Over 1800 Duelists have been reduced to just the Top 32! While the Snake-Eye Decks have performed phenomenally at this event, there’s still a variety of other Decks too. This Feature Match pits two of these Decks against each other! First up is Jesus Arroyo, from Hartford, CT, playing a pure Kashtira Deck today. His opponent is Eric Topel, here from Schortens, Germany, representing Branded Despia. These are the last Duelists playing these Decks in the tournament, but only one can advance to the Top 16!

Duel 1

Topel won the dice roll and played first. He led with Frightfur Patchwork to add Edge Imp Chain and Polymerization to his hand. He played Pot of Desires next, banishing ten cards from his Deck to draw two cards. He Normal Summoned Aluber the Jester of Despia, adding Branded Fusion to his hand. He activated it, and Arroyo finally used an Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring to negate it. Topel activated Albion the Shrouded Dragon in his hand, sending Branded in Red to the Graveyard and drawing a new card. Polymerization came next, fusing Aluber with Despian Tragedy into Masquerade the Blazing Dragon. Tragedy’s effect Set Branded in Red, and he Set another card.

Arroyo had 2 Effect Veiler, Kashtira Unicorn, and Nibiru, the Primal Being. He drew Ghost Mourner & Moonlit Chill. He Special Summoned Unicorn, and Topel flipped Fusion Duplication, copying Branded Fusion! Topel sent Fallen of Albaz and and Ad Libitum of Despia to the Graveyard to Fusion Summon Lubellion the Searing Dragon! Topel discarded a Pot of Desires for Lubellion, fusing it with Albaz in the Graveyard for Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon! Arroyo’s Veilers and Nibiru were no good on his own turn, and even the Ghost Mourner was useless when he knew Topel had a Set Branded in Red to dodge it. He decided to move on to the next Duel.

Duel 2

Arroyo played first this time, with a hand of Scareclaw Kashtira, Pressured Planet Wraitsoth, Kashtira Riseheart, Kashtira Unicorn, and Solemn Judgment. He Special Summoned Unicorn and used its effect to add Kashtira Birth to his hand. He Normal Summoned Riseheart and used its effect to make it Level 7, banishing a Kashtira Fenrir from his Deck. He Xyz Summoned Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack, detaching Unicorn to Special Summon two Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens. He used the Tokens to Link Summon two copies of Link Spider, then used both of those to Link Summon G Golem Crystal Heart. Crystal Heart revived Link Spider, giving him enough Cyberse monsters to Link Summon Decode Talker Heatsoul. He used Heatsoul’s effect, paying 1000 Life Points and draw Pot of Prosperity. He then used Heatsoul and Dracossack to Link Summon Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess with 1600 ATK. He played Kashtira Birth and Special Summoned Fenrir in Defense Position, using Fenrir’s effect to add another Fenrir to his hand. He Set Solemn Judgment. Then he Special Summoned Scareclaw Kashtira, banishing Unicorn from his Graveyard. He used Scareclaw Kashtira and Fenrir to Xyz Summon Kashtira Shangri-Ira in Defense Position. He played Wraitsoth to add a Riseheart to his hand before finishing the turn.

In Topel’s Standby Phase, Shangri-Ira Special Summoned a Unicorn from Arroyo’s Deck. Topel played Pot of Desires to draw two more cards. Shangri-Ira then locked out one of Topel’s Main Monster Zones. Topel played Triple Tactics Talent, trying to steal a monster, and Arroyo thought a while before flipping Solemn Judgment. Topel Normal Summoned Blazing Cartesia, the Virtuous next, and played Branded Opening. Opening let him discard Shaddoll Dragon and Special Summon Aluber from the Deck. In a new Chain, Aluber was Chain Link 1, and Shaddoll Dragon targeting Kashtira Birth was Chain Link 2. Arroyo activated Apollousa to negate Shaddoll Dragon, and Topel Chained Cartesia’s effect. He fused Cartesia and Aluber into Despian Quaeritis! Shaddoll Dragon was negated, and Aluber added Branded Lost to Topel’s hand. In a new Chain, Kashtira Unicorn banished Topel’s Guardian Chimera from the Extra Deck, and Shangri-Ira locked another zone. Then, Wraitsoth destroyed Quaeritis, and Topel Chained Quaeritis to weaken Arroyo’s monsters. The destroyed Quaeritis Special Summoned Fallen of Albaz, and Topel discarded Branded in Red for its effect. He fused Albaz and Arroyo’s Shangri-Ira into Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon! He played Branded Lost, triggering Kashtira Birth to banish Albaz, Cartesia, and Quaeritis from the Graveyard, face-down. Topel activated Branded Fusion next, which he’d been holding this whole time! He sent The Bystial Lubellion and Albaz to the Graveyard to Fusion Summon Albion the Branded Dragon! Branded Lost put Tri-Brigade Mercourier in his hand, and Albion fused Shaddoll Dragon and Aluber into Masquerade the Blazing Dragon. Masquerade attacked Apollousa, and Mirrorjade attacked Unicorn. With the Life Points payments from Heatsoul and Solemn Judgment, that was enough to end the Duel!

Eric Topel is headed to the Top 16 with Branded Despia!