Once again we’ve seen a plethora of Gladiator decks make Day 2, but like always, only about half of them have advanced. And for once neither of these players are wielding the Gladiators. Cesar Gonzalez is playing the same deck he ran at Toronto card-for-card. He’s looking to improve on his success there with a win today. Dwayne Delamotta is making his debut in the spotlight, and has done so with a very aggressive build of Lightsworn. He won the roll and began play.
Jain, Lightsworn Paladin and a face-down spell/trap was his move, and he sent two cards (one Lightsworn monster) to his graveyard during the end phase. Cesar began with Reinforcement of the Army for Elemental Hero Stratos—searching Destiny Hero - Disk Commander—and followed it up with Allure of Darkness, removing Destiny Hero - Plasma. The monsters bumped heads, and Cesar set a spell or trap card and passed. Dwayne destroyed his set Trap Dustshoot with Mystical Space Typhoon at the end of the turn.
He was up now and was looking at two copies of Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner, Foolish Burial, Necro Gardna, and a Wulf, Lightsworn Beast. He summoned one Lumina, discarded a Lumina to special summon it, and used that Lumina to discard Necro Gardna and revive Jain, Lightsworn Paladin. During the end phase, eight cards were sent to the graveyard, including another Gardna and two copies of Judgment Dragon. Cesar used his turn to set a spell or trap and a monster.
Dwayne drew Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior, an amazing draw considering how many cards he can mill. He made the safe play though, switched Lumina to defense mode, and destroyed Disk Commander with Jain. He then ran into a field of fuzzy tokens thanks to Scapegoat. One goat was destroyed by the other Lumina. Dwayne then used Lumina to get the Wulf from his hand to the field, and in the end phase sent a second Wulf to the graveyard with his Lightsworn, and it was special summoned. His decision to not summon Garoth surprised me, until I saw what happened next turn.
Cesar simply summoned Cyber Valley on his turn and passed. Now Dwayne’s intentions were clear. He was afraid of decking out, and Garoth would surely cause it. Dwayne cleared his field next turn and sent another eight cards to his graveyard. Cesar played Monster Reborn on his turn, reviving the Disk Commander and drawing two cards. He followed up with D.D.R. - Different Dimension Reincarnation and special summoned Cyber Valley back to the field. He set another spell trap, set a monster, and passed. Dwayne drew for his turn and without a way to destroy the Valley, he was forced to concede. He would deck out during the end phase of his turn.
Dwayne began the next turn with Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior and passed. Cesar set a spell/trap and a monster before passing. Dwayne summoned Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress and destroyed Solemn Judgment before revealing Spirit Reaper with his Garoth. The cards sent to the graveyard during his end phase allowed him to draw one card from Garoth.
Cesar special summoned Dark Grepher on his turn, sending Destiny Hero - Malicious and Dark Magician of Chaos to the graveyard in the process. He brought back Malicious, used Cyber Valley to remove it and draw two, and attacked Lyla. He set a spell/trap before passing. Dwayne punished him for that next turn with Monster Reborn, taking the Magician and returning Monster Reborn to his hand. His attacks were met with Mirror Force though, and both of his monsters went down. He set a monster before passing.
Cesar summoned Elemental Hero Stratos on his turn to get the Disk Commander, and used Destiny Draw and Allure of Darkness to send the Commander to the grave and Dark Armed Dragon out of play. Reaper was switched to attack, Grepher attacked, and Dwayne’s Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter was used to destroy Spirit Reaper and summon Wulf, Lightsworn Beast with its effect.
Dwayne was up now, and he used Heavy Storm to destroy Solemn Judgment. He then played Monster Reborn to take Cesar’s Spirit Reaper and brought it out in attack mode. He summoned Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner and ditched a Necro Gardna to bring Garoth back. Wulf and Garoth took down Cesar’s monsters, and Lumina and Reaper hit directly. Cyber Valley was discarded from Cesar’s hand. During the end phase, a Wulf was special summoned and Dwayne drew one card to Garoth.
Cesar began his turn with Premature Burial to revive Disk Commander and Allure of Darkness to draw even more cards. Plasma was removed to pay for the Allure and Cesar now had three cards in hand. Dwayne had four cards in hand and five monsters on the field. Cesar looked beat. He played Monster Reborn and thought for a minute about his target. “Get the Judgment Dragon,” roared the peanut gallery, but Cesar had to follow the rules. He brought back Cyber Valley and removed the Commander along with himself, drawing two before scooping up his cards.
Cesar began the next game with Destiny Draw, throwing a Disk Commander away. He set a spell or trap and a monster, and passed to Dwayne, who followed suit. Cesar set another monster himself, and on his turn Dwayne flipped Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter. He targeted the spell/trap card and Cesar flipped Mind Crush. “Judgment Dragon?” Dwayne sent one to the graveyard. He followed up though with Celestia, Lightsworn Angel, destroyed both monsters, and special summoned a Wulf with the cards sent to the grave. One of monsters Cesar set was a Trooper and he drew from its effect.
Dwayne continued his turn, playing Premature Burial on Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner. He discarded a Lumina to bring another one back, used its effect to bring back a Lyla, and swung for the fences. Surprisingly Cesar didn’t have Kuriboh and the match was over.
Dwayne Delamotta moves on to the Top 4 with his powerhouse Lightsworn build.