We were just halfway through the day here in Seattle, but two Shonen Jump Champions were already clashing with undefeated records! Team Overdose’s Shane Scurry was taking TeleDAD against the first-ever Shonen Jump Champion ever, John Umali. Umali was running Lightsworn, fast becoming a classic matchup in this format.
Scurry opened with Allure of Darkness, removing Spirit Reaper to draw two more cards. Reinforcement of the Army got him Elemental Hero Stratos, and he summoned him to search for Destiny Hero – Malicious. He discarded that for Destiny Draw, drew two, and removed Malicious from his graveyard to special summon another in attack mode. He activated Emergency Teleport and brought out Krebons!
“So early!” remarked Umali, surprised.
“It’s my first time playing your deck,” responded Scurry, who Synchro summoned for Stardust Dragon. “Go ahead.”
Umali activated Solar Recharge, discarding Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior. He drew into Necro Gardna and Wulf, Lightsworn Beast, losing Crush Card Virus and Compulsory Evacuation Device — a rough draw. “Wow,” groaned Umali. He had an all-monster hand, and summoned Jain, Lightsworn Paladin to attack Stratos. He ended his turn with Wulf, Gardna, Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, and two Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress. At the end of the turn he lost another Evacuation Device and Charge of the Light Brigade.
Scurry special summoned another Malicious, normal summoned another Krebons, Synchro summoned Colossal Fighter, then special summoned Dark Armed Dragon — Brain Control hit the field to seal the duel! Umali flipped over his next topdeck: another monster.
Shane Scurry takes a wrecking ball to John Umali’s terrible draws, smashing him in a handful of turns to take the first duel! After extensive siding from both duelists the second game began.
Solar Recharge let Umali ditch Celestia, Lightsworn Angel, drawing him two cards and send Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress and Royal Oppression to the graveyard. He set a monster, set a spell or trap, and ended with Honest, Necro Gardna, D.D. Crow, and another Celestia in hand. Scurry searched out Stratos with Reinforcement of the Army, summoned him to get Destiny Hero – Defender, and attacked into Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter — Ryko destroyed Stratos, and sent Necro Gardna, Breaker the Magical Warrior, and Celestia to the graveyard. Scurry set two cards to his back row to end.
Umali summoned Phantom of Chaos and removed Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress from his graveyard for its effect, but Scurry chained Skill Drain! This was the same tech that let Adam Corn battle through three consecutive Lightsworn decks in the final swiss rounds of SJC Tulsa just a week ago, so none of this was a surprise. Scurry couldn’t capitalize though, and set a monster next turn — Umali matched him with a set monster of his own, then turned Phantom of Chaos to defense mode. He set the Crush Card Virus he’d topdecked this turn, likely his only hope in this match. Scurry’s only move next turn was to set a third spell or trap card.
The same play came from Umali next turn. Scurry passed, Umali passed, and Scurry topped and activated Allure of Darkness. He removed D.D. Crow for Allure’s effect, then normal summoned Dark Grepher to attack the Phantom; Umali removed Necro Gardna to negate the attack. Scurry set a fourth spell or trap, looking uneasy and unhappy to be forced into such a passive position (as mutual as it was) and Umali passed right back.
Another Allure hit Scurry’s field, and this time he removed Krebons for it. He flipped Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, discarded Malicious to pay for it, and targeted Umali’s face-down monster. Umali chained Crush Card Virus and tributed the target: another Necro Gardna. Scurry lost nothing from his hand or field, but Umali got some important information. Umali followed up with D.D. Crow, removing Scurry’s Destiny Hero – Malicious from his graveyard.
That left Scurry to do nothing but reveal his Destiny Draw he drew for the turn, and set another spell or trap, looking pretty glum. He clearly would have preferred to be kicking butt at the moment. Umali set another monster and ended; he was now holding a single Judgment Dragon. Though Skill Drain would stop its effect, it was still enormous, and free to summon once Umali’s graveyard got up to speed.
Umali activated Heavy Storm, and Scurry flipped Solemn Judgment! Umali set two more cards to his back row, Scurry drew and set Torrential Tribute, and had four cards in hand with three cards set to his back row. He had Skill Drain active too, as well as a face-down monster.
Umali drew to four cards in hand, and passed with one monster set, Phantom of Chaos on the field, and three cards in his back row. Scurry passed, Umali passed, and Scurry thought for a considerable amount of time before passing back.
Umali’s hand was Celestia, Judgment Dragon, Honest, Ehren, Lightsworn Monk, Charge of the Light Brigade, Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress; he passed. Scurry summoned Zombyra the Dark, and Umali flipped Torrential Tribute! “Mm-hmm,” responded Scurry, as the field was wiped. Umali lost Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner and Phantom of Chaos, while Scurry’s Zombyra and Destiny Hero – Defender were both destroyed.
He kept the aggression coming; Scurry activated Monster Reborn targeting his Defender, Umali flipped Royal Oppression and paid 800 life points, and Scurry chained Mystical Space Typhoon to make sure he could special summon Defender! Umali was up.
That Skill Drain was just killing him: he was stuck with three Lightsworn in the graveyard, and couldn’t get over Destiny Hero – Defender. He set Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior, a Lightsworn monster he didn’t have in his graveyard yet, and ended. Scurry passed, still unable to do anything, and next turn Umali flipped Garoth to attack mode, set a monster, and ended.
Scurry activated Reinforcement of the Army and got another Defender! He held it long enough to draw a groan from Umali, then discarded it for Destiny Draw. “Go ahead.”
“Draw a card.” Umali was slowly piecing together a big attack turn, and drew into Solar Recharge, but continued playing possum. “End my turn.” Scurry passed, and next turn Umali discarded Jain, Lightsworn Paladin for the Recharge.
That got him to four Lightsworn in the graveyard, and he normal summoned Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress. He flip summoned Ehren, Lightsworn Monk next, still locked down by Skill Drain, but then activated Compulsory Evacuation Device, threatening to bounce away Defender! Scurry had no response and took his Defender back into his hand. Lyla attacked for 1700 damage, Garoth attacked, and Scurry discarded another Skill Drain to activate Phoenix Wing Wind Blast and spin Garoth, stopping the attack. Ehren made a direct attack though, and Scurry was down to 200 life points. Umali still had 7200.
But Scurry special summoned Dark Armed Dragon! He discarded the Destiny Hero – Defender bounced to his hand next turn for Destiny Draw, drew two cards, and set a fifth card to his back row — he ended without attacking, reading Honest. Sure enough Umali had the Honest next turn, attacking with Lyla over Dark Armed Dragon to capture the duel.
John Umali wins a grueling duel, as Shane Scurry simply fails to find his outs. “I could not draw Mind Crush!” Scurry was not happy, but quickly turned his attention to side decking. Eleven minutes remained in the round, and siding was a quick affair.
Scurry started Game 3 by summoning Elemental Hero Stratos, searching Malicious, and setting a spell or trap. Umali had Judgment Dragon and two Solar Recharge! He discarded Wulf, Lightsworn Beast for the first Recharge, and then discarded Ehren, Lightsworn Monk for his second copy. That let him bring down Judgment Dragon on his first turn! He paid 1000 life points to blow away Stratos, but Scurry chained Phoenix Wing Wind Blast and discarded Malicious to send Judgment Dragon back to Umali’s deck.
Umali wasn’t finished. He normal summoned Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner, discarded to special summon Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress, and attacked with both monsters. In the end phase he lost Giant Trunade, two Celestia, Judgment Dragon, Royal Oppression, and Jain, Lightsworn Paladin. Scurry didn’t seem to have much going on next turn; Reinforcement of the Army got him Destiny Hero – Defender. Scurry set one monster, two spell or trap cards, and was finished with his turn. He had two more cards in hand.
Lyla’s effect was activated, and Scurry chained Skill Drain to negate it. Umali ended, and Scurry summoned Sangan to attack Lyla and destroy her. Play was to Umali.
He attacked Lumina with Sangan, and Umali responded with Honest, sending Scurry to get another copy of Defender with Sangan’s effect. He set another spell or trap and ended. Only two minutes remained in the match.
Umali passed, and in the end phase Scurry flipped Mystical Space Typhoon; Umali chained the target, Beckoning Light! He discarded three cards total, taking back Honest, Judgment Dragon, and Jain, Lightsworn Paladin. Scurry set another spell or trap, time was called, and Scurry conceded, unhappy to do so.
John Umali fights his way through a loss in Game 1, to come back and claim victory in the match over Shane Scurry! Chalk one up for Lightsworn!