Dale is back by popular demand. With a 4-0 record, it was actually his opponent, Jordan Savage, who made this an easy pick for a feature match. A familiar face, Savage fell just short of a breakthrough performance at Shonen Jump Chicago, where he went 7-2 but missed the Top 8 on tiebreakers.

“Paul said he’s going first this game,” announced Bellido. Having dropped from the toournament, Paul Levitin was wallflowering all of Bellido’s matches, doing the same with Carlos Santiago, who was also playing Team Scoop’s version of the deck (and was doing much better with it).

Savage opened with a set card to each zone. Dale summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, broke Reinforcement of the Army, and slammed Breaker into D. D. Assailant. He set one card to his back row, and passed.

Assailant turned to attack, and swept out Breaker. Savage set a spell or trap and passed. Dale drew, activated Brain Control, took D. D. Assailant, and tributed it for Mobius the Frost Monarch. It destroyed Savage’s Sakuretsu Armor and attacked directly.

Savage summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, broke Call of the Haunted, used Premature Burial to bring back D. D. Assailant, and rammed the Assailant into Mobius. Breaker then attacked directly. It was 4800 to 5600, in Bellido’s favor. Savage set one spell or trap, passed, and Dale set a card to each zone.

Savage removed the face down monster with Nobleman of Crossout – Sangan! He then attacked with Breaker the Magical Warrior, but Dale had the Sakuretsu Armor to destroy it. Savage’s D. D. Warrior Lady attacked directly on the following turn, but Dale had a Smashing Ground to minimize future damage. Savage kept attacking, dropping Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer and again getting rejected by Sakuretsu Armor. He set one spell or trap and passed to Dale.

Dale set a monster. Savage activated Reinforcement of the Army and selected Mystic Swordsman LV2. He was actually running a pair of Swordsmen, a popular choice for a few top duelists today. He attacked the face down with it, destroying Spirit Reaper. Dale drew, set one spell or trap, and passed. He took a Mystic Swordsman beating on the following turn, drew, did nothing, and when the Swordsman attacked again on the next turn Dale flipped Widespread Ruin.

Dale drew and looked at Savage: “Did you set a Heavy? He hasn’t been playing that card . . . ”

“Tell the truth!” said Levitin from the sidelines, in a morally obligating tone.

Dale played Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Torrential Tribute, then set a second spell or trap. Savage set another spell or trap, passed, Dale set a monster, passed back, and Savage drew. He summoned Cyber Dragon, brought down Exiled Force, and Dale flipped Torrential Tribute to clear the field! Savage replied with Pot of Avarice: both players had healthy card presence, but Savage’s was the healthier of the two. Dale had three cards in hand and one on the field, while Savage now had seven cards total.

Dale set another monster, and passed to Savage who did the same. Dale drew, looked skyward to blow god a little kiss, and started considering his moves. It was 4800 to 3200, with Savage in the lead. Dale was running the numbers, but eventually opted to pass.

Savage set one spell or trap and ended his turn. Though he had serious card advantage, his conservative decisions might have been a boon to Bellido, who drew and flipped Gravekeeper’s Spy to bring out another. He tributed the first to summon a monster in face down defense position, and ended his turn. What on earth was Dale Bellido doing?

In Dale’s end phase Savage flipped Dust Tornado to destroy Dale’s one set spell or trap to reveal Nobleman of Crossout. The tension was palpable.

And then Paul Levitin offered everyone at the table some French fries.

Savage summoned Exiled Force and tributed it to destroy the face down monster Dale had tributed for. It was revealed to be Cyber Dragon. A quick check of Dale’s graveyard revealed the reason he tributed Cyber Dragon face down, as it was his only Light monster. If he had gotten a chance to tribute Cyber Dragon for a Zaborg, he could then special summon Chaos Sorcerer.

In fact, he had a similar option on the following turn, still in possession of his Gravekeeper’s Spy for tributing. But the Sorcerer and Zaborg would only dish out 4700 damage. Savage had 4800 life points, so Bellido held off. Next turn Savage tributed Spirit Reaper for Mobius the Frost Monarch, destroying the Heavy Storm that Dale had set in anticipation of his own big attack. Then, Snatch Steal grabbed Dale’s Gravekeeper’s Spy, and the game was over.

Jordan Savage wins the first duel!

Bellido opened with a single set monster. Savage searched his deck with Reinforcement of the Army for Mystic Swordsman LV2, swung with it, and took out Gravekeeper’s Spy. He set one spell or trap and ended. Dale summoned Sangan, ran over the Swordsman, and Savage was up. He summoned Cyber Dragon, attacked Sangan, and Dale pulled Spirit Reaper with Sangan’s effect. Dale then set a monster and a spell or trap, and Savage sent Cyber Dragon into the face down monster, revealing Mystic Tomato! Its effect brought out Spirit Reaper for Dale, giving him one Reaper on the field and one in his hand. Savage passed, with Cyber Dragon and a set spell or trap.

Dale looked at Jordan. “How many cards in hand, Jordan Savage?”

“Five.”

“Yeah, well, how about if I told you you’d have three at the end of this round?” Dale flipped Heavy Storm. “What if I-” Dale’s Evil Genius™ speech was cut short, as Savage’s face down was revealed as Scapegoat.

Dale blinked. “Oh. I guess I lied.”

All hopes for a full-frontal assault dashed, Dale set a monster, turned his Reaper to defense, and passed. Savage set another spell or trap and passed right back.

Dale looked at his hand. “Excuse me, cards, why do you suck?” He didn’t wish to play a card, and discarded Newdoria in his end phase to reduce his hand to six. He was either unwilling to set Newdoria for some reason, or needed a Dark for Chaos Sorcerer. It was either a great bluff or, he really didn’t want to tempt out a Dark Hole.

Savage set another spell or trap in his back row and passed. Dale drew, set another monster, and passed right back. Savage played Dark Hole, destroying two Reapers and Magician of Faith on Dale’s side of the board. Savage attacked with Kycoo, Dale special, summoned Cyber Dragon, tributed it for Mobius, and Savage flipped Torrential Tribute. Between the Torrential and Mobius’s effect, the field was completely decimated. Neither player had any cards left on the table. Dale set one spell or trap and ended.

Savage played Mystical Space Typhoon to give his Don Zaloog a clear path. He summoned it and attacked with it, costing Dale a Zaborg the Thunder Monarch. He set one spell or trap and passed.

Dale activated Snatch Steal, summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, and attacked with Don and the Lady. But next turn Savage had his own Snatch Steal, and took D. D. Warrior Lady with it. He tributed it for Mobius the Frost Monarch, rammed Bellido with both the Monarch and Zaloog, and that was the match!

Jordan Savage takes down Dale Bellido, moving on with a 5-0 record!