For our Round 5 Feature Match, we have two extremely powerful Decks facing off. Adrien Racek, a local player from Montréal, is playing the Darklord Deck, a powerful strategy that combines the Darklord monsters with Herald of Orange Light and Herald of Green Light to try and disrupt the opponent’s plays. Meanwhile, Oliver Martin Ernst Denk is playing the Blitzclique Deck, one that has been popular since its release in Chaos Origins. Which of these Duelists will improve to 5-0? Let’s find out! It’s time to Duel!

Duel 1

Denk won the die roll and chose to go first! He Set a card to his backrow and ended his turn. 

Racek opened with Darklord Gulgolet, Darklord Ixchel, Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit, and two copies of Banishment of the Darklords, then drew another copy of Ixchel for turn! He started by activating Ixchel’s effect, discarding it and Gulgolet to the Graveyard to draw Darklord Morningstar and Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion. Afterwards, he activated Gulgolet’s effect to search for Darklord Dance! He then activated Dance, banishing the two Darklord monsters from his Graveyard to Fusion Summon Darklord Eveningstar. He used its effect to Set Darklord Contact and Darklord Rebellion to his backrow, as Denk activated the effect of Crackle Blitzclique in hand, destroying Eveningstar and Special Summoning Crackle to the field.

Next, Racek activated Banishment of the Darklords to search for Darklord Djehuty. On resolution, Denk activated Blitzclique Alternator, returning Crackle to the Deck to search for Whisker Blitzclique! Denk then activated Whisker’s effect, Special Summoning it and Spright Blue from hand to destroy both of Racek’s Set cards. In the following Chain, he activated the effect of Spright Blue to search for Spright Carrot, as Racek activated the effect of Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit to destroy Blue. Racek followed up by Normal Summoning Djehuty and activating its effect; Denk Chained the effect of his own Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit, destroying Djehuty as Racek Special Summoned Darklord Ixchel from his Deck. Racek activated Ixchel’s effect, returning Darklord Contact to the Deck to copy its effect and Special Summon Darklord Eveningstar from the Graveyard. He then activated Eveningstar’s effect, returning Dance to the Deck, then using Darklord Morningstar, Ixchel, and Djehuty from his Graveyard to Fusion Summon The First Darklord! He activated The First Darklord’s effect, destroying both Whisker and Alternator on Denk’s side of the field, and proceeded to the Battle Phase, attacking Denk’s Life Points directly. He then ended his turn. During the End Phase, Denk activated Alternator’s effect, banishing it from the Graveyard to search for Hideout in the Sky, Coulomb. 

Denk started his turn by activating Hideout in the Sky, Coulomb. He activated its effect, but Racek Chained the effect of Ixchel, returning Rebellion from his Graveyard to the Deck to destroy Coulomb before he could resolve its effect. Without any other pushes, Denk conceded the first Duel.

Duel 2

Racek opened with Darklord Ixchel, Mystical Space Typhoon, Super Duper Polymerization, Darklord Morningstar, and Darklord Djehuty.

Denk chose to go first once again! He started by activating Pot of Extravagance, banishing 6 cards from his Extra Deck to draw 2 cards. He then activated Blitzclique – Breakaway, placing Blitzclique Alternator to his backrow. He Normal Summoned Surge Blitzclique, then activated Alternator’s effect to search for Grain Blitzclique! Next, Denk Set a card to his Field Spell Zone, then activated the effect of Grain to destroy the face-down Hideout in the Sky, Coulomb. This allowed him to add Breakaway back to hand, as well as use Surge’s effect to search for Emi Blitzclique! He Special Summoned Emi and destroyed Surge, then added Coulomb back to hand and used Grain’s effect to search for Blitzclique – Steppleader. He activated Steppleader, activated Coulomb, then used Coulomb’s effect to Special Summon a Token to Racek’s side of the field and search for Surge Blitzclique. Denk then Special Summoned Surge and destroyed the Token, then added the other Surge from his Graveyard back to hand, and added another copy of Blitzclique Alternator from Deck to hand. Finally, he Set two cards to his backrow and ended his turn. 

Racek drew Darklord Ixchel for turn! He activated its effect, discarding it and Morningstar to draw Darklord Tezcatlipoca and another copy of Mystical Space Typhoon. He then Normal Summoned Djehuty and activated its effect, Special Summoning Indulged Darklord from the Deck. This allowed him to Special Summon Darklord Gulgolet to Denk’s side of the field, as well as search for Darklord Morningstar! On resolution, Denk activated the effect of Blitzclique Alternator, returning Grain to the Deck, but Racek Chained Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying Alternator before Denk could resolve its effect! In the following Chain, Denk searched for Alternator and Crackle with the effects of Emi and Surge, respectively. He then activated Breakaway, returning Emi to hand to destroy Racek’s Djehuty! With Emi back in hand, Denk was able to activate its effect, Special Summoning it and destroying Indulged Darklord, then added Breakaway back to hand from his Graveyard. 

Racek followed up by activating Super Duper Polymerization, Special Summoning The First Darklord, then sent it and Denk’s Gulgolet to the Graveyard and Special Summoned Darklord Eveningstar! Racek used Gulgolet’s effect to search for Darklord Dance, as well as Eveningstar’s effect to Set Banishment of the Darklords and Darklord Rebellion to his backrow. On resolution, Denk activated the effect of Whisker Blitzclique, Special Summoning it and Crackle from Denk’s hand and destroying Racek’s face-down Banishment; Racek discarded Darklord Tezcatlipoca from his hand to the Graveyard to prevent Eveningstar from being destroyed. Meanwhile, Denk sent Blitzclique – Steppleader to the Graveyard. Racek banished Djehuty from his Graveyard and added Banishment back to hand, then activated it to search for Darklord Contact! He activated Contact, Special Summoning back Ixchel from the Graveyard. He then activated Darklord Dance, Denk Chained Blitzclique Return Stroke, but Racek activated Mystical Space Typhoon as Chain Link 3! Racek resolved Dance to banish three Darklord monsters from his Graveyard and Fusion Summon The First Darklord! He proceeded to the Battle Phase and attacked Whisker with The First Darklord, then activated Ixchel’s effect to copy Darklord Dance, allowing him to Special Summon a second copy of The First Darklord and destroy all cards on Denk’s side of the field; here, Denk Chained the effect of Crackle Blitzclique, destroying The First Darklord, but all of Denk’s monsters, including Crackle, were still destroyed. Finally, Racek used the effect of Darklord Eveningstar to return Banishment of the Darklords to his Deck and search for The Sanctified Darklord, Set it to his backrow, and ended his turn.

Denk started his turn by banishing Return Stroke from his Graveyard to add Emi Blitzclique back to hand. He then Special Summoned Emi and used its effect to try and destroy The Sanctified Darklord, but Racek Chained Darklord Rebellion, destroying Sanctified so that Emi could not be Special Summoned. Denk then banished Alternator from his Graveyard to search for Hideout in the Sky, Coulomb! Denk activated Coulomb, but when he activated its effect, Racek Chained Eveningstar’s effect, returning Rebellion to the Graveyard to destroy Coulomb, as Denk used the effect of Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit to destroy Eveningstar. Denk Set two cards to his backrow, Normal Summoned Emi, and ended his turn. During the End Phase, Racek used The First Darklord’s effect to Special Summon back Darklord Eveningstar from the Graveyard.

Racek drew Herald of Green Light for turn! He switched Eveningstar to Attack Position and proceeded to the Battle Phase. At the start of the Battle Phase, Denk activated Breakaway, returning Emi to hand to try and destroy Alternator, then Chained the effect of Blitzclique Alternator to search for Whisker Blitzclique! Denk added Breakaway and Coulomb from the Graveyard back to his hand. However, Denk followed up by activating the effect of Whisker Blitzclique, Special Summoning it and Grain Blitzclique, then destroying Racek’s monsters. Racek knew that he wasn’t able to re-establish field presence after dealing with the onslaught of Blitzclique monsters, and conceded. We’ve moving on to game three!

Duel 3

Racek opened with Darklord Contact, Forbidden Crown, Darklord Ixchel, Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit, and Darklord Morningstar. He started by activating the effect of Ixchel, discarding it and Morningstar to draw Indulged Darklord and The Sanctified Darklord! He Normal Summoned Indulged, then used its effect to Special Summon Darklord Gulgolet to Denk’s field while searching for Darklord Djehuty. Finally, he Set two cards to his backrow and ended his turn.

Denk started by using the effect of Grain Blitzclique to destroy Racek’s face-down The Sanctified Darklord, then Special Summon Grain to the field. Denk then activated Hideout in the Sky, Coulomb. From there, he activated the effect of Surge Blitzclique, destroying Gulgolet and Special Summoning Surge Blitzclique! Denk activated Grain’s effect, but Racek activated Gulgolet’s effect as Chain Link 2, as well as Forbidden Crown as Chain Link 3! Racek resolved Crown and applied its effects to Surge as Racek searched for Darklord Dance. Denk then activated Blitzclique – Breakaway, placing Blitzclique Alternator to the backrow. However, when he activated its effect, it was met by the effect of Racek’s Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit! From there, Denk activated the effect of Coulomb, searching for Whisker Blitzclique, then used Whisker’s effect to Special Summon both it and Crackle Blitzclique! Denk added Breakaway back to hand and attacked Racek’s Life Points directly with both Crackle and Whisker. Finally, he Set two cards to his backrow and ended his turn.

Racek drew another copy of Darklord Dance for turn! He Normal Summoned Darklord Djehuty and activated its effect, but Denk Chained the effect of Whisker, negating it. This allowed Denk to use the effect of Crackle to send Steppleader to the Graveyard. Racek then activated Darklord Dance, but Denk Chained Blitzclique Return Stroke, returning Whisker to hand to negate Dance! Denk used Crackle’s effect to send Blitzclique – Steppleader to the Graveyard, then activated Darklord Contact, Special Summoning back Darklord Ixchel. Racek activated Ixchel’s effect, returning Dance to the Deck and banishing three Darklord monsters to Fusion Summon The First Darklord and destroy all of Denk’s cards! Here, however, Denk activated the effect of Whisker Blitzclique, Special Summoning it and Grain from hand to destroy both of Racek’s Darklord monsters. Without any additional ways to push through Denk’s army of Blitzclique monsters, Racek conceded.

With the victory, Denk moves on with an impressive 5-0 record!