Chris Evans, a long-time member of Team Hungerforce, has been a staple of the Shonen Jump Championship scene for over a year. Today was his very first feature match, and the pressure was on: he was up against Dale Bellido.
Dale Bellido is perhaps the most-recognized duelist from Canada. The winner of Shonen Jump Championship Chicago, he’s made it to the Top 8 of two Shonen Jump Championships so far. If you’ve been following the tournament coverage today you already know that he’s packing a ton of recruiter and anti-recruiter tricks, including a copy of Shrink!
Evans won the opening role and began the game by setting Scapegoat. “Go ahead” he said, confident. Bellido summoned Mystic Tomato and attacked — Evans took it.
“Figures I’d drop a Tomato, eh?” Bellido set a spell or trap to end his turn and passed, looking cheerful.
Evans summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, broke into Enemy Controller, and was turned to defense on the chain. Smashing Ground destroyed Dale’s Tomato, and Evans ended. Dale summoned Hydrogeddon, attacked Breaker the Magical Warrior, and destroyed it to pull another Dino from his deck! The second one attacked directly, but Evans rebuked it with Scapegoat! One token was destroyed, and Bellido passed.
A set spell or trap was Evans’ only move for the turn, and Bellido set two to his back row and set a monster. Evans blasted his opponent with Heavy Storm on the turn that followed, destroying his Decree and clearing Bellido’s back field.
He followed it up by summoning a Hydrogeddon of his own, and attacked into Morphing Jar! Evans pulled another Hydrogeddon after the resolution of Jar, and slammed the second into one of Bellido’s. Confiscation then revealed Bellido’s hand: Magician of Faith, Breaker the Magical Warrior, Cyber Dragon, Reinforcement of the Army, and Sangan. Evans elected to discard Breaker, and then set a spell or trap to finish his turn.
Bellido attacked with his one Hydrogeddon to finish clearing Evans’ Sheep tokens. He set a spell or trap and then ended his turn. Evan summoned Don Zaloog, attacked with his Hydrogeddon, and then used Book of Moon to turn Bellido’s to defense before the battle was resolved. Evans pulled another from his deck after destroying Breaker, and attacked with Don Zaloog, but hit Scapegoat! Two tokens went down, and play passed to Bellido.
He set a card to each zone and quickly passed back. Evans hit a Sheep with Don Zaloog, hit another with Hydrogeddon, and the second Hydro smacked Bellido’s set Magician of Faith. It fetched back Scapegoat, and Evans ended his turn, now seemingly in complete control of the game.
Bellido drew, activated Reinforcement of the Army, and searched his deck for Exiled Force. He summoned the Exiled, tributed it to destroy Evans’s set Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, and then special summoned Cyber Dragon. It attacked Evans’ Don Zaloog, but Mirror Force destroyed it. Bellido set two cards to his back row and ended, clearly in a tough spot.
Evans attacked with one Hydrogeddon. “Yep,” said Bellido, taking the damage. Don swung, but was destroyed by Sakuretsu Armor. The second Hydrogeddon hit directly, Bellido dropped to 4800 life points, with Evans at 5600. He set a spell or trap and ended.
Bellido set a monster and activated Creature Swap, trading his set Sangan for Hydrogeddon! He sent Evans’ Hydrogeddon back at the Sangan, and hit! He took Don Zaloog with Sangan’s effect, and then pulled another Hydrogeddon! It attacked into Evans’ other Hydrogeddon and both monsters were destroyed. It was a huge turn for Bellido.
Evans special summoned Cyber Dragon, smacking down his pilfered Hydrogeddon and ending. Bellido blew away the Dragon with Exiled Force, but took a shot from Asura Priest next turn. He summoned Don, but lost it to Torrential Tribute, and took another shot from Asura. Evans set another spell or trap.
Bellido tried with another Don, this time hitting to discard Stein — a rather useless discard since Evans was now below 5000 life points anyways. He set a second spell or trap, passed, and Evans set a card to each zone. Play was back to the Canadian, and it seemed as if Bellido had finally gotten himself a chance to make a comeback.
He set a spell or trap to his back row and ended. Evans flip summoned his set Dekoichi, activated Creature Swap, but Bellido activated the Scapegoat he had returned to his hand earlier! Creature Swap got Evans nothing but a Sheep token, and Bellido took control of his Dekoichi. Evans summoned Asura Priest to try and equalize the field, but his first attack was stopped by Mirror Force.
The tables had clearly turned.
Bellido activated Heavy Storm to clear the field, and Evans’s own Dekoichi hit his one Sheep Token. Don attacked him directly and Evans was forced to discard his Cyber Dragon. Evans was out of options, and it was all over a turn later.
Both players made comments on the duel as they side decked.
“You know what was dirty?” asked Bellido. “When I stole your Hydro.” He gave a little grin.
“There’s going to be a lot of that going around today,” remarked Evans, shuffling his deck.
“Did you forget I had ‘goats?” Bellido was wondering why Evans had activated Creature Swap, a play that had wound up costing him a game he had dominated throughout most of its duration.
“No, I was just hoping you had a real set,” Evans explained. “I didn’t forget; I was just taking a risk.” It was sadly one that hadn’t paid off.
Evans opened with a set monster: his only non-monster was Last Will, and though he debated setting it, he eventually opted not to do so. Bellido special summoned Cyber Dragon, attacked into D. D. Warrior Lady, and both were removed from play with its effect. Bellido set nothing but a back row card and ended. Evans set one to each zone and passed right back.
Bellido summoned Newdoria and attacked with it, hitting Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive. Evans took his card for its effect, Bellido set another card to his back row, and play passed to his opponent.
Evans activated Graceful Charity, discarding Mystic Tomato and Zaborg the Thunder Monarch. He summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, used its token to destroy Torrential Tribute, and then activated Last Will. Bellido looked stumped — Last Will would let Evans pull Don or Reaper from his deck after Newdoria destroyed Breaker with its effect. The Torrential Tribute being destroyed by Breaker was a huge hit and Bellido knew it.
Breaker attacked Newdoria, but Bellido activated his last set card, Shrink! Breaker dropped to 800 ATK, slammed into Newdoria, and was destroyed in battle. Evans still got to pull Don, but this way Bellido would at least be left in a better position. If Don had attacked directly, it would survive until the next turn. Bellido was losing a card to it whether it hit directly or attacked over Newdoria, but this way he’d preserve life points and Newdoria would wipe Don off the field after its first hit. Don attacked, hit Newdoria, and Bellido was forced to discard Mirror Force. He looked like he’d been punched in the stomach; despite his clever play, he’d lost what seemed to be the most valuable card in his hand. All monsters were destroyed, and play was to Bellido.
He summoned Mystic Tomato and attacked directly, but next turn Evans summoned Hydrogeddon! It took down Mystic Tomato, pulled another from Evans’ deck, and when Bellido special summoned Sangan with Tomato’s effect it was destroyed as well. By the end of the battle phase Evans controlled three Hydrogeddons and Bellido had searched his deck for Morphing Jar with Sangan. It was 5400 to 6200, with Evans leading in cards, field presence, and life points. Bellido shook his head.
A set monster was his only move, and Evans fired back with Cyber-Stein. He activated its effect, special summoned Cyber End Dragon, and Bellido scooped.
This match was going to a third duel!
Both competitors side decked for a bit, and then each shuffled carefully. Opening with a pair of Hydrogeddons in hand was a nightmare for both duelists, a game-ruining draw that could easily decide a winner in such a tight match. On a technical level both decks were amazingly similar, so luck and careful side decking would have a great bearing on the final game.
Bellido opened the last duel by activating Graceful Charity. He discarded Treeborn Frog immediately, and then opted to toss Exiled Force before setting a card to each zone. Evans set one to each zone and passed back, prompting Dale to quickly flip summon Gravekeeper’s Spy. It’s a common third game side decking move for Bellido, and it paid off as he tributed it for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch!
. . . Until Evans flipped Torrential Tribute. Briefly stymied, Bellido ended his turn. Evans attacked with Spirit Reaper, but Sakuretsu Armor shut it down. Evans set a back row card, and Bellido special summoned Treeborn Frog from his graveyard. He followed it up by normal summoning Hydrogeddon, and took a direct shot with the Hydro. Evans set two spell or trap cards, summoned Exiled Force, attacked the Treeborn, and then tributed it off to destroy Hydrogeddon.
Treeborn came back up, and Mobius came down as Bellido tribute summoned! It blew away Nobleman of Crossout and Mirror Force, and then attacked directly! Evans set a card to each zone, Treeborn came back up, and Bellido tributed it again, this time for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch. Its effect destroyed Evans’ set Cyber-Stein, and he offered Evans the handshake. The shake was immediately accepted — Evans bowed out of the match!
“That was dirty,” commented Bellido with another grin, almost embarrassed by how easily he had won. He had sided into a Monarch-centric build, while Evans had sided into Cyber-Stein support. Without drawing the key cards he was a sitting duck for Bellido’s aggressive onslaught.
Dale Bellido moves on, undefeated with a 2-0 record!