Some prizes can’t be bought or sold, and a trip to Worlds is one of them. After his startling win over Hector Heras, Chris Bowling had to explain to his mother that his sponsor wouldn’t be receiving any cut of his trip to Worlds, because the trip cannot be sold. “They better not take this trophy away from me . . . and I need a laptop for college!” The semifinalist trophy was on the table, but I have a feeling Chris was thinking ahead to the trophy reserved for the new National Champion. Miguel Garcia had managed to stay under the feature match radar yesterday, but despite this he’s managed to make his second Worlds qualification. He had last played on the world stage in Japan back in 2005, and this time he wanted to return as the National Champion.

Game 1

Chris and Miguel tied at 1 on the first roll of the dice, but a subsequent roll gave the first turn to Miguel Garcia. He started off with a set to each zone, and Laquari came down for Bowling to swing on Morphing Jar. Miguel dropped four monsters into the graveyard while Chris lost Bottomless Trap Hole, Test Tiger, Gladiator Beast Bestiari, Waboku, and another card I couldn’t see. Heavy Storm eliminated Miguel’s set Monster Reborn (he had four Dark monsters in the graveyard) and Chris set two spell or trap cards before ending. Miguel put down Brain Control to take Laquari and tribute it for Jinzo. Solemn Judgment stopped it, as expected, and Miguel set a spell or trap before passing. Bowling had Smashing Ground, Elemental Hero Prisma, and Crush Card Virus in hand, and he simply passed his turn. Reinforcement of the Army allowed Miguel to go find Stratos, and he summoned him to fetch Destiny Hero – Disk Commander.

Stratos connected for 1800 damage to put Bowling down to 2200, and Miguel passed with no further plays. Smashing Ground took out Stratos and a second set spell or trap card joined Chris’ back row before he passed. Premature Burial tried to target Jinzo, but Mystical Space Typhoon destroyed it on the chain! Good break for Chris, as Jinzo would have ended the game. Miguel opted not to play aggressively, setting a card to each zone before handing play back to Chris who finally dropped his Prisma. He opted not to activate the effect, and Prisma swung at the set Disk Commander. Crush Card Virus blew it away and revealed Crush Card Virus and Mind Crush in Chris Bowling’s hand. Dark Grepher came down for Miguel, but it was eliminated by Mirror Force. Book of Moon was revealed as Chris’ draw, and he set two cards before passing. Sangan came down and swung directly, and Chris lost his next card, a Laquari, to Crush Card Virus. Destiny Draw with Malicious let Miguel dig deeper, and Sangan knocked Chris to 200 life points. Chris drew another Book of Moon and set it, and Miguel activated Allure of Darkness removing Dark Armed Dragon before swinging into Book of Moon.

Miguel set a second card to his spell and trap zone and Gladiator Proving Ground from Bowling found him a Gladiator Beast Hoplomus to set. Bowling flipped his Sangan and then used Torrential to clear the field, but his searched Spirit Reaper was hit by Book of Moon on the attack. Bowling either hadn’t set Mind Crush or didn’t feel the need to activate it, and he set a spell or trap on the next turn. Reaper flipped up and was nailed by Solemn Judgment putting Chris at 100! Chris had set the Mind Crush last turn and declined to randomly call a card for it, instead taking the last 100 damage from a summoned D.D. Crow! Miguel Garcia takes game 1, in complete control the whole way.

Both players dove at their side decks between games, and Chris opted to start off the second game with a set spell or trap. Reinforcement of the Army came down for Elemental Hero Stratos, but he was swallowed up by Bottomless Trap Hole on his summon. Miguel used his effect to fetch Malicious and pitched the Hero to Destiny Draw. He brought out the second Malicious before setting two cards, one of which had to be Crush Card Virus. He flipped it, revealing Chris’ hand of Crow, Hoplomus, Book of Moon, Gladiator Beast Darius, Mystical Space Typhoon, and Mask of Restrict. Chris set a spell or trap and passed to Miguel, who set a card to each zone.  Chris revealed his Reinforcement of the Army to fetch Stratos, who in turn fetched Prisma, nicely getting around the Virus. One spell or trap ended Chris’ turn, and he flipped Mask of Restrict on Miguel’s draw. Miguel set a second spell or trap before passing and Chris revealed his drawn Crush Card Virus before passing himself.

Miguel wasn’t going to do anything, so he handed it back to Chris who set a card to each zone. Miguel had Heavy Storm, but he held off on playing it in fear of a chained Crush Card Virus. What he didn’t remember was that Bowling couldn’t activate the Virus as long as the Mask was in play, so he simply passed and lost his Legendary Jujitsu Master to Nobleman of Crossout next turn. Stratos hit directly, and Miguel added a third card to the back row. He flipped it, Trap Dustshoot, to reveal D.D. Crow, Sangan, Gladiator Beast Secutor, Crush Card Virus, and the Prisma! Sangan went back to the deck, and Miguel noted that Crush wasn’t on the field. Holding on to the Heavy was looking good. Stratos swung directly and play passed back to Miguel who looked through his hand of primarily spells before setting a spell or trap and passing. He ate another 1800 from Stratos next turn, and Chris added a fourth card to his spell and trap zone. Solemn Judgment was going to be an absolute nightmare for Miguel, but he drew into Snipe Hunter! If he summoned it, he’d have 6 shots to take at Chris’ 6 cards. He pitched Dark Armed Dragon to target Stratos with his priority, but a 1 kept the Hero on field! A useless Soul Exchange was pitched, and Chris once again checked his set cards before allowing the roll. A 4 whacked Stratos, but Snipe Hunter attacked into Gladiator Beast Hoplomus!

Mystical Space Typhoon in the battle phase destroyed a set Bottomless Trap Hole, and Hoplomus was cycled out for Bestiari! Bestiari targeted Miguel’s newest set card, and he lost his freshly set Heavy Storm! It was a risky play gone wrong, and Bowling passed. Monster Reborn from Miguel targeted Bowling’s Elemental Hero Stratos, and he allowed it, letting Miguel grab Disk Commander. Now Bowling used Book of Moon on Snipe, a futile move unless his last spell or trap was a summon-based removal or Solemn Judgment. Destiny Draw let Miguel pitch Destiny Hero - Disk Commander, and the Commander was removed on the chain by D.D. Crow. 

Miguel didn’t flip the Snipe up for whatever reason, and it was going to cost to him. Bowling threw down Prisma and turned it into a Laquari before contact Fusing for Gladiator Beast Gyzarus and wiping Miguel’s monsters! Bottomless Trap Hole was negated by Bowling’s Solemn Judgment, and the game was over! A rule forgotten costs Miguel game 2, and the match was going to a third and final game! Neither player showed any emotion as they side decked. Apparently the excitement from potential victory and fear of potential defeat were enough to cancel out, and the only words spoken were Miguel’s declaration that he would begin game 3.

The players wished each other luck, and Miguel started things off with a set spell or trap. Chris was up, and he threw down Stratos to fetch Elemental Hero Prisma. Stratos swung directly, and Bowling didn’t set anything to his backfield before ending. Miguel set a monster, and Chris set a card to each zone before passing. Allure of Darkness came down for Miguel, and he removed Malicious to complete its effect. The other was in hand, and the players started speaking in Spanish. Miguel set a spell or trap, and play was back to Bowling. On the end phase, Bowling flipped Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Miguel’s first set card, a Mirror Force. Without fear of Mirror Force, Prisma came down for Bowling, and he turned it into a Laquari, before sending it and a face-down Bestiari back to the deck to summon Gyzarus! Solemn Judgment negated the summon, however, and it caused Chris to try and revive it with Monster Reborn! He couldn’t however, and was forced to pick a legal target, the Laquari. He set a spell or trap, unwilling to attack, and play was back to Miguel. Miguel set a spell or trap and passed over to Chris, unwilling or unable to take action. Chris had another Prisma, and he turned it into Bestiari and shuffled them back to bring out Gyzarus! Miguel had no answer, and his field was cleared! Thanks to Solemn Judgment, Gyzarus and Stratos had enough ATK combined to finish the game! Chris Bowling will be playing against Shane Scurry for the title of National Champion!