Joe Claudio is a VIP Duelist this weekend because he won a VIP Qualifier at his local store, The Batcave in Conway, Arkansas. Now, he’s here in YCS Knoxville with a 2-Round Bye! He won the VIP Qualifier with a Danger! Thunder Dragon Deck in May, and now he’s back with the same Deck this weekend, hoping to repeat his success. His opponent, Noah Greene from Atlanta, Georgia, won his first 2 Rounds of the tournament with his Salamangreat Deck and is now facing off against Joe Claudio. It’s time to Duel!

Duel One

Greene won the die roll and chose to go first.

He Normal Summoned Lady Debug and activated her effect to add Salamangreat Spinny to his hand. He sent Lady Debug to the Graveyard to Link Summon Salamangreat Balelynx and used its effect to add Salamangreat Sanctuary to his hand. He activated Cynet Mining by sending Salamangreat Jaguar from his hand to his Graveyard and added Salamangreat Gazelle to his hand. He Special Summoned it and used its effect to send Salamangreat Roar to his Graveyard. He discarded Spinny from his hand to increase his monster’s ATK by 500 and then Special Summoned Spinny from his Graveyard. He combined Spinny with Gazelle to Xyz Summon Salamangreat Miragestallio and then activated its effect by detaching Gazelle. He Special Summoned Salamangreat Falco from his Deck and then sent Balelynx and Falco to the Graveyard to Link Summon Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf. He activated Sanctuary next, and then used his Sunlight Wolf to Link Summon another Sunlight Wolf thanks to the Sanctuary. He Special Summoned Salamangreat Fowl from his hand, Special Summoned Jack Jaguar behind Sunlight Wolf, and returned Roar from his Graveyard to his hand with Sunlight Wolf’s effect. He Xyz Summoned Abyss Dweller behind Sunlight Wolf next, and Set 2 cards to his back row before passing his turn. Claudio discarded Thunder Dragondark in his End Phase to activate its effect and get another copy of it from his Deck.

Claudio drew Sekka’s Light, adding it to his hand of Batteryman Solar, Black Dragon Collapserpent, White Dragon Wyverburster, Thunder Dragonhawk, and Thunder Dragondark. He Summoned Batteryman Solar and used its effect to send Thunder Dragonroar from his Deck to his Graveyard. Greene used Called by the Grave to banish the Dragonroar from the Graveyard and stop its effects. Next, Claudio activated Sekka’s Light, and Greene flipped Salamangreat Roar to negate it. Claudio discarded Thunder Dragonhawk from his hand to Special Summon Dragonroar from his Banished Zone and then Special Summoned a Batteryman Token to his field with Solar’s effect. He used Solar and the Token to Link Summon Beat Cop from the Underworld and then banished Thunderdark from his Graveyard to Special Summon Wyverburster. He used Thunderdark’s effect to add Thunder Dragonduo from his Deck to his hand. Next, he banished Solar from his Graveyard to Special Summon Collapserpent from his hand. He sent Wyverburster to the Graveyard to Link Summon Guardragon Elpy, then sent Collapserpent to the Graveyard to Link Summon Guardragon Pisty. He Special Summoned Omni Dragon Brotaur from his Deck with Elpy’s effect and then used Brotaur’s effect to discard Thunder Dragondark and target Elpy. He added Chaos Dragon Levianeer from his Deck to his hand with its effect. He sent Beat Cop and Brotaur to the Graveyard to Link Summon Triple Burst Dragon and then used Pisty’s effect to Special Summon Brotaur back from the Graveyard. He sent it to the Graveyard along with Triple Burst to Link Summon Guardragon Agarpain and then used Agarpain’s effect to Special Summon Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Abyss from the Extra Deck.

Claudio Link Summoned Saryuja Skull Dread by sending all of his monsters except for his Hot Red to the Graveyard, drawing 4 cards and returning 3 to his Deck. Next, he banished 3 DARK monsters from his Graveyard to Special Summon Levianeer and shuffle the last card in Greene’s hand back into his Deck. Next, he used Skull Dread’s effect to Special Summon Solar from his hand linked to it, and then sent Solar to the Graveyard to Special Summon Thunder Dragon Colossus. He Special Summoned Thunder Dragonduo linked to Skull Dread next, and then entered his Battle Phase! He attacked Sunlight Wolf with Dragonduo, and Greene banished Balelynx to protect it. Next, Skull Dread attacked and destroyed Dweller. But before Claudio could finish his attacks, Greene conceded, realizing that he would be entering his next turn without any cards in his hand or monsters on his field.

Joe Claudio takes the first victory with his Danger! Thunder Dragon Deck! Greene will be going first in Duel 2!

Duel Two

Noah Greene started off Duel 2 by Summoning Lady Debug and using its effect to add Salamangreat Gazelle to his hand. He sent Lady Debug to the Graveyard to Link Summon Balelynx and used its effect to add Salamangreat Sanctuary from his Deck to his hand. Next, he activated the Sanctuary and sent Balelynx to the Graveyard to Summon another Balelynx. He Special Summoned Gazelle from his hand and used Gazelle’s effect to send Spinny to the Graveyard. He Special Summoned Spinny and then combined it with Gazelle to Xyz Summon Salamangreat Miragestallio. He detached Gazelle to activate its effect and Special Summon Salamangreat Jack Jaguar from his Deck and then sent Jack Jaguar and Balelyx to the Graveyard to Link Summon Sunlight Wolf. Then, he used Jack Jaguar’s effect to Special Summon it from the Graveyard Linked to Sunlight Wolf. He used the Sunlight Wolf’s effect to add Gazelle from his Graveyard to his hand. He sent Jack Jaguar to the Graveyard to Link Summon Balelynx and then sent all of his monsters to the Graveyard to Link Summon Mekk-Knight Crusadia Avramax.

Claudio opened up with Batteryman Solar, Sekka’s Light, Thunder Dragonhawk, Black Dragon Collapserpent, Chaos Dragon Levianeer, and Danger! Bigfoot!.

He Normal Summoned Batteryman Solar and used its effect to send Dragonroar from his Deck to his Graveyard. He discarded Dragonhawk to Special Summon Dragonroar from his Graveyard and then Special Summoned a Batteryman Token to his field. He used the Token and Solar to Link Summon Beat Cop, and Greene Special Summoned Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay from his hand. He drew 2 cards and returned a card from his hand to his Deck with Phantazmay’s effect. Claudio activated Sekka’s Light to draw 2 cards next, and then banished Solar from his Graveyard to Special Summon Black Dragon Collapserpent. He sent Collapserpent to the Graveyard to Link Summon Elpy and used Collapserpent’s effect to add Wyverburster from his Deck to his hand. Then, he banished Collapserpent from his Graveyard to Special Summon Wyverburster, and sent Wyverburster to his Graveyard to Link Summon Pisty. He added Collapserpent to his hand with Wyverburster’s effect. He Special Summoned Brotaur from his Deck with Elpy’s effect and then discarded Bigfoot to use Brotaur’s effect and add Levianeer from his Deck to his hand. He used Bigfoot’s effect to target Phantazmay for destruction, but Greene Chained Phantazmay’s effect and protected it by discarding Salamangreat Foxy. Next, Claudio Link Summoned Triple Burst Dragon and Special Summoned Brotaur back from his Graveyard with Pisty’s effect. He Link Summoned Agarpain next, and then Special Summoned Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Abyss from his Extra Deck with Agarpain’s effect. He once again combined all of his monsters except for the Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Abyss, but this time he Link Summoned Borreload Dragon! He used the effect of Dragonroar to Special Summon Thunder Dragondark from his Deck, and then banished Elpy, Pisty, and Wyverburster from his Graveyard to Special Summon Chaos Dragon Levianeer from his hand. He activated its effect, but lost out to Effect Veiler. Next, he sent Thunder Dragondark to the Graveyard to Special Summon Thunder Dragon Colossus from his Extra Deck, and used his Thunder Dragondark’s effect to add Thunder Dragonduo from his Deck to his hand.

With that, Greene conceded, realizing that his Avramax would be taken by Borreload Dragon and the remaining monsters would wipe out all of Greene’s Life Points.

VIP Duelist Joe Claudio advances with a 3-0 record using his Danger! Thunder Dragon Deck!