Andrew Fredella from Miami, Florida and Brian Kalina from Minneapolis, Minnesota are each just 3 wins away from earning the title of Ultimate Duelist and taking home the championship belt. Fredella ended the Swiss Rounds with a 9-3 record, while Kalina ended them with a 10-2 record; but now only 3 single-elimination rounds remain. One Duelist will advance to the Top 4. The other will be eliminated. It’s time to Duel!

Duel One

Kalina started off Duel 1 by Summoning Armageddon Knight. He activated its effect and Chained the effect of his Blue Mountain Butterspy to Special Summon it from his hand. He sent Destiny HERO – Malicious from his Deck to his Graveyard with his Armageddon Knight’s effect and then used his 2 monsters to Link Summon Isolde, Two Tales of the Noble Knights. He activated its effect by sending Divine Sword – Phoenix Blade and Living Fossil from his Deck to his Graveyard and Fredella Chained Infinite Impermanence from his hand to negate Isolde’s effect and prevent it from Special Summoning a monster. Next, Kalina banished Malicious from his Graveyard to try to Special Summon another one, but Fredella discarded Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring from his hand to negate its effect. Kalina banished 2 Warriors from his Graveyard to return his Phoenix Blade to his hand and equipped it to Isolde.

Fredella drew a Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit and then had Trickstar Lycoris, Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage!, Trickstar Light Stage, and the Ghost Ogre in his hand. He used Light Stage to grab Candina from his Deck, used Engage to get Sky Striker Mecha – Hornet Drones, and then used Hornet Drones to Special Summon a Sky Striker Ace Token. He used the Token to Link Summon Sky Striker Ace – Kagari and then used Kagari’s effect to return Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage! to his hand. He activated the Engage once more to add Sky Striker Maneuver – Afterburners! to his hand and then used Afterburners to destroy Isolde. He Normal Summoned Candina next and activated its effect. When Kalina Chained Effect Veiler from his hand to try to negate the effect, Fredella Chained the effect of the Lycoris in his hand to return Candina to his hand and Special Summon Lycoris. He added Trickstar Reincarnation to his hand with Candina’s effect and then attacked directly with Kagari and Lycoris, dropping Kalina down to 4400 Life Points. In Main Phase 2, Fredella used his Kagari as a Link Material to Summon Sky Striker Ace – Shizuku. He Set Trickstar Reincarnation to his back row and then added Sky Striker Mecha – Widow Anchor from his Deck to his hand with Shizuku’s effect in the End Phase.

Kalina drew a card and lost 400 Life Points due to the effects of Lycoris and Light Stage. He activated Engage to add Sky Striker Mecha – Hornet Drones to his hand and lost another 400 Life Points. Then he activated Hornet Drones to Special Summon a Sky Striker Ace Token to his field. He used the Token to Link Summon Kagari and activated Kagari’s effect to return Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage! from his Graveyard to his hand. He lost another 400 Life Points. After Engage returned to his hand, Fredella flipped Trickstar Reincarnation! Kalina banished Engage, Necro Gardna, and Gouki Octostretch from his hand and lost 800 Life Points after he drew 3 new cards. Kalina activated a newly-drawn Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage! to add Sky Striker Mecha – Hornet Drones to his hand and draw a card, dropping him down to 1600 Life Points. Next, he activated a Hornet Drones and Chained another copy of Hornet Drones, Special Summoning 2 more Tokens to the field. He Normal Summoned Vision HERO Vyon next, and used its effect to send Destiny HERO – Malicious from his Deck to his Graveyard. He banished Malicious from his Graveyard to Special Summon another copy from his Deck and then combined Kagari with Vyon to Link Summon Knightmare Goblin. Next, he banished Vyon and Isolde to return Divine Sword from his Graveyard to his hand. He then used his Token and a Malicious to Link Summon Knightmare Goblin and used its effect by discarding Phoenix Blade. He Normal Summoned Gouki Suprex and then combined it with a Token to Link Summon Knightmare Cerberus, leaving him with no cards in his hand. He used the Suprex’s effect to add Gouki Octostretch to his hand, causing his Life Points to drop down to 800. He then banished 2 more Warriors from his Graveyard to return the Divine Sword to his hand, dropping his Life Points down to 400. He combined Knightmare Phoenix with Knightmare Goblin to Summon Knightmare Unicorn and then activated its effect. He discarded his Phoenix Blade to try to return Lycoris to the Deck, and Fredella Chained Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit.

Lycoris returned to the Deck, Unicorn was destroyed, and Kalina drew a card with the effect of the Unicorn; but the card he drew was no help! Kalina conceded, unable to turn the tables on Fredella.

Andrew Fredella takes a swift victory in Duel 1 after he stops Brian Kalina’s early plays and Summons Trickstar Lycoris on his first turn.

Duel Two

Kalina started off Duel 2 by Summoning Vision HERO Vyon.

He activated the effect of Blue Mountain Butterspy to Special Summon it and used Vyon’s effect to send Destiny HERO – Malicious from his Deck to his Graveyard. He combined Vyon with Butterspy to Link Summon Isolde and then used Isolde’s effect by sending Living Fossil and Divine Sword – Phoenix Blade from his Deck to his Graveyard. He Special Summoned Gouki Headbatt from his Deck with Isolde’s effect and then banished Malicious from his Graveyard to Special Summon another copy from his Deck. Fredella sent Ghost Reaper from his hand to his Graveyard to banish 2 copies of Knightmare Goblin from Kalina’s Extra Deck and then Kalina combined Headbatt with Isolde to play Summon Sorceress. He used the Sorceress’s effect and the Headbatt’s effect, adding Gouki Suprex from his Deck to his hand and Special Summoning Gouki Octostretch to Fredella’s field. He used the effect of Summon Sorceress to try to Special Summon a Warrior from his Deck, but Fredella pitched Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit to destroy the Sorceress!

Fredella drew a card and then had Trickstar Light Stage, Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage!, Trickstar Candina, and Called by the Grave in his hand. He activated Light Stage to add Trickstar Lycoris to his hand and then used Octostretch to Link Summon Linkuriboh. Kalina used his Octostretch’s effect to add Gouki Headbatt from his Deck to his hand. Fredella activated Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage! next, using its effect to add Sky Striker Mecha – Hornet Drones from his Deck to his hand. He activated Hornet Drones to Special Summon a Sky Striker Ace Token and then used the Token to Link Summon Kagari. He used Kagari’s effect to return Engage to his hand and then combined Kagari with Linkuriboh to Link Summon Knightmare Phoenix. He activated another Engage next, adding Sky Striker Maneuver – Afterburners! from his Deck to his hand with its effect. He activated Afterburners to destroy Malicious and then Normal Summoned Candina. He used Candina’s effect to add a Lycoris to his hand and then attacked directly with Knightmare Phoenix. Kalina discarded Gouki Octostretch from his hand to halve the battle damage and drop down to 7050 Life Points. Candina attacked directly next, dropping Kalina down to 5050 Life Points. He then activated the effects of 2 copies of Lycoris in his hand. He returned Candina to his hand to Special Summon both of them and attacked directly with both, dropping Kalina down to 1450 Life Points. In Main Phase 2, Fredella Set a Called by the Grave.

Kalina drew a card and dropped down to 650 Life Points due to the effects of the Light Stage and both copies of Lycoris. Fredella flipped Called by the Grave to banish Malicious from Kalina’s Graveyard and then Kalina Normal Summoned Gouki Suprex. He used its effect to Special Summon Gouki Twistcobra and then attacked a Lycoris with Suprex to destroy it. Twistcobra attacked a Lycoris next, and Kalina used his Twistcobra’s effect to Tribute Suprex and increase the ATK of the Twistcobra. Kalina added Gouki Re-Match to his hand with the effect of his Suprex and destroyed the Lycoris in battle. In Main Phase 2, Kalina used Gouki Re-Match to Special Summon Gouki Headbatt and Gouki Octostretch from his Graveyard and then combined Twistcobra and Headbatt to Link Summon Isolde. He used the effects of Isolde, Twistcobra, and Headbatt to add Gouki Re-Match, Gouki Suprex, and Necro Gardna to his hand and then activated Foolish Burial to send The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots to the Graveyard. He banished it from his Graveyard to add The Phantom Knights of Shade Brigandine to his hand. He Set it and activated it to Special Summon it as a monster and then combined his other monsters to Link Summon Knightmare Unicorn. He used the Unicorn’s effect by discarding Necro Gardna and returned Knightmare Phoenix to Fredella’s Extra Deck. He used the effect of the Octostretch he sent to the Graveyard in the Link Summon to add Gouki Twistcobra from his Deck to his hand.

Fredella drew Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit and then Normal Summoned the last card in his hand – Trickstar Candina. He used its effect to add Trickstar Reincarnation from his Deck to his hand and attacked Brigandine to destroy it. He Set the Reincarnation and then passed.

Kalina Normal Summoned Suprex and activated its effect, prompting Fredella to Chain Trickstar Reincarnation. Kalina banished his hand and drew 4 more cards. He didn’t draw a Gouki and was forced to reveal 3 Spell Cards including Called by the Grave, plus another Brigandine. He attacked Candina with Unicorn to destroy it and then attacked directly with Suprex, dropping Fredella down to 3800 Life Points. He combined his Unicorn with Suprex in Main Phase 2 and Special Summoned Topologic Gumblar Dragon. He activated the effect of the Suprex in his Graveyard to add Gouki Riscorpio from his Deck to his hand and then activated Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage! to add Sky Striker Mecha – Hornet Drones from his Deck to his hand and draw a card. He Set 4 cards to his back row and then ended his turn.

In the End Phase, Fredella tried to banish Reincarnation from his Graveyard to Special Summon Lycoris and end the Duel; but Kalina kept the Called by the Grave in his hand and Chained it to banish Lycoris from the Graveyard!

Fredella drew Droll & Lock Bird on his next turn and conceded, unable to wipe away Kalina’s last 250 Life Points.

Andrew Fredella wins a very close second Duel to push the Match to a third and final Duel!

Duel Three

Fredella opened up Duel 3 with Droll & Lock Bird, Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit, Trickstar Lycoris, Trickstar Light Stage, and Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage!.

He activated Engage and used its effect to add Hornet Drones to his hand, and then activated Hornet Drones to Special Summon a Sky Striker Ace Token to his field. He used the Token to Link Summon Kagari and used Kagari’s effect to return Engage to his hand. He activated Light Stage next, adding Trickstar Candina from his Deck to his hand. He Summoned the Candina and used its effect to add Trickstar Reincarnation to his hand. He Set the Reincarnation and then used Kagari to Link Summon Sky Striker Ace – Shizuku. He used Shizuku’s effect in the End Phase to add Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage! from his Deck to his hand.

Kalina drew a card and then Normal Summoned Knightmare Corruptor Iblee. He used it as a Link Material to Summon Knightmare Mermaid and then activated Living Fossil. He Special Summoned Iblee back to the field and lost 400 Life Points due to the effects of Light Stage and Candina. Next, Kalina combined Iblee with the Mermaid to Link Summon Knightmare Goblin. He used its effect to discard Malicious and gain an extra Normal Summon. Fredella discarded Ghost Ogre from his hand to try to destroy the Goblin, and Kalina Chained Called by the Grave to banish the Ghost Ogre and stop its effect. Kalina banished Malicious from his Graveyard to Special Summon another copy from his Deck and then used his extra Normal Summon to Summon Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring. He combined Ash Blossom with Malicious to Link Summon another Knightmare Goblin and then banished Malicious from his Graveyard to Special Summon another copy from his Deck. He then combined a Goblin with Malicious to Link Summon Knightmare Phoenix and used its effect to discard a Blue Mountain Butterspy from his hand and destroy Fredella’s face-down Reincarnation. Kalina drew a card with the Phoenix’s effect, and Fredella sent Droll & Lock Bird from his hand to his Graveyard to prevent Kalina from adding any more cards to his hand for the turn. Kalina Set a card to his back row and then attacked Shizuku with Knightmare Phoenix to destroy it and drop Fredella down to 7700 Life Points.

Fredella drew Terraforming! He used the effect of his Light Stage to lock the card in Kalina’s back row and then activated another Light Stage to add a Lycoris to his hand. He then used the new Light Stage to freeze the card in Kalina’s back row once again. He returned Candina to his hand and Special Summoned Lycoris, and then Normal Summoned Candina and used its effect to add Trickstar Reincarnation to his hand. He then combined Candina with Lycoris to Link Summon Hip Hoshiningen, and time in the round was called!

Up by 500 Life Points, Fredella was declared the winner! Due to Fredella’s amazing hand, both Duelists agreed that if time had not been a factor, Fredella was going to win anyway before his turn was over.

Andrew Fredella is moving on to the Top 4 with his Trickstar Sky Striker Deck!