It’s the final Swiss round here at the UDS Summer Invitational! We have YCS Champion Dakota Angeloff, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, playing a Sky Striker Trickstar Deck. He’s facing World Championship competitor Brian Rayos, from Los Angels, using a Sky Striker Mekk-Knight strategy. This is some of the best competition you can find anywhere, folks. A win here will go a long way to securing a place in the Top 8 cutoff after this round.

Duel 1

Rayos won the die roll and played first. He opened with Trickstar Lilybell, Terraforming, Trickstar Light Stage, Sky Striker Mecha – Widow Anchor, and Droll & Lock Bird. He played Light Stage to get Trickstar Candina, then used Terraforming for another Light Stage. He played it and searched out Trickstar Lycoris. Candina came down and added Trickstar Reincarnation to his hand. He Set Reincarnation and Widow Anchor.

Angeloff Set three back row cards and activated Light Stage, getting Candina. Light Stage’s effect locked down the Set Reincarnation. Angeloff played Sky Striker Mecha – Hornet Drones, then Link Summoned Sky Striker Ace – Kagari. It returned Hornet Drones to his hand, and he played it again. He Normal Summoned Candina and searched out Lycoris, then flipped up Pot of Desires. He activated Terraforming to get Light Stage, playing it to search for Lilybell. He activated Lilybell, but Rayos flipped Reincarnation (no longer locked down since the original Light Stage was off the field). Angeloff banished his hand (Lilybell, Lycoris, Scapegoat, and Widow Anchor) and drew a new hand. He used Kagari to play Sky Striker Ace – Hayate, then used Light Stage to lock down Rayos’s Widow Anchor. Angeloff used his Sky Striker Ace Token to play Sky Striker Ace – Shizuku and moved to the Battle Phase. He sent Candina to attack Rayos’s Candina, and Rayos bounced his monster to Special Summon Lycoris in Defense Position. Angeloff had Candina destroy it, then Hayate and Shizuku attacked directly. Hayate’s effect sent Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage! to the Graveyard.

Rayos drew Mekk-Knight Indigo Eclipse. He used Light Stage to freeze one of Angeloff’s back row cards, then Special Summoned Indigo Eclipse. He Normal Summoned Lilybell and moved to the Battle Phase. Indigo attacked Shizuku, and Lilybell attacked directly. That allowed him to return Lycoris to his hand. He Special Summoned Lycoris by bouncing Lilybell, and Lycoris destroyed Hayate in battle. In Main Phase 2, Rayos used Indigo Eclipse and Lycoris to play Knightmare Phoenix, discarding Lilybell to destroy a Set Infinite Impermanence. in the End Phase, Angeloff’s Set Solemn Strike was sent to the Graveyard by Light Stage.

Candina attacked Phoenix, leaving Angeloff wide open (He revealed after the Match that he had PSY-Framegear Gamma in his hand).

Rayos played Candina and sent his monsters to attack, taking the first Duel!

Duel 2

Angeloff played first, starting with Terraforming into Light Stage into Candina. He played Hornet Drones and Link Summoned Kagari, returning Hornet Drones to his hand. He played Candina to get Trickstar Reincarnation. Kagari was used to play Shizuku. He Set three back row cards, and Shizuku added Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage! to his hand. Now that he knew Rayos was playing Mekk-Knights, Angeloff was careful to place all of his cards in different columns.

Rayos had Lilybell, 2 Candina, Called by the Grave, Mind Control, and Engage. He Set Mind Control in the same column as Shizuku, bluffing a Mekk-Knight. He played Engage to get Hornet Drones. After the card was added to Rayos’s hand, Angeloff flipped Trickstar Reincarnation and Chained Droll & Lock Bird. Rayos Chained Hornet Drones and Called by the Grave to negate Droll! Rayos drew a new hand of Hornet Drones, Mekk-Knight Purple Nightfall, and Twin Twisters. But Angeloff then flipped Shared Ride, and Rayos knew he had no way to play through that! He simply conceded the Duel!

Duel 3

Rayos began the final Duel with a hand of Trickstar Candina, Trickstar Reincarnation, 2 Engage, and Shared Ride. He played Engage to get Hornet Drones, playing it and Link Summoning Kagari. He returned Engage to his hand, then Normal Summoned Candina. He got Light Stage and played it, searching for Lycoris. He Set all his Spell Cards and Link Summoned Shizuku, searching for his third Engage.

Angeloff Set three back row cards and played Hornet Drones. He Link Summoned Kagari and targeted Hornet Drones, and Rayos flipped Shared Ride to draw Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring! Angeloff played Hornet Drones again, using the token with Kagari to play Knightmare Phoenix. It discarded Trickstar Reincarnation to destroy Rayos’s Light Stage. He played Candina next, getting Light Stage, and Rayos drew a Reincarnation. Rayos then flipped the Reincarnation he had on the field, forcing Angeloff to draw a new card. Angeloff flipped up Terraforming, getting a new Light Stage, and Rayos drew his own Light Stage. Angeloff played his Field Spell to search out Lycoris, giving Rayos a Scapegoat. Angeloff activated his Lycoris, and Rayos did the same. Both players’ Candinas were returned to the hand. Angeloff used Kagari with Lycoris to play Knightmare Goblin, discarding Fire Hand for its effect. He Normal Summoned Candina, and Rayos negated it with Ash Blossom. Angeloff thought over his options, and knew he couldn’t make a comeback against Rayos’s sheer card advantage!

Brian Rayos comes out ahead with his Sky Striker Mekk-Knight Deck!