Sure! Let’s feature Lazaro Bellido again! Why not?!
Last round was a bit of a blowout, and after having a chance to dissect Lazaro’s deck I wanted to see it in action again, this time against Dark Armed Dragon. Jose Arocho has finally given up on Zombies, so this match gave me a chance to watch the matchup I wanted to see, played by two Shonen Jump Championship regulars. It’s been over a year since these two duelists played each other back at Shonen Jump Championship Boston.
Lazaro won the roll again and opened with his ideal play: Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter.
“You want me to think that’s Hoplomus, right?” Arocho eyed his opponent’s face-up Fusion deck.
Lazaro grinned. “Maybe! Attack it and find out!”
“How dumb do you think I am?” Arocho smiled and played Reinforcement of the Army, fetching Elemental Hero Stratos. He summoned Stratos, grabbed Destiny Hero – Malicious with his effect, and then discarded Malicious with Destiny Draw. Allure of Darkness got him two more cards, removing Strike Ninja, and he set one spell or trap card.
Stratos attacked into Ryko, and Ryko blew away Arocho’s Solemn Judgment! Sangan, Honest, and Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress were sent to the graveyard with Ryko’s effect, and Arocho passed with no way to protect his Stratos! Still, Lazaro had no follow-up next turn: he set another monster and ended. He was stuck with dead copies of Celestia, Lightsworn Angel and a useless Judgment Dragon.
Arocho removed Malicious to bring out his second copy next turn, and then summoned Cyber Valley to remove Malicious and draw two cards. He activated Destiny Draw next, discarding Destiny Hero – Disk Commander, and attacked into Necro Gardna! He set one card to his back row and ended.
Again, Lazaro did nothing but set another monster. Arocho activated D.D.R. - Different Dimension Reincarnation, discarded Dark Magician of Chaos, and brought back Cyber Valley. He used it to remove Stratos, drew two more cards, and was left with seven in hand. He set one more to his spell and trap zone, summoned another Cyber Valley, and passed.
Lazaro drew Crush Card Virus and set it. He flip summoned his face-down Necro Gardna and attacked Cyber Valley. Arocho drew a card for Valley’s effect. Lazaro ended, and next turn Arocho brought back Disk Commander with Limit Reverse! One was left to wonder why he hadn’t done it in Lazaro’s end phase, keeping the option open of reusing Disk Commander by turning it to defense mode and destroying it with Limit Reverse. He drew two, drew for his turn, and played Premature Burial for Dark Magician of Chaos, taking back D.D.R. - Different Dimension Reincarnation. Lazaro leaned back in his seat and sighed, feigning weakness. He wasn’t out of this game unless Arocho’s last set spell or trap was another Solemn.
Arocho used D.D. Crow to remove Necro Gardna from Lazaro’s graveyard, fingered his last set card, and tried to turn his Disk Commander to defense mode — he was denied, since he summoned him this turn. He should’ve summoned the Commander in the end phase of Lazaro’s last turn. Still, he pressed on, bringing back Cyber Valley with D.D.R. - Different Dimension Reincarnation and removing Disk Commander for another two draws.
Reinforcement of the Army got him Dark Grepher, and he normal summoned it. He discarded Sangan for Grepher’s effect, sent Jinzo to the graveyard, and attacked. Lazaro flipped Crush Card Virus, tributing Necro Gardna, but Arocho had the Solemn to negate it! Dark Magician of Chaos and Grepher both attacked directly. Arocho set three more cards to his back row and ended.
Next turn he sent Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior back to Lazaro’s deck with Trap Dustshoot, leaving Lazaro no live monster play save another Necro Gardna. Lazaro set it, Arocho attacked with Dark Magician of Chaos, and one Necro Gardna blocked the attack. Dark Grepher then destroyed the set Necro in battle. Next turn Lazaro tried to bring back Lyla with Monster Reborn, but lost her to D.D. Crow. He set Honest, passed, and Arocho attacked with Dark Magician of Chaos — another Necro Gardna negated the attack, and Dark Grepher bounced away harmlessly when it attacked into Honest’s 1900 DEF.
Lazaro returned Honest to his hand next turn, but lost it to Mind Crush. He set one monster again, Garoth, and Dark Magician of Chaos removed it from play next turn. Lazaro was scooping moments later.
A rough opening hand filled with dead draws places Lazaro Bellido in a vulnerable position, and Jose Arocho takes game 1 despite a major misplay! Game 2 began swiftly after side decking from both players.
A set card to each zone started things off for Lazaro. Arocho activated Reinforcement of the Army for Stratos, summoned him, got Disk Commander, and attacked: “Can I attack into Hoplomus now?”
“I only side into two copies,” quipped Lazaro, joking. Stratos hit Ryko, Ryko destroyed Stratos, and, once Ryko sent three cards to Lazaro’s graveyard, Arocho set one card to his back row, Trap Dustshoot. Next turn it flipped to reveal Lazaro’s hand: Solar Recharge, Monster Reborn, My Body as a Shield, Celestia, and Honest. After considering the Recharge and its viability with Celestia, Arocho sent Honest back to Lazaro’s deck.
“You forced my hand,” remarked Lazaro, activating Solar Recharge and discarding Celestia. He drew two cards, and then lost two copies of Judgment Dragon from the top of his deck! It was a huge blow to Lazaro’s late game. He activated Premature Burial to summon Celestia, was left holding Reborn, My Body, and Lumina, and summoned Lumina for more damage! He needed to win fast, and he knew it. Celestia and Lumina swung for 3400 damage, but Lumina couldn’t net Lazaro a Wulf in his end phase.
Arocho activated Reinforcement of the Army again, this time searching for Dark Grepher. “I don’t want to give you the Disk,” he noted, having seen Lazaro’s Monster Reborn last turn. He summoned Grepher, discarded Dark Magician of Chaos for its effect and Lazaro chained Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror! Arocho activated Premature Burial though, taking back Dark Magician of Chaos, and wiped Lazaro’s field while removing Celestia from play.
Monster Reborn brought back Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress next turn, and Lazaro normal summoned Garoth. Garoth took down Grepher in battle, Lyla activated to destroy Premature Burial (removing Dark Magician of Chaos from the field), and, in the end phase, Garoth got Lazaro another draw. Arocho set Disk Commander next turn, but Ehren kicked him back to the deck on the turn that followed! Garoth struck with a direct attack, and in the end phase Lazaro scored two special summoned Wulfs and drew two cards with Garoth! There was nothing Arocho could do against four free cards and Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror: he scooped up after seeing his next draw.
Lazaro Bellido’s deck explodes, netting him a total of five free cards in two turns and utterly destroying Jose Arocho! This match was moving to a third game. Could Lazaro come back from his game 1 defeat? Ten minutes remained in the round as the final duel began.
Arocho opened with Cyber Valley and a set spell or trap: no draw cards this time. “Go.”
Lazaro had an ideal hand this time, with Card of Safe Return, Lumina, Celestia, and three more choice cards. He moved like lightning, activating Card of Safe Return, then playing Foolish Burial and sending Wulf, Lightsworn Beast from his deck to his graveyard. Wulf was special summoned and Lazaro drew a card with Safe Return. He tributed Wulf for Celestia and Arocho flipped Torrential Tribute! “I’m still sending four cards to the graveyard,” noted Lazaro. He flipped them off the top of his deck one by one, and hit two more Wulfs! He brought both to the field and drew a card for each thanks to Card of Safe Return! He attacked with both, and set one card to his back row.
Next turn all Arocho could do was play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Card of Safe Return and set a card to each zone. It was over a turn later.
Lazaro Bellido finally gets a good opening hand, and scores five free cards and an easy match win for his trouble. Consistency issues and dead draws abound, but Lazaro steamrolls another opponent anyway!