Three-quarters of the Duelists competing in the North America World Qualifying Points Playoff have been eliminated, and 8 remain! The remaining Duelists are just two Match wins away from receiving an invitation to compete in the 2023 Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME World Championship in Tokyo, Japan, along with paid travel and accommodations. This Round’s written Feature Match will pit Patrick Hoban and his Mannadium Kashtira Deck against Ryan Yu and his Floowandereeze monsters. Both of these Duelists have competed in the World Championship before, and now they’re aiming to return. Ryan Yu won the Dragon Duel World Championship in 2017. Patrick Hoban competed in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME World Championship in 2013. One of these Duelists is about to be eliminated. The other will advance to the next Round. It’s time to Duel!

Duel One

Hoban opened up Duel 1 with Visas Starfrost, Kashtira Riseheart, Primitive Planet Reichphobia, Scareclaw Kashtira, and Pot of Prosperity.

He activated Reichphobia and used its effect to add Scareclaw Reichheart to his hand and then activated Pot of Prosperity. He banished 3 cards from his Extra Deck face-down to excavate Kashtira Unicorn, Infinite Impermanence, and Mannadium Riumheart from his Deck and added the Riumheart to his hand. He Normal Summoned it and used its effect to add Mannadium Meek to his hand. He Special Summoned the Meek and then Special Summoned Visas Starfrost from his hand by destroying the Meek. He used Meek’s effect to Special Summon another copy from his Deck as a Level 4 monster and then sent Riumheart and Meek to the Graveyard to Synchro Summon PSY-Framelord Omega in Defense Position. Next, he sent Visas Starfrost to the Graveyard to Link Summon Scareclaw Light-Heart and Special Summoned Reichheart. He used Reichheart’s effect to add Scareclaw Arrival to his hand and used the Arrival to Special Summon Visas Starfrost back from the Graveyard. Next, he Special Summoned Scareclaw Kashtira from his hand by banishing Arrival from his Graveyard and sent Scareclaw Kashtira and Light-Heart to his Graveyard to Link Summon Cross-Sheep. He Tuned Starfrost with Scareclaw Reichheart to Synchro Summon Baronne de Fleur and then banished Visas Starfrost and Scareclaw Reichheart from his Graveyard to Special Summon Vicious Astraloud linked to Cross-Sheep. He used Cross-Sheep’s effect to Special Summon Meek from the Graveyard and then Tuned it with Astraloud to Synchro Summon Icejade Gymir Aegirine. He used Omega’s effect to banish it along with a Book of Moon in Yu’s hand, and then used his Baronne’s effect to destroy his own Cross-Sheep.

Yu drew a card and conceded, unable to fight through Hoban’s Baronne de Fleur and Icejade Gymir Aegirine.

Patrick Hoban wins the first Duel with his Mannadium monsters!

Duel Two

Yu started off Duel 2 by activating the effect of Dimension Shifter.

He Normal Summoned Floowandereeze & Robina, used its effect to get Floowandereeze & Eglen from his Deck. He Normal Summoned Eglen, using its effect to add Floowandereeze & Empen to his hand, and then Tributed both of his on-field monsters to Summon Empen. He returned Eglen to his hand with its effect and added Floowandereeze and the Dreaming Town from his Deck to his hand. He Set 2 cards to his back row and passed his turn.

Hoban opened up Duel 2 with Visas Starfrost, Triple Tactics Talent, Triple Tactics Thrust, Kashtira Unicorn, and Scareclaw Reichheart. He drew Kashtiratheosis and then Special Summoned his Unicorn. He activated its effect, but Yu negated it with Harpie’s Feather Storm. Hoban tried to end his turn, but before he could leave his Main Phase, Yu activated Dreaming Town. He Normal Summoned Eglen, used its effect to get Raiza the Mega Monarch from his Deck, Normal Summoned Robina, and used Robina’s effect to add Floowandereeze & Toccan to his hand. He Normal Summoned the Toccan, returned Dreaming Town to his hand, and then Tribute Summoned another Empen. He used the effects of Empen and Eglen to add Floowandereeze and the Advent of Adventure from his Deck to his hand and return Eglen from his banished zone to his hand. He Tribute Summoned Raiza the Mega Monarch next. He returned the Raiza itself to his hand, Dimension Shifter to the top of his Deck from his Graveyard, and Unicorn on Hoban’s field to the top of Hoban’s Deck. That was the opening Hoban needed! Since Yu activated a monster effect, Hoban was able to use the effects of the Triple Tactics Thrust and Triple Tactics Talent in his hand! Hoban activated Triple Tactics Thrust first to Set Terraforming from his Deck to his field and then flipped it to add Pressured Planet Wraitsoth to his hand. He then used Wraitsoth’s effect to add Kashtira Fenrir to his hand. He Special Summoned the Fenrir in Attack Position and then Normal Summoned Scareclaw Reichheart. He activated Triple Tactics Talent next, and took control of Empen. Then he entered his Battle Phase! Empen attacked and destroyed Toccan, and then Fenrir and Reichheart attacked directly, dropping Yu down to 1000 Life Points. In Main Phase 2, Hoban used Empen and Reichheart as Link Materials to Link Summon Donner, Dagger Fur Hire and ended his turn.

Yu drew Dimension Shifter and activated its effect. Next, he Normal Summoned Robina. He used its effect and Chained the effect of his banished Toccan. He returned Toccan to his hand and then added Eglen to his hand with Robina’s effect. He Normal Summoned Eglen, and after a flurry of plays, he had two copies of Empen on his field! He attacked and destroyed Donner and Fenrir with his Empens, dropping Hoban down to 7000 Life Points. Yu activated Floowandereeze and the Unexplored Winds in Main Phase 2 and used its effect to shuffle 2 of his cards back into his Deck and draw 2 new ones. Yu Set 2 cards to his back row before passing his turn.

Hoban drew and Normal Summoned Mannadium Meek and then Special Summoned Visas Starfrost by destroying the Meek. He used Meek’s effect to Special Summon another copy from his Deck as a Level 4 monster. He thought for a second and then conceded, realizing he would be unable to turn the Duel around. The Match is going to a third and final Duel!

Duel Three

Hoban opened up Duel 3 with Reinforcement of the Army, Kashtiratheosis, Mannadium Meek, Scareclaw Kashtira, and Mannadium Reframing. He activated Reinforcement of the Arma to add Mannadium Riumheart to his hand and then Normal Summoned it. He used its effect to add Mannadium Abscission to his hand and then Special Summoned Meek. Next, he used Abscission to add Peaceful Planet Calarium to his hand and destroy Meek. Meek’s effect Special Summoned another Meek from the Deck as a Level 4 monster. Hoban activated Peaceful Planet Calarium and used its effect to add Visas Starfrost to his hand and then Special Summoned Visas Starfrost from his hand by destroying a Meek on his field. He Special Summoned another Meek from his Deck as a Level 4 monster with the effect of his Meek, and Special Summoned one from his Graveyard with Calarium’s effect. He Tuned the Level 4 Meek with Riumheart to Synchro Summon PSY-Framelord Omega and then sent Visas Starfrost to the Graveyard to Link Summon Light-Heart. He used Light-Heart’s effect to add Reichphobia to his hand and activated it to add Scareclaw Reichheart to his hand. He Special Summoned it and used its effect to add Scareclaw Arrival to his hand and draw a card. Next, he used his Omega’s effect to randomly banish Yu’s Eglen from his hand and activated Scareclaw Arrival to Special Summon Visas Starfrost from his Graveyard. He Tuned Starfrost with Reichheart to Synchro Summon Baronne de Fleur in Defense Position and then sent Light-Heart and Meek to the Graveyard to Link Summon Cross-Sheep. Hoban Special Summon Vicious Astraloud linked to Cross-Sheep and then used Cross-Sheep’s effect to Special Summon Meek from the Graveyard. He Tuned Meek with Astraloud to Synchro Summon Icejade Gymir Aegirine and then Special Summoned Scareclaw Kashtira from his hand by banishing Scareclaw Arrival from his Graveyard. He activated Kashtiratheosis to Special Summon Kashtira Unicorn from his Deck and used Unicorn’s effect to add Kashtira Birth to his hand. He Set his Mannadium Reframing and then passed his turn.

Yu activated Pot of Prosperity by banishing 6 cards from his Extra Deck, but Hoban Chained the effect of Baronne de Fleur to negate its activation. Yu followed up by activating Book of Eclipse, and Hoban Chained Mannadium Reframing to negate its activation and destroy it. Yu activated Floowandereeze and the Advent of Adventure by banishing Empen from his hand next, added Robina to his hand, and gained 500 Life Points. He Normal Summoned Robina and used its effect, Chaining the effect of his banished Eglen. He returned Eglen to his hand and then added Toccan from his Deck to his hand with Robina’s effect. He Summoned it and activated its effect. Hoban Chained his Icejade Gymir Aegirine’s effect. Toccan was banished by the effect, and Yu Normal Summoned Eglen. He added Raiza the Mega Monarch to his hand with Eglen’s effect and then Tributed his 2 monsters to Summon Empen. He used the effects of Empen, Robina, and Toccan, and Hoban used his Unicorn’s effect to banish a card face-down from Yu’s Extra Deck. Yu added Floowandereeze and the Dreaming Town from his Deck to his hand with Empen’s effect before Tributing Empen to Summon Raiza the Mega Monarch. He used its effect to return Baronne de Fleur to the Extra Deck, Icejade Gymir Aegirine to the hand, and the Abscission in Hoban’s Graveyard to the top of Hoban’s Deck. In the Battle Phase, Yu attacked and destroyed Cross-Sheep with Raiza, dropping Hoban down to 6800 Life Points. Yu Set a card to his back row and then ended his turn.

Hoban redrew his Abscission in the Draw Phase and then returned the banished Omega to his field in his Standby Phase. He used Reichphobia’s effect to try to destroy Yu’s face-down Dreaming Town and Yu Chained it. He Summoned Robina, used Robina’s effect, and returned Eglen to his hand. He added Floowandereeze & Stri to his hand with Robina’s effect and then Normal Summoned the Stri. He used its effect to banish his Empen, and Hoban banished a card from Yu’s Extra Deck with Unicorn. Yu Summoned Toccan and used its effect, and then Tribute Summoned Empen. He activated the effects of Empen, the Dreaming Town in his Graveyard, and the banished Toccan. All of Hoban’s monsters flipped face-down from Dreaming Town’s effect. After a flurry of plays, Yu Tribute Summoned another Empen and used its effect to add Floowandereeze and the Advent of Adventure from his Deck to his hand. Hoban activated Mannadium Abscission as his turn continued and destroyed his face-down Scareclaw Kashtira to add Peaceful Planet to his hand. He banished Reframing from his Graveyard to return 3 Meeks from his Graveyard to his Deck and then banished Abscission from his Graveyard to Special Summon Riumheart from his hand. He used its effect to add a Meek to his hand and then Special Summoned Meek. He activated Peaceful Planet Calarium next and used its effect to add Visas Starfrost from his Deck to his hand. He Special Summoned Visas Starfrost from his hand by destroying Meek and used Meek’s effect to Special Summon a Level 4 Meek. He Tuned Starfrost with Riumheart to Synchro Summon Baronne de Fleur in Defense Position and used its effect to destroy an Empen. Next, he banished 2 monsters from his Graveyard to Special Summon a Vicious Astraloud in Defense Position and used its effect to destroy Empen. He Tuned Viscious Astraloud with Meek to Synchro Summon Icejade Gymir Aegirine again and then Flip Summoned Omega. He Flip Summoned his Unicorn next and then activated Kashtira Birth. He used its effect to Special Summon Scareclaw Kashtira and then combined his Unicorn with Scareclaw Kashtira to Xyz Summon Number 11: Big Eye. He used its effect to take control of Raiza the Mega Monarch, and then direct attacks from Raiza, Ice Jade, and PSY-Framelord Omega wiped out all 8500 of Yu’s Life Points.

Patrick Hoban wins the Match with his Mannadium Kashtira Deck and is now just 1 Match away from competing in the 2023 Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME World Championship!