We’re halfway into the first day of Genesys competition, and things are heating up! Here from Barrie, ON, we have Matthew Vanden Heuvel with Blitzclique. This Deck saw some point increases recently, but it’s still a very strong contender. His opponent is Joshua Leznoff, from right here in Montréal, is playing Centur-Ion Assault Mode!

Duel 1

Vanden Heuvel won the dice roll, and chose to play second. Leznoff had a hand of Centur-Ion Bonds, D.D. Crow, Broomy, Effect Veiler, and Emblema Oath. He led with Emblema Oath to place Centur-Ion Primera in his back row. He Special Summoned it, and added Stand Up Centur-Ion! to his hand. He played the Field Spell, using its effect by sending D.D. Crow to the Graveyard, to place Centur-Ion Trudea in his back row. He Special Summoned Trudea, increasing its Level by 4. That let him Synchro Summon Centur-Ion Auxila, and Auxila’s effect added Centur-Ion Phalanx to his hand. He played Centur-Ion Bonds to return Primera to his back row. He Set Phalanx. In the End Phase, Auxila’s effect returned Trudea to his back row.

Vanden Heuvel activated Link Apple’s effect, randomly banishing Toxic Boxfish from his Extra Deck to draw a card. Boxfish then negated Leznoff’s all-important Field Spell! He played Pot of Sloth next, drawing five cards and returning four to the bottom of his Deck. He activated Grain Blitzclique, destroying Stand Up and Special Summoning Grain. Vanden Heuvel handed over Thunder King, the Lightningstrike Kaiju by Tributing Auxila! Vanden Heuvel activated Whisker Blitzclique’s effect, and Leznoff Chained Phalanx’s effect in the Graveyard to Special Summon Auxila. Vanden Heuvel Special Summoned Whisker and Crackle Blitzclique, then tried to destroy some of Leznoff’s cards. Auxila protected his back row, and Primera protected Auxila, so Whisker was only able to destroy Thunder King. Vanden Heuvel now activated Grain’s and Crackle’s effects, sending Blitzclique Alternator to the Graveyard and adding Hideout in the Sky, Coulomb to his hand. He used Coulomb to give Leznoff a Mech Beast Token, then added Surge Blitzclique to his hand. He used Alternator’s effect in the Graveyard to add Blitzclique – Steppleader to his hand. He played it, and used Surge’s effect to Special Summon Surge and destroy the Token. Steppleader put Thunder King back in his hand. He went to the Battle Phase, sending Whisker to destroy Auxila in battle. Everything else attacked to drop Leznoff to 2000 Life Points. He played Blitzclique – Breakaway to put Alternator on the field. He used that to add Emi Blitzcliue to his hand and destroy Primera. Emi attacked directly to drop Leznoff to 600 Life Points, and he Set a back row card to finish his turn.

Leznoff drew Cosmic Cyclone, which he couldn’t use with such low Life Points. He conceded this Duel.

Duel 2

Leznoff started this time with Centur-Ion Atrii, Phalanx, Emblema Oath, Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit, and Duel Evolution – Assault Zone. He played Assault Zone to add Psi-Reflector to his hand, Normal Summoning it and activating its effect. Vanden Heuvel responded with Crackle, Special Summoning it and destroying Psi-Reflector. Leznoff’s effect then resolved, adding Assault Beast to his hand. He used Assault Beast’s effect to add Assault Mode Activate to his hand. He paid 2000 Life Points for Assault Zone’s effect, letting him use a monster directly from his Extra Deck for Assault Mode Activate. He then played Emblema Oath to Set Stand Up Centur-Ion!, replacing Assault Zone. He activated Stand Up, sending Phalanx to the Graveyard to put Trudea in his back row. He Special Summoned Trudea, then used its effect to return it to his back row and place Primera in his back row. He Special Summoned Primera, adding Wake Up Centur-Ion! to his hand. He used it to Special Summon a Level 4 Centur-Ion Token, and Synchro Summoned Nightwinged Cleric. He used its effect to Set Assault Mode Activate from his hand, and flipped it immediately to bring Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode to the field! He used Nightwinged Cleric’s other effect, discarding Atrii to Special Summon Assault Lich. Lich brought Assault Beast to the field. He used Lich and Nightwinged Cleric to Synchro Summon Auxila. Lich added Assault Counter to Leznoff’s hand, and Auxila added Centur-Ion Bonds to his hand. He activated Bonds to place Atrii in his back row. He Special Summoned Atrii, which let him draw another Phalanx. He tuned Atrii to Assault Beast for Centur-Ion Primera Primus. Primera Primus put another Emblema Oath in his hand and destroyed Crackle, and he banished Bonds from the Graveyard to return Primera to his back row. Leznoff finished the turn by Setting Phalanx and Assault Counter. In the End Phase, Auxila returned Atrii to the back row.

Vanden Heuvel played Gordian Slicer! He targeted Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode and Stand Up, forcing Leznoff to use his Stardust’s effect. Gordian Slicer couldn’t be negated, but doing this would allow Stardust to return in the End Phase, rather than going to the hand. Slicer returned Stand Up to the hand. Vanden Heuvel continued with Pot of Sloth for seven fresh cards! He used Link Apple next, randomly banishing Light Dragon @Ignister and drawing a new card. He played Coulomb, but lost it to Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit when he activated its effect. He played Steppleader, using it to Special Summon Surge and destroy the Steppleader. That triggered Surge’s effect to add Grain to his hand. He activated another copy of Coulomb, then activated Whisker’s effect in his hand. Leznoff flipped Phalanx, targeting Surge to banish it temporarily. Vanden Heuvel Special Summoned Whisker and Grain, destroying Assault Counter. Grain put Breakaway in his hand, and he returned Steppleader to his hand. Whisker attacked to destroy Auxila. Vanden Heuvel then played Breakaway to place Alternator on the field. He used its effect, returning Grain to the Deck to add Emi to his hand. He Special Summoned Emi and destroyed Primera. Breakaway returned to his hand. He played Steppleader and Set Breakaway to finish the turn. Leznoff tried to Special Summon his Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode, and Vanden Heuvel negated it by returning Emi to the hand for Whisker’s effect.

Leznoff drew another Stand Up, and the banished Surge was Special Summoned in the Standby Phase. Leznoff played Stand Up, sending his second Stand Up to the Graveyard to place Primera in his back row. He banished Phalanx from the Graveyard to Special Summon Auxila, and activated its effect. Vanden Heuvel negated it with Whisker, bouncing Surge to the hand. He then flipped up Breakaway, but realized too late that Auxila, Primera, and Stand up all had protections for each other. Vanden Heuvel chose to destroy his own Coulomb. In a new Chain, Steppleader returned Crackle to his hand, and Leznoff Chained Atrii to Special Summon it. In another new Chain, he activated Atrii and Stand Up. Vanden Heuvel responded with Whisker from the hand, bringing Whisker, Surge, and Emi to the field and destroying Atrii. Stand Up had nothing to Synchro Summon now, but Atrii’s effect still let him draw D.D. Crow. He used it to banish Breakaway, but Vanden Heuvel still was able to add Coulomb, Blitzclique Return Stroke, and another Whisker to his hand with his various on-field Blitzcliques. Leznoff Special Summoned Trudea, and used it with Primera Primus for Centur-Ion Legatia. Legatia let him draw Cosmic Cyclone and destroy Whisker. He Special Summoned Primera, and Vanden Heuvel responded with Crackle to destroy it. Primera’s effect got Trudea in his hand. He Normal Summoned Trudea, using its effect to place a new Primera in his back row. He moved to the Battle Phase, sending Auxila to destroy Crackle, but the combination of Phalanx’s ATK drop and Alternator’s ATK drop kept Vanden Heuvel’s monster on the field. Legatia destroyed Surge. Leznoff Set Emblema Oath to finish the turn. Vanden Heuvel used Alternator, returning Return Stroke to his Deck, and Leznoff responded with Cosmic Cyclone to banish Alternator. Auxila put Atrii in the back row, and Legatia put another Trudea in the back row.

Vanden Heuvel played Coulomb and gave away a Mech Beast Token to add Grain to his hand. Leznoff Special Summoned Atrii and Trudea, using Stand Up to Synchro Summon Draco Berserker of the Tenyi. But Vanden Heuvel had a Lava Golem! He then Special Summoned out all the Blitzcliques from his hand, adding Breakaway in the process. That let him get Alternator, which he could activate this turn to weaken Legatia. He attacked with everything, narrowly taking the Match just as the round was about to end!

Matthew Vanden Heuvel takes this Match with Blitzcliques!