25 duelists entered the NeoGoat anniversary special event for 5 rounds of Swiss using the experimental “À La Carte” format.
This wasn’t a normal NeoGoat tournament.
For this event, Ritual Monsters were placed in the Extra Deck while their Ritual Spells remained in the Main Deck. Once the Ritual Spell resolved normally, the Ritual Monster was summoned directly from the Extra Deck.
The Golden Pass was awarded to Gustavo Chapa. The Golden Pass grants free entry to all NeoGoat tournaments during June and July.
Round 1 — Reasoning Combo vs Gravekeepers
One of the most memorable matches of the tournament was Marcos’ Reasoning/Monster Gate combo deck against a Gravekeeper Ritual control strategy.
The duel immediately showed how explosive the anniversary format could become.
Duel 1 — Heavy Storm swing
The combo player opened aggressively with Fusilier Dragon and backrow while the Gravekeeper player established Necrovalley early alongside Morphing Jar.
The game exploded after Morphing Jar resolved.
Both players discarded everything and drew 5 new cards, instantly changing the pace of the duel.
Breaker the Magical Warrior tried to push damage, but Scapegoat absorbed the pressure.
Then came the turning point:
Heavy Storm.
Necrovalley and multiple set cards disappeared at once.
Immediately after clearing the field, the combo player activated Reasoning.
Fusilier Dragon hit the field for free.
Then things became even worse for the Gravekeeper player:
- Brain Control steals Breaker
- Breaker gets tributed for Airknight Parshath
- Parshath attacks Morphing Jar
- draw effect resolves
- Fusilier attacks directly
- Main Phase 2 → Metamorphosis into Dark Balter the Terrible
Suddenly the field was completely locked down.
Dark Balter immediately destroyed the Gravekeeper set monster next turn, Fusilier continued attacking directly, and the Gravekeeper player conceded shortly after.
Duel 2 — Necrovalley pressure
This duel went very differently.
The Gravekeeper player established Necrovalley early again, but this time backed it up with Gravekeeper Spy and Gravekeeper Assailant pressure.
The combo deck attempted a Summoner Monk into Sacred Crane setup:
- discard Book of Moon
- special summon Crane
- draw card
- Monster Gate on Crane
Airknight Parshath appeared from the deck…
…but Bottomless Trap Hole immediately removed it.
That completely killed the momentum.
The Gravekeeper player carefully rebuilt Necrovalley after Mystical Space Typhoon destroyed the first copy, then slowly converted the field advantage into lethal pressure.
A well-timed Book of Moon during battle phase also created an awkward combat step where Summoner Monk was forced into attack position and destroyed.
The combo player quickly ran out of resources and conceded.
Duel 3 — The Masked Beast appears
The deciding duel became one of the wildest games of the event.
The combo player started fast again:
- Summoner Monk
- Sacred Crane draw engine
- Monster Gate
- another Sacred Crane
- multiple backrow
But this time the Gravekeeper player flipped Royal Decree during the End Phase, shutting down several defensive options.
Airknight Parshath appeared again through Reasoning and immediately started generating advantage.
Then the entire duel suddenly transformed because of the anniversary rules.
The Gravekeeper player activated the Ritual Spell for The Masked Beast.
Using two Gravekeeper Spies as tribute material, the gigantic Ritual Monster emerged directly from the Extra Deck with 3200 ATK.
The room reportedly exploded when it hit the table.
Masked Beast immediately destroyed King Dragun in battle while Breaker cleaned up tokens.
But the combo deck somehow survived.
Pot of Greed found the answer:
Metamorphosis on a token → Thousand-Eyes Restrict.
TER absorbed The Masked Beast itself.
The impossible comeback looked real.
But after several more exchanges involving Lightning Vortex, Fusilier Dragon, and repeated pressure, the combo player eventually stabilized and closed the duel.
One of the strangest matches of the tournament.
Water Plant Deck Takes Over
The breakout strategy of the event was easily the Water Plant deck.
At first glance the deck looked bizarre:
- Abyss Soldier
- Lonefire Blossom
- Sylvan Hermitree
- Frost and Flame Dragon
- Salvage
- Mother Grizzly
- Lord Poison
But throughout the event the deck kept generating huge value loops.
Round 2 — Water Plant vs Chaos
Round 3 — Water Plant vs Chaos Recuit
Round 4 — Water Plant vs Good Stuff
This match perfectly demonstrated how the deck functioned.
The duel began slowly with both players trading Breakers and defensive traps.
Then Abyss Soldier hit the field.
Mirror Force stopped the first push, but the Water player rebuilt immediately with Tribe-Infecting Virus and Salvage recursion.
The Chaos player summoned Chaos Sorcerer and removed Tribe, appearing to regain control.
Then Lonefire Blossom resolved.
Sylvan Hermitree entered the field.
Torrential Tribute cleared everything…
…but Lord Poison floated directly back into Hermitree afterward.
That sequence completely changed the duel.
Hermitree then excavated Lonefire Blossom for additional advantage before Frost and Flame Dragon suddenly appeared by banishing:
- Abyss Soldier
- Lord Poison
- Lonefire Blossom
Now the field was completely under control.
Frost and Flame Dragon immediately destroyed the opponent’s set monster by discarding a card, and the Chaos player conceded.
Duel 2 — Premature Burial combo
The second duel became even stranger.
The Water player used Premature Burial to revive Abyss Soldier…
Then activated Abyss Soldier effect by discarding Lord Poison to bounce Premature Burial itself back to the hand.
Because Premature Burial left the field through the bounce effect rather than destruction timing during resolution, Abyss Soldier remained on the field.
That interaction generated a massive swing.
Later:
- Mother Grizzly floated into Catapult Turtle
- Mobius cleared backrow
- Fairy King Truesdale stabilized the board
- Book of Moon protected Truesdale from Lightning Vortex pressure
Eventually the Chaos player ran out of resources and conceded.
Final Match (Round 5) — Water Plant vs Chaos Flip
The “À La Carte” event ended up being very different from what many players expected.
While the Ritual Extra Deck rule created a few memorable moments — especially things like The Masked Beast appearing out of nowhere — most duelists ultimately stayed with safer strategies, and Chaos decks were heavily represented throughout the tournament.
Still, the event produced some genuinely interesting matches, particularly the Water Plant builds, the Reasoning combo deck, and several strange tech choices that normally never appear in standard NeoGoat play.
Some of the decklists from the tournament will also be shared in a future post.
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