz Material from Invoker to activate its effect and Special Summon Suprex from his Deck. He combined Invoker with Suprex to Link Summon Isolde and then used the effects of Isolde and Suprex to add 2 cards from his Deck to his hand. He activated the effect of Isolde next, sending Living Fossil from his Deck to his Graveyard to Special Summon Gouki Octostretch from his Deck. He discarded Suprex to Special Summon Octostretch from his hand and then combined Suprex and Octostretch to Link Summon Knightmare Goblin. He added Gouki Re-Match and Gouki Bearhug to his hand with the effects of his fallen Goukis. He Special Summoned 2 Goukis from his Graveyard with Re-Match and after a couple of plays he had Link Summoned Firewall Dragon and Knightmare Mermaid. He used the effects of the Mermaid and the Firewall Dragon, and Rayos Chained Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit from his hand to destroy Firewall Dragon. Yu Special Summoned Knightmare Corruptor Iblee from his Deck and Bearhug from his hand. Next, he banished Dragoness and Invoker from his Graveyard to return his Phoenix Blade from his hand and combined Bearhug with Iblee to Link Summon Knightmare Phoenix. He activated Bearhug’s effect to add Suprex from his Deck to his hand and then Set the Divine Sword.

Rayos activated Hornet Drones to Special Summon a Token to the field and then used the Token to Link Summon Kagari.

He used Kagari’s effect to add a Hornet Drones from his Graveyard to his hand and then used the Hornet Drones to Special Summon another Token. He activated Light Stage to add Candina from his Deck to his hand, prompting Yu to discard Droll & Lock Bird. Next, Rayos used Light Stage to pin down the Divine Sword. Rayos Special Summoned Indigo Eclipse next, and then Link Summoned Cerberus. He used Cerberus’s effect to destroy Knightmare Phoenix and then Normal Summoned Candina. Attacks from Rayos’s monsters destroyed Yu’s monsters and dropped Yu down to 2000 Life Points. While in the Battle Phase, Rayos activated the effect of the Lycoris in his hand to Special Summon it by returning Candina from his field to his hand, and then a direct attack from Lycoris with some help from Light Stage dropped Yu down to 200 Life Points!

When Yu drew a card on his next turn, it was all over! Rayos’s Lycoris inflicted 200 points of damage to Yu, knocking him out of the Duel and the tournament!

Brian Rayos is going to the World Championship!