We’re in the semi-finals, and these Duelists are extremely close to becoming the YCS Vancouver champion! Both Kassim Abdool Hakim and Yacine Sahli are piloting strategies enhanced by the K9 cards introduced in Justice Hunters; Sahli combined them with the Crystron cards, while Hakim is playing them alongside the Vanquish Soul strategy. Both Decks have proven to be successful all weekend long, but only one of them will be advancing to the finals of YCS Vancouver. It’s time to Duel!

Duel 1

Sahli opened with Mulcharmy Fuwalos, Droll & Lock Bird, Crystron Sulfador, K9-66a Jokul, and Infinite Impermanence. 

Hakim won the die roll and chose to go first! He started by activating Stake Your Soul!, and Sahli responded by activating the effect of Mulcharmy Fuwalos! Hakim Special Summoned Vanquish Soul Heavy Borger from the Deck, then activated Vanquish Soul, Start! He activated the effect of the Start, searching for Vanquish Soul Razen; on resolution, Sahli activated the effect of Droll & Lock Bird, and Hakim Chained the effect of Heavy Borger to draw a card. Hakim Special Summoned Vanquish Soul Hollie Sue from hand, then activated the effect of K9-ØØ Lupis, Special Summoning it, as well. He went to the End Phase, used Start’s effect to Set Vanquish Soul Snow Devil to his backrow, and ended his turn. 

Sahli drew Forbidden Droplet for turn! During the Draw Phase, Sahli activated Infinite Impermanence, targeting the Hakim’s Lupis, and Hakim Chained the effect of Lupis, using Hollie Sue and Lupis to Xyz Summon K9-17 “Ripper”. During the Standby Phase, Hakim activated the effect of Heavy Borger to draw a card. Then in the Main Phase, Sahli activated the effect of Jokul, attempting to Special Summon both it and Crystron Sulfador from hand; Hakim activated the effect of Ripper as Chain Link 2 to negate the effect of Jokul, and Sahli activated Forbidden Droplet as Chain Link 3 to try and negate Ripper, but Hakim Chained Vanquish Soul Snow Devil to destroy all monsters on the field! With Ripper no longer on the field, its effect could no longer be negated by Droplet, and so it was able to successfully resolve its effect and negate Jokul’s effect. Sahli Normal Summoned the K9-66a Jokul and attempted to search for a K9 monster, but it was met by Hakim’s Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring. Sahli was out of options and knew that Hakim could win the game the following turn, and chose to concede. 

Duel 2

Sahli chose to go first in the second Duel, and opened with K9-66b Lantern, Crystron Sulfador, Foolish Burial Goods, K9-17 Izuna, and “A Case for K9”. During the Standby Phase, Hakim activated the effect of Mulcharmy Purulia. Sahli started off his turn by activating Foolish Burial Goods, sending The Black Goat Laughs to the Graveyard. He then activated “A Case for K9”, searching for K9-66a Jokul, and on resolution, Hakim activated the effect of Droll & Lock Bird! Sahli then activated the effect of Jokul, Special Summoning it and Sulfador from hand, then activated Sulfador’s effect to send Crystron Inclusion and Crystron Tristaros from the Deck to the Graveyard. He followed it up by Special Summoning K9-17 Izuna and sending K9-ØØ Lupis to the Graveyard, then Special Summoned back the Lupis. He used Jokul and Sulfador to Xyz Summon K9-17 “Ripper”, then Normal Summoned Lantern. He used Lantern, Izuna, and Lupis to Xyz Summon Number 67: Pair-a-Dice Smasher, then activated its effect. Hakim rolled a higher number, and so he would be unable to activate monster effects or attack until the end of his next turn! Finally, Sahli banished Inclusion from his Graveyard to Special Summon back Crystron Tristaros, then ended his turn. 

Hakim saw that he was unable to push through Sahli’s board without being able to activate monster effects and conceded the second Duel. 

Duel 3

Sahli opened with Dark Ruler No More, Crystron Inclusion, Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, K9-66a Jokul, and K9-17 Izuna. 

Hakim chose to go first in game three! He started by Normal Summoning Vanquish Soul Dr. Mad Love and searching for Vanquish Soul, Start! He activated Start and targeted Mad Love; Sahli responded with Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, but Hakim Chained Called by the Grave! Hakim resolved Start’s effect to search for Vanquish Soul Hollie Sue, then used Mad Love to Link Summon Rock of the Vanquisher. Hakim Special Summoned K9-17 Izuna and sent K9-ØØ Lupis to the Graveyard, then Special Summoned back Lupis from the Graveyard. Here, Sahli activated the effect of his own Izuna and sent his own Lupis to the Graveyard, as Hakim Special Summoned Vanquish Soul Hollie Sue and activated the effect of Rock to add Mad Love back to hand. In a separate chain, Sahli Special Summoned back his Lupis. However, when Sahli activated Lupis’ effect to conduct an Xyz Summon, Hakim responded with the effect of Hollie Sue, taking control of Sahli’s Izuna, so Sahli was not able to Xyz Summon anything. On resolution, he Special Summoned Vanquish Soul Jiaolong from his hand. 

Hakim used Hollie Sue and Sahli’s Izuna to Xyz Summon K9-17 “Ripper”, searching for K9-66a Jokul, then used Jiaolong, Lupis, and Izuna to Xyz Summon Number 67: Pair-a-Dice Smasher. He activated K9-66a Jokul’s effect in hand, Special Summoning it and Izuna from hand, then activated Jokul’s effect to search for another Izuna. He used Izuna and Jokul Xyz Summon N.As.H. Knight, then activated N.As.H. Knight to attach Sahli’s Lupis to it as Xyz Material. Finally, Hakim activated the effect of Pair-a-Dice Smasher and rolled a lower number, cutting off Sahli’s ability to activate monster effects until the end of his next turn. 

Sahli drew a card for turn, but, unable to activate any monster effects, conceded. 

Hakim is moving on to the Finals of YCS Vancouver!