Somehow, David Duran had gotten all this way here today with no Gladiator Beast Heraklinos in his Extra deck. The story? He’d played Monarchs yesterday in the win-a-box tournaments, gotten “couched” by Gladiator Beasts, and decided he’d had enough of that happening. He threw together his first-ever Gladiator Beast build and simply couldn’t find a Heraklinos.

Apparently, he couldn’t find a second Rescue Cat or Reaper on the Nightmare either, facts Ackerman had observed earlier in the day. He really didn’t want to lose to Duran’s last-minute creation.

Duran opened the match with a set card to each zone. Ackerman had Gladiator Beast Darius, Test Tiger, Heavy Storm, Solemn Judgment, Reinforcement of the Army, and Gladiator Beast Hoplomus. He activated Heavy Storm to destroy Duran’s face-down Torrential Tribute, then activated Reinforcement of the Army to search out Elemental Hero Prisma. He activated its effect to send Gladiator Beast Bestiari to his graveyard, used Test Tiger to tag out for Darius, then brought back Bestiari to contact Fuse. Gladiator Beast Gyzarus hit the field, destroyed Duran’s face-down Sangan, and Duran got Gladiator Beast Bestiari from his deck. Gyzarus made a direct attack and at the end of the battle phase Ackerman returned it to his Extra deck to bring in two copies of Gladiator Beast Laquari in attack position. He set Solemn Judgment and ended.

Duran summoned Bestiari, then special summoned Test Tiger. “That’s fine,” replied Ackerman after considering Solemn. Bestiari tagged out to Gladiator Beast Murmillo, destroying one Laquari. Duran had another Test Tiger!

He summoned it, and Ackerman let it go: Murmillo tagged out and back in, destroying the other Laquari. Murmillo attacked, Ackerman took the shot, and Murmillo tagged out to Gladiator Beast Bestiari—Ackerman lost his Solemn.

“Reborn my Sangan,” announced Duran, telegraphing Crush Card Virus. He ended his turn by setting his last two cards to his back row. Ackerman did nothing but set a monster next turn.

Bestiari attacked, straight into Ackerman’s Morphing Jar! Both duelists got new hands, and Duran tagged Bestiari out for Gladiator Beast Laquari. He set another spell or trap card to finish.

Ackerman now had Test Tiger, Mystical Space Typhoon, Mind Crush, Torrential Tribute, and two copies of Book of Moon. He set Mind Crush, Torrential, and Mystical Space Typhoon, losing his Typhoon to Duran’s Dust Tornado in the end phase. Duran summoned Gladiator Beast Bestiari next turn, Ackerman flipped Torrential Tribute, and Duran chained Crush Card Virus, tributing his Sangan. Ackerman revealed his two Book of Moon cards and his Test Tiger, no hits for the Virus! Duran searched out Spirit Reaper with Sangan’s effect—leaving himself with five cards in hand—and activated Premature Burial to bring back Laquari and attack for 1800 damage. Laquari tagged out to Bestiari and Ackerman chained its target: Mind Crush, robbing Duran of Spirit Reaper.

Ackerman revealed his draw: Solemn Judgment. He had zero offensive capabilities, so he set both Book of Moon and Solemn Judgment. Duran activated Heavy Storm next turn to draw out the Solemn, Ackerman dropped to 2700 life points, and Duran activated Reinforcement of the Army.

That got him Elemental Hero Prisma from his deck, and he summoned it to send Gladiator Beast Bestiari to the graveyard. He contact Fused for Gyzarus, and when it hit the field Ackerman lost his remaining cards, chaining Book of Moon to at least turn Gyzarus face down.

Next turn he drew Elemental Hero Prisma and lost it to Crush Card Virus. He set Test Tiger, Duran flip summoned Gyzarus, and then normal summoned Gladiator Beast Laquari. Laquari took down Test Tiger, Gyzarus made a direct attack, and Laquari tagged out to Darius. Darius got Duran Gladiator Beast Bestiari from his graveyard, and Gyzarus tagged out to bring another Darius from Duran’s deck. That was all Ackerman had to see to throw in the towel.

David Duran makes a huge opening play with double Test Tiger cards, and Rob Ackerman just can’t fight back! Could he win two duels straight to make it to the finals, or would David Duran move on to the finals with a Heraklinos-free Gladiator deck?

Ackerman opened Game 2 with Elemental Hero Prisma, Gladiator Beast Darius, Elemental Hero Stratos, Test Tiger, Mirror Force, and his signature card Pole Position! He summoned Elemental Hero Stratos, searched out Prisma from his deck, and set Mirror Force and Pole Position. “Go ahead.”

Duran summoned Gladiator Beast Laquari. He special summoned Test Tiger, tributed it to tag out Laquari for Murmillo, and blew away Elemental Hero Stratos. Murmillo attacked, but Ackerman flipped Mirror Force to destroy it! Duran set a spell or trap to end.

Ackerman topped the card that knocked him out of worlds: Mind Control. He summoned Elemental Hero Prisma, activated its effect to send Bestiari to the graveyard, then special summoned Test Tiger. He tributed it to tag out Prisma for Darius, brought back Bestiari, and contact Fused for Gyzarus. Gyzarus’s target was chained, Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying the face-down Pole Position (which mercifully wasn’t face up). Gyzarus attacked for 2400 damage, then tagged out to a pair of Gladiator Beast Laquari cards with 2100 ATK each.

Duran summoned Gladiator Beast Bestiari, tagged it out with a Test Tiger, then brought out Darius. Darius special summoned Gladiator Beast Murmillo from the graveyard, and Duran played a third Test Tiger, again, to trade Murmillo for Gladiator Beast Bestiari! He contact Fused for Gyzarus, destroyed both copies of Laquari, and attacked for 2400 damage. Gyzarus then tagged out for two copies of Laquari. Duran had just one card left in hand.

Ackerman had Darius, Test Tiger, Mind Control, and Prisma. He summoned Prisma, sent Bestiari to the yard with its effect, and took control of one Laquari with Mind Control. “Contact Fuse.” He dropped Gladiator Beast Gyzarus to destroy the remaining Laquari, attacked, and tagged out for Gladiator Beast Darius and Bestiari. Darius tried to bring back Laquari, but Duran discarded his last card, D.D. Crow, to remove the Laquari in response.

Another contact Fusion left Ackerman with Gyzarus in attack position. Duran needed to top Rescue Cat to have any hope, and didn’t, setting his one card to his back row. Gyzarus attacked next turn, Duran flipped Mirror Force, and Ackerman set Royal Oppression. He then summoned Gladiator Beast Darius and ended his turn, holding Test Tiger. The Darius seemed a bit ambitious.

Sure enough, Duran topped Brain Control and used it to take Darius. Darius attacked, and when it tagged out, Ackerman flipped Royal Oppression, paying 800 life points to negate Duran’s attempt at a tag out. Darius was sent back to Ackerman’s deck, Duran passed, and Ackerman summoned Test Tiger. He attacked with it and set one card to his back row, and Duran set one as well. Test Tiger attacked again, Ackerman set another spell or trap, and Duran set another. Ackerman sent Test Tiger to attack again and Duran flipped Dimensional Prison to remove it from the game. The duel stood at 3100 to 1200 with Ackerman leading.

Duran drew Laquari! He summoned it and attacked, and Ackerman drew for his turn: Murmillo. He’d been holding Brain Control since last turn.

He activated it and Duran scooped!

“Did you rip that like a champ?”

“Sure,” replied Ackerman. Both duelists began side decking for the final duel of the match.

Robert Ackerman overcomes triple Test Tiger cards, pressing this match to a third duel! Duran would open the final game.

He did so by setting two cards to his back row. Ackerman had two copies of Prisma, Laquari, Test Tiger, Reinforcement of the Army, and Royal Oppression. He summoned Prisma, sent Bestiari to the graveyard with its effect, and special summoned Test Tiger. He tributed it and Duran chained Book of Moon, turning Prisma face down. Ackerman set Reinforcement of the Army and Oppression to end his unfortunate turn.

Duran summoned Gladiator Beast Bestiari, attacked Prisma, and attempted to tag out: Ackerman responded with Royal Oppression, but Duran chained Solemn Judgment! He special summoned Gladiator Beast Laquari with 2100 ATK, set another spell or trap and ended.

Ackerman drew Pole Position. He’d need a miracle to win this match. He flipped his face-down Reinforcement of the Army, searched his deck for Elemental Hero Stratos, summoned it, and searched out his third Prisma. He set Pole Position and ended.

Duran attacked with Laquari and didn’t tag out. Ackerman set a monster next turn, now totally on the defensive, and when Laquari attacked he flipped Mirror Force. Duran had no answer and lost his Laquari. He summoned another in main phase 2 to finish his turn. Ackerman flip summoned Elemental Hero Prisma, activated its effect, and sent Gladiator Beast Bestiari to the graveyard. He normal summoned Gladiator Beast Laquari, contact Fused for Gyzarus, and destroyed Duran’s set Dimensional Prison and Laquari! Gyzarus attacked for 2400 damage to drop Duran to 1600 life points, and Ackerman tagged out: he brought two copies of Darius to the field, trying to special summon two copies of Bestiari—Duran discarded D.D. Crow to remove one, but Ackerman special summoned the other. He then contact fused one Darius and Bestiari for another Gyzarus. He had Gyzarus and Darius on the field, one card set, with Elemental Hero Prisma and Dust Tornado in hand. He set the Tornado and ended. “Your turn.”

Duran activated Premature Burial to special summon Gladiator Beast Laquari, but Ackerman chained Dust Tornado to destroy it before it could resolve! Duran had nothing left: his hand was two Bestiari and a Darius, none of which would save him.

Robert Ackerman wins what appeared to be an unwinnable match, moving on to the Finals! One week after playing in the Top 2 of the World Championships, he’d now play off for a Shonen Jump title!