We’re in the second half of Day 1 here at YCS Indianapolis, and things are definitely heating up! Both Vincent Al Birekdar and Nikolas Kekel have managed to stay undefeated thus far. Which one of them will win in round 6 to keep their perfect streak alive? Let’s find out!

Duel One

Al Birekdar will be going first, he started off by Normal Summoning Lo, the Prayers of the Voiceless Voice and activating its effect, placing Barrier of the Voiceless Voice from his Deck. He used Barrier’s effect to search for Saffira, Dragon Queen of the Voiceless Voice; discarded Saffira to send Prayers of the Voiceless Voice to the Graveyard and add Skull Guardian, Protector of the Voiceless Voice to hand; then banished Saffira from the Graveyard to Tribute Lo and Ritual Summon Skull Guardian. Afterwards, Al Birekdar Special Summoned back Lo and used Skull Guardian to search for Sauravis, the Ancient and Ascended. He then activated Pre-Preparation of Rites, adding another Prayers and Skull Guardian to his hand. Finally, he Set two cards to his backrow and ended his turn. 

Kekel opened with two copies of Sangen Summoning, Kashtira Fenrir, Harpie’s Feather Duster, and Pot of Prosperity. He drew another Prosperity for turn. Kekel started by Special Summoning Fenrir, then activated Summoning. He tried to use Summoning’s effect, but Al Birekdar responded with Radiance of the Voiceless Voice, destroying the Field Spell before it could resolve! Kekel used Fenrir’s effect to search for another Fenrir, and then activated Feather Duster, destroying Al Birekdar’s Barrier and face-down Impermanence. Next, he activated Prosperity, and chose to add Forbidden Droplet to his hand. He activated Droplet, sending Fenrir from his hand to the Graveyard to negate the effect of Al Birekdar’s Skull Guardian. Kekel used his Fenrir to attack the Skull Guardian, and tried to use its effect to banish Lo, but Al Birekdar protected it by discarding Sauravis, the Ancient and Ascended. Kekel then ended his turn. 

Al Birekdar started by activating Prayers, tributing the Lo on the field to Special Summon another Skull Guardian. Skull Guardian searched for Sauravis, Dragon Sage of the Voiceless Voice, and Al Birekdar also returned Lo to the field, using it to place another Barrier to the field from his Deck. He then activated Saffira in his hand, sending Prayers to the Graveyard and adding Skull Guardian from his Graveyard back to his hand, and used Saffira’s Graveyard effect to Ritual Summon another Skull Guardian. With a field full of Voiceless Voice monsters, Al Birekdar managed to win the first Duel!

Duel Two

Kekel chose to go first, with an opening hand of Sangen Summoning, Tenpai Dragon Fadra, Infinite Impermanence, Dimensional Barrier, and Book of Eclipse. He activated Summoning, attempting to use its effect, but Al Birekdar responded with Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit to destroy it! Kekel Set 3 cards to his backrow and ended his turn. 

Al Birekdar started his turn by Normal Summoning Diviner of the Herald, attempting to use its effect, but Kekel responded with Infinite Impermanence! Al Birekdar used Barrier to search for Lo, the Prayers of the Voiceless Voice. He then discarded Saffira, Dragon Queen of the Voiceless Voice, sending Prayers of the Voiceless Voice to the Graveyard and searching for Skull Guardian, Protector of the Voiceless Voice. He then banished Saffira from his Graveyard to try and conduct a Ritual Summon, but Kekel responded with Dimensional Barrier, calling Ritual! Al Birekdar attacked Kekel directly with Diviner before ending his turn. 

Kekel drew Sangen Kaimen for turn. He Normal Summoned Tenpai Dragon Fadra and went straight to the Battle Phase. There, Kekel activated Kaimen, searching for and Special Summoning Tenpai Dragon Chundra. Chundra attacked the Diviner, and Kekel used Chundra to Special Summon Tenpai Dragon Paidra from the Deck. Kekel used Fadra and Paidra to attack Al Birekdar’s Life Points directly, then activated Chundra’s effect to conduct a Synchro Summon in the Battle Phase, using Paidra and Chundra to Synchro Summon Sangenpai Bident Dragion! Bident Dragion Special Summoned Paidra out of the Graveyard, and with those two attacks, Kekel was able to secure the win. Onto game three! 

Duel Three

Al Birekdar chose to go first. He started by Normal Summoning Refrain the Melodious Songstress, using its effect to search for Couplet the Melodious Songstress. He activated Melodious Concerto to Fusion Summon Bacha the Melodious Maestra, and then used Bacha to Summon another Refrain from the Deck while Couplet and Refrain were placed into the Pendulum Zones. He used Refrain in the Pendulum Zone to send a third Refrain to the Graveyard, then used Bacha and Refrain to Link Summon I:P Masquerena. He attempted to use Bacha’s effect to Special Summon Refrain from the Graveyard, but Kekel responded with Bystial Magnamhut, banishing the Refrain and Special Summoning it to the field. Instead, Al Birekdar Pendulum Summoned a Refrain from the Extra Deck and Sauravis, Dragon Sage of the Voiceless Voice from his hand. He then used Refrain and I:P to Link Summon Exceed the Pendulum, used Exceed to add Refrain back to his hand and Special Summon it, then used the two to Link Summon Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess! 

Next, Al Birekdar activated Pre-Preparation of Rites, searching for Prayers of the Voiceless Voice and Skull Guardian, Protector of the Voiceless Voice. He activated Prayers, Tributing a Lo, the Prayers of the Voiceless Voice from his hand to Ritual Summon Skull Guardian. He used Skull Guardian to search for Sauravis, the Ancient and Ascended, while also Special Summoning Lo from the Graveyard and placing Barrier of the Voiceless Voice to his field. Finally, he used Barrier to search for Radiance of the Voiceless Voice, then Set a card to his backrow and ended his turn. Kekel searched for Tenpai Dragon Chundra during the End Phase, thanks to Magnamhut!

The other cards in Kekel’s opening hand were Terraforming, Tenpai Dragon Paidra, Kashtira Fenrir, and Sangen Kaimen, as he drew Sangen Summoning for turn. Kekel activated Terraforming, searching for another Summoning, and then activated it; he tried to use its effect, but Al Birekdar had another Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit! Kekel activated his second copy of Summoning, then Normal Summoned Paidra, activating its effect. However, Al Birekdar responded with Skull Guardian as Chain Link 2 and Radiance as Chain Link 3! Radiance destroyed the Field Spell, so Skull Guardian was able to successfully negate the effect of Paidra and destroy it. Kekel entered the Battle Phase and activated Kaimen, and Al Birekdar responded with Sauravis’ effect, returning it to the hand and Special Summoning Sauravis, the Ancient and Ascended. Kekel used Kaimen to search for Tenpai Dragon Fadra and Special Summon Tenpai Dragon Chundra from his hand. He attempted to activate Chundra’s effect, but Al Birekdar negated it with Apollousa! Kekel then decided to use Magnamhut and Chundra to Link Summon Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres, but Al Birekdar used Sauravis to negate the Summon of Spheres and banish it. Kekel Special Summoned Kashtira Fenrir and used it to search for another Fenrir before ending his turn. 

Al Birekdar started his turn by using his Barrier to search for Saffira. He then discarded Saffira to send Prayers to the Graveyard and search for Skull Guardian, then banished Saffira from the Graveyard to Ritual Summon another Skull Guardian! He Special Summoned back Lo from the Graveyard, and used its effect to place Blessings of the Voiceless Voice to his Spell/Trap Zone. Finally, he Special Summoned Sauravis, Dragon Sage of the Voiceless Voice by shuffling Prayers and Pre-Preparation back into the Deck. 

With more than enough monsters on board, Kekel conceded the Duel. 

Al Birekdar wins the match and remains undefeated here at YCS Indianapolis!