32 Duelists remain! Zach Butler and Brandon Conrad are old friends from Poughkeepsie, New York who played at a local OTS together for years. Conrad recently moved to North Carolina, so they haven’t seen each other in a while – but they did play in the Swiss Rounds of this event and Zach took the victory in that Match. But this Match is even more important than that one, since only the winner will be able to advance to the Top 16. Butler is using a Primite Blue-Eyes Deck and Conrad is using a Bystial @Ignister Maliss Deck. It’s time to Duel!

Duel One

Butler opened up Duel 1 with Mulcharmy Fuwalos, Maiden of White, Infinite Impermanence, and 2 copies of Wishes for Eyes of Blue.

He activated a Wishes by discarding Fuwalos and lost out to Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring. Next, Butler activated the effect of Maiden in White in his hand by sending it to his Graveyard. He placed True Light from his Deck face-up to his field and activated its effect to Set Roar of the Blue-Eyed Dragons. He flipped it, but lost out to Dominus Impulse. Butler Set the Infinite Impermanence before ending his turn.

Conrad Set a card to his back row and then Normal Summoned Maliss <P> White Rabbit. He activated its effect, and Butler flipped Infinite Impermanence to try to negate it; but when Conrad flipped up Maliss <C> MTP-07 by banishing his White Rabbit to make sure his Rabbit’s effect resolved, Butler conceded.

Conrad takes a quick victory in Duel 2!

Duel Two

Butler opened up Duel 2 with Sage with Eyes of Blue, Majesty of the White Dragons, True Light, Solemn Judgment, and Maiden of White. He Normal Summoned Sage and used its effect to add Effect Veiler from his Deck to his hand. He activated the effect of Maiden of White next, and sent it to the Graveyard to place True Light from his hand face-up on his field. He used its effect to Set Roar of the Blue-Eyed Dragons from his Deck to his field and then flipped it up to activate it. He Special Summoned Blue-Eyes White Dragon from his Deck and then activated the effect of the Maiden in his Graveyard to Special Summon it. Next, he sent Sage to the Graveyard to Summon Spirit with Eyes of Blue, prompting Conrad to Special Summon Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay from his hand. He used its effect to draw 2 cards and return a card from his hand to his Deck, and Butler used the effect of his Spirit to add Mausoleum of White from his Deck to his hand. Next, Butler sent Blue-Eyes and Spirit to the Graveyard to Link Summon Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres. Butler used his Mausoleum’s effect to target his Maiden and send a Blue-Eyes from his Deck to his Graveyard, and when he tried to use his Maiden’s effect to Special Summon a monster, Conrad used Dominus Impulse from his hand to negate it. Butler Set 2 cards to his back row before passing his turn.

Conrad Normal Summoned White Rabbit and activated its effect, and Butler Chained Seals’s effect to return White Rabbit to the hand. Conrad Set MTP-07 face-down, and Butler Special Summoned Bystial Magnamhut from his Deck with the effect of Seals in a new Chain. He then used Magnamhut’s effect to be able to get a Dragon from his Deck in the End Phase. Next, Conrad activated the effect of a Bystial Druiswurm in his hand to try to Summon it by banishing a Blue-Eyes from Butler’s Graveyard, but Butler Chained the effect of True Light to Special Summon that Blue-Eyes, causing the Druiswurm to stay in Conrad’s hand. In the End Phase, Butler flipped Majesty of the White Dragons to clear Conrad’s field and Conrad conceded.

Butler takes the win after another quick Duel! One last Duel will determine which Duelist advances to the Top 16 of the 2025 North America World Championship Qualifier!

Duel Three

Conrad went first in Duel 3. Butler activated the effect of Mulcharmy Purulia in his Standby Phase, but Conrad Chained Ash Blossom’s effect to negate it. Next, Conrad activated A.I. Meet You by revealing Maliss <Q> Red Ransom from his Extra Deck and added Backup @Ignister from his Deck to his hand.

He Normal Summoned the Backup @Ignister and used its effect to add White Rabbit to his hand and discard it. He Set a card to his back row and then ended his turn. In the End Phase, he took 2300 points of damage because he didn’t Summon the monster he revealed with A.I. Meet You.

Butler drew Infinite Impermanence and added it to his hand of Maiden of White, True Light, Harpie’s Feather Duster, and Sage with Eyes of Blue. In the Draw Phase, Conrad flipped Maliss <C> GWC-06 to Special Summon White Rabbit from his Graveyard. He activated its effect, and Butler Chained Infinite Impermanence from his hand to negate it. Butler Normal Summoned Sage with Eyes of Blue next and added Maiden of White from his Deck to his hand. He activated its effect to place True Light from his hand face-up onto his field and then used its effect to Set Wishes from his Deck. He activated it by discarding Maiden from his hand and added Sage with Eyes of Blue and Roar of the Blue-Eyed Dragons from his Deck to his hand. He activated the Roar, but lost out to Dominus Impulse from Conrad’s hand. Butler sent Sage to the Graveyard to Link Summon Spirit and then used Spirit’s effect to add Mausoleum from his Deck to his hand. He activated the Mausoleum and activated its effect. He sent a Blue-Eyes from his Deck to his Graveyard to increase his Spirit’s ATK and then sent Spirit to his Graveyard to Special Summon Blue-Eyes from his Graveyard. He banished Wishes from the Graveyard to equip Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon from his Extra Deck to his Blue-Eyes, and then Conrad Special Summoned Bystial Baldrake by banishing Maiden of White from Butler’s Graveyard. Butler sent Neo Blue-Eyes and Blue-Eyes White Dragon to the Graveyard to Summon Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon. Conrad tried to use his Baldrake’s effect by Tributing Backup @Ignister and Butler banished the Neo Blue-Eyes from his Graveyard to negate the activation of Baldrake’s effect and destroy the Baldrake. Tyrant Dragon attacked White Rabbit, and Butler used his Tyrant Dragon’s effect to Set Infinite Impermanence from his Graveyard back to his field. In Main Phase 2, Butler Summoned Sage from his hand and used its effect to add Effect Veiler from his Deck to his hand. He Tuned Sage with Tyrant Dragon to Synchro Summon Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon and then ended his turn.

Conrad had no cards on his field or in his hand. He drew a card during his Draw Phase and then offered the handshake, unable to make any meaningful play.

Zach Butler is moving on to the Top 16!