Both of these competitors are Shonen Jump Champions, and each is a huge innovator for his respective archetype. Cesar Gonzalez has three Day 2 showings with Dark Armed Dragon and is now competing here today with the new deck to beat: Teleport Dark Armed. Steven Harris won Shonen Jump Championship St. Louis with his format-defining build of Gladiator Beasts back in May, and today he’s looking to make lightning strike twice with yet another innovative Gladiator build.

This is the number one matchup we’ve been waiting for, and we’re only one round into the tournament! Synchros versus Gladiator Beasts: this one match may set the pace for the coming months.

Harris opened with E – Emergency Call, searching his deck for Elemental Hero Stratos. He summoned him, searched out Elemental Hero Prisma with his effect, and set one card to his back row: A typical, strong opening that we’ve all come to be familiar with. Cesar was up.

He had Destiny Hero - Malicious, Krebons, Brain Control, Solemn Judgment, Reinforcement of the Army, and Monster Reborn. He activated Reinforcement of the Army, searched out Dark Grepher, and special summoned it by discarding Destiny Hero - Malicious — Harris flipped Bottomless Trap Hole to remove Grepher from play. Cesar removed Malicious from his graveyard to summon another from his deck, and then normal summoned Krebons and sent both of his monsters to his graveyard to Synchro summon Stardust Dragon!

Stardust Dragon smashed through Stratos, dropping Harris to 7300 life points. Cesar set Solemn and passed with two cards left in his hand: Brain Control and Monster Reborn.

Harris blinked. “So . . . what does he do?”

“He negates the activation of cards that would destroy cards on the field. He’s pretty broken!” Cesar laughed. “He’s pretty good.” Harris needed to take some time, perusing his hand and trying to figure out what to do against Stardust.

He eventually summoned Elemental Hero Prisma and activated its effect to send Gladiator Beast Bestiari to his graveyard. He brought it back in defense mode with Monster Reborn, and then activated Book of Moon to target Stardust Dragon — Cesar flipped Solemn Judgment, and Harris could do nothing but set another back row card and pass!

Next turn Cesar drew Caius the Shadow Monarch. He removed Malicious again to special summon his third copy from his deck in defense mode, then tributed Malicious for Caius. Caius’s effect removed Bestiari from play, then attacked over Prisma! Stardust Dragon swung for 2500 damage direct. “I’ll end my turn.” He still had that Brain Control, plus the Reborn.

Harris set a monster and ended, not looking too happy. “Your turn.” Cesar drew D.D. Crow, and then activated Monster Reborn to take Harris’ Stratos. He searched his deck for his own Stratos, summoned him, and blew away Harris’ back row card — a bluffed copy of Cold Wave. Harris had seen enough, and was scooping up in an instant.

A decisive win in Game 1 for Cesar Gonzalez, as Stardust Dragon utterly destroys Gladiator Beasts! Both competitors dug deep into their side decks and Cesar finished first. He spent the rest of his time lauding the virtues of Colossal Fighter as Harris tried to figure out what he should do. Moments later, play began again.

Harris opened with E – Emergency Call into Stratos again, searching out Prisma once more. “Again?” Cesar laughed, as Harris set his one card to his back row. Cesar opened with Destiny Draw, pitching Destiny Hero – Fear Monger, then activated Allure of Darkness.

He removed Caius the Shadow Monarch from his hand to finish Allure’s effect, then activated Heavy Storm — it destroyed Harris’s face-down Emergency Teleport! “That’s cute,” remarked Cesar. He set two cards to his back row, set a monster, and ended. Harris activated Cold Wave, summoned Gladiator Beast Darius, attacked with Stratos, and ran straight into Cesar’s Morphing Jar! Both duelists got new hands and card counts were momentarily even.

But Darius tagged out to get Harris a copy of Gladiator Beast Bestiari — its effect destroyed Cesar’s Bottomless Trap Hole, and Harris ended his turn. Cesar passed, briefly locked down by the Cold Wave.

Stratos attacked for 1800 damage, and then Bestiari attacked as well, dropping Cesar to 3000 life points. Harris tagged Bestiari out for Darius, brought back the Bestiari he’d discarded with Morphing Jar, and contact Fused for Gladiator Beast Gyzarus . . . straight into Bottomless Trap Hole. He set a spell or trap card to finish out. “Your turn.” Could Cesar mount the comeback?

Cesar activated Reinforcement of the Army, searching Elemental Hero Stratos from his deck at a record pace. He summoned him, and then grabbed Destiny Hero – Plasma with his effect. He sent his Stratos to attack Harris’, and then set three cards to his back row. Harris summoned another copy of Darius.

“That’s okay,” replied Cesar. Darius attacked, and Cesar flipped Scapegoat to defend his life points. Darius attacked a Sheep Token, Harris didn’t tag out, and he set a second spell or trap — Cesar flipped Trap Dustshoot and Harris revealed his hand: D.D. Crow, two Test Tiger, and Krebons. He chained the Crow, removing Caius from Cesar’s graveyard, and then lost his Krebons as it was shuffled back to his deck. “Your turn.”

Cesar tributed his three Sheep for Plasma! He then activated Monster Reborn targeting Stratos, but Harris chained Book of Moon, targeting Plasma. Cesar chained Solemn, brought back Stratos, and tried to use his effect to destroy Harris’ remaining spell or trap. Harris chained it: Gladiator Beast War Chariot! He’d jumped the gun; if he’d waited with that Book of Moon, he could have used the Chariot to stop Plasma. Instead Cesar lost Stratos, and then absorbed Darius with Plasma’s effect. Its ATK went to 2750. He attacked with it to drop Harris to 5250 life points, and then set a spell or trap to end. Cesar had 1500 life points remaining and set a monster. “Go.”

Harris set one card to his back row and took another shot from Plasma. He was down to 2500 life points. He drew for his next turn, flipped Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror, then summoned Darius and special summoned Test Tiger. He tributed Test Tiger to send Darius back to his deck, tagging in Bestiari, and didn’t realize that Plasma’s effect wasn’t negated by the Mirror — Plasma’s effect is continuous, while Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror only stops activated effects. Harris attacked Cesar’s face-down Sangan with Bestiari, and one turn later Cesar summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior. He sent him to attack Bestiari, and then made a direct attack with Plasma to finish the match.

Cesar Gonzalez absolutely steamrolls Steven Harris’s Gladiator Beasts, chalking up a victory for Synchros! I wonder how many more times we’ll see that this weekend?