We’re back in the dueling dome (myself having the best seat in the house) with Dwayne Delamotta. He just finished playing Cesar Gonzalez, ending Gonzalez’s hot streak, and taking Lightsworn to the Top 4. He’s up now against the one and only Jerry Wang. Jerry has a knack for overcoming impossible feats, a skill that came in handy during his last match. This match is by no means out of his reach, and a win here would further his chances of winning a second jump this format. The winner would ensure a copy of Doomcaliber Knight was going home with him today. Both players were quiet as they shuffled up.
Jerry won the roll and began play with Elemental Hero Stratos, searching Elemental Hero Prisma. He set a spell or trap and passed. Dwayne began and summoned Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress and destroyed Solemn Judgment with her effect. He passed his turn, sending three different Lightsworn monsters to the graveyard and having no back row. Jerry started his turn with Cold Wave, and then he summoned Gladiator Beast Bestiari. Bestiari hit the Lyla, Stratos attacked directly, and Jerry played D.D. Crow on Jain, Lightsworn Paladin to take Dwayne off of four Lightsworns. Why Jain? Because Dwayne only plays one copy, so another won’t be sent there later on. He tagged out Bestiari for Laquari and passed.
Dwayne summoned Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior and destroyed the Stratos before passing. Jerry played his Prisma next turn and turned it into a Bestiari. He had drawn a Test Tiger and was clearly thinking about a Gladiator Beast Secutor play. He opted against it though, simply contact fusing for Gladiator Beast Gyzarus, destroying Garoth, and attacking for 2400. Gyzarus tagged out for two copies of Laquari, set a spell or trap, and then passed. Dwayne started things off with Monster Reborn attempting to bring back Lyla, but Jerry’s second D.D. Crow removed Lyla from the game.
So Dwayne played Foolish Burial to send Wulf, Lightsworn Beast to his deck and then special summon it to the field, using Burial’s own effect. He thought for a while before playing Celestia, Lightsworn Angel, sending two Judgment Dragons—among others—to his graveyard. Both Laquari’s were destroyed and Celestia attacked directly. Dwayne set a spell or trap before passing.
Jerry drew into Gladiator Beast Bestiari and summoned it. He followed up with Test Tiger, which was met with Solemn Judgment. Jerry passed, and Dwayne breathed a huge sigh of relief. He played Heavy Storm on his turn to clear Torrential Tribute, attacked the Bestiari before setting a monster, and passed. Jerry drew Gladiator Beast Murmillo and swung into a face-down Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, who traded with the Murmillo.
Jerry passed and took another whack from Celestia. He set a spell/trap on his next turn and took one more swing from the Angel. During his second main phase, Dwayne played Foolish Burial to get a Necro Gardna into his graveyard before passing. Jerry saw his next card and scooped it up.
Once again, Jerry started off the next game, and once again, had Elemental Hero Stratos. He searched for Prisma with its effect, set one spell or trap card, and passed. Solar Recharge was Dwayne’s first move, discarding Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner, and sending a Judgment Dragon and another Recharge to the graveyard. He summoned Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress, who fell into a Bottomless Trap Hole. Dwayne passed with no field.
No Secutor would spring from Jerry’s deck to capitalize on though. Instead he summoned Sangan and attacked for 2800 life points. Jerry set a spell or trap card and Dwayne was up. Dwayne didn’t do much on his turn: he just set a spell/trap and a monster. Jerry flipped Light-Imprisoning Mirror during the end phase, looking to avoid a potential Solemn Judgment.
He followed that up by summoning a freshly drawing Gladiator Beast Murmillo, but then he took a bit of time to thing about his next move.. He didn’t want to brick wall into a Necro Gardna if he could avoid it. Stratos swung, and Dwayne flipped Crush Card Virus to tribute his Gardna, destroying Stratos and Jerry’s in-hand Prisma. Two Test Tigers and a D.D. Crow were also revealed. Jerry got in there with his little guys before passing.
Dwayne summoned Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner and attacked the Murmillo before passing. Jerry’s next draw, Enemy Controller, was revealed off of Crush Card. Jerry ran the numbers to see if he could win the game this turn, using Enemy Controller to sacrifice Sangan and search for a Gladiator Beast. Gardna was in the way though, so he simply bumped Sangan into Lumina and searched for Gladiator Beast Bestiari before passing with just the Mirror on board.
Dwayne played Premature Burial on his turn in an attempt to bring back Lumina. Jerry had one D.D. Crow in hand and went into the tank before allowing it to resolve. Dwayne attacked for 1000 and passed. Jerry revealed his fresh Mirror Force for Crush Card and played Bestiari and Test Tiger, grabbing another Bestiari to destroy the Premature, and thus the Lumina, before poking for 1500. He swapped out for Gladiator Beast Laquari, set a spell or trap, and passed.
Dwayne set a monster on his turn and Jerry attacked it with Laquari. Ryko went down without effect, and Jerry passed, content with his position. Dwayne set another monster, and Jerry summoned Gladiator Beast Darius. He entered the battle phase, and Dwayne conceded. Jerry Wang pressed the match to a third, and final, game.
Dwayne went first this time, and he set a monster before passing. Jerry drew his sixth card and pumped fist, summoning Sangan and attacking a face-down Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter. Two copies of Honest and another Ryko were sent to the graveyard for the first Ryko’s effect. “Nice,” said Jerry. He seemed to have found life in this third game. He searched Gladiator Beast Murmillo with Sangan and set a spell/trap card before passing back to Dwayne, who set a monster and a spell/trap before ending his own turn.
Jerry summoned Gladiator Beast Murmillo on his turn and attacked the third Ryko in Dwayne’s deck. Another Lightsworn and a copy of Solemn Judgment were among the cards sent to the graveyard for Ryko’s effect, and Murmillo and Ryko went down. Jerry ended his turn, and Dwayne began his with Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress. Dwayne attacked, prompting Jerry to flip Enemy Controller to block it. A Necro Gardna was one of the cards sent to the graveyard with Lyla’s effect during the end phase.
Jerry played Heavy Storm on his turn, used Premature Burial to revive Sangan and summoned Gladiator Beast Darius. Sangan struck the Sorceress down and Darius’s attack was blocked by Necro Gardna. Jerry set a spell or trap card before giving the turn back to Dwayne. Dwayne played Monster Reborn, targeting Lyla, and Jerry played Bottomless Trap Hole to remove it. He asked if Dwayne was using priority, which he was, telegraphing a Celestia, Lightsworn Angel in hand. He summoned a Jain, Lightsworn Paladin and attacked the Darius.
Jerry, who wasn’t having any luck with monsters so far, simply switched Sangan to defense mode, set a spell/trap card, and passed. Dwayne played Solar Recharge, and Jerry bluffed a possible Solemn. He had no such thing though, and Recharge drew Dwayne two new cards and allowed him to return Wulf, Lightsworn Beast to the field. Dwayne summoned the Celestia next, targeting both spell or trap cards. A smart move, as it would allow him to dodge My Body as a Shield, which Jerry was actually holding. The set was Torrential Tribute though, and Dwayne lost both of his monsters. Jerry searched for D.D. Crow with Sangan, and Dwayne passed, looking beat.
Jerry played Monster Reborn on his turn, targeting Darius, and attacked for 1700 before tagging out into a pumped Gladiator Beast Laquari. He set two spell/trap cards and passed to Dwayne. Dwayne dropped Judgment Dragon on his turn, and Jerry played Solemn Judgment. Dwayne passed with nothing on board, and Jerry took advantage with Reinforcement of the Army for Elemental Hero Stratos. He fetched a Prisma and attacked for 3900. Prisma was summoned next turn, and Jerry pulled out Gyzarus, used D.D. Crow on Gardna, and attacked for game.
Jerry Wang used all of his cards to maximum effectiveness and won the match 2-1!