Dale Bellido was now taking Zombies against Ryan Hayakawa, who was packing a burn deck highly reminiscent of the one which took his teammate Kenny So to victory at Shonen Jump Indy. It was a tricky matchup; on one hand, Dale had main-decked Dust Tornadoes and the potential for a lot of speed. On the other, Hayakawa’s Skill Drains could render Bellido’s Zombie Masters useless, cutting him off from his primary strategy.
Dale won the opening roll and started the match with a set card to each zone. Hayakawa set two back row cards, ended, and lost one to Dust Tornado in the end phase: Scapegoat. Dale summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, broke Dimension Wall!, and then flip summoned Pyramid Turtle to make two direct attacks. He set another spell or trap, ended, and Hayakawa set a card to each zone.
He played Swords of Revealing Light next, then ended, the duel moving at a furious pace. Dale tributed Pyramid Turtle for a face down monster, set a spell or trap, and ended. A third back row card was set by Hayakawa, and next turn Dale activate Card of Safe Return!
He flipped another, then flipped Call of the Haunted to draw two cards and bring back Pyramid Turtle! He ended, still waiting out the Swords, and Hayakawa set another spell or trap. Dale passed and Swords was destroyed, leaving Hayakawa to set another face down in his spell and trap zone.
Breaker attacked, destroying Hayakawa’s Sangan and letting him search his deck for Card Trooper. Dale refused to attack with Pyramid Turtle, instead tributing it for a face down Ryu Kokki. That got it into the graveyard, letting Dale activate another Card of Safe Return before activating Book of Life, bringing back Turtle and drawing three cards!
Trooper was summoned by Hayakawa, and he pumped it to attack over Breaker. Hayakawa lost Skill Drain from his deck in the process. He then activated Wave-Motion Cannon to finish his turn. Pyramid Turtle went to attack mode and Bellido activated Creature Swap, trading it for Card Trooper and sending Brain Control, Mystical Space Typhoon, and Zombie Master to the graveyard. Card Trooper attacked over the Turtle and Hayakawa had to take it! He ate 700 damage and Dale pulled Zombie Master from his deck. In main phase 2, he discarded Giant Rat for the Master’s effect, special summoning Pyramid Turtle and drawing three more cards. He set a spell or trap, then had to discard Widespread Ruin in the end phase. He ended with ten cards on the field and six in hand.
Hayakawa flipped Ceasefire, turning over Dale’s Cyber Dragon and Ryu Kokki while dishing out 2500 damage. He set a spell or trap and reluctantly ended. It was time for Dale to go on the offensive.
Pyramid Turtle went to attack position and Card Trooper attacked, without a pump. Hayakawa took it and Dale ended without doing anything else, save discarding Ryu Kokki.
Hayakawa summoned Giant Rat and Bellido flipped Torrential Tribute, losing his five monsters and Torrential Tribute just to eliminate Hayakawa’s one monster! Hayakawa ended and Dale was up.
He summoned Zombie Master, discarded Cyber Dragon to bring up Spirit Reaper, and drew three for Safe Return. Spirit Reaper attacked directly and forced Hayakawa to discard Messenger of Peace. Dale didn’t attack with Zombie Master, and ended with a discard of Morphing Jar. Next turn Hayakawa fired off Wave-Motion for 3000 damage, cleared Zombie Master with Hammer Shot and played another Cannon.
Book of Life brought back the Reaper, giving Dale another three cards and removing Hayakawa’s Giant Rat. He discarded a Rat of his own and then special summoned Pyramid Turtle, drawing three more. He normal summoned Snipe Hunter, but Hayakawa activated Solemn Judgment to keep it off the field — with Dale’s massive hand it would have been a win otherwise. It was one he needed, too: he only had a handful of cards left in his deck.
He activated Book of Life, his third and final copy, to special summon Ryu Kokki, drawing three cards. He ended his turn and discarded four cards to bring himself down to the minimum hand size. Hayakawa set a spell or trap and ended.
Dale drew, leaving himself with just one card in his deck. “Storm yet?” asked Hayakawa. Dale activated Dust Tornado to destroy Hayakawa’s set Gravity Bind. Premature Burial brought back Snipe Hunter, Dale used only one of the Card of Safe Returns to draw his last card (since using any more else would have lost the duel for him) and announced it was Heavy Storm — the very last card in his deck. He discarded Card Trooper, missed, then discarded Mirror Force to blow away Hayakawa’s last unknown set card: Dimension Wall. That left Dale free to attack and the duel was over moments later.
Dale Bellido takes an insane victory over two-time Shonen Jump Champ Ryan Hayakawa!
“I actually drew my whole deck. I’ve never done that before.” Dale was giddy, as he sided and shuffled up for game 2.
Hayakawa opened the second duel with a set monster, leaving Dale to special summon Cyber Dragon and normal summon Sangan. Cyber Dragon struck first, hitting Nimble Momonga, and Hayakawa brought out two more, losing his second to Sangan. Dale set a back row card to end.
Hayakawa summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior and Dale lost Dust Tornado to Breaker’s effect. He attacked Sangan, destroying it, and Dale searched his deck for Snipe Hunter with Sangan’s effect. Hammer Shot destroyed Cyber Dragon and Hayakawa concluded his turn with a set spell or trap card.
A few moments of contemplation preceded Dale’s next move. He summoned Snipe Hunter, discarding Jinzo, but lost his discard to a chained Skill Drain! He set a spell or trap, attacked the last Momonga, and then traded Snipe Hunter for Breaker with Creature Swap. He had only one card remaining in hand.
Wave-Motion Cannon and a set spell or trap hit Hayakawa’s back row, and he turned Snipe to defense. Dale summoned Card Trooper, forgot to pump its ATK, and then attacked with Breaker. Card Trooper attempted to attack directly, but Scapegoat blocked the shot and Trooper hit a Sheep. Hayakawa summoned Giant Rat and attacked Card Trooper. Hayakawa ended with another Wave-Motion.
Breaker hit another Sheep and Hayakawa’s Cannons each gained 1000 damage. Dale flip summoned Magical Merchant, forgetting about Drain, then attacked both Sheep before tributing Merchant for Il Blud. He face-palmed at his mistake with the Merchant, and then ended. Hayakawa just drew and set his remaining cards to the field, two to his back row and one monster.
There was nothing Bellido could do and he scooped immediately, wary of going to time.
Game 3 began quickly. Dale set a card to each zone, Hayakawa set two to his back row, and play was back to Dale.
He flipped Dust Tornado, blew away Skill Drain, and then flip summoned Magical Merchant before tributing it for Jinzo. Jeff Jones gasped, Jinzo attacked, and Dale set a spell or trap. Hayakawa set a monster, and then activated two copies of Wave-Motion Cannon! One way or another, this was going to be over fast.
Bellido set another back row card, summoned Zombie Master, and attacked into Giant Rat, allowing Hayakawa to search out another in attack mode. Jinzo crushed it to press through 1000 damage, and Nimble Momonga was special summoned next.
It went to defense next turn and Hayakawa set another monster. Dale set a monster himself, and then attacked Hayakawa’s face down with Zombie Master: Sangan. It got him Morphing Jar, and Dale passed without attacking with Jinzo. Hayakawa set a monster and passed.
Dale flipped Card of Safe Return, discarded Pyramid Turtle, and special summoned it with Zombie Master, drawing a card. He activated a second Card of Safe Return, then tributed Pyramid Turtle for Il Blud. That let him Book of Life the Pyramid Turtle, removing Sangan from Hayakawa’s graveyard and drawing two cards. Zombie Master attacked Hayakawa’s face down monster, Big Shield Gardna! Jinzo then attacked it once it had shifted to attack mode, hammering through over 2000 damage. He ended again, not wanting to attack that Momonga.
Mystical Space Typhoon eliminated one Wave-Motion Cannon next turn as the other went to 3000 damage. Hammer Shot destroyed Jinzo and Hayakawa set a card to each zone. Call of the Haunted brought back Jinzo in the end phase and Dale got to draw two more cards, a horrible turn of events for Hayakawa.
Dale drew for his draw phase next turn, set a spell or trap, and attacked into Morphing Jar with Zombie Master: both players got new hands. Sangan attacked Nimble Momonga, Pyramid Turtle and Il Blud attacked the resulting squirrels and Jinzo then attacked directly, dropping Hayakawa to 3000 life points.
Hayakawa summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, broke Dale’s set Book of Life, and then activated Messenger of Peace. Time was called on Hayakawa’s turn and three turns remained in the game.
Dale summoned Snipe Hunter and discarded Zombie Master to destroy Wave-Motion Cannon. He discarded Ryu Kokki, missed, and then discarded Cyber Dragon to destroy Breaker the Magical Warrior. He ended and Hayakawa paid for Messenger of Peace, activating Swords of Revealing Light. There was nothing he could do though and Dale won on time.
Dale Bellido narrowly defeats Ryan Hayakawa, moving on undefeated!