We’ve got a rematch in the Top 8! Anthony Xu and his Gem-Knights were able to take down Sabit Zada’s Vanquish Soul K9 Deck in yesterday’s Round 7 Feature Match. Both Duelists continued to win from there, making it to the Top 8! Now that Zada knows what Xu is up to, will he be able to redeem himself? Or will Xu’s Gems shine brighter still?

Duel 1

While they shuffled, Zada confidently declared he would win the dice roll and force Xu to take the first turn, and that’s how he’d win the Match. He rolled a 7, while Xu got… a 6! Zada took the second turn, shutting off Xu’s one-turn KO potential!

Xu started with Gem-Knight Nepyrim, adding Gem-Knight Hollowcore to his hand. He activated Gem-Knight Dispersion to add Gem-Armadillo to his hand. He got an extra Normal Summon thanks to Nepyrim, and played Armadillo. That put a new Nepyrim in his hand. He used both his monsters to Link Summon Gem-Knight Phantom Quartz, and its effect put a new Dispersion in his hand. He activated Gem-Knight Fusion, combining Hollowcore and Quartz into Gem-Knight Lady Rose Diamond. Quartz’s effect returned Nepyrim to his hand. Now that Gem-Knight Fusion was in his Graveyard, he used Dispersion to send Hollowcore and Nepyrim from his Deck to the Graveyard to Fusion Summon Gem-Knight Seraphinite. He Special Summoned Nepyrim from the Graveyard, discarding Mulcharmy Fuwalos. He returned Gem-Knight Fusion from his Graveyard to his hand by banishing Quartz from the Graveyard. Thanks to Seraphinite, he Normal Summoned Nepyrim. He used both Nepyrims to Link Summon… Dispatchparazzi?

Xu used Phantom Quartz’s effect, fusing three Gem- monsters from his Graveyard into Gem-Knight Master Diamond Dispersion. Since Dispatchparazzi was a Fiend, he used it and Phantom Quartz to Link Summon A Bao A Qu, the Lightless Shadow! He used A Bao A Qu’s effect, discarding Gem-Knight Fusion to Special Summon Nepyrim from his Graveyard, banishing A Bao A Qu until the End Phase. He used Nepyrim and Seraphinite to Link Summon I:P Masquerena. Then he used Master Diamond Dispersion to Special Summon Gem-Knight Aquamarine and Gem-Knight Topaz from his Extra Deck, and Seraphinite from his Graveyard. He returned Gem-Knight Fusion to his hand once more, by banishing Phantom Quartz from his Graveyard. A Bao A Qu returned to the field in the End Phase. Also in the End Phase, Zada banished a Hollowcore from the Graveyard with Bystial Magnamhut. Lady Rose Diamond destroyed Magnamhut, but Magnamhut was still able to find Bystial Druiswurm. Druiswurm banished the other Hollowcore and hit the field.

Zada started his turn using K9-66a Jokul, revealing Vanquish Soul Jiaolong in his hand. Both monsters hit the field, and Xu activated I:P Masquena’s effect, using it and Aquamarine to Link Summon S:P Little Knight. Aquamarine returned Jialong to the hand, and S:P Little Knight banished Jokul. Zada played Triple Tactics Talent to steal a monster, and Xu responded with S:P Little Knight to banish Lady Rose Diamond and Topaz until the End Phase. He then Chained A Bao A Qu, discarding Gem-Knight Fusion to revive Nepyrim in Defense Position. Talent resolved, taking control of Seraphinite – a Level 5 monster! Nepyrim then put a Quartz in Xu’s hand. Zada continued by Special Summoning K9-17 Izuna, which sent K9-ØØ Lupis to the Graveyard. He used Izuna and Seraphinite to Xyz Summon K9-17 “Ripper”, detaching Izuna to add K9-04 Noroi to his hand and Set K9-X Forced Release. He Normal Summoned Noroi, which brought a Jokul to the field. He used Jokul’s effect to put K9-66b Lantern in his hand. Xu saw the writing on the wall and conceded the Duel!

Duel 2

Xu got to choose this time, and decided to play second. Zada started his turn, and Xu activated Mulcharmy Purulia. Zada played Stake your Soul!, revealing Jokul, and Xu used Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring. Zada played “A Case for K9” next, adding K9-17 Izuna to his hand. Next he used Reinforcement of the Army to find Vanquish Soul Razen. He passed with no further plays.

Xu Normal Summoned Nepyrim, adding Hollowcore to his hand. He played Dispersion to add Armadillo to his hand. He used Nepyrim’s effect to Normal Summon the Armadillo, which put Quartz in his hand. He sent Gem-Knight Fusion from his Deck to the Graveyard to Special Summon Hollowcore, then used it and Armadillo to Link Summon Phantom Quartz. Phantom Quartz put a second Dispersion in his hand, and he played it to fuse Quartz and Nepyrim from his Deck into Lady Rose Diamond. Quartz put Hollowcore back in his hand, and Nepyrim returned to play by discarding the same Hollowcore. He banished a Quartz to put Gem-Knight Fusion in his hand, and played it to fuse his two Nepyrim into Seraphinite. He banished a Nepyrim to get Gem-Knight Fusion in hand once more. He used Phantom Quartz’s effect, fusing Gem- monsters from his Graveyard and banishment into Master Diamond Dispersion. He used its effect, Tributing it to bring Gem-Knight Ruby, Aquamarine, and Topaz to the field. Zada had been holding out this whole time, but finally accepted that he wasn’t making it through this turn!

Duel 3

Both Duelists talked about how this final decision mattered – who was going to play first. This would factor into all of their Side Deck decisions, and could decide the entire Match, but Xu wouldn’t know Zada’s choice until it was too late to change things.

Zada decided… to go first.

And Xu had Mulcharmy Purulia! Zada started with Reinforcement of the Army to get Razen. He Normal Summoned Razen, letting Xu draw from Purulia. Razen’s effect put Vanquish Soul Hollie Sue in Zada’s hand, and just like their previous Match, Xu revealed the card he drew: Mulcharmy Fuwalos. Zada used Razen to Link Summon Rock of the Vanquisher, and Rock’s effect put Razen back in his hand. He used Hollie Sue’s effect, revealing Razen to Special Summon the Hollie Sue. He then used Hollie Sue’s effect, revealing Razen and Vanquish Soul Dr. Mad Love to Special Summon another Mad Love from his Deck. Mad Love put Vanquish Soul, Start! in his hand. He activated Start, targeting Mad Love to add Vanquish Soul Jiaolong to his hand. He Set a card in his back row. In the End Phase, Start let him Set Vanquish Soul Snow Devil.

Xu drew his card for the turn, up to eight total thanks to the Mulcharmy effects. Zada activated Anti-Spell Fragrance, the card that stole a Duel in their last Match, but this time Xu had The Fallen & The Virtuous! He sent Albion the Branded Dragon to the Graveyard to destroy the Fragrance before it could resolve.

Xu Normal Summoned Nepyrim, adding a Quartz to his hand. Zada activated Hollie Sue’s effect, revealing Mad Love and Vanquish Soul Caesar Valius from his hand to steal Nepyrim! Xu Special Summoned Hollowcore by sending Gem-Knight Fusion from his Deck to the Graveyard. He then played Dispersion to Fusion Summon, sending Hollowcore and Nepyrim from his Deck to play Lady Rose Diamond. He activated Nepyrim’s effect in the Graveyard, and Zada Chained Druiswurm targeting Hollowcore in the Graveyard. Xu responded with Lady Rose Diamond, banishing the targeted Hollowcore to target Zada’s Field Spell. Zada responded by flipping Snow Devil, revealing three Attributes! Everything but Hollie Sue and Mad Love was destroyed, and Xu was burned for 1800 damage.

Xu continued, using Quartz’s effect from the hand to Set Brilliant Fusion on the field. Zada returned Hollie Sue to the hand to Special Summon his Caesar Valius, then tried activating its effect to destroy Brilliant Fusion. Xu played Forbidden Droplet, and thought a moment about how many cards he wanted to commit to it. He only sent a Nepyrim to the Graveyard to negate Caesar Valius.

Xu returned Gem-Knight Fusion to his hand by banishing Nepyrim from the Graveyard. Then he used Dispersion to put the banished Nepyrim in his hand. He flipped up Brilliant Fusion, sending Armadillo and two copies of Quartz to Fusion Summon Master Diamond Dispersion. Zada activated Mad Love’s effect, and Xu Chained Master Diamond Dispersion’s effect to Special Summon Topaz, Ruby, and Lady Rose Diamond. Mad Love resolved, returning Ruby to the Extra Deck. Xu played Gem-Knight Fusion, fusing Nepyrim, Quartz, and Topaz into Gem-Knight Master Diamond! Its effect put it up to 3800 ATK, and he banished Topaz to copy its effect! He tried to go to the Battle Phase, and Zada Special Summoned Hollie Sue by revealing Jiaolong. He activated Jiaolong, and Xu negated Jiaolong with Hollowcore, boosting his monsters by another 1000 ATK! Master Diamond attacked over Caesar Valius, which was weakened by Forbidden Droplet. Between the battle damage and the copied Topaz effect, he dealt a total of 6300 damage! Master Diamond attacked Mad Love next, burning for another 1200. Lady Rose Diamond destroyed Hollie Sue in battle. Zada survived with just 500 Life Points! In the End Phase, Albion’s effect Set The Fallen & The Virtuous on the field. Xu lamented his mistake in not sending another card for Droplet to negate Dr. Mad Love, which stopped him from winning this turn.

Zada Normal Summoned Razen, adding Hollie Sue to his hand. Razen’s effect tried to destroy Master Diamond, and Lady Rose Diamond protected it this time. Zada Special Summoned Hollie Sue, then used its effect to Special Summon Vanquish Soul Heavy Borger. He then Special Summoned Jiaolong, and Xyz Summoned K9-17 “Ripper”. Ripper let him add Jokul to his hand. He used Jokul to Special Summon itself and Izuna. Jokul added Lantern to his hand. He used Jokul and Izuna to Xyz Summon N.As.H. Knight, which stole Lady Rose Diamond and attached it as a material. He then used N.As.H. to play CXyz N.As.Ch. Knight, and upgraded it into Number C104: Umbral Horror Masquerqade! He used Razen to Link Summon Rock of the Vanquisher, which returned Razen to his hand. He used Lantern, Special Summoning it and Lupis. Lantern put K9-X Forced Release in his hand. He played Forced Release, upgrading Ripper into K9-X “Werewolf” and destroying Master Diamond. Xu’s field was clear, and Zada sent everything to end this Match!

Sabit Zada wins the rematch to move on to the Top 4!