We’re nearly at the end of Day 1 in the North America Remote Duel YCS. For this Feature Match, we’ve got Anthony Xu, from Queens, New York, playing Gem-Knights! Thanks to the magic of Remote Duel, his opponent is all the way in Leeds, England – it’s Sabit Zada, playing Vanquish Soul K9!

Duel 1

Xu won the dice roll and chose to play second. In Zada’s Draw Phase, Xu activated Mulcharmy Purulia. Zada Normal Summoned K9-04 Noroi, and Xu drew a card from Purulia. He drew Mulcharmy Fuwalos, and activated it in response to Noroi! Noroi’s effect brought K9-66a Jokul to the field, and Xu drew thanks to Fuwalos. Jokul’s effect put K9-66b Lantern in Zada’s hand. He Xyz Summoned K9-17 “Ripper”, and used its effect to add K9-17 Izuna to his hand, and it also Set K9-X Forced Release. He passed the turn.

Xu drew for the turn, now with 7 cards in hand. He Normal Summoned Gem-Knight Nepyrim and activated its effect, adding Gem-Knight Dispersion to his hand.  He played Dispersion to add Gem-Armadillo to his hand. He used Nepyrim’s effect to Normal Summon Armadillo, which put Gem-Knight Hollowcore in his hand. He activated Hollowcore’s effect, sending Gem-Knight Fusion to the Graveyard for its cost, and Zada used Ripper to negate Hollowcore.

Xu played Triple Tactics Talent, revealing Zada’s hand: double Izuna, double Vanquish Soul Dr. Mad Love, K9-ØØ Lupis, and Lantern. He sent Lupis back to the Deck, and knew he was safe to make any plays he wanted.

Xu activated the effect of Gem-Knight Quartz to Set Brilliant Fusion on the field. Zada flipped Forced Release targeting his Ripper, and Xu Chained The Fallen & The Virtuous, sending Albion the Branded Dragon to the Graveyard to destroy Ripper before Forced Release could rank it up. Xu flipped up Brilliant Fusion, sending three monsters to the Graveyard for Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond, and Zada conceded! He knew he wasn’t surviving this turn with no further interaction.

Duel 2

Zada chose to play first, and Xu activated Mulcharmy Purulia. Zada Chained Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, but Xu had a second Purulia! Zada Normal Summoned Noroi, and Xu drew a card. Noroi brought Jokul to the field, and he Xyz Summoned Ripper. He detached Noroi from Ripper to add Lantern to his hand and Set Forced Release. He Set another back row card to finish.

Xu drew for his turn, and Zada flipped up Anti-Spell Fragrance! Xu moved to the Main Phase, then activated both Purulia and Fuwalos while his field was still empty. He Normal Summoned Gem-Armadillo, which added Hollowcore to his hand. He used Hollowcore’s effect, sending Gem-Knight Fusion for its cost, and Zada negated it with Ripper. Xu activated Quartz’s effect to Set Brilliant Fusion. Unfortunately, thanks to Anti-Spell Fragrance, he still couldn’t activate it. He conceded!

Duel 3

Xu chose to play first, and began with Dispersion to add Nepyrim to his hand while declaring that he would not respect Droll & Lock Bird. Zada had something even worse: Dimension Shifter! Xu Normal Summoned Nepyrim, and Zada activated Infinite Impermanence to negate it! “This pains me so much,” Xu said, and activated Brilliant Fusion. Due to Shifter, he banished Quartz and Nepyrim from his Deck to Fusion Summon Gem-Knight Seraphinite. He then Tributed Nepyrim and Seraphinite for Archlord Kristya! He Set one card in his back row to finish the turn.

Zada began his turn with another Infinite Impermanence to negate Kristya! He Normal Summoned Dr. Mad Love, and Xu used his last card in hand – Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring! That had cut Zada off of his play, and he had to pass!

Xu attacked with Kristya and destroyed Dr. Mad Love. He passed, unable to Special Summon under his own Kristya.

The Duelists both realized that the only card to save Zada would be Vanquish Soul Razen, which currently resides on the Limited List. Zada didn’t draw it this turn, and passed.

Xu Normal Summoned Quartz, and attacked with both monsters, dropping Zada to 2100 Life Points.

Zada Set a monster.

Xu Normal Summoned Crystal Rose. “I’ll be greedy,” he said, as Quartz attacked. If this worked, he’d win on the spot with Kristya’s followup – but Zada had Set an Ash Blossom! Xu took 300 damage. Kristya destroyed Ash Blossom, and Crystal Rose attacked directly. He then used Crystal Rose’s effect to send Hollowcore from his Deck to the Graveyard.

Zada drew, but didn’t find Razen! He conceded!

Anthony Xu is the victor, with Gem-Knights!