It all came down to this! Paul Lyn, packing his Rusty Bucket of Bolts Chimeratech Overdragon deck has made it to the finals, taking cards like Ancient Gear Cannon and the combo-licious Ancient Gear Drill to the finals! He was playing to represent Team Nexus and their sponsor, B.R.A.D.’S Sportscards and Collectibles. And Zane Truesdale.
Now he was up against Mark “Waffle” Vazquez, who’d already taken down multiple Top 8 Chimeratech builds here this weekend! Vazquez has successfully updated the Monarch concept to take on Gadgets (and just about anything else) so a win here would mean another SJC victory for Monarchs.
Both duelists had already won copies of the new Crush Card Virus thanks to the new SJC prize scheme, but a high-end laptop, a brand new trophy, and the glory of a title victory were still riding on the match.
Vazquez won the roll and opened with no playable monsters — just Cyber Dragon, Thestalos, and Mobius. He set a spell or trap and ended. Lyn activated Future Fusion to kick things off on his first turn, declared Chimeratech and then sent thirteen Machines from his deck to his graveyard. Did he have the OTK?
He looked at his hand and contemplated his next move, eventually opting to activate Swords of Revealing Light. Waffle drew, set a spell or trap card himself and ended. Lyn passed, Vazquez passed, and Lyn special summoned Chimeratech Overdragon, losing it and Swords quickly. He set a spell or trap card and ended.
D. D. Warrior Lady was summoned by Waffle, and she attacked into Mirror Force. Waffle chained Book of Moon to turn her face down and keep her on the field, then set another card to his spell and trap zone to finish. Lyn summoned Drillroid, but when he attacked it was destroyed by Ring of Destruction. Both players dropped to 6400 life points and Lyn passed with an open field.
D. D. Warrior Lady was tributed for Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch, which forced Lyn to discard Ancient Gear Soldier. Lyn was then knocked down to 3600 life points by an attack from Thestalos, and Vazquez set a card to his back row to finish out the turn.
Lyn activated Overload Fusion, removing sixteen Machines to special summon a Chimeratech with 12,800 ATK! It was destroyed by Torrential Tribute, but Lyn activated Dimension Fusion! Vazquez chained Call of the Haunted to bring back Thestalos, but Lyn special summoned Blowback Dragon, Barrel Dragon, Jinzo, Spell Canceller, and Cyber Dragon! Vazquez knew he had nothing, and conceded to Lyn’s massive field.
Paul Lyn takes the first duel with a crushing series of massive Machine monsters!
Both duelists made the smart decision to shuffle their side decks into their main decks, concealing their side decking actions (or lack thereof). Paul Lyn was just one duel away from winning the title of Shonen Jump Champion!
“I hate Future Fusion,” remarked Vazquez with a smile. Both duelists shuffled, presented, and shuffled again. Waffle was up.
He opened with Confiscation. “It never fails!” griped a somewhat frustrated Lyn, losing his Graceful Charity. “I am destined to never use Graceful,” Waffle set a card to each zone.
But Lyn’s luck changed! He drew into Future Fusion and activated it to declare Chimeratech Overdragon! He removed twelve monsters from his deck this time, punting them into the graveyard. He set a monster, set a spell or trap and ended.
Vazquez activated Soul Exchange, tributing his opponent’s set Dekoichi for Mobius the Frost Monarch to destroy Lyn’s Mirror Force. Lyn drew, set one spell or trap and ended. Vazquez tried to attack, but Gravity Bind shut him down! He tributed his set Treeborn Frog for Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch, forced Lyn to discard Giant Trunade with Thestalo’s effect, and ended. Lyn passed and play was back to Vazquez.
He tributed his Thestalos for another copy of the Firestorm Monarch, which robbed Lyn of Dimension Fusion. Lyn set a spell or trap, Vazquez set a second spell or trap himself, and Lyn set a third. Vazquez passed, Lyn flipped Heavy Storm and Vazquez lost his Ring of Destruction and Sakuretsu Armor.
“You got Overload?” asked Lyn.
Lyn nodded, and activated it from his hand! A massive Chimeratech Overdragon hit the field, and two attacks against Thestalos and Mobius sealed the tournament! Paul Lyn wins Shonen Jump Championship Orlando with Ancient Gears and Chimeratech Overdragon!
After fending off a swarm of hug-frenzied Team Nexus members, Paul Lyn turned serious for a moment. “For the record, I’m dedicating this win to Anthony Pimentel. He’s one of our team members, he’s sick and couldn’t be here this weekend, so, this one was for him.” He gave a smile.
The deck Team Nexus named “Rusty Bucket of Bolts” wins the tournament, and Paul Lyn takes the title of Orlando champion!