DeOnte Thompson from Chillicothe, Ohio and Thomas Chacko from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania are both currently 7-1 in the 2026 North America WCQ. DeOnte Thompson is using an Angelechy Elfnote Deck, taking advantage of the new chess-inspired cards from Chaos Origins. Chacko is using a Deck built around Light and Darkness Ritual, which is one of the most popular new Decks arising out of the latest booster set. Now, they’re facing off in the final Swiss Round of the day. It’s time to Duel!

Chacko started off Duel 1 by activating the effect of Black Chaos in his hand.

He discarded it to place Mind Shuffle from his Deck face-up on his field and activated Mind Shuffle’s effect; but Thompson Chained the effect of Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit to destroy it! Chacko ended his turn.

Thompson drew Elfnotes: Welcome Home and added it to his hand of Mulcharmy Fuwalos, Angelechy Problem, Elfnote Tinia, and Elfnote Lucia. He Special Summoned Tinia to his center Main Monster Zone and used its effect to place Elfnotes: Welcome Home from his Deck in his Spell & Trap Card Zone. He activated Angelechy Problem next. He activated its effect by discarding a Welcome Home and he Special Summoned Angelechy Enlisted from his Extra Deck and placed Angelechy Bastion from his Extra Deck in his Spell & Trap Card Zone. He used the Bastion’s effect to place Angelechy Shatranga face-up in his Spell & Trap Card Zone. He then used Shatranga’s effect to add Angelechy Opening to e4 from his Deck to his hand. He then Tributed Tinia to Summon Elfnote Lucina and used its effect to add Elfnote Fortuna from his Deck to his hand. He Special Summoned it in the center column and used its effect to place Elfnotes: Rhapsodia of Madness face-up in his Spell & Trap Card Zone. He entered his Battle Phase and then attacked directly with Enlisted, Fortuna, and Lucina, dropping Chacko down to 1800 Life Points. While still in the Battle Phase, Thompson activated the effect of his Elfnotes: Rhapsodia of Madness. He sent Fuwalos from his hand to his Graveyard to Special Summon Tinia from his Graveyard. He attacked directly with it, wiping out the rest of Chacko’s Life Points!

DeOnte Thompson takes a quick win in Duel 1 after destroying Chacko’s Mind Shuffle with the effect of Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit!

Duel Two

Chacko went first in Duel 2, and Thompson activated Angelechy Opening to e4 in the Standby Phase. He placed Angelechy Problem from his Deck into his Field Spell Card Zone, Special Summoned Angelechy Destrier, and placed Angelechy Bastion face-up in his Spell & Trap Card Zone as a Continuous Spell Card. He used the Bastion’s effect to place Angelechy Shatranga in his Spell & Trap Card Zone as a Continuous Spell Card and used its effect to add Angelechy Opening to e4 to his hand. Chacko activated the effect of Black Chaos in his Main Phase and discarded it to place Mind Shuffle face-up on his field from his Deck. He used its effect and added Skull Archfiend of Chaos from his Deck to his hand, then discarded it and activated its effect by sending Light and Darkness Ritual from his hand to his Graveyard. Thompson Chained the effect of Droll & Lock Bird, and Chacko Chained Called by the Grave to banish the Droll & Lock Bird and negate its effect. Chacko resolved his Skull Archfiend’s effect to add Magician of Dark Chaos – Black Chaos from his Deck to his hand. Next, he activated the effect of the Ritual Spell Card in his Graveyard, but Thompson Chained the effect of D.D. Crow from his hand to banish it, preventing its effect from resolving! Next, Chacko activated Skull Archfiend of Chaos’s effect. He Special Summoned it from his Graveyard by returning Light and Darkness Ritual from banishment, Black Chaos from his Graveyard, and D.D. Crow from Thompson’s Graveyard to the Deck. He ended his turn with no further play.

Thompson drew Trap Eater and added it to his hand of Elfnote Lucina, Called by the Grave, and Opening to e4. In the Standby Phase, Chacko used Mind Shuffle’s effect to add Skull Archfiend of Chaos from his Deck to his hand and discard it. He then used the Skull Archfiend’s effect by sending Light and Darkness Ritual from his Deck to his Graveyard, and added Black Luster Soldier – Soldier of Light and Darkness from his Deck to his hand. In the Main Phase, Thompson Special Summoned Trap Eater from his hand by sending Mind Shuffle from Chacko’s field to his Graveyard. Thompson activated the effect of Angelechy Problem next. He discarded Opening to e4 to Special Summon Enlisted from his Extra Deck and place Angelechy Destrier from his Extra Deck in his Spell & Trap Card Zone. He Special Summoned Elfnote Lucina next and used its effect to add Elfnote Power Patron from his Deck to his hand. He Normal Summoned it and then activated his Destrier’s effect to try to banish Skull Archfiend from the field. Thompson Chained the effect of Fydraulis Harmonia and revealed 5 Synchro Monsters from his Extra Deck. Thompson Chained his Power Patron’s effect. He targeting Lucina, increased its Level by 3, and then Tuned Power Patron with Lucina to Summon Elfnote June Pride. When the Harmonia’s effect resolved, he Special Summoned it, sent Golden Cloud Beast – Malong to the Graveyard, and destroyed June Pride. Chacko took 500 points of damage due to the effect of the Destrier in the Spell & Trap Card Zone. Destrier banished Skull Archfiend as the Chain fully resolved. Thompson activated the effect of his Elfnote Power Patron to try to add a card from his Deck to his hand, and Chacko Chained the effect of Malong to return Enlisted to the Extra Deck. After Enlisted was removed from the field, Chacko took 500 points of damage due to the effect of Angelechy Destrier and Thompson added Elfnote Fortuna from his Deck to his hand. Thompson Special Summoned Fortuna and used its effect to place Elfnotes: Rhapsodia of Madness face-up in his Spell & Trap Card Zone. Next, he Tuned Trap Eater with Fortuna to Synchro Summon Chaos Angel. Since it was Synchro Summoned using a DARK and LIGHT monster as Synchro Materials, it gained both of its extra effects, protecting Thompson’s monsters in battle and making his Synchro Monsters unaffected by the opponent’s monster effects. He used Chaos Angel to banish Harmonia from the Duel and then activated his Rhapsodia of Madness’s effect. He sent his Angelechy Destrier to the Graveyard and Special Summoned Elfnote Lucina from his Graveyard. He attacked directly with Lucina and Chaos Angel, dropping Chacko down to 1000 Life Points. In Main Phase 2, Thompson Set Called by the Grave and ended his turn.

Chacko Special Summoned Black Chaos from his hand by returning Black Luster Soldier – Soldier of Light and Darkness from his hand to his Deck. He activated its effect to banish Thompson’s Destrier and Rhapsodia of Madness. Next, he activated the effect of Light and Darkness Ritual to return the Ritual and Mind Shuffle from his Graveyard to his hand. He Normal Summoned Celtic Mystic next and activated its effect. He revealed Mind Shuffle, Light and Darkness Ritual, and Magician of Dark Chaos – Black Chaos from his hand, drew 3 cards, and then discarded Solemn Accusation and Griffoh from his hand. He then activated Skull Archfiend of Chaos’s effect in the Graveyard to Special Summon it after returning his own Harmonia and another Skull Archfiend to his Deck, along with a Droll & Lock Bird to Thompson’s Deck. Next, Chacko Tuned Skull Archfiend with Celtic Mystic to Synchro Summon his own Chaos Angel with all of its effects active, and used it to target Thompson’s Called by the Grave to banish it. Thompson Chained it to banish Griffoh from the Graveyard. Next, Chacko activated Light and Darkness Ritual. He banished Golden Cloud Beast – Malong and Celtic Mystic from his Graveyard to Special Summon Magician of Dark Chaos – Black Chaos from his hand, and declined to use its effect. He attacked Lucina with Chaos Angel, Black Chaos, and Magician of Dark Chaos – Black Chaos, and Lucina survived each attack due to the effect of Thompson’s Chaos Angel. Thompson dropped down to 6200 Life Points from the three attacks. In Main Phase 2, Chacko used the effect of his Ritual Monster to banish Lucina face-down. Chacko Set a card to his back row before ending his turn.

Thompson drew another Lucina and then Chacko flipped Mind Shuffle in the Standby Phase and used its effect to add Black Luster Soldier – Soldier of Light and Darkness from his Deck to his hand and discard it. In the Main Phase, Thompson Special Summoned Elfnote Lucina from his hand and activated its effect; but Chacko negated it with the effect of Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring. Thompson entered his Battle Phase next, and attacked Magician of Dark Chaos – Black Chaos with Chaos Angel. The monster survived due to the effect of Chacko’s Chaos Angel, but Chacko’s Life Points dropped down to 300.

Chacko activated the effect of Black Chaos to banish both of the Angelechy cards in Thompson’s back row and then activated his Ritual Monster’s effect to banish Lucina face-down. Next, he used his Ritual Spell’s effect in the Graveyard to return it to his hand along with his Black Luster Soldier – Soldier of Light and Darkness. He activated Light and Darkness Ritual and Tributed Black Chaos to Special Summon Black Luster Soldier – Soldier of Light and Darkness. He used his newly Summoned Ritual Monster’s effect to banish Angelechy Problem. Next, Chacko used Mind Shuffle’s effect to add Celtic Mystic from his Deck to his hand and discard Griffoh. He then used the effect of Skull Archfiend of Chaos in his Graveyard. He returned his 3 banished cards to the Deck to Special Summon it in Defense Position. He switched Dark Magician of Chaos – Black Chaos to Defense Position and then ended his turn.

Thompson drew a card and entered his Battle Phase. Chacko used Mind Shuffle to add Griffoh from his Deck to his hand and discard Celtic Mystic. Chaos Angel attacked Black Luster Soldier and Chacko used Griffoh’s effect by discarding it from his hand to reduce the battle damage to 0. The Black Luster Soldier still couldn’t be destroyed by battle due to the effect of Chaos Angel. In Main Phase 2, Thompson Special Summoned Tinia from his hand and used its effect to place Welcome Home in his back row. After a flurry of plays, he ended his turn with Lucina and Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon in Defense Position to join his Chaos Angel on the field, and had an Elfnote Regina in his hand.

Chacko drew a card and then used Magician of Dark Chaos – Black Chaos’s effect to try to banish Crystal Wing face-down, but the Crystal Wing was unaffected by its effect due to Chaos Angel’s effect. Next, Chacko returned Light and Darkness Ritual and Griffoh from his Graveyard to his hand using his Light and Darkness Ritual’s effect. Next, he activated his Mind Shuffle’s effect to add Celtic Mystic from his Deck to his hand and discard Light and Darkness Ritual. He Switched Black Luster Soldier – Soldier of Light and Darkness to Defense Position and then switched Chaos Angel to Defense Position. Seeing no way to break through Chacko’s Defense Position monsters and Chaos Angel’s effect so that he could inflict the last 300 points of damage that he would need to win, Thompson conceded Duel 2 with approximately 7 minutes left in the round.

The players quickly began Side Decking for Duel 3!

Duel Three

Thompson opened up Duel 3 with Trap Eater, Elfnotes: Welcome Home, Prohibited Power Patron Portal – Terminus, D.D. Crow, and Vidolium the Unstable Power Patron of Unity.

He activated Terminus, but lost out to Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring. Next, he activated Welcome Home and used its effect be sending D.D. Crow to the Graveyard.  He Special Summoned Regina from his Deck and used its effect to Special Summon Elfnote Power Patron. He Tuned them together to Synchro Summon Elfnote Seraphim Strelitzia and used the effects of Power Patron and Regina. Regina returned from the Graveyard to his hand and the Power Patron’s effect added Fortuna from his Deck to his hand. He used Strelitzia’s effect to Summon back the Power Patron and then Synchro Summoned Glitch Clutch Nullgainer. He used its effect to add Witness of the Ancient from his Deck to his hand. He then Special Summoned it from his hand and activated its effect to place Bastion and Drestier from his Extra Deck face-up into his Spell & Trap Card Zone. He also Special Summoned a Level 2 Arc Token. He used Bastion’s effect to place Shatranga from his Extra Deck into his back row and used Drestier’s effect to add Problem to his hand. He used Shatranga’s effect to add Opening to e4 from his Deck to his hand. He Synchro Summoned Chaos Angel next and activated Problem. He used its effect by discarding Opening to e4. He Special Summoned Enlisted from his Extra Deck and placed Drestier in his Spell & Trap Card Zone. After a flurry of plays, Chacko activated Harmonia’s effect revealing 5 Synchro Monsters from the Graveyard. He Special Summoned Harmonia, destroyed a card, and sent Despian Luluwalilith from his Extra Deck to his Graveyard. Fewer than 30 seconds remained in the round, and play continued rapidly – but the Duel could not be completed in time. The Match ended in a double loss!

After a disappointing loss for both Duelists, they advance in the tournament with a 7-2 record. Fortunately for them, they will return to compete in additional Swiss Rounds tomorrow and will still have a shot at a Top 8 finish.