It all came down to this! All weekend we’ve seen countless decks new and old fighting for the number one spot, and now it was down to Dragon Rulers versus Mermails. This was an all-Canadian Finals and both Duelists have a reputation for success: Kuang topped the National Championship in 2010, while Saberian has made Top 32’s seven times… but never won. This is the first time Saberian’s made it past the Top 4.
This is what it’s all about: one of Canada’s greatest competitors facing off against the American winner of the North American Championship! Toronto’s own Sorosh Saberian is playing Mermails while Patrick Hoban’s running Dragunities, and both Duelists have been tearing it up all weekend long. Interesting aside? These two competitors have never Dueled each other before. Over in the other Top 4 Match, Sehabi Kheireddine is taking Blackwings against Edward Kuang’s Dragon Rulers; four Duelists, four different decks.
Earlier today we saw Sehabi Kheireddine defeat Dale Bellido in a Match that pitted Kheireddine’s Blackwings against Bellido’s Dragunities. Now he was fighting that same match-up again, this time against Umar Haq. One more time, it’s Blackwings versus Dragunities… and this time, the winner goes to the Top 4!
Bobby Barone is playing Atlantean Mermails with multiple copies of Bahamut Shark and Mermail Abysstrite, as well as Mermail Abyssocea and Mermail Abyssturge. Loukas Peterson is running Spellbooks, packing multiple Spellbook of Eternity and Temperance of Prophecy for World of Prophecy. These are going to be two of the biggest Decks in competition over the next few months, but for now, the relevance of this match-up was more immediate. One of these competitors was going to the Top 8. The other one was going home.
Bo Tang and Sorosh Saberian are two of the most renowned Duelists in Toronto – Saberian has seven YCS Top 32 appearances, while Bo Tang has five YCS Tops, a World Championship Qualifier Top, and a Top 16 at Worlds. Neither competitor has ever won a YCS tournament, but both could be well on their way to a title win here today. Both Duelists knew a fair bit about the other’s Deck: while Bo Tang’s running Dragon Rulers with Skill Drain, Saberian’s playing Tidal Mermails with that Mechquipped Angineer combo. But Saberian hadn’t seen Tang’s complete Deck list. Tang had seen Saberian’s full list, but had missed a key detail: he was unaware Saberian plays Crimson Blader; his only Synchro in a deck that plays multiple copies of Bahamut Shark and Mermail Abysstrite.
Desmond Johnson is back with yet another iteration of his signature Teleport Karakuris! Hailing from Atlanta, Johnson has earned a reputation as North America’s most decorated Karakuri player over the past year, topping numerous Regional Qualifiers and YCS tournaments. His opponent is David Wu, a Canadian citizen currently going to school in Boston, here competing in his first-ever YCS Day 2 with Madolches. Both of these competitors are on the bubble with a 7-2 record. A win here will lock one Duelist in for a seat in the Top 32, while a loss will likely put them out of the tournament.
After taking some time off from traveling for Championship events, former YCS winner and Toronto landmark Duelist Dale Bellido is back in Championship action, holding a 6-0-2 record of six wins and two draws with Dragunities! His opponent is Montreal’s Sehabi Kheireddine, piloting Blackwings with Number 66: Master Key Beetle.
In October of last year, Chris LeBlanc won YCS Providence with Karakuri Geargia. This weekend he’s back playing the same strategy, and after seven Rounds of competition he’s 6-1. His opponent is local Duelist Isaiah Joseph, who plays in Toronto and St. Catharines. He’s also 6-1 here this weekend, piloting the first Evilswarm Deck we’ve seen in a Feature Match here today.
With two Rounds of play remaining here in Day 1, local Duelist Eric Dalton is 5-1 with a Deck we haven’t seen any other top table competitor running today: Lavalvals. His opponent is Loukas Peterson, who traveled here from Tennessee this weekend to play Spellbooks.
Bujins are undefeated here in Round 5! Toronto local Rob Chung is 4-0 with the new archetype, and now he’s pitted against YCS veteran Carolyn Colajezzi. Armed with a trap-heavy Constellar Deck, Colajezzi’s undefeated as well. This wasn’t a matchup anyone was really anticipating today, so it’s really anybody’s game. While Colajezzi has a ton of monster removal, Chung could outplay her with Bujingi Turtles, but he’s going to need to set that up quickly if he wants to stay in this Match.
