YCS Origins 2016 Special: Joey vs. Pegasus

YCS Origins 2016 Special: Joey vs. Pegasus was a Scripted Duel that took place during the fourth day of the 2016 YCS Origins in Columbus, Ohio on June 19, 2016. Wayne Grayson and Darren Dunstan and reprised their roles as Joey Wheeler and Maximillion Pegasus, respectively. Both characters used cards they have never used in the anime or manga canon, with Pegasus only having one card he used previously.

Synopsis

Maximillion Pegasus greets the crowd, introducing himself as the creator of the Duel Monsters card game and the host of the YCS Origins tournament. Joey Wheeler appears, boasting that he will emerge as the tournament's winner, citing his finalist placements at Duelist Kingdom and Battle City as indications of his skill. Pegasus debunks this claim, first by criticizing Joey's skill level and secondly by indicating that Joey is not even enrolled in the tournament. Joey cringes that he completely failed to sign up for the tournament while he was trading for new cards, and Pegasus offers to duel Joey instead. Pegasus offers Joey to take the first turn, but Joey declines and insists to determine turn order by dice roll (which Joey wins anyway).

On the first turn, Joey summons his famous "Red-Eyes Black Dragon". Pegasus responds by swarming his field. Contrary to the "funny and cheerful" Toon monsters Joey expected, Pegasus reveals his new "wretched and sinful" Burning Abyss archetype. Pegasus draws a parallel to Dante's journey through the Abyss to himself dealing with the loss of Cecelia. Joey continues to be confused by the large amount of effects and card advantage Pegasus builds up with his "Burning Abyss" monsters. Using his well-known luck-based cards, Joey defends against Pegasus' full set of "Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss" and gains himself an incredible card advantage.

Both players gradually begin to rebuild their field with an array of their iconic Fusion and Ritual monsters. This includes Joey's "Time Wizard", aging his "Baby Dragon" into "Thousand Dragon". Joey also intends to use the same effect to age Pegasus' monsters into destruction. However, Pegasus reveals that the "Burning Abyss" monsters are immune to the effects of time, being condemned to the "eternity" of the Abyss. Ultimately, Pegasus summons "Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss" and, using it in a combo with "Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss", establishes field control. This allows Pegasus to narrowly avoid losing to Joey's effect damage and win the duel with a strong direct attack. With a back-handed compliment, Pegasus commends Joey for the duel, before directing the audience's attention back to the tournament

Featured Duel: Joey Wheeler vs. Maximillion Pegasus

Turn 1: Joey
Joey Normal Summons "The Black Stone of Legend" (0/0). He activates its effect, Tributing it to Special Summon a Level 7 or lower "Red-Eyes" monster from his Deck. He Special Summons "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" (2400/2000) in Attack Position. Joey activates "Dangerous Machine Type-6", which has varying effects depending on a die roll. He Sets two cards.

Turn 2: Pegasus
Pegasus Normal Summons "Tour Guide From the Underworld" (1000/600). He activates its effect to Special Summon a Level 3 Fiend-Type monster from his Deck with its effects negated. He Special Summons "Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss" (1000/1500) in Defense Position. Pegasus overlays "Tour Guide" and "Graff" to Xyz Summon "Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss" (1000/2500) in Attack Position. He activates the effect of "Dante", detaching a Xyz Material to send up to three cards from the top of his Deck to his Graveyard and increase the ATK of "Dante" by 500 for each sent card. He detaches "Graff" and sends the top three cards of his Deck to the Graveyard ("Dante": 1000 → 2500), which are "Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss", "Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss" and "Calcab, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss". Pegasus elects not to use the effect of "Farfa" (Farfa is not mentioned at all). Pegasus activates the effect of "Calcab", as it was sent to the Graveyard, to return one of Joey's Set Spell/Trap Cards on the field to the hand. As "Graff" was sent to the Graveyard, Pegasus activates its effect to Special Summon a "Burning Abyss" monster from his Deck. He Special Summons "Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (1600/1200) in Defense Position.

Pegasus Special Summons "Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss" (1700/1000) in Defense Position from his hand with its own effect, as he controls no Spell/Trap Cards. He overlays "Barbar" and "Cir" to Xyz Summon a second copy of "Dante" (1000/2500) in Attack Position. He activates the effect of the second "Dante", detaching "Cir" and sending the top three cards of his Deck to his Graveyard ("Dante": 1000 → 2500), among them "Maxx "C"" a second "Scarm", and "Alich, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss". As "Cir" was sent to the Graveyard, Pegasus activates its effect, which lets him Special Summon a "Burning Abyss" monster from his Graveyard. He Special Summons "Graff" (1000/1500) in Defense Position. Pegasus elects not to activate the effect of "Alich" ("Alich" is not mentioned at all).

Pegasus Special Summons "Draghig, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss" (1100/900) in Defense Position from his hand with its own effect. He overlays "Draghig" and "Graff" to Xyz Summon a third copy of "Dante" (1000/2500) in Attack Position. He activates the effect of the third "Dante", detaching "Draghig" and sending the top three cards of his Deck to his Graveyard, which are "Solemn Strike", "Rubic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss" and "Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss" ("Dante": 1000 → 2500). Pegasus elects not to activate the effect of "Draghig", although this is unmentioned.

Pegasus' first "Dante" attacks "Red-Eyes", but Joey activates his face-down "Roulette Spider" as an opponent's monster attacked. He can roll a six-sided die and apply any of these effects depending on the result: if it is a 1, Joey's LP is halved; if it is a 2, the attack becomes a direct attack; if it is a 3, Joey can change the attack target to another monster he controls; if it is a 4, Joey can change the attack target to another monster Pegasus controls; if it is a 5, the attack is negated and Pegasus takes damage equal to the attacking monster's ATK; if it is a 6, the attacking monster is destroyed. Joey rolls a 4, changing the attack target to the third copy of "Dante". Both copies of "Dante" are destroyed. "Tour Guide" and "Graff" are also sent to the Graveyard. Pegasus activates the effects of his destroyed copies of "Dante", which both each let him add a "Burning Abyss" monster from his Graveyard to his hand. He adds "Graff" and "Cir". The second copy of "Dante" attacks and destroys "Red-Eyes" (Joey: 4000 → 3900). Because "Dante" attacked, it is switched to Defense Position at the end of the Battle Phase. Pegasus Sets a card. He activates the effect of the "Scarm" that was sent to his Graveyard during his End Phase, adding a Level 3 DARK Fiend-Type monster from his Deck to his hand. He adds his second "Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss".

Turn 3: Joey
Joey activates the effect of "Dangerous Machine Type-6" during his Standby Phase, allowing him to roll a die. If he rolls a 1, he discards a card; if it is 2, Pegasus discards a card; if it is 3, Joey draws a card; if it is a 4, Pegasus draws a card; if it is 5, Joey can destroy a monster Pegasus controls; if it is a 6, "Dangerous Machine Type-6" is destroyed. Joey rolls a 3, allowing him to draw a card. Joey activates "Pot of Greed" and draws two cards, which are "Sixth Sense" and "Polymerization". He activates the effect of "The Black Stone of Legend" in his Graveyard, returning a "Red-Eyes" monster from his Graveyard to his Deck and returning "Black Stone" to his hand. He returns "Red-Eyes" to his Deck. Joey activates "Red-Eyes Fusion", which lets him Fusion Summon a monster that lists a"Red-Eyes" monster as a Fusion Material using monsters in his hand, Deck or field. He fuses "Red-Eyes B. Dragon" and "Beast of Talwar" from his Deck to Fusion Summon "Archfiend Black Skull Dragon" (3200/2500) in Attack Position.

"Archfiend Black Skull Dragon" attacks and destroys "Dante". Pegasus attempts to activate the effects of "Dante" and "Barbar" from his Graveyard, but the effect of "Archfiend Black Skull Dragon" prevents him from activating card effects until the end of the Damage Step. At the end of the Battle Phase, Joey activates the effect of "Archfiend Black Skull Dragon", allowing him to inflict damage to Pegasus equal to the ATK of a "Red-Eyes" Normal Monster in the Graveyard and shuffle that monster into the Deck. He targets "Red-Eyes" and returns it to his Deck (Pegasus: 4000 → 1600). Joey Sets four cards. Pegasus activates his face-down "The Traveler and the Burning Abyss", which lets him Special Summon any number of "Burning Abyss" monsters that were sent to the Graveyard this turn from his Graveyard. He Special Summons "Dante" (1000/2500) and "Barbar" (1700/1000) in Defense Position.

Turn 4: Pegasus
Pegasus draws a card. Because Pegasus has six cards in his hand and Joey has one, the latter activates his face-down "Gamble" and tosses a coin. If he calls it right, he can draw until he has five cards in his hand. If he calls it wrong, he must skip his next turn. Joey calls the coin toss right and draws four cards. Joey activates his face-down "Sixth Sense", allowing him to declare two numbers from 1 to 6 and roll a die. If the result is any of the declared numbers, Joey draws cards equal to the result; if the result isn't any of the declared numbers, he sends cards from the top of his Deck to the Graveyard equal to the result. He declares 5 and 6, rolls a 6, and draws that many cards. Pegasus activates "Instant Fusion" paying 1000 LP (Pegasus: 1600 → 600) to Fusion Summon a Level 5 or lower Fusion Monster from his Extra Deck. It cannot attack and is destroyed at the End Phase. He Fusion Summons "Thousand-Eyes Restrict" (0/0) in Attack Position. Because "Thousand-Eyes Restrict" is not a "Burning Abyss" monster, "Barbar" destroys itself with its own effect.

Pegasus activates the effect of "Barbar" to banish up to three "Burning Abyss" cards from his Graveyard to inflict 300 damage to Joey for each banished card. He banishes three cards, which are "Fire Lake", "Alich", and "Scarm" (Joey: 3900 → 3000). Pegasus activates the effect of "Thousand-Eyes Restrict", allowing him to equip an opponent's monster to itself and gain its ATK and DEF. He equips "Archfiend Black Skull Dragon" ("Thousand-Eyes Restrict": 0/0 → 3200/2500). He activates "Good & Evil in the Burning Abyss", Tributing "Farfa" and "Graff" from his hand to Ritual Summon "Malacoda, Netherlord of the Burning Abyss" (2700/2200) in Attack Position. As "Farfa" was sent to the Graveyard, Pegasus activates its effect, allowing him to banish a monster on the field until the End Phase. Pegasus banishes "Thousand-Eyes Restrict". Pegasus activates the effect of "Graff" to Special Summon "Libic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (1300/700) from his Deck in Attack Position. He switches "Dante" to Attack Position.

"Malacoda" attacks Joey directly, but Joey activates "Scapegoat", Special Summoning four Sheep Tokens (0/0) in Defense Position. A replay occurs, and "Malacoda" attacks and destroy a Sheep Token. "Dante" and "Libic" each attack and destroy a Sheep Token. Because "Dante" attacked, it is switched to Defense Position at the end of the Battle Phase. At the End Phase, "Thousand-Eyes Restrict" (0/0) returns to the field. Because "Thousand-Eyes Restrict" is not a "Burning Abyss" monster, "Libic" destroys itself with its own effect. Pegasus activates the effect of "Libic", to Special Summon a "Burning Abyss" monster from his hand with its effects negated. He Special Summons "Cir" (1600/1200) in Defense Position.

Turn 5: Joey
Joey activates the effect of "Dangerous Machine Type-6" and rolls a 4, allowing Pegasus to draw a card. Joey Normal Summons "Baby Dragon" (1200/700). He activates "Time Wizard" as a Spell Card and is successful with its effect, advancing time by a thousand years. This ages "Baby Dragon" into "Thousand Dragon" (2400/2000). Joey's fourth Sheep Token is destroyed due to old age. Pegasus' four monsters are unaffected. Pegasus explains that, being condemned to eternity in the Abyss, they exist independently of time. Joey activates "Cards of the Red Stone", sending a Level 7 "Red-Eyes" monster from his hand to the Graveyard to draw 2 cards and send a Level 7 "Red-Eyes" monster from his Deck to the Graveyard. He sends "Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon" from his hand and sends another copy of "Black Flare Dragon" from his Deck.

Joey activates his face-down "Red-Eyes Spirit", which lets him Special Summon a "Red-Eyes" monster from his Graveyard. He Special Summons "Black Flare Dragon" (2400/2000) in Attack Position. He activates "Red-Eyes Transmigration", Tributing "The Black Stone of Legend" from his hand and banishing "Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon" from his Graveyard to Ritual Summon "Lord of the Red" (2400/2100) in Attack Position. Joey activates "Polymerization", fusing "Flame Manipulator" and "Masaki the Legendary Swordsman" from his hand to Fusion Summon "Flame Swordsman" (1800/1600) in Attack Position. As a card or effect was activated, Joey activates the effect of "Lord of the Red", which lets him destroy a monster on the field. He destroys "Thousand-Eyes Restrict".

Joey equips "Flame Swordsman" with "Salamandra", increasing its ATK by 700. He also equips "Legendary Sword", increasing its ATK and DEF by 300 ("Flame Swordsman": 1800/1600 → 2800/1900). Joey activates the effect of "Black Metal Dragon" in his hand, equipping it to a "Red-Eyes" monster he controls. He equips it to "Black Flare Dragon", increasing its ATK by 600 ("Black Flare Dragon": 2400 → 3000).

"Black Flare Dragon" attacks and destroys "Malacoda" (Pegasus: 600 → 300). Pegasus activates the effect of "Malacoda" as it was sent from the field to the Graveyard, allowing him to send a card on the field to the Graveyard. He targets "Black Flare Dragon". As "Black Metal Dragon" was sent to the Graveyard, he activates its effect, adding a "Red-Eyes" card from his Deck to his hand. He adds "Red-Eyes Retro Dragon".

"Flame Swordsman" attacks and destroys "Dante". Pegasus activates the effects of "Dante", allowing him to return another copy of "Dante" to the Extra Deck. "Lord of the Red" attacks and destroys "Cir". As "Cir" was sent to the Graveyard Pegasus activates its effect to Special Summon "Scarm" (800/2000) from the Graveyard in Defense Position. "Thousand Dragon" attacks and destroys "Scarm". Pegasus activates the effect of "Scarm" during the End Phase, adding another copy of "Barbar" from his Deck to his hand.

Turn 6: Pegasus
Pegasus activates "Dark Hole", destroying every monster on the field. As a monster he controls was destroyed by an opponent's card, Joey Special Summons "Red-Eyes Retro Dragon" (1700/1600) in Defense Position from his hand via its own effect.. He activates its effect, allowing him to Special Summon any Level 7 or lower "Red-Eyes" monsters that were previously destroyed. He Special Summons "Black Flare Dragon" (2400/2000) in Attack Position from his Graveyard. Pegasus Normal Summons "Crane Crane" (300/900) and activates its effect to Special Summon a Level 3 monster from his Graveyard with its effects negated. He Special Summons "Scarm" (800/2000) in Defense Position. Pegasus overlays "Scarm" and "Crane Crane" to Xyz Summon "Dante" (1000/2500) in Attack Position.

Pegasus activates the effect of "Dante", detaching "Scarm" and sending the top three cards of his Deck to the Graveyard ("Dante": 1000 → 2500). He sends "Rubic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss", "The Traveler and the Burning Abyss", and "Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss". "Dante" attacks and destroys "Retro Dragon". Because "Dante" attacked, it is switched to Defense Position at the end of the Battle Phase. Pegasus sends "Barbar" from his hand to his Graveyard and uses "Dante" as an Xyz Material to Xyz Summon "Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal" (2500/2800) in Defense Position via "Beatrice's" own effect. He activates the effect of "Barbar" to banish "Rubic", "Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss", and "The Traveler and the Burning Abyss" from his Graveyard to inflict 300 damage to Joey for each banished card (Joey: 3000 → 2100). Pegasus activates the effect of "Scarm" during his End Phase, adding "Farfa" from his Deck to his hand.

Turn 7: Joey
Joey activates the effect of "Dangerous Machine Type-6", and rolls a 6, causing "Dangerous Machine Type-6" to destroy itself. Joey Normal Summons the Gemini Monster "Black Flare Dragon" to treat it as an Effect Monster. He activates the effect of another "Black Metal Dragon" in his hand, equipping it to "Black Flare Dragon" and increasing its ATK by 600 ("Black Flare Dragon": 2400 → 3000). "Black Flare Dragon" attacks and destroys "Beatrice". Pegasus activates the effect of "Dante", adding "Farfa" from his Graveyard to his hand. As "Beatrice" was destroyed, Pegasus activates its effect, Special Summoning a "Burning Abyss" monster from his Extra Deck, ignoring its Summoning conditions. He Special Summons "Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss" (2800/2500) in Attack Position,

Pegasus activates the effect of "Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss" while it is still the Battle Phase, sending a "Burning Abyss" card from his hand to the Graveyard to draw a card. He sends "Farfa". Pegasus activates the effect of "Farfa", banishing "Black Flare Dragon" until the End Phase. The equipped "Black Metal Dragon" is sent to the Graveyard and Joey does not activate its effect. Since "Black Flare Dragon" was banished after the end of the Battle Phase, its effect never activates to inflict damage to Pegasus.

Turn 8: Pegasus
Pegasus activates the effect of "Dante", sending another copy of "Farfa" from his hand to the Graveyard and drawing a card. Pegasus activates the effect of "Farfa", banishing "Black Flare Dragon" until the End Phase. "Dante" attacks Joey directly (Joey: 2100 → 0).

Video

Joey Wheeler vs Maximilion Pegasus - YCS Origins June 2016 - Yugioh Live Duel

Featured cards

Cards in italics debuted here prior to an anime or manga appearance. Cards in bold have never been used by the character in any canon series.

"Joey Wheeler"

Monsters

Normal Monsters

• Baby Dragon
• Beast of Talwar
• Flame Manipulator

• Masaki the Legendary Swordsman
• Red-Eyes B. Dragon

Effect Monsters

• Black Metal Dragon x2
• Red-Eyes Retro Dragon
• The Black Stone of Legend
• Thousand Dragon

Gemini monsters

• Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon x2

Ritual Monsters

• Lord of the Red

Extra Deck

Fusion Monsters

• Alligator's Sword Dragon
• Archfiend Black Skull Dragon
• Black Skull Dragon
• Flame Swordsman x2

Spells & Traps

Spells

• Cards of the Red Stone
• Dangerous Machine Type-6
• Legendary Sword
• Polymerization
• Pot of Greed
• Red-Eyes Fusion
• Roulette Spider
• Red-Eyes Transmigration
• Salamandra
• Scapegoat
• Time Wizard
• unknown Spell Card

Traps

• Gamble
• Red-Eyes Spirit
• Sixth Sense

"Maximillion Pegasus"

Monsters

Effect Monsters

• Alich, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss
• Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss x2
• Calcab, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss
• Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss
• Crane Crane
• Draghig, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss
• Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss x3
• Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss
• Libic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss
• Maxx "C"
• Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss x2
• Tour Guide From the Underworld
• two unknown Monster Cards

Tuner monsters

• Rubic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss x2

Ritual Monsters

• Malacoda, Netherlord of the Burning Abyss

Extra Deck

Fusion Monsters

• Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss
• Thousand-Eyes Restrict

Xyz Monsters

• Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal
• Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss x3

Spells & Traps

Spells

• Dark Hole
• Good & Evil in the Burning Abyss
• Instant Fusion

Traps

• Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss x2
• Solemn Strike
• The Traveler and the Burning Abyss x2

Trivia

• When Joey summons "Red-Eyes Black Dragon", the theme that plays is a snippet from "Battle City Passion." This is separate from the usual theme associated with "Red-Eyes Black Dragon", which is "Summon the Dragon".
• When Pegasus first summons "Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss", the music that plays is Ghost Kaiba's theme from Yu-Gi-Oh! - Episode 009. This track also plays in Yu-Gi-Oh! - Episode 022 when Yugi and Kaiba begin their duel, and in Yu-Gi-Oh! - Episode 032 when Bandit Keith activates his third copy of "7 Completed".
• This is the first scripted Duel in which battle positions are referred to as "positions" rather than "modes."
• This is the first scripted Duel in which Pegasus makes absolutely no mention of his Millennium Eye.
• This is the second scripted Duel in which Pegasus uses a real-world tournament-level Deck archetype rather than any archetype he used in canon, with the first being North American WCQ 2013 Special: Kaiba vs. Pegasus. Unlike the first time, however, in which Pegasus borrows Billy Brake's "Wind-Up" Deck, Pegasus' "Burning Abyss" deck is implied to be of his own creation.
• For comedic effect and to poke fun at Joey's above-average luck and reliance on luck in the canon series, all dice and coins used in this scripted Duel are very obviously rigged so that they can only produce one result.
  • This is the first scripted duel that involves coin and die-based chance.
• For comedic effect, both characters intentionally mispronounce the phrase "Pegasus's Cir" in the script at least once, which has three consecutive s sounds and is hard to say quickly.
• The only card used in this duel that adheres to its effect as depicted in the anime/manga is "Time Wizard", which is played as a Spell Card to summon one of Joey's signature Fusion Monsters, "Thousand Dragon". In contrast, Joey properly Fusion Summons his other signature Fusion Monster, "Flame Swordsman". Joey never properly Fusion Summons either of these two monsters in the anime/manga.
• The "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" summoned by Joey uses its third artwork. The "Thousand Dragon" and "Flame Swordsman" summoned by Joey use their second artworks. In contrast, Joey's cards in the anime only use their first artworks.
• Joey indicates that the attack name of "Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon" is "Inferno Fire Blast," the same as "Red-Eyes Black Dragon's".
• Pegasus states that when "Malacoda, Netherlord of the Burning Abyss" is sent to the Graveyard, its effect can destroy any card on the field. In the TCG/OCG, "Malacoda" does not technically "destroy" a card, instead simply "sending" it to the Graveyard. However, this distinction is of no significance in this duel.
• The first time Joey summons "Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon", he states that he cannot activate its effect had he not already Normal Summoned "Baby Dragon" that turn. Had Joey not summoned "Baby Dragon", Joey could have used the effect of "Black Flare Dragon" and used it to attack any monster other than "Malacoda", which would have won him the duel with "Black Flare Dragon's" effect damage.