Only 16 Duelists remain in YCS Raleigh, and one of them is using a Labrynth Deck! That Duelist is Jack Zhou from Long Island, New York, who is attending his first-ever YCS this weekend! He’s Dueling against William Wesley from Richmond, Kentucky in this Top 16 Feature Match! Wesley is piloting a Runick Deck. Wesley has Dueled in other YCS events before, but this is his first Top Cut finish. Now he’s looking to take it as far as he can. One of these Duelists will advance to the Top 8, and the other will be eliminated. It’s time to Duel!

Duel One

Zhou opened up Duel 1 with Nibiru, the Primal Being, Big Welcome Labrynth, Labrynth Chandraglier, Labrynth Cooclock, and Arias the Labrynth Butler.

He activated the effect of his Cooclock and then used Chandraglier’s effect by discarding Arias. He Set Welcome Labrynth from his Deck and then used his Cooclock’s effect to Special Summon it to his field. Next, he activated Big Welcome Labrynth thanks to Cooclock’s effect and Special Summoned Lovely Labrynth of the Silver Castle. He activated the effects of Lovely Labrynth and Chandraglier since a monster left the field by a Trap Card effect. He returned Chandraglier to his hand and then randomly destroyed Runick Smiting Storm from Wesley’s hand.

Wesley Normal Summoned Amano-Iwato and then activated Runick Fountain. Next, he activated Runick Slumber targeting Amano-Iwato. Zhou Chained Big Welcome by banishing it from the Graveyard to return Amano-Iwato to the hand. Zhou used his Fountain’s effect, Zhou Chained Lovely’s effect, Wesley Chained Runick Freezing Curses targeting Lovely Labrynth, and Zhou Chained the effect of the Arias in his Graveyard. Zhou Special Summoned Arias, Lovely’s effect was negated, and Zhou returned 2 cards from his Graveyard to his Deck to draw 2 cards with the effect of Runick Fountain. Wesley Set 3 cards to his back row and then passed. In the End Phase, Zhou activated Cooclock’s effect, then discarded Chandraglier and a Nibiru to Set Big Welcome from his Deck with Chandraglier’s effect. Then he used Cooclock’s effect to return the Cooclock from his Graveyard to his hand. He activated Welcome Labrynth next to Special Summon Arianna the Labrynth Servant, and used Arianna’s effect to add a Labrynth Stovie Torbie from his Deck to his hand. He activated Stovie Torbie’s effect by discarding it along with Cooclock and Set another Welcome Labrynth from his Deck to his field.

Zhou drew Trap Trick from his Deck and then sent Arias and Arianna to the Graveyard to Synchro Summon Chaos Angel. He targeted Runick Fountain with its effect. Wesley Chained Skill Drain by paying 1000 Life Points and Zhou Chained Big Welcome Labrynth. He Special Summoned Lady Labrynth from his Deck and returned Chaos Angel to his Extra Deck in order to dodge the Skill Drain’s effect on Chaos Angel. Runick Fountain was banished by the effect of Chaos Angel! Next, Zhou used the effects of Stovie Torbie, Chandraglier, and Welcome Labrynth in his Graveyard to bring all of them back since a monster left the field by a Trap effect. Next, he Normal Summoned Chandraglier and entered his Battle Phase. He attacked directly with Chandraglier first, dropping Wesley down to 5500 Life Points. Lovely Labrynth attacked next, and Wesley flipped Runick Dispelling to Special Summon Freki the Runick Fangs. Lovely attacked and destroyed Freki, and Freki’s effect to returned Freezing Curses to Wesley’s hand. Lady Labrynth attacked directly next, dropping Wesley down to 2500 Life Points. Zhou Set Trap Trick and then Link Summoned Unchained Soul Lord of Yama before ending his turn. In the End Phase, Wesley activated Runick Destruction to destroy Trap Trick and banish the top 4 cards of Zhou’s Deck.

Wesley activated Pot of Desires next turn. He banished the top 10 cards of his Deck face-down and drew 2 cards. He Normal Summoned Amano-Iwato and then Xyz Summoned Super Starslayer TY-PHON – Sky Crisis over it. He Set 3 cards to his back row and then ended his turn. In the End Phase, Zhou flipped Welcome Labrynth. He Chained Lady Labrynth’s effect, and then Chained the effect of Big Welcome Labrynth in his Graveyard to return Skill Drain to Wesley’s hand. Lady Labrynth’s effect resolved to Set Big Welcome Labrynth from his Deck and then he Special Summoned Arianna. He activated its effect to add Labrynth Stovie Torbie from his Deck to his hand.

Zhou drew Destructive Daruma Karma Cannon and then sent Yama and Arianna to the Graveyard to Link Summon Unchained Soul of Anguish. He activated its effect, but lost out to Runick Freezing Curses. Zhou banished the top 3 cards of his Deck. In the Battle Phase, Zhou attacked TY-PHON with Lady Labrynth, inflicting 100 points of damage. He attacked with Soul of Anguish next, but Wesley flipped Runick Flashing Fire to Special Summon Geri the Runick Fangs. Zhou flipped Welcome Labrynth to Special Summon Chandraglier and used Chandraglier’s effect by discarding Stovie Torbie. He activated the effect of Cooclock in his Graveyard to add it to his hand and then activated it. He flipped Big Welcome next, and Chained Lady Labrynth’s effect to Set Dogmatika Punishment from his Deck. He Special Summoned Arianna from his Deck and returned Lady Labrynth to his hand. He used the effects of Lovely Labrynth, Arianna, Chandraglier, Stovie Torbie, and Welcome Labrynth, resolving them all and Special Summoning Lady Labrynth from his hand to his field with Arianna. He destroyed a face-down Rivalry of Warlords with Lovely Labrynth’s effect. Unable to defend himself, Zhou’s army of monsters finished off Wesley’s Life Points.

Jack Zhou takes the first victory of the Match with his Labrynth Deck! He’s just 1 win away from the Top 8!

Duel Two

Wesley started off Duel 2 by activating Pot of Duality.

He added a Runick Golden Droplet to his hand and shuffled the other 2 cards back into his Deck. Next, he activated Runick Tip to add Runick Fountain to his hand and banish Harpie’s Feather Duster from the top of Zhou’s Deck. He activated the Fountain and then activated Golden Droplet, allowing Zhou to draw a Trap Trick and banish the top 4 cards of his Deck. He used his Fountain’s effect to return 2 Runick Spells from his Graveyard to his Deck and draw 2 cards. Next, he activated Pot of Desires. He banished the top 10 cards of his Deck to draw 2 cards. He activated One Day of Piece next, allowing both Duelists to draw a card. He Set 2 cards to his back row and then ended his turn. In the End Phase, Zhou activated the effect of his Stovie Torbie by discarding it and a Trap Trick to Set a Welcome Labrynth from his Deck. Once it was Set, Wesley used Runick Destruction to destroy the Welcome Labrynth and banish 4 more cards from Zhou’s Deck.

Zhou drew a card and then had a Stovie Torbie, a Lovely Labrynth, 2 copies of Trap Trick, and 2 copies of Big Welcome Labrynth in his hand. He Set all 4 Trap Cards and then ended his turn. In the End Phase, Wesley activated Runick Slumber to Special Summon Munin the Runick Wings. He sent 2 Runick Spells from his Graveyard to his Deck and drew 2 cards with Fountain. Next, he activated Runick Tip to add Runick Destruction to his hand and banish the top card of Wesley’s Deck. Then, he activated Runick Destruction, and Zhou Chained Stovie Torbie’s effect and discarded a Lovely Labrynth to Set a Welcome Labrynth from his Deck. Zhou’s Trap Trick was destroyed and Zhou banished 4 more cards from his Deck. Wesley gained 1000 Life Points due to Munin’s effect.

Wesley drew a card and activated Runick Slumber in the Draw Phase, targeting Munin. Zhou Chained Welcome Labrynth, and Wesley Chained Grave of the Super Ancient Organism. Zhou Special Summoned Lady Labrynth. Wesley used Fountain’s effect to draw 3 cards and then got Runick Destruction from his Deck with Runick Tip, banishing another card from Zhou’s Deck. Next, he activated Pot of Duality and added Dimensional Fissure to his hand. He activated it and then activated another Fountain from his hand to replace the one on his field. Wesley activated Runick Destruction targeting Big Welcome, and Zhou Chained Big Welcome Labrynth to Special Summon Arianna and return Lady Labrynth to his hand. Wesley used his Fountain to draw 2 cards, Zhou Chained Arianna’s effect, and when Wesley negated the effect of Arianna with Runick Freezing Curses, Zhou conceded.

The Match is going to a third and final Duel!

Duel Three

Zhou opened up Duel 3 with Absolute King Back Jack, Welcome Labrynth, Lovely Labrynth, Infinite Impermanence, and Labrynth Chandraglier. In his Main Phase, He Set the Infinite Impermanence and Welcome Labrynth. In the End Phase, he activated the effect of Chandraglier by discarding Back Jack. He Set Big Welcome Labrynth from his Deck. He used Back Jack’s effect to rearrange the top 3 cards of his Deck, all of which were monsters, and then play passed to Wesley.

Wesley Set 3 cards to his back row and activated Runick Fountain. He activated Card of Demise next, drawing 2 cards from his Deck. Next, he activated Runick Destruction, targeting Zhou’s face-down Big Welcome. Zhou Chained it and Special Summoned Lady Labrynth before returning the Lady Labrynth to his hand. He banished the top 4 cards of his Deck due to the Runick Destruction’s effect. Next, Wesley used his Fountain’s effect to return the Destruction to his Deck and draw a card. Wesley Set 2 more cards to his back row before ending his turn. In the End Phase, Wesley discarded Slumber from his hand due to the effect of Card of Demise. Then, Zhou Special Summoned Lady Labrynth from his hand. He activated Welcome Labrynth next and Special Summoned Arianna. He used Arianna’s effect to add Stovie Torbie to his hand. He then used Back Jack’s effect to excavate a Destructive Daruma Karma Cannon from the top of his Deck and Set it to his field. Next, he used Stovie Torbie’s effect by discarding Lovely Labrynth in order to Set Welcome Labrynth from his Deck.

Zhou drew Labrynth Chandraglier and then switched his monsters into Attack Position. He entered his Battle Phase and Wesley flipped Synchro Zone to stop all monsters other than Synchro Monsters from attacking. At the end of the Battle Phase, Zhou flipped Welcome Labrynth and Wesley Chained Grave of the Super Ancient Organism. Zhou Special Summoned Arias and then banished Big Welcome from his Graveyard to return Grave of the Super Ancient Organism to the hand. Next, he sent Arianna and Arias to the Graveyard to Synchro Summon Chaos Angel and targeted Fountain to banish it with Chaos Angel’s effect. Wesley Chained Freezing Curses to try to negate its effect, but Zhou Chained Karma Cannon to flip all monsters face-down! Wesley Chained Cosmic Cyclone to banish an Infinite Impermanence, and as the Chain resolved and Chaos Angel was turned face-down, Runick Fountain was banished.

Wesley used Pot of Duality to add a Smiting Storm to his hand and then Set 2 cards.

Zhou drew a card and then Flip Summoned all of his monsters. He entered his Battle Phase and Wesley flipped Grave of the Super Ancient Organism back up. In Main Phase 2, Zhou sent Arias and Chaos Angel to the Graveyard to Link Summon S:P Little Knight and banish Grave of the Super Ancient Organism. Next, he activated the effect of a Chandraglier in his hand by discarding another Chandraglier in order to Set Big Welcome Labrynth from his Deck.

Wesley Set a card and passed his turn. In the End Phase, Zhou flipped Big Welcome Labrynth and Chained Lady Labrynth’s effect. He Set Dimensional Barrier from his Deck with its effect and Special Summoned Lovely Labrynth. He returned Lady Labrynth to his hand. He activated the effects of Lovely Labrynth, Stovie Torbie, Chandraglier, and the Welcome Labrynth in his Graveyard. Wesley Chained Skill Drain, but Zhou Chained Little Knight’s effect to banish Little Knight and Lovely so that Lovely’s effect would resolve. As he resolved the effects on the Chain, he destroyed Skill Drain with the effect of Lovely Labrynth. Still in the End Phase, Zhou returned Lovely Labrynth and S:P Little Knight to the field.

Zhou Normal Summoned Chandraglier and sent it to the Graveyard along with Stovie Torbie to Link Summoned Muckraker From the Underworld. He activated its effect to Special Summon Chaos Angel from his Graveyard. Wesley Chained Smiting Storm to try to Special Summon a monster, but when Zhou Chained Dimensional Barrier declaring Fusions, Wesley conceded.

Zhou is moving on to the Top 8 with his Labrynth Deck!