Top 32 Feature Match: James Valentino vs. Faisal Khan
James Valentino from Houston, Texas went 9-2 in the Swiss Rounds to earn a 22nd place spot in the Top 32. Now he’s facing off against YCS Champion Faisal Khan from Chicago, Illinois who finished the Swiss Rounds with a 9-2 record and earned an 11th place spot in the Top 32. Valentino is using a Drytron Deck, recently strengthened by Cyber Angel Benten’s Semi-Limitation on the Forbidden & Limited List. Khan is using a Dragon Link strategy. Both Decks carry a lot of power, but only one of these Duelists will be able to advance to the Top 16. It’s time to Duel!
Duel One
Khan started off Duel 1 by activating the effect of Water Enchantress of the Temple to add Rite of Aramesir to his hand and used it to Special Summon an Adventurer Token and play Fateful Adventure from his Deck. Next, he activated the effect of Illusion of Chaos from his hand to add Magicians’ Souls to his hand. He Special Summoned the Souls and then used Fateful’s effect to add Dracoback, the Ridedable Dragon to his hand. He used its other effect to add Wandering Gryphon Rider to his hand and discard Dracoback, which he then equipped to his Adventurer Token. He Special Summoned the Gryphon Rider from his hand and then used the Souls’s effect to draw 2 cards. He activated Quick Launch to Special Summon Rokket Tracer and then Link Summoned Crystron Halqifibrax by using Tracer and Souls. He used Halqifibrax to Special Summon Red Rose Dragon from his Deck and then Synchro Summoned Baronne de Fleur. After a long series of extremely quick plays displaying his mastery of the Deck, he built a field consisting of Baronne de Fleur, Borrelend Dragon, Borreload Savage Dragon equipped with Crystron Halqifibrax, and Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Sphere. Khan still had 3 cards in his hand too.
Valentino opened up with Drytron Nova, Harpie’s Feather Duster, Preparation of Rites, Cyber Angel Benten, and Forbidden Droplet. He drew Drytron Delta Altais from his turn and then activated Drytron Nova. He Chained his own Forbidden Droplet! He sent the Nova, Harpie’s Feather Duster, Altais, and Preparation of Rites to his Graveyard to negate the effects of all 4 monsters on Khan’s field and halve their ATK! He Special Summoned Drytron Alpha Thuban with the effect of Nova and then Link Summoned Linkuriboh. He then Tributed Benten from his hand to try to Special Summon Thuban from his Graveyard, but lost out on its effect to Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring! He used Benten’s effect to add Diviner of the Herald from his Deck to his hand and then Normal Summoned it. He used its effect to send Herald of the Arc Light to his Graveyard and add Benten from his Deck to his hand. Next, Khan Special Summoned Fairy Tail – Snow from his Graveyard by banishing 7 cards and used its effect to put Diviner face-down. Valentino conceded, still unable to deal with Khan’s field.
Despite negating the effects of Khan’s entire field of monsters with Forbidden Droplet, Valentino couldn’t take them down with the few cards he had left! Valentino chose to go first in Duel 2.
Duel Two
Valentino opened up Duel 2 with Triple Tactics Talents, Foolish Burial, Droll & Lock bird, Drytron Alpha Thuban, and Dryron Zeta Aldhibah.
He activated Alpha’s effect by Tributing Zeta from his hand and added Benten to his hand with Alpha’s effect. He then Special Summoned Zeta by Tributing Benten and added Drytron Meteonis to his hand. He used Benten’s effect to add another Benten to his hand. He combined his 2 monsters to Xyz Summon Drytron Mu Beta Fafnir and used its effect to send Drytron Delta Altais to his Graveyard. Next, he Tributed Benten to Special Summon Delta and revealed Meteonis to draw a card. He used Benten’s effect to add Diviner of the Herald to his hand and then Normal Summoned it to the field. He used its effect to send Herald of the Arc Light to his Graveyard and used the Herald’s effect to add Amorphactor Pain, the Imagination Dracoverlord to his hand. He activated Meteonis Drytron, but Khan Chained the effect of Nibiru, the Primal Being to clear the field and replace everything with a Token! Valentino was forced to send Alpha from his hand to his Graveyard to Special Summon Benten! He activated Foolish Burial next, sending Drytron Gamma Eltanin to his Graveyard. He Tributed Benten to Special Summon Gamma and used its effect to Special Summon Alpha back to the field. Then he used Benten’s effect to add Cyber Angel Natasha to his hand. Valentino returned Meteonis Drytron from his Graveyard to his hand with its effect and then Xyz Summoned Fafnir. He used Meteonis Drytron to Special Summon Amorphactor Pain and used its effect to skip Khan’s next Main Phase. Next, Valentino used Triple Tactics Talent to take control of Nibiru. He sent Nibiru and the Primal Being Token to the Graveyard to Link Summon I:P Masquerena and then passed his turn.
Khan drew a card and then skipped his Main Phase due to Amorphactor Pain’s effect. In his Battle Phase, he activated Quick Launch to Special Summon Rokket Tracer from his Deck. In Main Phase 2, he used Rite of Aramesir to Special Summon an Adventurer Token and activate Fateful Adventure from his Deck. He used its effect to add Gryphon Rider from his Deck to his hand and discard Dracoback, and Valentino activated the effect of Droll & Lock Bird! Khan equipped the Dracoback to his Adventurer Token and Valentino used his Masquerena’s effect to send it to the Graveyard along with Fafnir and Link Summon Knightmare Unicorn. Valentino activated its effect by discarding Natasha to get rid of the Token, and Khan Chained the effects of his Wandering Gryphon Rider and Tracer. Tracer’s effect destroyed Dracoback to Summon Rokket Recharger. Khan activated Dragon Ravine next, discarding Chaos Space and sending Absorouter Dragon from his Deck to his Graveyard. He then sent Recharger to the Graveyard to Link Summon Striker Dragon and used its effect to destroy the Striker Dragon and add Recharger to his hand. He used Recharger’s effect to Special Summon it and then sent 2 monsters to his Graveyard to Link Summon Dharc the Dark Charmer, Gloomy. He used its effect to Special Summon I:P Masquerena and then combined his monsters to Link Summon Borrelend Dragon! He ended his turn with Borrelend on the field and with Valentino on topdeck.
Valentino drew Meteonis Drytron. He Tributed Amorphactor Pain to Special Summon Alpha and used its effect to add Drytron Meteonis Draconids to his hand. He returned Meteonis Drytron from his Graveyard to his hand with its effect and then Special Summoned Delta from his Graveyard by Tributing Draconids and drew a card with the effect of Delta. Valentino drew Cyber Emergency and activated it to add Zeta to his hand. He activated Meteonis Drytron and Tributed the Zeta from his hand to Special Summon Natasha from his Graveyard. He used its effect to gain Life Points and then activated another Meteonis Drytron. He Special Summoned Benten from his Graveyard and then Tributed it to Special Summon Gamma. He used Gamma’s effect to Special Summon Alpha and used Benten’s effect to add Diviner of the Herald to his hand. Next, Valentino Link Summoned Underworld Goddess of the Closed World by using Khan’s Borrelend Dragon as a Link Material! Khan immediately conceded!
James Valentino seals the second Duel by removing Borrelend Dragon from Khan’s field while Summoning Underworld Goddess of the Closed World! A third and final Duel will decide which Duelist advances to the Top 16!
Duel Three
Khan started off Duel 3 by activating Rite of Aramesir to Special Summon an Adventurer Token and play Fateful Adventure from his Deck; but Valentino used the effect of Token Collector!
He Summoned it and destroyed the Token! Khan added Dracoback to his hand and then Valentino used Droll & Lock Bird’s effect by sending it from his hand to his Graveyard. He Normal Summoned Rokket Synchron and then Special Summoned Destrudo. He sent both of his monsters to the Graveyard to Link Summon Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres.
Valentino drew a card and then had Triple Tactics Talents, Cyber Emergency, Delta, and Cyber Angel Natasha in his hand. He used Emergency to add Alpha to his hand and then used Alpha’s effect to Tribute Altais and Special Summon Alpha to the field. He added Benten to his hand with the effect of Thuban. Next, he used Delta’s effect to Special Summon it by Tributing Benten. He drew a card and then used Benten’s effect to add another Benten from his Deck to his hand. He then used Zeta’s effect to Tribute Benten and Special Summon it, adding Meteonis Drytron to his hand and using Benten’s effect to add Diviner of the Herald to his hand. He Xyz Summon Mu Beta Fafnir next, and used its effect to send Gamma to his Graveyard. He Normal Summoned Diviner of the Herald and used its effect to send Elder Entity N’tss to the Graveyard. He used its effect to try to destroy the Hieratic Seal, which Khan Chained to return Fafnir to the Extra Deck. Khan also Special Summoned Absorouter Dragon with its effect. Next, Valentino used Triple Tacticis Talents to look at Khan’s hand and return Roxrose Dragon to the Deck. He used Gamma’s effect to Special Summon it by Tributing Natasha and then Special Summoned Alpha from his Graveyard with Gamma’s effect. He activated Meteonis Drytron to Special Summon Natasha and used its effect to gain 1000 Life Points. Next, he sent 4 monsters to his Graveyard to Link Summon Borrelsword Dragon. He used his Natasha’s effect to gain control of Absorouter Dragon and then Khan conceded!
James Valentino is moving on to the Top 16 with his Drytron Deck!
