For someone who started this weekend with no features, Jesus Suarez has certainly turned things around. Appearing now in his third feature match, this time against Lazaro Bellido who we last saw mauling Italy’s Stefano Memoli with a series of devastating Dark Armed Dragon plays.

Jesus won the roll and started with a set card to each zone. Lazaro dropped Reinforcement of the Army to search for Elemental Hero Stratos but lost him immediately to Mind Crush. Allure of Darkness came down next and Lazaro removed Jinzo from play to complete the effect. Another Reinforcement of the Army hit for Lazaro and he searched out Disk Commander this time. The Commander was pitched to Destiny Draw, and Lazaro got two more cards for his troubles. He had one Dark monster in his graveyard, and Armageddon Knight gave him a second as he sent Destiny Hero – Dasher to the graveyard. Lazaro set a spell or trap and attacked Jesus’ set Disk Commander before passing. Jesus set a pair of spell or trap cards and took 1400 damage from Armageddon Knight next turn.

Lazaro had no more plays, and Card Trooper came down for Jesus. He dropped Mirror Force, Prometheus, and Dasher into the graveyard to bump it up to 1900 ATK, and he passed his turn without attacking, not wanting to give Lazaro his third Dark monster. Lazaro drew and activated Dasher’s effect, summoning an Armageddon Knight. Torrential Tribute chained to the Knight’s effect, and Lazaro got another Dasher in his graveyard. The field was clear of monsters, and Lazaro capitalized with Strike Ninja! Jesus took the beats from Strike Ninja and then activated Allure of Darkness to draw two cards. He removed a Dasher from play and then counted the Dark monsters in Lazaro’s graveyard. Reinforcement of the Army fetched Jesus a Strike Ninja of his own which he summoned immediately. He removed the Ninja from play by removing Disk Commander and Dasher from his graveyard and then activated Dimension Fusion. Lazaro chained with his own Ninja’s ability removing Dasher and Armageddon Knight from play. Lazaro brought all his monsters in defense mode and Jesus tributed Disk Commander to pump his Dasher.

Jesus sent his Strike Ninja after Lazaro’s, and Lazaro removed an Armageddon Knight and Disk Commander to dodge the attack, and Jesus passed on his Strike Ninja replay to attack with Dasher into Jinzo. He then tried to go back and attack with Strike Ninja, but was informed that he could no longer do so because he didn’t continue the attack immediately thereafter. Jesus’ second Dasher attacked Lazaro’s Dasher, and Jesus set a spell or trap before switching his Dashers to defense and ending. Lazaro brought down Dark Armed Dragon next turn and targeted Jesus’ set Return. He opted not to chain it, but he did chain his next Return when targeted and chained Strike Ninja to that to pull more defenders to the field. It didn’t matter though as Lazaro had a Destiny Draw to put yet another Dark in the graveyard and give himself enough removal and ATK to push through for a win.

Lazaro Bellido is one game away from the finals of the biggest tournament in the history of Yu-Gi-Oh!

Jesus was visibly perturbed by his sloppy play in the first game, and he very quickly made use of his side deck and shuffled up. Lazaro on the other hand was very meticulous, eager to play this next game to perfection and earn another shot at title gold. It was Jesus’ turn to start again, and he opened up with Destiny Draw pitching Fear Monger. This was followed with a pair of spell or trap cards and a set monster to finish out the turn. Lazaro summoned Elemental Hero Stratos and used his effect to search out Destiny Hero – Dasher. He followed that up with Destiny Draw pitching the same Dasher and set three spell or trap cards before attacking into Jesus’ Morphing Jar. Both players got a fresh hand, but Lazaro lost a Dark Armed Dragon and wound up with four Dark monsters in his graveyard.  

Dark Armed Dragon came down for Jesus next turn and he destroyed Stratos and Mirror Force with it before Lazaro chained Threatening Roar to its final removal to prevent any outright beatings this turn. Monster Reborn stole away Lazaro’s Disk Commander, and Jesus drew two more cards. Everything was coming up Jesus this time around, but his inability to attack visibly frustrated him. Elemental Hero Stratos came down for Jesus and used his effect to destroy Lazaro’s last set card, a Brain Control.

Jesus passed and Lazaro immediately winced as he realized he had drawn a monster to special summon with Dasher and mistakenly shuffled it into his hand. He dropped Dark Armed Dragon and removed Dasher to destroy Jesus’ set Premature Burial. Next, he normal summoned Armageddon Knight to send Darklord Zerato to the graveyard. It was removed to destroy Jesus’ other set spell or trap, but the identity of that card was totally irrelevant. Lazaro removed another Dark to destroy his own Disk Commander, then removed that to destroy Stratos, and removed his last Dark to take out Jesus’ last monster before dropping Dimension Fusion to win the game! Lazaro Bellido moves on to the finals defeating Jesus Suarez, 2-0!