Navarro made Top 8 appearances twice in this current Advanced format, first at Los Angeles in November and then at San Francisco. He’s distinguished himself as one of the best players on the West Coast, and is one of the few not affiliated with a well-recognized team.

He won the roll and opened with a set monster to each zone. Cho brought down Cyber Dragon, but it fell straight into Bottomless Trap Hole. He set two back row cards and passed. Navarro flipped Magical Merchant, lost three monsters before grabbing another Bottomless, and summoned Spirit Reaper. Merchant hit directly, but Reaper was repelled by a sudden wall of Sheep, thanks to Scapegoat. Navarro set one back row card and passed.

Cho had three Sheep tokens, and opted just to set a spell or trap before passing. Navarro hit two more Sheep and ended his turn. Cho stole the Merchant with Snatch Steal, summoned Tsukuyomi to turn it face down, and flip summoned it, burning away three monsters before getting Time Seal. He set a spell or trap, Navarro drew, turned Reaper to defense position, set a monster, and Cho got to do the Tsuku loop again, netting Smashing Ground. Cho had enough monsters for Pot of Avarice at that point, and immediately used it to get himself some more options. He ended, took back Tsukuyomi, and play passed to Navarro.

Navarro flip summoned Don Zaloog, and Cho responded with Torrential Tribute. Navarro set a monster and ended his turn. Cho summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, but Navarro responded with Bottomless Trap Hole. Cho responded with Book of Moon to turn the Lady face down, set another spell or trap, and passed.

Reinforcement of the Army fetched Mystic Swordsman LV2 for Navarro, and he summoned it and attacked. Sakuretsu Armor destroyed it, keeping D. D. Warrior Lady safe. Navarro moved to his second main phase, played Pot of Avarice, and drew his two. He set a spell or trap and ended his turn. Cho flip summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, attacked the face down with it, but Sakuretsu Armor destroyed the Lady. Cho set a monster, activated Time Seal, and ended his turn.

Mystic Tomato was flip summoned on Navarro’s side of the field, and it attacked Cho’s set monster, which was another Mystic Tomato. Co used its effect to pull Spirit Reaper, and Navarro was forced to use Smashing Ground to destroy it. He set another monster and passed play to Cho.

Cho had five cards in hand and one set spell or trap. Navarro had three cards in hand plus two monsters. Cho played Smashing Ground to destroy Mystic Tomato, set a monster, and ended his turn. Navarro played another Reinforcement to get Mystic Swordsman LV2 again, and summoned it. He flip summoned Sangan, and sent Mystic Swordsman LV2 into Cho’s face down Magician of Faith, destroying it. Sangan then hit directly for 1000 damage, and the life point totals were 6800 to 8000 for Navarro.

Another Sangan popped up on Cho’s side, and it attacked Mystic Swordsman LV2. Navarro brought out Chaos Sorcerer, removed Cho’s Sangan from play with its effect, and attacked with his own Sangan before setting a spell. Cho set a monster, played Smashing Ground to destroy Sorcerer, and flipped a set Time Seal.

Navarro summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, and broke Cho’s set spell or trap with it. The card was chained and revealed to be Time Seal. The game moved too quickly to be recorded for a turn, but as the dust settled, Navarro was left with Breaker on the field to Cho’s defense position Sand Moth. Each had two cards in hand. Cho tributed his Moth for Mobius and ran over Breaker, setting one back row card before passing to Navarro. Navarro used Snatch Steal to take the Mobius and attacked directly.

Cho set another back row card, Mobius swung at him again, and Cho drew for yet another turn. It was 3000 to 6700 with Navarro in the lead. Cho had another Time Seal, which he activated, and he special summoned Cyber Dragon in defense position. Navarro didn’t draw, summoned Exiled Force, tributed it to destroy Cyber Dragon, and attacked directly with Mobius yet again.

The only play Cho could make was Premature Burial for Cyber Dragon. He brought the Dragon back up in attack position and passed. Momentum was on Navarro’s side though, and he summoned Morphing Jar in attack position. Mobius cleared out Cyber Dragon and did a bit of damage, while Morphing Jar finished the duel!

Jonathan Navarro, the self-declared “Taco King,” wins game 1! Each player spent a few minutes doing some careful side decking before the second duel began.

Cho opened with a set card to each zone. Navarro summoned Sangan, played Nobleman of Crossout to remove D. D. Warrior Lady from the field, and attacked for 1000 with Sangan. Navarro passed with an open back field. Cho set a monster, took a moment to contemplate his next move, and set another spell or trap. He then activated Wave-Motion Cannon and passed.

Navarro turned Sangan to defense and set a monster. He had nothing but monsters in his hand. Cho set another spell or trap, flipped Magical Merchant, and topdecked into Mystical Space Typhoon! He activated it, targeting the Cannon and destroying it. Sangan turned to attack, but ran into Spirit Reaper. Cho set another spell or trap, Navarro flip summoned Dekoichi, set a back row card and passed. Cho took the Dekoichi next turn, ran it into Merchant, and summoned Tsukuyomi to turn it fae down, destroying Snatch Steal.

Heavy Storm was activated by Navarro, but Cho flipped Solemn Judgment! It was 3500 to 6800 for Navarro. Navarro activated Reinforcement of the Army to get Exiled Force, summoned it, tributed it to destroy his own Dekoichi on Cho’s side of the field, and passed.

Cho set another monster, played Wave-Motion Cannon, and ended his turn. Navarro played Dark Hole, Cho chained Solemn Judgment, and went down to 1750! Navarro turned Sangan to attack, attacked Cho’s face down monster with it, and hit into Magic Cylinder! He set a monster and Cho drew for his turn.

Cho flip summoned Stealth Bird, and he used its effect to turn it face down again. He set a monster and ended his turn. Navarro set a card to each zone and passed back.

Cho flipped his set from last turn, another Stealth Bird, and then flipped the other bird as well. It was 1750 to 2800 now, and with Wave-Motion Cannon at two turns, Navarro was in trouble! Cho set a spell or trap card, and in Cho’s end phase Navarro flipped Call of the Haunted to bring back Exiled Force. Still, after looking at the field he resigned: there was no way he could deal with so many different sources of damage.

Elton Cho’s rotation into a burn side deck wins him the second duel, and the match proceeds to game 3!

Both players started side decking and Navarro rotated in some burn tech, including a pair of Des Wombat. Cho mixed his side deck into his main deck and eliminated fifteen cards, smokescreening his opponent: Navarro would have no idea if he made the right call by teching burn.

Navarro set a card to each zone to open game 3. Cho summoned Cyber Dragon and attacked, but ran into Magical Merchant. He set a back row card, but Navarro used Dust Tornado on it in the end phase. Navarro set another spell or trap, attacked with Spirit Reaper, and hit gold! Navarro lost his set Royal Decree and his attacking Reaper! Navarro set another back row card, Cho swung for 2300, set a monster, and passed.

Navarro set a monster, and next turn Goldd attacked into it. It was another Merchant. Cho set a third monster, passed to Navarro, and Navarro played Pot of Avarice. He summoned Cyber Dragon, attacked into one of Cho’s Magical Merchants, and ended.

Cho attacked Cyber Dragon with Goldd and Navarro had no answer. Cho set one spell or trap, passed, and Navarro used Premature Burial to bring back his Cyber Dragon. He tributed it for Mobius, destroyed Cho’s Sakuretsu Armor, and ran over Goldd in battle. Navarro passed, Cho was up, and it was 7600 to 4700 in Cho’s favor. He set a card to each zone. Navarro summoned Des Wombat, attacked into Sand Moth, bouncing off of it, and passed to Cho.

Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer was Cho’s next summon, and he attacked with it into the Des Wombat, destroying the little outback-dwelling marsupial. Navarro set a monster, Cho summoned Sangan, played Nobleman of Crossout to remove Navarro’s set Spirit Reaper, and attacked with Sangan, Kycoo, and Sand Moth. Navaroo was down to just 300 life points!

Navarro played Smashing Ground, but looked at his hand and realized there was nothing he could do. He offered Cho the handshake, and Elton Cho claimed the match!

Elton Cho moves on with a 5-1 record and with Day 2 still well within his grasp!