533 Duelists competed in this weekend’s Genesys Championship, and only 8 Duelists remain! Anthony Ruperto from Des Moines, Iowa and Hanko Chow from Barrie, Ontario are two of the seven Duelists who used cards from the new “Blitzclique” theme to make it into the Top 8 of this weekend’s Genesys Championship. Both of them finished the Swiss Rounds with 10-2 records. Unlike Chow, however, Ruperto integrated the new “Angelechy” cards from Chaos Origins into his “Blitzclique” strategy. Ruperto hoped that those new chess-inspired cards would give him an edge in the competition this weekend. Now, Ruperto and Chow are facing off in a Match that will eliminate one of them from the tournament. The winner of the Match will advance to the Top 4. It’s time to Duel!

Duel One

Chow started off Duel 1 by activating Seventh Tachyon and revealing Number 106: Giant Hand from his Extra Deck.

He added Planet Pathfinder from his Deck to his hand and then placed a card from his hand on top of his Deck. He Normal Summoned Planet Pathfinder and then Tributed it to add Hideout in the Sky, Coulomb from his Deck to his hand. He activated it and used its effect to Special Summon a Mech Beast Token to Ruperto’s field and add Surge Blitzclique from his Deck to his hand. Next, he activated Blitzclique – Breakaway and used its effect to place Blitzclique Alternator from his Deck face-up in his Spell & Trap Zone. He activated its effect and shuffled a Whisker Blitzclique from his hand back into his Deck to add Grain Blitzclique from his Deck to his hand. He activated the effect of the Surge in his hand and targeted the Token to destroy it and then Special Summon Surge. Next, he activated the effect of Grain in his hand. He targeted his Coulomb and destroyed it to Special Summon Grain, then used the effects of the Breakaway in his Graveyard and the Surge on his field. Ruperto Chained the effect of D.D. Crow and discarded it to banish Breakaway so that Chow couldn’t return it from his Graveyard to his hand. Surge’s effect resolved, and Chow added Emi Blitzclique from his Deck to his hand. He then used Emi’s effect and destroyed his Surge to Special Summon Emi. He activated the effects of the Grain on his field and the Coulomb in his Graveyard. He returned Coulomb to his hand and then added a Breakaway from his Deck to his hand with Grain’s effect. He activated Coulomb, Set a card to his back row, and then ended his turn.

Ruperto drew Foolish Burial Goods and added it to his hand of Angelechy Disturbance, Grain Blitzclique, Blitzclique – Breakaway, and another Foolish Burial Goods. He activated a Foolish Burial Goods to send Angelechy Disturbance from his Deck to his Graveyard and then banished it from his Graveyard to add Angelechy Problem from his Deck to his hand. He activated the Problem and then activated its effect by discarding a Foolish Burial Goods. Chow Chained Breakaway to its effect and returned Emi to his hand to destroy Problem. He then used the effect of the Grain on his field to add Blitzclique – Steppleader from his Deck to his hand. Next, Ruperto activated Grain’s effect in his hand to try to destroy Alternator and Summon Grain, and Chow Chained the Alternator’s effect. He returned the Grain on his own field to the Deck to add Whisker Blitzclique from his Deck to his hand and then the effect of Ruperto’s Grain resolved to destroy the Alternator and Summon itself to the field. Ruperto entered his Battle Phase and attacked directly with Grain, dropping Chow down to 6800 Life Points. He ended his turn with no further play.

Chow used his Coulomb’s effect to give Ruperto another Token and then add Surge from his Deck to his hand. He activated Surge’s effect targeting Grain, destroying the Grain and then Special Summoning Surge from his hand. Next, he activated the effect of Whisker in his hand. He Special Summoned it to his field along with Emi and Crackle, and destroyed Ruperto’s Token. He activated the effects of Emi, Surge, and Breakaway, returning Breakaway from his Graveyard to his hand and adding Grain and Blitzclique Return Stroke from his Deck to his hand. He activated Steppleader and then entered his Battle Phase. Direct attacks from Whisker, Emi, Crackle, and Surge wiped out all 8000 of Ruperto’s Life Points.

Hanko Chow takes the first victory of the Match with his Blitzclique Deck!

Duel Two

Ruperto opened up Duel 2 with Nibiru, the Primal Being, Angelechy Problem, Thunderclap Monk, Whisker Blitzclique, and Angelechy Disturbance.

He activated Angelechy Problem and activated its effect by discarding Angelechy Disturbance. He Special Summoned Angelechy Enlisted from his Extra Deck and then placed Angelechy Bastion into his Spell & Trap Zone as a Continuous Spell Card. He used Bastion’s effect to place Angelechy Shatranga from his Extra Deck into his Spell & Trap Zone as a Continuous Spell Card. He activated Shatranga’s effect to add Angelechy Disturbance from his Deck to his hand. Shatranga’s effect also limited Chow to activating no more than 5 monster effects per turn while it was face-up. He Set Angelechy Disturbance face-down and then ended his turn.

Chow activated Cosmic Cyclone in his Draw Phase and paid 1000 Life Points to activate it. He targeted Ruperto’s face-down Disturbance and Ruperto Chained the Disturbance. He gave control of his Enlisted to Chow, placing it adjacent to the Cosmic Cyclone so that the Cosmic Cyclone’s effect would be negated. Disturbance was sent to the Graveyard, and then the effect of Enlisted activated. It returned to Ruperto’s Extra Deck and Ruperto Special Summoned Angelechy Shatranga from his Extra Deck. Next, Chow activated Seventh Tachyon in his Main Phase and revealed Number 106: Giant Hand from his Extra Deck. He added Surge Blitzclique from his Deck to his hand and returned a card from his hand to the top of his Deck. Next, he activated Surge’s effect, targeting the Shatranga in the Main Monster Zone. He then Chained Cosmic Cyclone to banish the Bastion in the Spell & Trap Zone. Surge’s effect resolved and destroyed Shatranga before Summoning itself to the field. Next, Chow activated Coulomb and used its effect. He gave Ruperto a Token and then added Grain Blitzclique from his Deck to his hand. He activated its effect in his hand targeting the Shatranga in the Spell & Trap Zone. He destroyed the Shatranga and Special Summoned Grain. Then, he used Surge’s effect to add Whisker Blitzclique from his Deck to his hand. He Set a card to his back row and then activated Whisker’s effect in his hand. He Special Summoned it and destroyed the Alternator in his own back row. He activated Grain’s effect to add Breakaway from his Deck to his hand. Next, he banished Alternator from his Graveyard to add Steppleader from his Deck to his hand. He activated Breakaway to place Alternator from his Deck face-up on his field. He then activated Alternator’s effect to return Steppleader from his hand to his Deck and add Emi from his Deck to his hand. He activated Emi’s effect and targeted the Token on Ruperto’s field to destroy it and Summon Emi. He attempted to enter his Battle Phase, and Ruperto activated the effect of Nibiru, the Primal Being while still in the Main Phase! He Tributed all monsters on the field and gave Chow a Primal Being Token with 6900 ATK and 4500 DEF in Defense Position. He Special Summoned his own Nibiru in Attack Position. In the End Phase, Ruperto banished Disturbance from his Graveyard to add Angelechy Problem from his Deck to his hand.

Ruperto drew Hideout in the Sky, Coulomb and Chow activated Breakaway in the Draw Phase to place Blitzclique Return Strike from his Deck face-up to his back row. In his Main Phase, Ruperto activated the effect of Problem by discarding a Problem. He Special Summoned Enlisted from his Extra Deck and placed Destrier from his Extra Deck into his Spell & Trap Zone. He activated Destrier’s effect, and Chow Chained Alternator’s effect to move Return Strike to his Deck and add Crackle from his Deck to his hand. Destrier’s effect added Angelechy Problem from Ruperto’s Deck to his hand. Next, Ruperto activated Coulomb and used its effect to Special Summon a Token to Chow’s field and add Surge Blitzclique from his Deck to his hand. He then activated Surge’s effect targeting the Primal Being Token. He destroyed the Token and then Special Summoned Thunderclap Monk from his hand. Ruperto then activated the effect of Whisker in his hand to Special Summon Whisker and Surge from his hand and destroy the Token. Direct attacks from all of Ruperto’s monsters wiped out all 8000 of Chow’s Life Points!

Ruperto’s successful activation of the effect of Nibiru, the Primal Being annihilates Chow’s field and allows Ruperto to push the Match to a third and final Duel!

Duel Three

Chow started off Duel 3 by Normal Summoning Surge Blitzclique. He activated Coulomb and then used its effect. He Special Summoned a Token to Ruperto’s field and added Emi Blitzclique from his Deck to his hand. He activated Emi’s effect targeting his own Field Spell Card for destruction and then Chained Breakaway to place Alternator from his Deck face-up in his back row. He resolved Emi’s effect to destroy Coulomb and Special Summon Emi. He activated the effects of the Surge on his field and the Breakaway in his Graveyard. He returned Breakaway from his Graveyard to his hand and added Whisker from his Deck to his hand with Surge’s effect. Next, he used the effect of his Alternator to return the Surge on his field back into his Deck and add Thunderclap Monk from his Deck to his hand. He activated the effect of Whisker in his hand and then Special Summoned Grain in Defense Position along with Monk and Whisker in Attack Position. He destroyed the Token and then activated the effects of the Emi and Grain on his field, as well as the Coulomb in his Graveyard. He returned Coulomb from his Graveyard to his hand and added Blitzclique Return Stroke and Blitzclique – Steppleader from his Deck to his hand. Next, he activated Seventh Tachyon and revealed Number 106: Giant Hand from his Extra Deck. He added Surge from his Deck to his hand and then returned a card from his hand to the top of his Deck. He activated Steppleader next, and Set 2 cards face-down to his back row.

Ruperto opened up Duel 3 with Blitzclique Alternator, Angelechy Disruption, Angelechy Problem, Grain Blitzclique, and Thunderclap Monk. He drew Blitzclique – Breakaway for his turn and then activated Angelechy Problem in his Main Phase. He discarded Alternator from his hand to activate Problem’s effect, prompting Chow to Chain Return Stroke and use its effect. He returned Whisker to his hand in order to negate Problem’s effect and destroy the Problem. Next, Ruperto Normal Summoned Grain and then activated Breakaway. He returned Grain to his hand to try to destroy Thunderclap Monk, and Chow Chained his own Breakaway to return Emi to his hand and destroy his own Monk. He activated the effect of the Grain on his field and the effect of his Steppleader. He added Coulomb from his Deck to his hand with Grain’s effect and returned the Monk from his Graveyard to his hand with Steppleader. Next, Ruperto activated Grain’s effect targeting Chow’s Return Strike. Chow Chained Alternator’s effect to put Return Strike back into his Deck and add Thunder King, the Lightningstrike Kaiju from his Deck to his hand. Ruperto banished Alternator from his Graveyard to add Coulomb from his Deck to his hand and then activated Coulomb. He activated its effect, but Chow Chained the effect of the Whisker in his hand. He Special Summoned Thunderclap Monk, Whisker, and Surge from his hand and destroyed the Coulomb. He then activated the effects of the Surge on his field and the Breakaway in his Graveyard, and Ruperto conceded, realizing he was completely outmatched would be defeated on the next turn.

Hanko Chow is moving on to the Top 4 of the Genesys Championship!