The Top Cut has arrived, and eight of North America’s most skilled youth Duelists were still left in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Dragon Duel Championship! 

Aiden was back for redemption after his Feature Match defeat in Round 2, while James was ready for his first moment in the spotlight. Aiden was piloting his Adventure P.U.N.K. Deck, James was on Sky Strikers, and the Top 8 was on.

James chose to go second, which meant Aiden was up.  He opened with Foolish Burial, sending Water Enchantress of the Temple to the Graveyard and banishing it to search his Deck for Rite of Aramesir. He activated it, Special Summoned his Adventurer Token, and searched Fateful Adventure. He Special Summoned Magicians’ Souls by sending Chaos Illusion to his Graveyard, grabbed Dracoback, the Rideable Dragon with Fateful Adventure, and then got Wandering Gryphon Rider. He discarded Dracoback, attached it, Special Summoned Gryphon Rider, and used Souls to send away his back row and draw two cards!  

He Special Summoned Noh-P.U.N.K. Ze Amin with Emergency Teleport, searched Noh-P.U.N.K. Foxy Tune, pitched it with Mare Mare, and Special Summoned Noh-P.U.N.K. Deer Note from his Deck, filling his Monster Zones with a total of five monsters. Aiden Tuned Ze Amin and Deer Note to Synchro Summon Chaos Ruler, the Chaotic Magical Dragon; he got back his Amin, and used Chaos Ruler to reveal Forbidden Droplet, a Ze Amin, a Rite, Fairy Tail – Snow, and Infinite Impermanence off the top of his Deck. 

“I’m thinking here…” Aiden paused to consider his options, then added the Snow to his hand. He Linked Amin and Chaos Ruler to Link Summon Crystron Halqifibrax, Used it to Special Summon Red Rose Dragon, and Tuned it to Rider for Baronne de Fleur.

“Effect of Red Rose…” Aiden searched his Deck for Roxrose Dragon, Special Summoned it, used its effect to get Basal Rose Shoot, and Tuned with Roxrose to Synchro Summon Herald of the Arc Light. He banished a LIGHT and a DARK from his Graveyard to revive Chaos Ruler, Normal Summoned Snow, and Linked it to Chaos Ruler for Artifact Dagda. Aiden followed up with Rose Shoot to revive Red Rose Dragon, Tuned it to the Token and Synchro Summoned Shooting Riser Dragon. That got him another Water Enchantress to his Graveyard. 

At the end of the turn, James attempted to use the effect of Nibiru, the Primal Being. Aiden Chained the effect of Herald of the Arc Light to block it, then used the Herald to get another Illusion of Chaos from his Deck when it hit the Graveyard. 

James had a hand of Sky Striker Ace – Raye, Harpie’s Feather Duster, Sky Striker Mecha – Widow Anchor, Sky Striker Mecha – Shark Cannon, and another Nibiru he’d just drawn for the turn. He Summoned Raye, fired her off to Summon Sky Striker Ace – Hayate, and Aiden had no response. James made a direct attack with Hayate, dropped Aiden to 5900 Life Points, and James attempted to use Hayate’s effect: it let him send his Sky Striker Maneuver – Afterburners! to his Graveyard. He Linked Hayate away for Sky Striker Ace – Kagari, used her effect to target Afterburners. Aiden responded, attempting to negate Kagari’s effect with Baronne, but James had the Widow Anchor to force it through. 

Aiden Chained the effects of Crystron Halqifibrax, then Artifact Dagda in response. He Set his Artifact Scythe from his Deck, James got his Afterburners, and Aiden Special Summoned T.G. Wonder Magician. He tried to use the Wonder Magician’s effect to destroy his own Artifact Scythe, but James beat him to the punch with Sky Striker Mecha – Shark Cannon, banishing it to stop it from being Special Summoned! 

James took out Baronne with Afterburners next, then traded Kagari out for Sky Striker Ace – Shizuku. He moved to his End Phase, activated Shizuku’s ability, took a moment to look through Aiden’s Graveyard, and searched Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage! “That’ll be your turn.”

Aiden activated Rite of Aramesir, Special Summoned his Token, and Linked Wonder Magician and Dagda to Link Summon Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians. He gave it counters, removed the counters, and Special Summoned back the Wonder Magician: James had no response. He Linked Wonder Magician to Selene, brought out Accesscode Talker, as one does, took attack power from Selene, and banished Selene to destroy Shizuku.

James revived his Raye, and Aiden banished a wad of cards to Special Summon Fairy Tail – Snow. James Tributed Raye to bring out Sky Striker Ace – Kaina, and Aiden Linked Snow and Accesscode to Link Summon Dharc the Dark Charmer, Gloomy. Aiden revived James’s Raye, and when he tried to move to the Battle Phase and swing, James dropped Nibiru, the Primal Being! Aiden lost his field, and got a Token with 8950 ATK and 4200 DEF. Aiden ended.

James drew another Widow Anchor. He Set it, turned Nibiru to defense and passed.

Play was back to Aiden. He switched his Nibiru Token to Attack Position and ended.

James drew and activated Terraforming, searching Sky Striker Airspace – Area Zero from his Deck. Aiden dropped Droll & Lock Bird to activate its effect, James used Area Zero’s effect, and ended.

It was back to Aiden! He Normal Summoned Magicians’ Souls, sent Emergency Teleport to the Graveyard from his hand to draw, and attacked with the Primal Being Token to destroy Nibiru.

James wiped Emergency Teleport with Harpie’s Feather Duster, tried to play Engage, but came up empty when Aiden activated Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring.  James flipped Widow Anchor and took control of Aiden’s Magicians’ Souls. He targeted it with Area Zero, got Sky Striker Ace – Roze, sent the Magicians’ Souls to the Graveyard, and Aiden had another Droll & Lock Bird! 

James checked his Graveyard, Normal Summoned Roze, and Linked her off for Sky Striker Ace – Kagari. He used Kagari’s effect to get back Afterburners yet again. He activated it to destroy the Primal Being Token, Special Summoned Therion “King” Regulus, attached Kaina and attacked for a total of 5000 damage! 

Aiden was down to just 900 Life Points. He drew to two cards in hand, briefly inspected his Extra Deck, then Summoned Jet Synchron. He Linked it away for Linkuriboh, and when Aiden tried to search with Illusion of Chaos, James negated it with Regulus’s ability. He swung over Linkuriboh with Roze, and struck for game with a direct attack from Kagari.

There were 18 minutes remaining in the round, and after a back-and-forth battle of Chained effect after Chained effect, James was a game up! He was so close to a seat in the Top 4, and Aiden let him open Game 2. 

James had a wonky hand of Sky Striker Ace – Raye, Therion “King” Regulus, Infinite Impermanence,  and two copies of Nibiru, the Primal Being. He Summoned Raye to make Shizuku, Set Impermanence, and used Shizuku to search Engage. in the End Phase. 

Aiden banished Water Enchantress of the Temple from his hand to search Rite of Aramesir, activated it, Summoned his Token and activated Fateful Adventure from his hand. He used the effect of Noh-P.U.N.K. Foxy Tune, discarded Basal Rose Shoot, and searched his deck to Special Summon Noh-P.U.N.K. Ze Amin. He searched Dracoback, then Gryphon Rider, discarding Dracoback to equip it to his Token. He used it to bump Infinite Impermanence back to James’s hand, Special Summoned Gryphon Rider, and used Ze Amin to fetch Noh-P.U.N.K. Deer Note. 

Aiden Tributed his Adventurer Token to Tribute Summon Deer Note, then used everything but Wandering Gryphon Rider to Synchro Summon Chaos Ruler, the Chaotic Magical Dragon. He activated Chaos Ruler’s effect at Chain Link 1, and Deer Note at Chain Link 2 targeting Amin. He brought Amin back, then Linked it to Chaos Ruler for Crystron Halqifibrax, Special Summoning Red Rose Dragon. On resolution James activated Nibiru! Aiden’s field was wiped, James Special Summoned Nibiru, and Aiden got a Primal Being Token again, this time with 6000 ATK and 4600 DEF.  He used Chaos Ruler’s effect to revive it, then ended his turn by Setting one card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.  

James had a hand of Engage, Effect Veiler, “King” Regulus, Impermanence, and another Nibiru. He went to the Battle Phase and rammed Nibiru into Chaos Ruler, destroying both. He followed up with Engage, searching Raye: Aiden had the Droll & Lock Bird yet again. James activated Regulus, targeting Shizuku, and Aiden cut it off with Called by the Grave! James Special Summoned “King” Regulus. He played Raye to summon Kagari, then Set Infinite Impermanence. “Your turn.”

Aiden used Fateful Adventure to search his Deck for a Water Enchantress, discarded it, and banished it to get Rite of Aramesir. He attacked over Kagari with the Primal Being Token, James Special Summoned Raye, and Aiden ended.

James drew Artifact Lancea. He Normal Summoned Effect Veiler, Linked it off with Raye for Crystron Halqifibrax, and Aiden used Ash Blossom in a bid to block it. James Chained the effect of Therion “King” Regulus to negate it, and he successfully Special Summoned Effect Veiler from his Deck. That let him Link Summon Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians. He used Selene’s effect to revive Effect Veiler and Link Summoned Accesscode Talker!

James cleared the field with Accesscode’s effect, banishing Selene and Halq to clear the way. He continued on with an Engage, searched Roze, Normal Summoned it, and attacked to knock Aiden down to 600 Life Points! “Barely off,” remarked James. He traded Roze for Shizuku and got Sky Striker Mecha Modules – Multirole. 

Aiden moved to his Standby Phase, James activated the effect of Artifact Lancea, and Aiden played another Rite of Aramesir. He brought out a Token and Set his last card to his backrow. When James drew Afterburners next turn and Linked for Sky Striker Ace – Kagari, that was all Aiden needed to see and he conceded the Duel, and the Match.

James H moves on in the tournament, taking Sky Strikers to the Top 4.  He was now just two Matches away from the title of North America Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Dragon Duel Champion!