Welcome to YCS Raleigh! We’re kicking things off with Dakota Cottrell, from Colorado Springs, CO, playing Branded Chimera! He’s facing off against Richard Brown, from Florence, SC, using Phantom Knight Goblin Bikers! It’s Fusions versus Xyz in this Feature Match, but only one can come out on top!

Duel 1

Cottrell rolled a strong 10, but was trounced by Brown’s 11. Brown took the first turn, starting with a hand of Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade, Goblin Biker Clatter Sploder, Emergency Teleport, Infinite Impermanence, and Water Enchantress of the Temple. He banished Water Enchantress from his hand to add Rite of Aramesir to his hand. He used it to Special Summon an Adventurer Token, then placed Fateful Adventure on the field. He used Fateful Adventure to add Wandering Gryphon Rider to his hand, sending Fog Blade to the Graveyard. He Special Summoned Wandering Gryphon Rider, then played Emergency Teleport to Special Summon Psychic Tracker. He Normal Summoned Clatter Sploder, stacking it with Psychic Tracker for Goblin Biker Big Gabonga! Big Gabonga added Goblin Biker Dugg Charger to his hand. He activated Dugg Charger in his hand, and Cottrell responded with Nibiru, the Primal Being. Brown negated and destroyed Nibiru with Wandering Gryphon Rider, and Dugg Charger finally hit the field.

Dugg Charger’s effect added Goblin Biker Grand Entrance to his hand. He played it to find and Special Summon Goblin Biker Mean Merciless. He stacked Mean Merciless and Dugg Charger for Xyz Armor Torpedo, detaching its Xyz Materials to draw Reinforcement of the Army. He used Torpedo to play Xyz Armor Fortress, which added Full-Armored Xyz to his hand. He used Reinforcement of the Army to add The Phantom Knights of Torn Scales to his hand. He used Fortress to play Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer! Then he Set Full-Armored Xyz and Infinite Impermanence. In the End Phase, Big Gabonga attached Goblin Biker Boom Mach from his Deck as an Xyz Material.

Cottrell started with Frightfur Patchwork, adding Polymerization and Edge Imp Chain to his hand. He Normal Summoned Mirror Swordknight, and used its effect to Special Summon Big-Winged Berfomet from his Deck. Brown responded with Clatter Sploder’s effect in the Graveyard, Special Summoning it by detaching Boom Mach from Big Gabonga. Berfomet’s effect then added Chimera Fusion and Gazelle the King of Mythical Claws to Cottrell’s hand. Brown’s Clatter Sploder then Special Summoned Boom Mach from his Graveyard as well. Cottrell played Polymerization, fusing Gazelle and a Berfomet from his hand into Chimera the King of Phantom Beasts. Chimera and its Fusion Materials all had effects: He added Cornfield Coatl to his hand, Special Summoned Mirror Swordknight from his Graveyard, and Chimera would make Brown discard in the End Phase. Brown now flipped Full-Armored Xyz to stack his Goblin Bikers into Number 75: Bamboozling Gossip Shadow. Cottrell activated Cornfield Coatl, and Brown used Gossip Shadow to change the effect to make each player draw a card instead. Brown drew Fog Blade. Big Gabonga triggered, targeting Mirror Swordknight, and Cottrell banished Coatl from his Graveyard to negate and destroy Big Gabonga. Cottrell played Branded Fusion! He sent Fallen of Albaz and Swordknight to the Graveyard for Albion the Branded Dragon. Brown flipped Infinite Impermanence on Albion, and Cottrell Chained Chimera Fusion! He fused Albion and Edge Imp Chain into Magnum the Reliever! Infinite Impermanence had no target, and the original Albion resolved to Fusion Summon Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon! Edge Imp Chain activated, and Brown responded with Full-Armored Xyz from the Graveyard, trying to equip to Dark Knight Lancer. Cottrell responded with Magnum to destroy Dark Knight Lancer before it could be equipped. Edge Imp Chain added a new Frightfur Patchwork to Cottrell’s hand. Then he used Chimera Fusion’s effect in the Graveyard to add it back to his hand. He fused two of his on-field Illusions and one from his hand into Guardian Chimera! Guardian Chimera destroyed Brown’s last cards, leaving him wide open to Cottrell’s monsters!

Brown started strong with a big Xyz opening, but Cottrell was able to fight back with a fantastic flurry of Fusions! The Duelists moved to their Side Decks.

Duel 2

Brown started with a hand of Fog Blade, Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, Ghost Mourner & Moonlit Chill, Clatter Sploder, and Speedroid Taketomborg. A lot of interaction, but not much gas. He Normal Summoned Ghost Mourner. “Not what I was expecting to see…” Cottrell said, bemused. Since Ghost Mourner was a WIND monster, Brown Special Summoned Taketomborg! Both players laughed, and Brown Xyz Summoned Big Gabonga. He added Dugg Charger to his hand, then Special Summoned it by detaching a material from Big Gabonga. Dugg Charger added Grand Entrance to his hand. He played Grand Entrance to add Mean Merciless to his hand and Special Summon it. He used Mean Merciless to Special Summon Clatter Sploder… and Cottrell had Nibiru, the Primal Being! Brown replaced all his monsters with a 5100 ATK Primal Being Token. Brown Set Fog Blade.

Cottrell Normal Summoned Gazelle the King of Mythical Claws, and Brown used Ash Blossom to negate it. Cottrell played Frightfur Patchwork next, adding Edge Imp Chain and Polymerization to his hand. He played Polymerization, fusing Gazelle and Edge Imp Chain into Chimera the King of Mythical Beasts. Gazelle added Cornfield Coatl to the hand, Chain added Frightfur Patchwork, and Chimera activated to discard in the End Phase. He used Coatl’s effect to find Mirror Swordknight, then fused Chimera and Swordknight into Chimera the Illusion Beast. Chimera the King of Mythical Beasts Special Summoned Swordknight. He sent Chimera the Illusion Beast to attack the Primal Being Token. Brown flipped Fog Blade, and Cottrell banished Coatl to negate and destroy Fog Blade. Cottrell took 2000 damage as Chimera smashed into the Primal Being Token, and Chimera’s effect reduced the Token to 0 ATK. Chimera attacked again, wiping out the Token. Cottrell then attacked directly with Nibiru and Mirror Swordknight for exactly 8000 total damage!

Richard Brown made a valiant effort, but the Goblin Bikers couldn’t get up to speed! Dakota Cottrell takes the Match with Branded Chimera!