Comic Odyssey and Team Overdose got a good helping of each other at the New Jersey Shonen Jump, and their paths have crossed again here at Nationals. Round 5 offered a promising matchup between two of the team powerhouses. This is definitely not a match to be missed.

Game One

Both players set up and readied themselves for the match. There was little pre-game banter, as these guys take each other very seriously. Theeresak won the die roll, and opted to go first. He drew, looked at his hand, and activated Pot of Greed. After drawing his two cards, he played Graceful Charity, grinned, and announced, “I got trinity!” He took a while to decide which cards to discard, and finally settled on D. D. Warrior Lady and Berserk Gorilla. He finished off the trinity with, of course, Delinquent Duo, relieving Rhymus of Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer and Sinister Serpent. He set a monster and a spell or trap and ended his turn.

Rhymus drew, took back his Serpent and activated his own Pot of Greed. He quickly summoned Enraged Battle Ox and attacked Theeresak’s face down D. D. Assailant. Theersak opted to remove the monsters, then Rhymus set two spells or traps and ended.

Theeresak began his turn by activating D. D. Designator, calling out Sinister Serpent. The snake was out of the game! He then summoned Don Zaloog and attacked directly, and Rhymus responded by activating Scapegoat. Theeresak took out a goat and was done.

Rhymus then summoned Asura Priest and attacked Don, bringing the life point total to Rhymus at 8000 and Theeresak at 6600. Rhymus returned Asura Priest to his hand, and in his end phase Theeresak activated Dust Tornado, taking out Rhymus’s set Book of Moon.

Theeresak drew, set a spell or trap, then spent some time studying his hand. Each duelist held three cards, and Theeresak seemed determined to plan out every possibility as he looked through his hand. Finally, he brought out Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning, and took out another goat. He finished up his turn by setting another spell or trap and ended. Had he made the correct decision?

Rhymus wasn’t going to let Black Luster Soldier stick around. He summoned D. D. Assailant and attacked, intending to remove it from the game. Theeresak was ready for him, and responded with Book of Moon on the Assailant. Black Luster Soldier would live to fight another day. On his turn, Theeresak turned the Soldier to defense position, and used his effect to remove D. D. Assailant from play.

Rhymus needed something to edge him out ahead of the Soldier, and activated Swords of Revealing Light. Theeresak was ready for that as well, and on his turn activated Heavy Storm, chaining his own Scapegoat. He then attacked Rhymus’s lone goat, attacked again directly, and set a spell or trap. Rhymus rallied, summoning Asura Priest to attack all of Theeresak’s goats before attacking into the Soldier. A Light monster was all Rhymus needed to bring out his own Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning and that’s exactly what he did, using its effect to remove Theeresak’s from the game.

The game had taken a definite turn. Theeresak set two spells or traps and ended, with no monsters on his field. Rhymus pressed the advantage, attacking directly with Soldier. Theeresak was still holding on, though, and activated Sakuretsu Armor. Rhymus kept ahead on field advantage by setting a monster, and ended his turn. Theeresak drew, set a monster, and ended.

The game was now quite close. Rhymus drew, and looked carefully through his graveyard and removed from play pile while he considered his available moves. Rhymus flip summoned Magician of Faith, taking back Pot of Greed and activating it. He then played Nobleman of Crossout, taking out Theeresak’s Sinister Serpent.

That was a heavy blow, and he made it even harder by activating Graceful Charity, discarding Cannon Soldier and Breaker the Magical Warrior. Was he done yet? No, he was not! He activated Premature Burial, bringing back Cannon Soldier, and followed that up with Giant Trunade. Cannon Soldier stayed on the field, and he got to reuse Premature Burial to bring back—you guessed it, Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning. It was great entertainment for the spectators, but not so much fun for Theeresak. Rhymus attacked with the Soldier, then launched all three monsters to do an additional 1500 damage. The life point totals were now Rhymus at 2100, and Theeresak at 1600.

Now it was down to who got the next monster. Theeresak drew, and ended. Rhymus drew—it was Airknight Parshath and no use to him—and ended. Theeresak drew, summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, and attacked. Rhymus drew, looked at the card and exclaimed “God bless Yu-Gi-Oh!” as he summoned Tribe-Infecting Virus, discarded Airknight to take out Breaker, and attacked directly for the win.

Game Two

Neither player side decked, and Theeresak again went first. He set a spell or trap and ended. Rhymus drew, and studied his hand, then also set a spell ortrap and ended. This went on for several more turns, as neither player seemed to draw anything that would enable him to mount any kind of offense. Finally, Rhymus activated Graceful Charity, then summoned Tribe-Infecting Virus to attack directly. Theeresak responded with Ring of Destruction, and Rhymus set another spell or trap and ended.

Theeresak had a totally clear field going into his next turn, and six cards in his hand. He thought carefully about what he should do, shuffling through his hand and studying the cards. He finally summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, who was met with Rhymus’s Bottomless Trap Hole. Theeresak set one more spell or trap and ended.

Not a lot of battle had gone on in this game so far. Rhymus returned his Sinister Serpent to his hand, then summoned it and attacked. Theeresak took a couple of hits from the aggressive little monster before using Delinquent Duo to pare back Rhymus’s hand advantage. Life points were now at Rhymus with 6400 and Theeresak at 4800, and Theeresak still could not get any monsters to stay on the field.

Finally, Theeresak drew, looked through the seven cards in his hand, and summoned Tsukuyomi. He flipped Rhymus’s rabid little Serpent face down and attacked it, set another spell or trap and ended after returning Tsukuyomi to his hand. Rhymus activated Mystical Space Typhoon during the end phase, taking out Theeresak’s Torrential Tribute. Things were not looking good for Theeresak at this point. Rhymus drew, activated Pot of Greed (remember what a bad omen that was in the first game), summoned Enraged Battle Ox, and attacked. He followed that up with Delinquent Duo, taking away Theeresak’s Heavy Storm and Metamorphosis. He set a spell or trap, and ended.

Now was the time for a comeback. The life point totals had Rhymus at 5400 and Theeresak with only 2500. Theeresak drew and summoned Tsukuyomi, to which Rhymus responded with Torrential Tribute. Theeresak again played D. D. Designator, picking off Rhymus’s Serpent. Rhymus drew, activated Premature Burial to fetch back Enraged Battle Ox, and attacked directly. Theeresak was hanging on by 800 life points, and it was down to the wire. He drew, studied his hand and set cards, and activated Smashing Ground to take out the Battle Ox, then looked through his graveyard before setting two more spell or trap cards, then summoning Magician of Faith to attack directly.

The life point totals were 4300 for Rhymus, 800 for Theeresak. Rhymus drew, looked at his cards, and passed. Theeresak drew, and studied all his available options—losing this duel meant losing the match. He turned Magician of Faith to defense position and ended. Rhymus drew, set a monster, and activated Ceasefire, revealing his own Magician of Faith. Two effect monsters on the field spelled the end for Theeresak, who offered his hand in acknowledgement of defeat. A well-played match on both sides, but a 2-0 win for Rhymus Lizo of Team Overdose!