Jason Holloway has been the only high-prospect player of the Top 8 to succeed. Where Jerry Wang, Robert Ackermon, and Miguel Garcia have fallen, he’s managed to please his fans and teammates by making it to the finals. He called it in San Francisco, when team member Fili Luna won the Shonen for Outphase. “Fili won the West Coast, I’m gonna have to take the East Coast,” he said confidently.

Flores won the opening roll and began the first duel with a set spell and trap. He then set a monster and passed to Holloway, who set a monster immediately. Holloway debated a spell or trap, and then opted to set two.

Another spell or trap, and then a third, came down on Flores’s side! He flipped Morphing Jar to claim card advantage, and Holloway chained Dust Tornado to destroy the freshly set Reinforcement of the Army on Flores’s side of the field. He used the Tornado’s second effect to set a card from his hand, and cushion the blow of Morphing Jar. Brilliant! Flores set a monster and ended.

Holloway flipped Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive and drew. He set a third card to his spell and trap zone, and Flores remarked, “You’re gonna love my face down Heavy!” Holloway summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, attacked the face down with it, and was repelled by Sakuretsu Armor. Dekoichi then smacked the Morphing Jar, pressing through some damage.

Flores played Premature Burial to target the Cyber Dragon he’d discarded with Morphing Jar. Holloway chained Dust Tornado, destroying Premature. Flores then set a second monster and a second spell or trap card, ending his turn. Holloway sent Dekoichi into Flores’s first set monster, revealing it to be Sangan. Flores took a copy of Dekoichi with Sangan’s effect, and Holloway set a third card to his back row. Flores drew, shook his head a little in what appeared to be disbelief, and set another monster.

Dekoichi swung again, attacking another of Flores’s face down monsters. It was destroyed by Sakuretsu Armor, and Flores evaluated his position. He had three face down spell and trap cards to Flores’s one, and no monsters on the field to his opponent’s two. Flores only had three cards in hand though, while Holloway had six. He summoned Don Zaloog in attack position and Flores had no response. He then flipped Torrential Tribute in response to the summon of his own Don, wiping the field. It was a great trade that freed him up for aggression on future turns while minimizing the damage from Heavy Storm, if Flores drew into one. Flores lost Dekoichi and Spirit Reaper to Torrential, solidifying Holloway’s play as a smart one.

Flores set one monster and ended. Holloway played Reinforcement of the Army to fetch Exiled Force. It was 6500 to 8000 in his favor, and eh summoned and tributed the Exiled Force to destroy Flores’s set Magician of Faith. Flores fired back with another set spell or trap and another set monster. He was trying hard to regain card advantage through flip effects, but Holloway wasn’t going to let him. On the following turn Holloway special summoned Cyber Dragon, attacked the face down, and both monsters were removed from play. Flores’s set monster had been D. D. Warrior Lady. Holloway ended his turn, Flores passed play right back after drawing, and Holloway was clearly in control of the game, just looking for ways to pressure Flores.

He played Heavy Storm, costing himself a card of advantage to do so. Flores lost two cards, and Holloway lost two as well. He then reclaimed the advantage immediately, summoning Spirit Reaper and attacking directly. Reaper forced Flores to discard Mystic Swordsman LV2, Holloway set a spell or trap, and Flores was up.

Mystical Space Typhoon wiped away Holloway’s set Sakuretsu Armor. Flores then special summoned Chaos Sorcerer, attacked the Reaper, and set a spell or trap. Holloway drew, set a card to each zone and ended. Sorcerer removed the Reaper from play next turn, Flores ended, Holloway passed, and Chaos Sorcerer attacked his face down. It was a mistake—Holloway’s face down was Sangan, and it got him Mystic Tomato.

Holloway blasted Flores’s set Sakuretsu Armor, special summoned Cyber Dragon, normal summoned Tsukuyomi, and turned the Sorcerer face down. It was wiped out by an attack and Holloway attacked directly. On the following turn, Flores brought out Cyber Dragon, used Smashing Ground to destroy Holloway’s Dragon, and attacked. Holloway played Smashing Ground, set a monster, and passed. Flores passed back. Holloway flipped Dekoichi, attacked for 1400, played Tsukuyomi, turned Dekoichi face down and set a spell or trap. Flores set one too, and ended. Holloway flipped Dekoichi again, took a card, attacked for 1400, played Tsukuyomi yet again and turned Dekoichi down before setting a card to his back row. Flores drew, set a monster, and ended. Holloway now had severe card advantage. He flipped Dekoichi again to widen the gap, flipped Call of the Haunted to bring back Exiled Force, and tributed it to destroy Flores’s face down monster, a Spirit Reaper. He then activated Pot of Avarice, shuffled back Exiled Force, Sangan, two Dekoichi, and D. D. Warrior Lady, and drew his two.

Flores had one set spell or trap and one card in hand to Holloway’s Dekoichi and nine in-hand cards. Holloway summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, Flores hit it with Bottomless Trap Hole, and Dekoichi attacked directly.

“If I don’t top Cyber Dragon right now I lose the game” said Flores. Holloway set a spell or trap and passed.

Flores couldn’t get that Dragon, and set his drawn monster. Holloway drew, dropped Nobleman of Crossout, and attacked for game.

Texas’s Jason Holloway wins the first duel!

Both players side decked carefully. With Team Outphase’s second consecutive Shonen Jump victory just one win away, Holloway was handling his cards like a machine, siding and shuffling at a ridiculous speed. Flores didn’t look too confident, but he didn’t look beaten either.

He opened the second duel of the match with a set to each zone, and Holloway fired back with Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Sakuretsu Armor, and a Reinforcement of the Army. The Reinforcement got him D. D. Assailant. His hand was monster-deficient, so he needed something that could hopefully hold its own on the field for a little while. He set a spell or trap, summoned the assailant, sent it into Flores’s face down monster, and destroyed Magical Merchant. It got Flores Nobleman of Crossout.

Flores special summoned Cyber Dragon, and summoned and tributed Exiled Force to destroy the Assailant. Cyber Dragon attacked and Holloway flipped Sakuretsu Armor to destroy it. Flores set one spell or trap and ended. Flores summoned Spirit Reaper and attacked with it, forcing Flores to discard Nobleman of Crossout. He didn’t set any spells or traps, and left himself open to attack by ending his turn.

A set monster was Flores’s only play, unwilling to take the bait if that was indeed what Holloway had been hoping for. Holloway used Premature Burial to bring back D. D. Assailant, and sent it into the face down monster. Dust Tornado destroyed the Premature Burial, sending Assailant to the graveyard, and Holloway turned Reaper to defense. He set a monster, ended his turn, and passed.

Flores set a monster and passed, and Holloway flipped Magician of Faith. He reused Reinforcement of the Army, taking Exiled Force from his deck and immediately tributing it to destroy Flores’s face down monster. Flores’s strategy was dependent on his plethora of tempo-slowing flip effects, and Holloway just wasn’t going to let him use them. He needed to keep game tempo quick in order to win, and that’s just what he was doing. Spirit Reaper got Exiled, and Holloway attacked with one of his own: Flores blocked it by using Call of the Haunted to special summon Cyber Dragon. Holloway moved to his second main phase off the replay, played Smashing Ground, and the Dragon went down. Holloway again refused to set anything to his back row, leaving the Magician and Reaper vulnerable to attack. He seemed to be telegraphing an in-hand Snatch Steal, and Flores was struggling, tempted to ignore the read.

He went for it, special summoning Chaos Sorcerer and using its effect to remove Holloway’s Reaper from play. Flores set one monster and ended. Holloway drew. Flores had only one card in hand, and like Holloway, he had no back row.

Snatch Steal came down and Holloway took control of Chaos Sorcerer! He searched Flores’s graveyard while Flores asked the table judge “What do I get for second prize?” He’d smelled the trap and walked right into it. Holloway attacked with Magician of Faith, destroying Mystic Swordsman LV2! It was a stellar read, and Chaos Sorcerer attacked directly. Holloway set a monster, and Flores was up.

He summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, broke Snatch Steal, took back Chaos Sorcerer, and attacked it into Holloway’s face down Dekoichi. Breaker then attacked the vulnerable Magician of Faith, and Flores passed. Holloway set a card to each zone, Breaker attacked the newly set monster, and Holloway revealed it to be Mystic Tomato. It brought out another Tomato, and Flores removed it from play with Sorcerer’s effect in the second main phase. Flores set another monster, Holloway set one as well, and Flores flip summoned Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive. Breaker swung on Holloway’s single face down monster, found it to be Sangan, and destroyed it: Holloway pulled D. D. Warrior Lady. Dekoichi and Sorcerer attacked directly. It was 2200 to 6400 in Flores’s favor.

Holloway set a monster, and Flores drew for his turn. He tributed for Mobius the Frost Monarch to blow out Holloway’s back row, used Premature Burial to bring back Mystic Swordsman LV2, and Holloway conceded the game.

Christopher Flores ties up the match, winning the second duel! Can the underdog pull out the upset victory after taking a loss in the first duel?

Holloway set a spell or trap card to open, and it was his only play. Flores matched him and raised him, setting two and also not setting a monster. Holloway passed, Flores passed back, and Holloway summoned Don Zaloog. The attack drew out Scapegoat, and Don didn’t attack any of the resulting Sheep tokens. Flores set another back row card, Holloway turned Don to defense position, and he set another spell or trap. Flores passed play back to him without making a move, and Holloway turned Don to attack position and bumped off a Sheep. He set a monster, Flores set a monster, and Holloway was again the active player.

He flip summoned Spirit Reaper, attacked two Sheep tokens, and lost the Spirit Reaper to Sakuretsu Armor in the process. Reinforcement of the Army got him an Exiled Force, which he summoned and tributed to destroy Flores’s face down Magical Merchant. Again, Holloway was putting a high priority on denying Flores his flip effects. He set a third spell or trap card and ended.

Flores set a card to each zone and ended, leaving himself with two back row cards to Holloway’s three. Don Zaloog attacked the new face down monster, and his attack was repelled by Sakuretsu Armor. Holloway special summoned Cyber Dragon, flipped Torrential Tribute, and looked at the face down monster Flores had tried to keep on the board. It was Magician of Faith, and Holloway passed play to Flores.

He set another spell or trap card and passed back. Holloway was really keeping Flores on the defensive, but the life point totals were 8000 to 8000 and card presence was nearly identical. Holloway made a push, playing Heavy Storm to again cause a 3-for-2 trade for himself, losing Scapegoat and Torrential to Flores’s Torrential and Dust Tornado. But he  summoned Spirit Reaper, and used Premature Burial to bring back Don Zaloog. He robbed Flores’s five-card hand of Sakuretsu Armor and Mobius the Frost Monarch! Holloway set one more spell or trap and ended.

Dark Hole wiped away Don and Spirit Reaper, and Flores set one card to his back row. Holloway drew, and was left holding Goldd, Cyber Dragon, and Chaos Sorcerer. He checked his graveyard, and found that he had two Darks and a Light, so Sorcerer was an option. He flipped Call of the Haunted though, and took back Don Zaloog to attack. Flores flipped a Call of his own, blocked the attack with Mobius the Frost Monarch, and Holloway relented. He special summoned Chaos Sorcerer, removed Mobius from play, and ended.

Flores special summoned Cyber Dragon, played Smashing Ground on Sorcerer, summoned Sangan, and attacked with both. Flores was left completely committed to the field with his only two cards. Holloway special summoned Cyber Dragon, tributed it for Goldd, and when the Dragon hit his graveyard he was left with exactly five monsters there. It was just enough for him to activate his last card, Pot of Avarice! Not only did the tribute summoning of Goldd give Holloway an attacker that could win out over Flores’s Cyber Dragon, it also gave him just enough cards to use Pot. What a play!

“It’s anybody’s duel,” said Holloway as Flores shuffled his deck. It was 5500 to 6300 in Flores’s favor. Goldd attacked over Cyber Dragon, Holloway set a spell or trap and passed. Flores set a spell or trap, turned Sangan to defense, and passed as well. Goldd smashed Sangan on the following turn, and Flores pulled Spirit Reaper with its effect. Holloway set a monster and finished his turn, leaving Flores to again set a monster and pass.

Breaker the Magical Warrior came down on Holloway’s side, and it broke Flores’s face down Mystical Space Typhoon. Mystical Space Typhoon was chained, destroying Holloway’s set Sakuretsu Armor. Holloway summoned Tsukuyomi, turned Goldd face down, flip summoned it, and attacked into Dekoichi. The rest of his monsters attacked directly, and next turn Flores summoned Cyber Dragon and set a monster. He set a spell or trap and Cyber Dragon took down Breaker. Holloway summoned Exiled Force, tributed it away to destroy the set Spirit Reaper and attacked Cyber Dragon with Goldd. Widespread Ruin destroyed it! Holloway destroyed Cyber Dragon with Dark Hole.

Flores summoned Don Zaloog off the top and hit against an open field. Holloway discarded his last in-hand card, Tsukuyomi. Holloway topdecked Chaos Sorcerer but couldn’t summon it! He didn’t have the required Light and Dark! He was forced to pass, and Flores summoned Tsukuyomi. He turned Don face-down, flip summoned it and struck directly!

Holloway needed to topdeck an answer, or he’d lose next turn. He drew, revealed Mystical Space Typhoon as his draw for the turn, and set it on the table. There was nothing he could do.

Christopher Flores of Team Rampage defeats three odds-on favorites in the Top 8 and wins Shonen Jump Championship Durham!

Flores immediately wanted to give credit to his teammates. “Brice Thompson and Jonathan Labounty created this deck. They did well with it two, both of them going 7-2.” It’s a good teammate that instantly credits their team with victory.

Congratulations to Christopher Flores, our newest Shonen Jump Champion!