Round 1 Feature Match: Hansel Aguero vs. Ondrae Mathews
Hansel Aguero from the Bronx, NY won the North America World Championship Qualifier in 2011 and the North America Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Championship in 2022. This two-time championship winner won his most recent championship with a Swordsoul Deck, but since then the game has changed a lot and several new cards have been released. Aguero has adapted, and now he’s here at YCS Minneapolis with an Adventure Spright Deck that uses three copies of the new Kashtira Fenrir from Darkwing Blast.
Ondrae Mathews from Chicago, Illinois is using a Runick Spright Deck similar to the one that won YCS Utrecht, but updated with cards from Darkwing Blast. He’s playing Spright Sprind in his Extra Deck to use in conjunction with Nimble Angler in his Main Deck, which helps him easily Summon Spright Elf and Toadally Awesome together to the field. He’s also using two copies of the powerful new Spright Double Cross Trap Card, which has a variety of powerful effects including one that can permanently take control of an opponent’s monster.
Although Aguero and Mathews are both using Spright-based strategies, the different engines they’ve chosen to combine with their Spright cards makes the two Decks play very differently. Both Duelists are well-prepared to compete in YCS Minneapolis, but only one of them can win in Round 1. It’s time to Duel!
Duel One
Mathews started off Duel 1 by activating Runick Fountain and then Normal Summoned Nimble Beaver.
He activated its effect to Special Summon another Beaver from his Deck and then combined his 2 monsters to Xyz Summon Gigantic Spright in Defense Position. He used Gigantic Spright’s effect to Special Summon Swap Frog from his Deck and then used Swap Frog’s effect to send a Swap Frog from his Deck to his Graveyard. He Special Summoned Spright Red from his hand next, and then used Spright Starter to Special Summon Spright Blue by giving up 1100 Life Points. He used Blue’s effect to add Spright Jet to his hand and then Special Summoned Jet. He used Jet’s effect to add Spright Double Cross to his hand and then sent Blue and Jet to his Graveyard to Link Summon Spright Elf. He used the Elf’s effect to Special Summon Swap Frog and then combined his 2 Frogs to Xyz Summon Toadally Awesome linked to Spright Elf. He Set Double Cross and then ended his turn.
Aguero opened up Duel 1 with Dracoback, the Rideable Dragon, Spright Starter, Water Enchantress of the Temple, Spright Carrot, and Forbidden Droplet. He drew Kashtira Fenrir and then Special Summoned it to his field. He activated its effect to try to search his Deck for a Kashtira monster, and Mathews activated the effect of his Spright Red by Tributing Gigantic Spright. Aguero Chained Forbidden Droplet! He sent the Fenrir from his field and a Water Enchantress from his hand to the Graveyard to negate the effects of Toadally Awesome and Spright Elf and halve their ATK. He banished his Water Enchantress from the Graveyard to add Rite of Aramesir to his hand next and activated it to Special Summon an Adventure Token and place Fateful Adventure from his Deck to his Spell & Trap Card Zone. Next, he used his Fateful Adventure’s effect to add Wandering Gryphon Rider to his hand and discard his Dracoback. He used the effect of the Dracoback to try to equip it to his Token, and Mathews Chained Runick Flashing Fire from his hand to target the Adventure Token and destroy it. Swap Frog and Spright Red were banished from the top of Aguero’s Deck by Flashing Fire. Next, Mathews used his Fountain’s effect to return the Flashing Fire to his Deck and draw a card. Aguero Special Summoned his Wandering Gryphon Rider in Attack Position and then activated Spright Starter to Special Summon Spright Blue from his Deck and give up 1100 Life Points. He used Blue’s effect to add Jet to his hand and then Special Summoned Spright Carrot from his hand. He Special Summoned Spright Jet next and used its effect to add Spright Smashers to his hand. He sent Blue and Gryphon Rider to the Graveyard to Link Summon Spright Sprind and used its effect to send Nimble Angler from his Deck to his Graveyard. He used his Angler’s effect to Special Summon 2 Nimble Beavers and then used his Sprind and Beaver to Xyz Summon Gigantic Spright. He tried activating its effect, and when Mathews flipped Double Cross to try to take the Gigantic Spright, Aguero negated Double Cross with his Carrot! Mathews Chained the effect of his Toadally Awesome just to send it to the Graveyard and use its effect to add a Nimble Beaver to his hand, even though the Toadally Awesome’s effect was negated by Forbidden Droplet earlier in the turn. Aguero Special Summoned Swap Frog with Gigantic Spright’s effect when the Chain resolved and sent a Dupe Frog to his Graveyard with his Swap Frog’s effect. Next, he used Jet and Carrot to Link Summon Elf and used Elf’s effect to Special Summon Dupe Frog. He combined Swap Frog with Dupe Frog to Summon Toadally Awesome and then attacked with all of his monsters to clear Mathews’s field and drop Mathews down to 3000 Life Points. Aguero Set Spright Smashers before ending his turn.
Mathews Normal Summoned Nimble Beaver and activated its effect. Aguero Chained his Toadally Awesome’s effect to negate the activation of the effect by sending his Toadally Awesome to the Graveyard, and Mathews Chained Runick Freezing Curses to Special Summon Hugin the Runick Wings. Aguero Chained the effect of his Spright Elf to return his Toadally Awesome to the field. Mathews banished his Hugin to protect his Nimble Beaver from destruction even though the activation of the Beaver’s effect was negated. Mathews used his Runick Fountain to return Freezing Curses to his Deck and draw a card, and then activated Runick Tip. Aguero used his Toadally Awesome’s effect to negate the activation and Set the Runick Tip to his own field, and then used the effect of the Toadally Awesome in his Graveyard to add Nimble Beaver to his hand. Next, Mathews Special Summoned Spright Blue from his hand and used its effect to add Spright Carrot to his hand. He Special Summoned the Carrot and then used Beaver and Blue to Link Summon Spright Elf. He activated the Elf’s effect to Special Summon Toadally Awesome from his Graveyard, and when Aguero Chained Spright Smashers by banishing Spright Starter from his Graveyard, Mathews Tributed his Elf to activate the effect of Carrot and negate the Smashers. Toadally Awesome was Summoned to the field and Mathews skipped his Battle Phase due to the effects of his Runick cards.
Aguero drew Spright Starter. He Normal Summoned Nimble Beaver and activated its effect to Special Summon Nimble Angler from his Deck. Next, he used the effect of Fateful Adventure to add a Water Enchantress to his hand and discard it. He banished it from his Graveyard to get Rite of Aramesir and then used his Beaver and Angler to Link Summon Knightmare Phoenix. He used its effect to destroy Runick Fountain by discarding Rite of Aramesir and then activated his Elf’s effect to try to Special Summon Toadally Awesome. Mathews stopped the effect with his Toadally Awesome, leaving Aguero free to activate Spright Starter! He Special Summoned Blue from his Deck, added Jet to his hand with its effect, and then Special Summoned Jet. He added a Starter to his hand with Jet’s effect and then entered his Battle Phase! He attacked Carrot with Gigantic Spright and then direct attacks from Blue, Jet, and Knightmare Phoenix finished Mathews off!
Hansel Aguero wins the first Duel with his Adventure Spright Deck!
Duel Two
Mathews Normal Summoned Nimble Beaver and used its effect to Special Summon another Beaver from his Deck. He combined his 2 Beavers to Xyz Summon Gigantic Spright and used its effect to Special Summon a Swap Frog from his Deck. He activated Swap Frog’s effect and Aguero Chained Dimension Shifter’s effect! Mathews banished a Swap Frog from his Deck and then activated Runick Tip to add Runick Flashing Fire to his hand and banish Spright Jet from the top of Aguero’s Deck. Next, Mathews Special Summoned Spright Jet from his hand and used its effect to add Spright Double Cross to his hand. He Set 3 cards to his back row and then ended his turn.
Aguero drew a Spright Carrot and added it to his hand of Spright Jet, Water Enchantress of the Temple, and 2 copies of Spright Starter.
He banished Water Enchantress from his hand to add Rite of Aramesir to his hand and then activated Rite of Aramesir. Mathews Chained Spright Starter to Special Summon Spright Carrot from his Deck and lost 1000 Life Points. Aguero Special Summoned an Adventure Token and then placed Fateful Adventure from his Deck into his Spell & Trap Card Zone. Next, Aguero tried using the effect of his Fateful Adventure to search his Deck, but Mathews Chained the effect of his Carrot and Tributed Gigantic Spright to negate the Fateful Adventure and destroy it. Aguero activated Starter to Special Summon Spright Blueby giving up 1100 Life Points and then used Blue’s effect to add Spright Red to his hand. Aguero Special Summoned Spright Carrot followed by Spright Jet and used his Jet’s effect to add Spright Smashers to his hand. He Special Summoned Spright Red in Attack Position and then attacked Carrot with his Adventure Token to destroy it. Spright Jet took down Swap Frog next, and then Aguero’s Carrot destroyed Jet. Spright Red and Spright Blue attacked directly next, bringing Mathews down to 4400 Life Points. In Main Phase 2, Aguero used his Spright Blue and his Adventure Token to Link Summon I:P Masquerena. He Set 2 cards to his back row before passing.
Mathews activated Runick Tip to try to search his Deck and Aguero used his Carrot’s effect to negate it by Tributing his Jet. Next, Mathews flipped Flashing Fire and used its effect to Special Summon Hugin from his Extra Deck. Mathews Special Summoned Spright Pixies from his hand in Defense Position next, and then Aguero flipped Spright Starter to Special Summon Spright Blue and give up 1100 Life Points. He used Blue’s effect to add Spright Jet to his hand and then flipped Spright Smashers. He banished his Starter from the Graveyard to banish the Blue from his own field and the Pixies from Mathews’s field. Mathews extended the handshake with no cards left in his hand and no more moves to make.
Hansel Aguero takes a 2-0 victory in Round 1 with his Adventure Spright Deck that uses three copies of Kashtira Fenrir! Follow the coverage to see if the two-time championship winner will take his first YCS win this weekend!
