Only eight Duelists remain! We’ve got Marcus Hayden, from Chicago, IL; the last remaining Runick Duelist! Six years ago, he won the last YCS Minneapolis! He’s looking for a repeat performance today, but it won’t be easy. He’s facing Denis Nadas, from Albuquerque, NM, using a Bystial Tearlaments Deck. He’s proven to be a force to be reckoned with, with multiple YCS top cut appearances of his own.

Duel 1

Hayden opened with Runick Dispelling, 2 Runick Flashing Fire, Runick Fountain, and Runick Slumber. In his Draw Phase, he used Flashing Fire to Special Summon Hugin the Runick Wings. Its effect discarded Dispelling, and Nadas Chained Tearlaments Havnis, which sent Tearlaments Merrli. Hayden added Runick Fountain to his hand through Hugin, and Nadas’s Merrli fused with the Tearlaments Reinoheart in his hand, for Tearlaments Kitkallos. Reinoheart’s Graveyard effect activated, and it sent Tearlaments Scheiren to Special Summon itself. When it hit the field, it sent a Havnis to the Graveyard. Scheiren’s effect let him combine Reinoheart with Kitkallos for Tearlaments Rulkallos! Havnis’s effect let him combine Havnis with Reinoheart and King of the Swamp for Tearlaments Kaleido-Heart, spinning away Hugin! Hayden finally continued his turn, playing Fountain. He played Slumber, targeting Kaleido-Heart, then used Fountain to return three cards and draw Capshell, Ipiria, and Spright Blue. He played Ipiria, and drew Runick Freezing Curses. He played it, negating Rulkallos’s effect. He Special Summoned Spright Blue, and searched out Spright Jet. He Special Summoned Spright Jet, getting Spright Starter. He used Ipiria and Spright Blue to Xyz Summon Gigantic Spright, and it Special Summoned Wind-Up Kitten. Kitten bounced Kaleido-Heart. Then, he used Gigantic Spright and Wind-Up Kitten to Link Summon Spright Elf, which brought Kitten back to the field. Kitten bounced Rulkallos, then Hayden used Kitten and Spright Jet for I:P Masquerena. He played Spright Starter, getting Spright Red to the field and taking 1200 damge. He ended the turn, after playing through a ton of Nadas’s cards.

Nadas Special Summoned Bystial Magnamhut, banishing Spright Blue. Magnamhut hit the field and activated its effect, and Hayden used Flashing Fire to destroy it. Hayden then used Fountain to draw Spright Jet and Runick Smiting Storm. Nadas used Bystial Druiswurm to banish Spright Jet from the Graveyard. Before the end of the Main Phase, Hayden activated I:P Masquerena, then Chained Spright Elf to revive Ipiria. Hayden used both his Link Monsters to play Knightmare Unicorn, discarding his spare Fountain, and Chained Ipiria’s effect to draw a Lava Golem. Unicorn shuffled Druiswurm back into the Deck. Nadas continued by playing Tearlaments Reinoheart. Hayden responded with Spright Red, tributing Ipiria to negate Reinoheart. Nadas Set one card in the back row. In the End Phase, he searched for Druiswurm with his lingering Magnamhut effect.

Hayden drew Slumber. He Special Summoned Spright Jet, adding Spright Smashers to his hand. He Normal Summoned Capshell, using it with Jet to play a new Spright Elf. Capshell let him draw another Slumber. He used Spright Elf to revive Ipiria and draw Triple Tactics Talent. He started to Link Summon, and Nadas knew this game was over – he conceded, preferring to move on to the next Duel.

Duel 2

Nadas chose to play first. He played Branded in High Spirits, sending Tearlaments Scheiren and Tearlaments Rulkallos to get Albion the Shrouded Dragon. He used Scheiren’s effect to play Tearlaments Kitkallos, adding Tearlaments Cryme to his hand. He then used Albion’s effect, sending another Branded in High Spirits to the Graveyard to draw a new card. He played Blazing Cartesia, the Virtuous, activating both Kitkallos and Cartesia’s effects. Cartesia fused Kitkallos and another Tearlaments to play Rulkallos, then Kitkallos revived Reinoheart. With Kitkallos and Reinoheart, he sent a total of six cards including two Tearlaments and two King of the Swamp. That let him Fusion Summon Predaplant Dragostapelia! He Set one card to his back row, thought a moment, then used Reinoheart and Cartesia to Xyz Summon Abyss Dweller! He activated it, detaching Cartesia, then Set one more back row card. He got Cartesia back to his hand in the End Phase.

Hayden’s started with a hand of Spright Blue, Lava Golem, Runick Fountain, Runick Destruction, and Runick Flashing Fire. He drew Wind-Up Kitten. Nadas activated Abyss Dweller immediately. Hayden tributed Dragostapelia and Rulkallos to hand over Lava Golem! He then played Flashing Fire to Special Summon Hugin. With Hugin’s effect, he discarded Kitten to search out Fountain. He Special Summoned Spright Blue, adding Spright Jet to his hand. He Special Summoned Jet and searched for Spright Smashers. He activated Fountain. Then, he used Spright Blue and Hugin to Xyz Summon Gigantic Spright! Its effect brought Ipiria to the field, and Hayden drew another Spright Jet. He played Runick Destruction, targeting Nadas’s Set Tearlaments Heartbeat. Nadas flipped it, shuffling Fountain into the Deck. Nadas sent Cartesia to the Graveyard with Heartbeat. Hayden used Gigantic Spright and Ipiria to Link Summon Spright Elf. He used it to bring back Wind-Up Kitten, which bounced Lava Golem back to his hand! He then used Kitten and Jet to play I:P Masquerena. He Set Spright Smashers. In the End Phase, Nadas used the Graveyard effects of Branded in High Spirits and Cartesia, returning them both to his hand.

Nadas activated Polymerization. Hayden responded with Spright Elf to revive Ipiria, then Chained I:P Masquerena’s effect to Link Summon Knightmare Unicorn. Nadas Fusion Summoned Guardian Chimera and activated its effect, then Chained the Scheiren he’d used as a Fusion Material. Hayden Chained Ipiria’s effect, then Knightmare Unicorn, discarding Fountain, targeting the back row card, and then Chained Spright Smashers to banish Ipiria and Chimera. He drew Runick Tip from Ipiria. Scheiren’s effect brought Kitkallos to the field, and Chimera failed to destroy Unicorn thanks to I:P Masquerena’s effect. Kitkallos’s effect let Nadas get Havnis. He played Primeval Planet Perlereino to also search for Merrli. He had Kitkallos destroy itself, bringing Reinoheart to the field and sending two Tearlaments to the grave with both effects. He Fusion Summoned Rulkallos. He went to the Battle Phase, sending it to destroy Unicorn in battle, and Reinoheart attacked to drop Hayden to 4700 Life Points. Nadas then played Merrli, which sent Tearlaments Cryme to the Graveyard, and it added a Merrli to his hand. He used his two Tearlaments to Link Summon a Spright Elf of his own, which revived Merrli. He used Merrli and Rulkallos to Link Summon Spright Sprind. Its effect sent Merrli to the Graveyard, which he used to Fusion Summon Garura, Wings of Resonant Life. He Special Summoned Bystial Magnamhut, banishing Spright Blue from Hayden’s Graveyard, and activated Magnamhut’s effect. He used it and Garura to Xyz Summon Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal in Defense Position. In the End Phase, Magnamhut’s effect added Bystial Druiswurm to his hand, then he used the Graveyard effects of Cartesia and Branded in High Spirits.

Hayden drew Runick Destruction. He once again handed over Lava Golem, tributing Spright Elf and Beatrice. Garura’s effect activated, to let Nadas draw a card. Hayden played Runick Tip to search his Deck, then paused and asked how many cards were left in Nadas’s Deck – only 9! Hayden resolved Tip, getting Fountain. He played the Fountain, and Nadas flipped Branded in High Spirits. Hayden responded with Runick Destruction to destroy Primeval Planet Perlereino and banish four cards. Branded in High Spirits resolved, adding Albion the Shrouded Dragon and sending two Tearlaments to the Graveyard. In a new Chain, Nadas Fusion Summoned Rulkallos, and Fountain let Hayden draw Runick Dispelling, Spright Jet, and Runick Freezing Curses. He played Dispelling and Curses to banish a total of 6 cards from Nadas’s Deck, leaving Nadas with no cards in his Deck! He passed the turn, and Nadas was forced to draw from an empty Deck!

Marcus Hayden advances to the Top 4 with Runick Spright!