It was at the last YCS Indianapolis that Florida Duelist Jeff Leonard made history. In his live streamed Feature Match, the crowd chanted, “ONE MORE PIECE! ONE MORE PIECE!” as Leonard assembled Exodia the Forbidden One to the delight of all! Now that we’ve returned to Indianapolis, we simply had to cover Leonard. His Exodia strategy used the now Forbidden Isolde, Two Tales of the Noble Knights, so he’s swapped to Tenpai Dragons – Deck just as capable of a one-turn KO!

His opponent is Zach Yocum, here from New Jersey. Like Leonard, Yocum is using new cards from Legacy of Destruction, with a mix of Lightsworn, Horus, and Centur-Ion! This strategy opens up many of Synchro and Xyz plays, with a lot of different ways to get value from the Graveyard.

Duel 1

Yocum started strong with an 11 on the dice roll, but Leonard rolled a 12! He chose to play second, signaling what he was up to.

Yocum started things off with Solar Recharge, discarding Felis, Lightsworn Archer to draw two cards and send Mudora the Sword Oracle and another Recharge to the Graveyard. He used Imsety, Glory of Horus’s effect, sending itself and Wulf, Lightsworn Beast to the Graveyard. That let him add King’s Sarcophagus to his hand and draw a card. He played King’s Sarcophagus, then Special Summoned Imsety from his Graveyard.

Leonard started with two copies of Santa Claws, two copies of Forbidden Chalice, and Sangen Summoning. He drew Raigeki. He Tributed Yocum’s Imsety to hand over a Santa Claws, then played Sangen Summoning. He used its effect to add Tenpai Dragon Chundra to his hand, discarding a Chalice. He Normal Summoned Chundra and Set a Chalice. He attacked Santa Claws with Chundra, using its effect to Special Summon Tenpai Dragon Paidra from his Deck, and Paidra added Sangen Kaimen to his hand. Leonard took no damage thanks to Paidra’s effect. Still in the Battle Phase, Leonard activated Kaimen, adding Tenpai Dragon Fadra to his hand and Special Summoning it. He attacked with Paidra, then used Chundra and Paidra to Synchro Summon Sangenpai Bident Dragion! Bident Dragion Special Summoned Paidra, and Fadra Special Summoned Chundra. Bident Dragion attacked and finally destroyed Santa Claws. Paidra, Chundra, and Fadra all attacked to drop Yocum to 3200 Life Points. Then he used Paidra’s effect, tuning it to Bident Dragion to Synchro Summon Sangenpai Transcendant Dragion! It attacked directly as well, and Leonard finally Special Summoned Bident Dragion from his Graveyard! It attacked directly once more, ending the Duel on the spot!

Duel 2

Yocum chose to play second this time, keeping Leonard from the first Battle Phase. Leonard began with Different Dimension Ground, Raigeki, Heat Wave, Chundra, and Trap Trick. He started with Heat Wave. “There it is…” Yocum said, and both players chuckled. Leonard Set Different Dimension Ground and passed, hoping to slow Yocum down enough to find an opening next turn.

Yocum began with Zombie World! That would prevent a good portion of the Tenpai Dragons’ effects from working. He played King’s Sarcophagus, and Leonard Chained Different Dimension Ground in response. Yocum couldn’t pay the cost to activate King’s Sarcophagus, and passed the turn.

Leonard drew Pot of Prosperity. He played it, banishing six cards from his Extra Deck. He revealed two more copies of Different Dimension Ground, Sangen Summoning, and Harpie’s Feather Duster, but in the end he chose Tenpai Dragon Paidra. He Normal Summoned Paidra and used its effect to Set Sangen Summoning. He flipped up Sangen Summoning, then Set Trap Trick. He attacked directly with Paidra.

Yocum used Imsety’s effect, sending itself and Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior to the Graveyard. He added another King’s Sarcophagus to his hand and drew a card. Leonard flipped up Trap Trick, banishing his second Different Dimension Ground to Set his third copy of it on the field, then immediately activated it. Yocum Special Summoned Imsety from his Graveyard. He then Special Summoned Lightsworn Dragonling from his hand, using its effect to send Wulf into banishment due to Different Dimension Ground. He Set one card in his back row.

Leonard drew Dimension Shifter. He used Raigeki to destroy Dragonling, and Imsety survived thanks to King’s Sarcophagus. Dragonling put Judgment Dragon in Yocum’s hand. Leonard Normal Summoned Chundra and moved to the Battle Phase. He attacked Imsety with Paidra, and used Chundra’s effect to Special Summon Fadra from the Deck. Zombie World shut off the protective effects of his Tenpai monsters, so Paidra was still destroyed and Leonard took the damage. Leonard didn’t have a good followup and conceded the Duel here, having learned a valuable lesson about how his Deck fares against Zombie World!

As the Duelists used their Side Decks, Leonard mentioned that he’d never encountered Zombie World with his Tenpai Dragons, and hadn’t realized just how bad it would go for him. He reflected on the Harpie’s Feather Duster he’d seen with Pot of Prosperity, and Yocum said he’d breathed a sigh of relief when Leonard didn’t take the Duster. That decision probably decided the entire Duel.

Duel 3

Leonard started first this time actually choosing to play first. He had a hand with two copies of Lightning Storm, Prosperity, Trap Trick, and Fadra. He played Prosperity, banishing six cards to add Sangen Summoning to his hand. He Set Trap Trick.

Yocum drew his card, and Leonard wasted no time activating Trap Trick, getting Different Dimension Ground once more. He flipped it to shut down the Graveyard for the turn. Yocum Set two cards in his back row, then Set a monster.

Leonard drew Forbidden Chalice. Yocum returned the favor by flipping Dimensional Barrier, shutting down Synchros for the turn! Leonard played a Lightning Storm to destroy Yocum’s Set Destructive Daruma Karma Cannon. He played Sangen Summoning next, using it to add Paidra to his hand, then discard his second Lightning Storm. He Normal Summoned Paidra and used its effect to add Sangen Kaimen to his hand. He played Kaimen to add Chundra to his hand. He Special Summoned Chundra with its own effect, then Link Summoned Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres. He Set Chalice.

Yocum used Imsety’s effect, sending Wulf to the Graveyard to add King’s Sarcophagus to his hand and draw a card. He Special Summoned Lightsworn Dragonling, using its effect to send Weiss, Lightsworn Archfiend to the Graveyard. Weiss Special Summoned Wulf from the Graveyard. He used Wulf and Dragonling to Xyz Summon Minerva, the Exalted Lightsworn! He detached Dragonling for Minerva’s effect, sending a Garoth to the Graveyard to let Yocum draw a card. Dragonling’s effect then added Judgment Dragon to Yocum’s hand. He Flip Summoned Keldo the Sacred Protector, using it and Minerva to Link Summon I:P Masquerena. That gave him four different Lightsworn monsters in the Graveyard, and he Special Summoned Judgment Dragon! He paid 1000 Life Points, and Leonard flipped Forbidden Chalice to negate Judgment Dragon. Yocum continued, playing King’s Sarcophagus so he could Special Summon Imsety. Imsety attacked Hieratic Seal, and Leonard activated its effect just as the round timer ended – the previous Duel had been quite drawn out. Hieratic Seal’s effect bounced Masquerena, and then it Special Summoned Fadra in Defense Position. Fadra Special Summoned Paidra, also in Defense Position. Imsety continued its attack, now destroying Paidra. Judgment Dragon destroyed Fadra. The Battle Phase ended, and Leonard had higher Life Points due to Yocum paying for Judgment Dragon!

Jeff Leonard ekes out a win with Tenpai Dragons!