Ivan Ayon is from right here in Phoenix. At twenty years of age, he’s a student at ASU, and has been tearing up the field this weekend with a Machine beatdown variant main decking Raiza the Storm Monarch and Mobius the Frost Monarch. Now, he was up against Theerasak Poonsombat, who was here at the Top 8 of a Shonen Jump for the ninth time.
“Nine Shonen Jumps,” T reflected. “Hopefully one win.”
He won the opening roll and head judge Curtis Schultz gave the signal to begin the match. T had Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, Sangan, Trap Dustshoot, Nobleman of Crossout, Machine Duplication, and Spirit Reaper in his opening hand. He set a monster, set Dustshoot, and used it in the following turn: Ayon had Machine Duplication, Card Trooper, Brain Control, Overload Fusion, Cyber Dragon, and Ring of Destruction!
“Whoa, wow!” T sent the Trooper back to Ayon’s deck. The Phoenix native special summoned Cyber Dragon, attacked T’s set Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, then set a spell or trap to finish his turn. T set a monster, set a spell or trap, and ended.
Cyber Dragon attacked against next turn, this time destroying Sangan. T searched his deck for Card Trooper with its effect and Ayon ended.
T drew into Card Trooper, a match for the Machine Duplication he’d opened the game with. He set a monster, Spirit Reaper, and Cyber Dragon flipped it next turn. Ayon set a monster. “Your turn.” T was looking to put together the win in a single turn, and with Nobleman of Crossout Ayon’s set monster was no problem. Still, if he continued to tease out the situation Ayon might begin tributing for Monarchs, which would put a crimp in T’s plans.
He activated Premature Burial and targeted Sangan. He responded to its special summoning with Torrential Tribute, destroying his Sangan, but also destroying Ayon’s set Sangan! Ayon searched his deck for Card Trooper, while T took Cyber Phoenix. Mystical Space Typhoon destroyed Ayon’s set Ring of Destruction, and T summoned Card Trooper! He activated Machine Duplication, searched his deck for two more, and special summoned both. He sent Overload Fusion, Night Assailant, Trap Dustshoot, Jinzo, Future Fusion, Heavy Storm, Brain Control, Mask of Darkness, and Morphing Jar from his deck to his graveyard to boost all three Troopers, then attacked directly with each to bring Ayon down to 2300 life points. He finished his turn with two set cards to his spell and trap zone.
Ayon summoned Card Trooper. He activated his own Machine Duplication, brought out two more Troopers and pumped them all to 1900 ATK. “Enter battle.”
One of Ayon’s Troopers struck one of T’s, destroying it and dealing 1500 damage. The second attacked, then the third, and T drew a total of three cards for their effects. Ayon set a spell or trap and announced that he was done: “End turn.”
T had Giant Trunade, Cyber Dragon, and Cyber Phoenix in his hand! He activated Trunade, special summoned Cyber Dragon, and normal summoned Cyber Phoenix for game!
A six-Trooper showdown results in a quick win for Theerasak Poonsombat!
Both duelists took their time siding and smoke-screening. Ayon finished first, and announced that he would open the second duel.
He did so with a set card to his back row and nothing else. T set Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, a spell or trap card, and ended. Ayon special summoned Cyber Dragon, normal summoned Cyber Phoenix, and then ripped Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive off T’s field with Nobleman of Crossout. Both duelists stripped copies from their decks: two more for T, and one for Ayon. Cyber Dragon attacked, but Mirror Force destroyed both monsters!
T set two cards to his back row, and then set Morphing Jar. He activated Trap Dustshoot, but Ayon didn’t have any monsters. He activated Premature Burial, targeted Cyber Phoenix, and special summoned it to attack Morphing Jar. Both players got new hands, and T drew into Sangan and Crush Card Virus! Ayon set another spell or trap. “Go ahead.”
T special summoned Cyber Dragon and Ayon blew it away with Ring of Destruction. T dropped to 5900 life points, while Ayon had 5100. T activated Premature Burial, special summoned Raiza the Storm Monarch from his graveyard, and attacked the Cyber Phoenix. “I take 12,” acknowledged Ayon. T set Sangan and Crush Card Virus.
Ayon drew for his turn, and then special summoned Cyber Dragon. T responded with Crush Card Virus, tributing Sangan to destroy Ayon’s Cyber Dragon, and forcing the discard of Asura Priest and Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch! Sangan fetched Card Trooper, and Ayon activated Mind Crush to force T to discard it. Both players had three cards in hand, but T had a set spell or trap, and Raiza the Storm Monarch in addition.
Pot of Avarice evened things up, nabbing Ayon two more cards: Spirit Reaper and Mystical Space Typhoon, an incredible pair of rips! He summoned Spirit Reaper, destroyed Premature Burial with Mystical Space Typhoon to send Raiza to the graveyard and attacked directly to discard Night Assailant! It let T return his Morphing Jar to his hand, and Ayon set a card to his back row. “End turn.”
T’s hand was Jinzo, Raiza, and Morphing Jar, and he had an unknown card set in his spell and trap zone. He flipped it, Snatch Steal, to destroy Spirit Reaper. He set Morphing Jar and ended.
Ayon revealed his draw, Cyber Dragon, and it was discarded. He then attacked Morphing Jar with Cyber Phoenix, and revealed a hand of no Virus-weak monsters! Ayon had drawn into Machine Duplication and Card Trooper, and set a spell or trap as T reeled.
He special summoned Cyber Dragon, attacked the Cyber Phoenix, and set Cyber Phoenix. He then set two cards to his spell and trap zone and ended.
Ayon drew Cyber Dragon and discarded it. He summoned Card Trooper, activated Machine Duplication and brought out two more Card Troopers. He activated the effect of one Trooper with priority and T chained Torrential Tribute! “Yours,” said Ayon, ending his turn. In the end phase T flipped Call of the Haunted to target Jinzo, and Ayon chained his own Call of the Haunted to bring back his Thestalos.
“Do you have Brain or Snatch Steal for game?” asked Ayon.
T just nodded and revealed Brain Control. Ayon scooped.
Theerasak Poonsombat defeats the local Ivan Ayon 2-0, moving within striking distance of his first ever Shonen Jump Championship title!