Steven Santoli from Hamilton, Ontario is Dueling against Hansel Aguero from the Bronx, New York in this Top 8 Feature Match! Santoli is using a Branded Despia Adventure Deck, while Aguero is using a Swordsoul Tenyi Deck. Both Duelists ended the Swiss Rounds with a 9-2 record and are now just 3 Matches away from becoming the North America Champion! Aguero is no stranger to the pressure – he won the World Championship Qualifier back in 2011 with a T.G. Deck and earned his invitation to compete in the World Championship that year. He hasn’t seen the top cut of a major event in recent years, but now he’s back at the top, looking for a second Championship win. This is Santoli’s first top cut finish in a major event, and he’s going to do everything he can to prevent Aguero from achieving that goal so that he can secure a Championship win of his own. It’s time to Duel!

Duel One

Santoli opened up Duel 1 with Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, Called by the Grave, Super Polymerization, and 2 copies of Infinite Impermanence. It was a rough start going first. He Set a Called by the Grave and both copies of Infinite Impermanence.

Aguero Special Summoned Tenyi Spirit – Ashuna and then used it to Link Summon Monk of the Tenyi. Next, he Special Summoned Tenyi Spirit – Vishuda, and Santoli flipped Called by the Grave to banish Ashuna from the Duel. Aguero Normal Summoned Incredible Ecclesiva, the Virtuous and activated its effect. Santoli tried to stop it with Ash Blossom but lost out to Called by the Grave. Aguero Special Summoned Swordsoul of Mo Ye and activated its effect by revealing Swordsoul Emergence from his hand, but lost out on its effect to Infinite Impermanence. He attacked directly with Monk of the Tenyi, Mo Ye, and Vishuda, dropping Santoli down to 3800 Life Points. Aguero Set 2 cards to his back row and then ended his turn.

Santoli drew Despian Tragedy and conceded, unable to recover from his rough start.

Duel Two

Santoli opened up Duel 2 with Rite of Aramesir, Pot of Prosperity, Despian Tragedy, and 2 copies of Nibiru, the Primal Being.

He activated Rite of Aramesir to Special Summon an Adventurer Token and then activate Fateful Adventure from his Deck. Next, he used Fateful Adventure to add Wandering Gryphon Rider to his hand and discard Tragedy. He used Tragedy’s effect to add Aluber the Jester of Despia to his hand and then Special Summoned his Gryphon Rider. He used the effect of Fateful Adventure to add Dracoback, the Rideable Dragon to his hand and then banished 6 cards from his Extra Deck to activate Pot of Prosperity. He excavated the top 6 cards of his Deck and added Branded Fusion to his hand. He activated it, and when Aguero tried to stop it with Ash Blossom, Santoli Chained the effect of his Gryphon Rider to negate Ash Blossom and resolve his Branded Fusion. He fused Fallen of Albaz and Tragedy from his Deck to Special Summon Lubellion the Searing Dragon and used its effect to Special Summon Mirrorjade the Ice Blade Dragon.

Aguero Special Summoned Ashuna and then sent it to the Graveyard to Link Summon Monk of the Tenyi. He banished Ashuna from his Graveyard to Special Summon Vishuda from his Deck and then sent it to the Graveyard to Link Summon another Monk. He banished Vishuda from his Graveyard to try to return Mirrorjade to the Extra Deck, and Santoli activated its effect by sending Albion, the Branded Dragon from his Extra Deck to his Graveyard to banish a Monk of the Tenyi. Next, Aguero Normal Summoned Swordsoul of Mo Ye and revealed Tenyi Spirit – Shthana from his hand to Special Summon a Swordsoul Token. Santoli then activated the effect of Nibiru, the Primal Being! He Tributed all monsters on the field to Special Summon Nibiru to his field and a Primal Being Token with 4700 ATK and 3800 DEF to Aguero’s field. Next, Aguero discarded Shthana to Special Summon Swordsoul Strategist Longyuan and Special Summoned another Swordsoul Token. He then Tuned Longyuan with the Token to Synchro Summon Swordsoul Supreme Sovereign – Chengying and inflict 1200 points of damage. Chengying attacked and destroyed Nibiru, and Santoli dropped down to 5900 Life Points. In the End Phase, Santoli used the effect of his Albion to add Branded Fusion from his Deck to his hand.

Santoli activated Branded Fusion! He fused Fallen of Albaz and Ad Libitum of Despia in his Deck to Special Summon Lubellion the Searing Dragon and used Lubellion’s effect to Fusion Summon Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon. He used Mirrorjade’s effect to banish Chengying and then Summoned Aluber. He used Aluber’s effect to add Branded in Red to his hand and then activated it to add Ad Libitum to his hand before Fusion Summoning Predaplant Dragostapelia. He then used his Ad Libitum’s effect to Special Summon Mirrorjade back to the field and used Mirrorjade’s effect to banish the Primal Being Token. He then used Fateful Adventure to add Water Enchantress of the Temple to his hand and discarded it. He banished it to add Rite of Aramesir to his hand and then attacked directly with Aluber and Mirrorjade, dropping Aguero down to 3200 Life Points. In Main Phase 2 he used the effect of the Tragedy in his Graveyard to Set Branded in Red to the field and he added another Branded in Red from his Deck to his hand in the End Phase by using the effect of Albion.

Aguero activated Mystic Mine and then Special Summoned the final card in his hand: Incredible Ecclesia! He activated its effect to Special Summon Swordsoul of Taia and activated Taia’s effect by banishing Longyuan from his Graveyard to Special Summon a Token. Santoli then activated Branded in Red. He returned Tragedy to his hand and then fused Aluber and Dragostapelia on his field with the Tragedy in his hand to Summon Guardian Chimera! He destroyed Mystic Mine and the Swordsoul Token with its effect before drawing a card, prompting Aguero to concede.

Steven Santoli dominates the second Duel with his Branded Despia Deck and pushes the Match to a third and final Duel that will determine which Duelist advances to the Top 4!

Duel Three

Aguero started off Duel 3 by activating Pot of Desires. He banished the top 10 cards of his Deck face-down and then lost out on the draw to Santoli’s Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring.

Next, Aguero activated Swordsoul Emergency to add Swordsoul of Mo Ye to his hand. He Summoned Mo Ye and activated its effect by revealing Ashuna from his hand to Special Summon a Swordsoul Token. He Synchro Summoned Swordsoul Grandmaster – Chixiao next and used the effects of Mo Ye and Chixiao to draw a card and then add Swordsoul of Taia to his hand. He Set 2 cards to his back row before passing his turn.

Santoli started his turn with Wandering Gryphon Rider, Branded in Red, Fallen of Albaz, and Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring in his hand before drawing Water Enchantress of the Temple. Aguero flipped Anti-Spell Fragrance in Santoli’s Standby Phase and then Normal Summoned Fallen of Albaz. He discarded a Water Enchantress to activate its effect, but Aguero negated it by banishing Mo Ye from his Graveyard to activate Chixiao’s effect. Santoli instantly extended the handshake with nothing to do with the Wandering Gryphon Rider, Branded in Red, and Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring in his hand.

Hansel Aguero is advancing to the Top 4 with his Swordsoul Tenyi Deck!