NeoGoat Online: Back to the Beginning – Replays

As a preview for the Back to the Beginning special event, the third NeoGoat online tournament was played using the original May 2024 NeoGoat ruleset.
The goal was simple: allow more players to participate and observe how the earliest version of NeoGoat behaves when played seriously today.

Below is a complete round-by-round breakdown of the matches, with replays and brief commentary on what each duel revealed about the format.

Player aliases used in replays

• Meme — Andrés López

• Pepe — José Luis Salazar Mendoza

• Palacios — Roberto Palacios

• Yahikor — Enrique Saldaña

• Omar — Alejandro Alvizo

• Kztoor — Ricardo Mendoza

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🟦 Round 1

Palacios vs Pepe (Pepe wins)

Pepe’s explosive strategy quickly set the tone of the tournament. Palacios attempted to slow the game down, but early momentum favored Pepe, showing how unforgiving the format can be when combo decks are allowed to snowball.

Replays:
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/e5f7480b-42ca-4927-89c2-0c4ec908e9bf
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/31b46bb6-435a-4400-b17f-56d25211124b
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/f5d83066-724b-49a4-a6b0-0ef3dd8e4bdb

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Trainer vs Yahikor (Yahikor wins)

This match was decided by a critical mistake. Trainer activated Ring of Destruction in a situation where the resulting damage caused him to lose the duel outright.

Yahikor’s Pixie Control deck capitalized immediately, illustrating how early NeoGoat often hinges on sharp, irreversible decision points rather than long recovery lines.

Replays:
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/b305461b-2f4b-4c75-9ca0-3eee3ac34ae4
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/1a2ecda3-219a-4f3a-9e0c-e33935732337
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/a2397649-2856-4682-8419-359c390a422c

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Luis Gaona vs Omar (Luis Gaona wins)

Gaona’s Chaos Control showed its consistency here. Omar’s aggressive Warrior shell applied pressure early, but Gaona’s defensive sequencing and Chaos monsters allowed him to stabilize and close the game cleanly.

Replays:
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/763e7143-b427-4853-9ed8-df302cd0388d
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/753bd9fa-af12-464b-9917-355d72f5cae9
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/50f8892f-e396-4067-8198-d0a28b836d2d

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Meme vs Kztoor (Meme wins)

A grindy Chaos matchup where Meme’s draw density and trap sequencing slowly overwhelmed Kztoor’s Monarch-leaning build.

Replays:
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/d04ef0b9-b31d-41ac-8c22-6c9077701b84
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/ac34d5a9-f9ff-4094-8908-88de40c8b7d0

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🟦 Round 2

Meme vs Pepe (Meme wins)

Once Meme slowed the game down, Pepe struggled to assemble the explosive turns his deck relies on. This match showed how consistency often beats raw power in extended games.

Replays:
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/067a679f-2e21-40ae-97b6-ebfa09d4a897
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/4d048374-9568-4e2a-a942-b17973015796
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/f77d8127-9fce-4395-802f-6d3f7a21fc67

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Luis Gaona vs Yahikor (Luis Gaona wins)

One of the best matches of the tournament, especially the second duel, which was full of twists and momentum shifts.

Yahikor managed to set up Pixie Control recursion, while Gaona repeatedly escaped losing positions through careful Chaos sequencing. The duel showcased the depth early NeoGoat can reach when both decks are allowed to function.

Replays:
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/72b900a6-f5e2-44ca-8b85-14fbbfb77ed5
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/f87d9537-6a56-4e22-baaa-dca0ff373bf0
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/a297f4f7-0e0c-4d33-899b-4435d866133d

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Palacios vs Omar (Palacios wins)

No replay data available.

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Trainer vs Kztoor (Trainer wins)

A very fun match highlighting both extremes of early NeoGoat.

• Duel 1: Trainer used DNA Transplant and Scapegoat to build an Ultimate Baseball Kid with over 4000 ATK, ending the game extremely fast.

• Duel 2: Trainer sided Mask of Restrict, which completely shut down Kztoor’s Monarch engine. Mask of Restrict was the clear MVP.

Replays:
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/581ee877-8ff1-44b4-8970-d177aa61a04a
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/7d496dac-d9fb-4a0d-b2cf-7ec648c3c0fa

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🟦 Round 3

Luis Gaona vs Meme (Luis Gaona wins)

The de facto final. Both players traded resources carefully, but Gaona’s deck proved once again to be the most stable of the tournament.

Replays:
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/6ec34b0a-4538-4e4f-bafc-d1c11ef88c55
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/4c7b5f56-93fc-4351-8dce-7fe20395a276

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Pepe vs Trainer (Trainer wins)

• Duel 2: Trainer used Swords of Revealing Light to buy time and assemble massive Ultimate Baseball Kid boards.

• Duel 3: Mask of Restrict was once again decisive, leaving Pepe stuck with high-level monsters in hand and no clean way to deploy them.

Replays:
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/a78a85f9-914c-4387-bde8-d2433a6beecb
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/a7c856fe-198c-43f9-b7a5-bd81f0259471
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/b58d5287-9082-44d4-9967-5d58550439c7

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Palacios vs Yahikor (Palacios wins)

This match featured multiple Dark Coffins in play and became one of the most tactical duels of the tournament. Both players knew the value of disrupting attacks and punishments in early NeoGoat, and they repeatedly used Dark Coffin to shape combat and force awkward lines.

What made this match especially interesting was how both players attempted to bait out attacks, then punish them with responses. Each time one player swung into a board position, Dark Coffin triggered — often forcing both duelists to adjust their tempo and positioning.

Palacios managed to time his removals and tempo plays better, ultimately leaving Yahikor without clean approaches to break the coffin locks while preserving his own resources.

Replays:
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/c21d124b-9118-4110-9f34-8e590b6e7a15
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/0d2fada1-cedd-491c-b7b1-9cf05afb2571
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/931cee8f-e79e-4247-bf22-3359864378ab

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Omar vs Kztoor (Kztoor wins)

A lower-table match that still showed the brutality of the format, with both players trading removal aggressively and small sequencing decisions determining the outcome.

Replays:
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/339ae538-1bd9-4397-bd1d-03a2f66ef681
https://duelingnexus.com/replay/6db77ab7-eaa0-4435-9541-712deb9e0fc4

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Final Thoughts

This tournament clearly demonstrated why NeoGoat could not remain static.

Between explosive combo turns, oppressive locks, and punishing misplays, the original May 2024 format is powerful, volatile, and deeply unforgiving.

Over time, changes were necessary to open space for more strategic diversity — not to weaken the format, but to allow Fire, Rituals, Vanillas, Heroes, Attribute-based decks, and other archetypes to exist without being immediately overshadowed.

This online tournament fulfilled its purpose as a historical snapshot.
It showed what NeoGoat originally was, how close it still was to Goat Format in practice, and why evolution was not optional, but essential.

With Luis Gaona finishing undefeated, the event successfully fulfilled its role as a preview and testing ground for the upcoming Back to the Beginning main event.