Ryan Yu from Toronto, Canada is a Dragon Duel World Champion and is the reigning Yu-Gi-Oh! MASTER DUEL World Champion, but has not yet won a YCS. Now, he’s looking for that first YCS victory with his Sky Striker Deck! Very few Duelists were expecting a Sky Striker Deck to take the tournament this weekend, so a victory for him here would be a huge surprise to Duelists around the world! Landon Oliver from Aurora, Colorado competed in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME World Championship this year, and he’s after his first YCS victory with his Fire King Snake-Eye Azamina Deck. Now, these two seasoned Duelists are facing off in the Finals of YCS Niagara Falls! Only one of them can take home the trophy and the Ultra Rare Anotherverse Solaria. It’s time to Duel!
Mario De Micco from Montreal, Canada took third place at YCS Lille a few weeks ago, and he’s one win away from doing even better in this weekend’s YCS with his Tenpai Dragon Deck. Now, he’s up against one of this year’s Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME World Championship competitors – Landon Oliver from Aurora, Colorado. Oliver is using a Fire King Snake-Eye Azamina Deck this weekend. Both of these Decks were expected to do well this weekend, and these two Duelists have successfully piloted them to the Top 4. But only one of them can advance to the Finals. It’s time to Duel!
Ryan Carrigan from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania is the only Labrynth player to make it into the Top 32, and now he’s facing off against Jose Santiago in Top 16! This is Ryan’s first YCS Top Cut finish, and he’s excited to be here with his Labrynth Deck which is now boosted by Rage of the Abyss with 3 copies of Mulcharmy Fuwalos and 3 copies of Dominus Impulse in his Main Deck. He’s about to Duel against a titan in the game. Jose Santiago from Lowell, Massachusetts made it to the Top 4 of this year’s Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME World Championship and is looking to take his first YCS victory using a Snake-Eye Azamina Deck. It’s time to Duel!
Dominic Couch is a two-time YCS winner, earning his trophies at TEAM YCS Las Vegas in 2020 and TEAM YCS Las Vegas 2023. He’s had a great weekend so far, making it to the Top 16 piloting the new and improved version of Fiendsmith Snake-Eye with Azamina cards.
But he’s up against one of the most unpredictable and dangerous Decks here today! Cecilia Graham-Vowles hails from nearby London, Ontario, and she’s playing Ritual Beasts in her first YCS this weekend – a Deck that almost no one would’ve expected to see in the Top Cut. Lots of rogue Decks made the Top 32 here in YCS Niagara, but Ritual Beasts may be the scariest of the bunch.
Only 32 Duelists remain here at YCS Niagara Falls, and we are now in the single-elimination rounds! Seated at Table 1 we have the Duelists that finished 1st and 32nd in the Swiss Rounds: Pakawat Pamornsut from New Brunswick, New Jersey finished in 1st Place and is facing off against Anthony Confletti from Leesburg, Virginia.
Pamornsut is already walking away with an oversized copy of Anotherverse Solaria for going undefeated in Swiss, and now he’s trying to keep his record pristine in the Top Cut. He’s had a fantastic weekend so far, but his opponent wasn’t going to make it easy for him: Confletti’s one of several Yubel Duelists who just made into the Top Cut with some tight Dueling in the first two rounds of competition today.
Mario De Micco from Montreal, Canada and Rennick Bruno from Cape Coral, Florida are both currently 8-1 in YCS Niagara Falls. Mario just took third place at YCS Lille a few weeks ago, and now he’s looking to do even better this weekend. Bruno has never made it into the Top Cut of a YCS, so he’s excited to have another shot at it this weekend. Both players have a good chance of making it into the Top 32 on tie-breakers, regardless of whether they win or lose, but a victory in this Swiss Round will guarantee one of them a spot in the Top Cut. De Micco is using a Tenpai Dragon Deck, while Bruno is using a Yubel Deck featuring Millennium monsters. It’s time to Duel!
It’s Day 2 here at YCS Niagara Falls, and 139 competitors are still in the hunt for the Top Cut! Right now we have two decorated Duelists in the competition with UDS and YCS Champion Cameron Neal from Dallas, Texas, facing off against 2-time TEAM YCS Champion, Dominic Couch from Savannah, Georgia.
Both Duelists are 6-2 and are on the bubble! This match determines who will advance to the Top 32 and who gets to go back to America.
While both Duelists were shuffling up, they exchanged pleasantries about their previous clashes. These Duelists are long-time friends, but they both know that only one of them can continue in this tournament.
Toronto’s own Ryan Yu is a Dragon Duel World Champion, and a Master Duel World Champion – one of only two competitors in Dueling history to ever win two World titles! That said, his best performance at a YCS was his Runner-Up finish last year at TEAM YCS Las Vegas. YCS title gold has eluded Yu so far, but that might change this weekend – he’s 7-1 heading into this round, and a win here may make him a lock for the Top 32. Oh, and if you missed it in his Feature Match yesterday? He’s playing Sky Strikers.
Yu’s opponent this round is Peter Stamos, a karate instructor who traveled here this weekend from North-East Ohio to play Runick White Forest. This is Stamos’ first-ever YCS event, and now he’s Dueling some of the greatest players in the game today, just two rounds away from the Top 32! Just like Yu, Stamos has a 7-1 record, so this win meant everything to both of these Duelists.
Nicholas Marshall from St. Johns, Newfoundland is a YCS first-timer, and he’s currently 5-1-1 in the tournament with his Mimighoul Deck. Mimighoul Decks got a big boost from Rage of the Abyss, and Marshall is using the newly released Giant Mimighoul, Mimighoul Throne, Mimighoul Armor, Mimighoul Slime, and Mimighoul Fairy in his Deck. He’s Dueling against Emmad Fajem from Hamilton, Ontario in the last Feature Match of Day 1! Emmad is using a using a Snake-Eye Rescue-ACE Deck featuring the Azamina cards from Rage of the Abyss, and he also holds a 5-1-1 record. Both Duelists are guaranteed to make it into Day 2 at this point, but a victory in this Swiss Round will give one of them a better chance at making tomorrow’s Top Cut after 2 more Swiss Rounds are played. It’s time to Duel!
Ryan Yu is coming into YCS Niagara Falls hot, fresh off his win at the 2024 Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championships, where he won the Master Duel World Championships with his teammates and fellow Canadians Jesse Kotton and Raymond Dai. He’s 5-1 here today with Sky Striker, a deck few Duelists would see coming in today’s field, but one that’s proving to be a surprisingly good call thanks to current tournament trends. And oh, that’s right: Dominus Impulse.
His opponent this round is Thomas Reber, a Tenpai Dragon Duelist who traveled here this weekend from Reading, Pennsylvania. With two explosive, battle-oriented Decks in the mix this Match could go either way, but whoever takes it, it probably won’t take long.
