We’re dipping into the X-1 bracket here in round 7 to bring you a highly unique matchup between Oscar Renderos representing Team South Ninety Degrees North and Team Legacy and Eric Wu from Comic Odyssey. This match promises to be particularly interesting as the longtime veteran and SJC Champion Eric Wu will take on a previously unrepresented strategy: a full-blown Evil Hero deck. Oscar Renderos, a Top 20 player from Shonen Jump Championship Denver is piloting the deck packing a full complement of Evil Hero Malicious Edge along with Evil Hero Infernal Prodigy. If it works, he’ll be dropping huge monsters for free all game long, but, if it doesn’t, Eric’s new Ritual deck will wipe him out in a hurry.
Oscar won the roll and started with Armageddon Knight sending Jinzo to the graveyard. Eric used Trade-In to pitch Blue-Eyes White Dragon and draw two cards before summoning Sonic Bird to fetch his single copy of Advanced Ritual Art. The two monsters on the field traded blows, and Eric set Threatening Roar before ending. Oscar tried a Heavy Storm, but missed out on his battle phase thanks to the Roar! He set a spell or trap and passed back to Eric who did the same. Oscar activated Reinforcement of the Army to fetch out Elemental Hero Stratos. Stratos was summoned, and Oscar used his effect to fetch out Evil Hero Infernal Prodigy. Eric took some time to read the card before taking 1800 damage from Elemental Hero Stratos. Play passed back to Eric, and he drew a Contract with the Abyss. His hand wasn’t particularly useful right now, consisting mainly of draw cards, but he did have a Great Maju Garzett and a Demise to summon if he could get something else to help deal the final blow. Eric passed with no plays and Oscar summoned Dark Grepher, pitching Infernal Prodigy to send Dark Magician of Chaos to the graveyard. Monster Reborn revived the Magician, and Oscar got another chance to use Monster Reborn! He took it, bringing back Jinzo and trying to go for game! Enemy Controller saved Eric from the Magician’s attack leaving him at 300 life points!
Play passed back to Eric, and he summoned Senju of the Thousand Hands to fetch Dark Master – Zorc from his deck. He activated Trade-In, pitching Demise to draw two cards, and picked up an Enemy Controller and another Threatening Roar. It was looking like Eric would need some serious luck of the dice to pull this one out, but he first tributed his Senju to another Enemy Controller to steal Oscar’s Dark Magician of Chaos. He then tributed that to Contract with the Abyss to Ritual summon Dark Master – Zorc! Zorc’s 2700 ATK made it the biggest man on the field, and Eric rolled with it getting a 3 and destroying Oscar’s Dark Grepher. Zorc then attacked Jinzo, and Eric set Threatening Roar before passing. Premature Burial brought Jinzo back up for Oscar next turn, but Threatening Roar was chained to keep Eric in the game! Lightning Vortex wiped Zorc off the field and Eric had one last turn to turn things around! Eric set a spell or trap card and passed back to Oscar, but it was a bluff! Stratos hit home and gave Oscar the game. The Evil Hero segment of Oscar’s strategy didn’t seem to manifest itself during the game, so Eric didn’t get much of an idea of what he was up against. That said, the smart move here would be to side as if you’re playing a generic Dark deck, as most of the basic engine seemed to be the same.
The players quickly finished their side decking, and after some lengthy shuffling, Eric opted to go first in game 2. He started off with a Sonic Bird to fetch Advanced Ritual Art. A set spell or trap backed up the Bird, and Snipe Hunter came down for Oscar. He declined to activate the effect and instead simply attacked the Sonic Bird. The attack went through, Oscar set a spell or trap, and play passed back to Eric. He looked at his hand for 30 seconds before activating Advanced Ritual Art and sending Blue-Eyes White Dragon to the graveyard to summon Dark Master – Zorc! He activated the effect with priority and rolled a five, destroying Snipe Hunter. Eric swung for 2700, and Oscar had to take it. Eric was done with his turn, and Oscar set a monster before passing back. Monster Reborn came down for Eric snagging Oscar’s Snipe Hunter, and he pitched a Contract with the Abyss to destroy Oscar’s set D.D. Crow. He next pitched a Sonic Bird to destroy Oscar’s bluff Heavy Storm, and Swing of Memories on Blue-Eyes White Dragon gave Eric enough ATK strength to end the duel!
Eric Wu pushes the match to a third and final duel with Oscar’s Evil Heroes continuing to make no appearance! Oscar started the third game with an Armageddon Knight sending Destiny Hero – Dasher to the graveyard. He backed it up with a spell or trap card and passed back to Eric who put down Senju of the Thousand Hands. Eric activated the effect, but Pulling the Rug negated it and destroyed the monster! Oscar immediately tributed his Knight for Jinzo on the next turn and swung for 2400 before setting a card and passing. Sonic Bird came down for Eric and fetched his Advanced Ritual Art, but he didn’t have any Ritual monsters to summon with it. Eric passed with no further plays, and Oscar smashed through his Sonic Bird with Jinzo next turn. Things were looking up for Eric though, as he topdecked into Demise, King of Armageddon! Advanced Ritual Art sent Blue-Eyes White Dragon to the graveyard to let Eric summon Demise, but he declined to activate its effect. Swing of Memories brought Blue-Eyes back to the field, and Eric thought for a while before tributing both monsters for Dark Magician of Chaos! The Magician gave Eric his Swing of Memories back, and he played it again to revive the Blue Eyes. Eric attacked with the Magician, but Oscar tributed his Jinzo to Enemy Controller to steal away Blue-Eyes!
The Dragon was destroyed at the end of the turn, and Oscar activated his Dasher’s effect to special summon Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer. Brain Control stole Dark Magician of Chaos, but Eric chained Threatening Roar to stay in the game. Unfazed, Oscar tributed the Magician for Jinzo and passed back to Eric who could only set a card. Kycoo hit him directly next turn, taking Blue-Eyes and Demise out of play, and Jinzo followed up leaving the former SJC Champion at 400 life points. Eric made one last desperate stand with Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, searching out Dark Master – Zorc! Contract with the Abyss sent Blue-Eyes White Dragon from his hand to the graveyard to summon Zorc, and Eric rolled the dice one last time in what could be his last match in contention! Book of Moon was chained to flip Zorc down, and Eric destroyed Jinzo with Zorc’s ability. He activated Threatening Roar in Oscar’s draw phase to buy himself one last turn, and Oscar set a spell or trap card before playing Reinforcement of the Army to fetch Elemental Hero Stratos. Stratos was summoned and brought Destiny Hero – Dasher to Oscar’s hand.
Oscar passed with no further plays, and Eric flipped up his Zorc and rolled the dice. Another 5 took out Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer, and Manju was switched to defense. Zorc took down Stratos, and Oscar was up. He set a spell or trap but was forced to take a direct attack from Zorc next turn. Finally, Oscar found an Evil Hero Infernal Prodigy, and he special summoned him to the field! He then tributed the Evil Hero for Destiny Hero – Dasher, and switched Eric’s Manju to attack position allowing him to attack for game! Oscar revealed after the match that he had sided out all but one of his Evil Heroes, the Infernal Prodigy that won him game 3! Oscar Renderos stays at X-1 despite being unable to access his Evil Heroes, defeating Eric Wu, 2-1.