“Shonen Jump champs!” remarked Torossian with a grin, as he and Scurry took their seats. He won the roll and opted to open the first duel. He set a card to each zone and passed. Scurry fired back with the same, and Torossian flip summoned Magical Merchant to nab Pot of Avarice. He then tributed for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, destroyed Scurry’s set Skelengel, and hit directly for 2400!

Scurry summoned Tsukuyomi, turned Zaborg, face down, but ran Tsuku straight into Sakuretsu Armor. Torossian flipped Zaborg, smacked into Mirror Force, set another monster, and ended his turn. Scurry set one spell or trap, passed, Torossian flipped another Magical Merchant, burned three monsters, and hit Bottomless Trap Hole! Merchant swung directly for 200, Torossian set a back row card, set a monster, and ended. Scurry drew and was stuck looking at traps and high-level monsters.

He special summoned Chaos Sorcerer, and used its effect with priority to remove Magical Merchant from play, but Torossian had no response. “Flip Return, get back Skelengel . . . ” Torossian joked. Scurry labored over his next move, but then tributed Sorcerer for Airknight Parshath. Bottomless Trap Hole swallowed it up.

Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive flipped on Torossian’s side on the following turn. He hit directly with it, set a card to each zone, and ended his turn. Scurry special summoned Cyber Dragon, attacked Dekoichi, and Torossian took the hit. The life point totals were 7300 to 4000 for Torossian. Scurry set a second spell or trap, ended, and Torossian drew.

He played Snatch Steal to take control of Cyber Dragon and attacked. Scurry groaned and took the hit, dropping to 1900 life points. Torossian then finally chose to activate Pot of Avarice, and shuffled back Magician of Faith, Zaborg, Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, Spirit Reaper, and Night Assailant. He set another monster, set two more back row cards, and passed! “I have three Solemns set,” he said, purposely shifting his eyes back and forth.

Scurry summoned Sangan, and then responded with Torrential Tribute to clear the field: Torossian had no response, and Scurry searched his deck for D. D. Warrior Lady: he needed to maintain field presence as much as possible. Scurry then played Heavy Storm, but Torossian chained two Jar of Greed! Scurry chained Call of the Haunted, brought back Sangan, and the last card on the field, Torossian’s Sakuretsu Armor, was destroyed. Sangan got Scurry Spirit Reaper, but he’d used his summon for the turn. He set a back row card and passed.

Torossian summoned Sangan and hit directly. Scurry summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, hit Sangan, and removed it from play. Return from the Different Dimension flipped, bringing back Skelengel, D. D. Warrior Lady, and Airknight Parshath! All three attacked, and it was 2500 to 950! Scurry was narrowing the gap!

He set one card to his back row yet again, and passed: it wasn’t enough: Torossian played Graceful Charity, blasted Scurry’s set Sakuretsu Armor with Heavy Storm, and then special summoned Chaos Sorcerer. Scurry offered the handshake, and both duelists began side decking for game 2.

While Scurry and Torossian shuffled I asked if they’d ever clashed before in a Shonen Jump Championship. “Nope! First time,” said Torossian, confirming my suspicion. Scurry nodded his confirmation as well, and each duelist shuffled the other’s deck before the second duel began.

Scurry opened quickly, setting a monster and then a spell or trap. Torossian played Mystical Space Typhoon, Nobleman of Crossout, and hit Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive. Both duelists had to remove two copies from their decks. Torossian didn’t have a followup though, and set a card to each zone. Scurry played Breaker the Magical Warrior, broke Sakuretsu Armor, and then played Nobleman of Crossout too, hitting Magician of Faith! Again, both duelists had to strip their decks! Scurry played Confiscation, and had to choose between Torrential Tribute and Old Vindictive Magician: after half a minute of deliberation he chose Torrential Tribute. Breaker attacked directly, and the life point totals were 6400 to 7000.

Torossian fired back with Confiscation as well, keeping the string of mirror plays going! He chose Snatch Steal over Cyber Dragon, set his Magician, and passed. Breaker attacked it, both monsters were destroyed, Scurry set a spell or trap, Torossian set a monster, Scurry summoned Cyber Dragon, and ran into Night Assailant. Both were destroyed. Torossian set a monster, Scurry hit it with Nobleman of Crossout, and hit Magical Merchant! Scurry had sided his out! He set one spell or trap and passed, leaving his back row with two cards. He had nothing remaining in his hand.

His opponent was down to topdecking, and landed himself Graceful Charity! He played it, and pitched Asura Priest and Mirror Force. He set a monster and ended. Scurry passed, Torossian played Heavy Storm, and hit Royal Decree and Mirror Force! Torowssian flipped Mast of Darkness, took back Mirror Force, set it, and attacked! All of a sudden, he was back in control of the game!

Scurry set a monster and passed. Torossian attacked into it with the Mask, and revealed it to be D. D. Warrior Lady. The life point totals were 4700 to 6100 in Scurry’s favor. Torossian ended his turn, Scurry set a spell or trap card, and he passed with D. D. Warrior Lady still in defense position.

Mask of Darkness went to defense as well, and Torossian set a second card to his spell and trap zone. Scurry’s hand was Scapegoat and Brain Control. He played the latter, dropping down to 5300 life points, and Torossian nervously handed over the Mask. Scurry flipped his set Book of Moon, targeted the Mask, turned it face down, flip summoned it, and took back Royal Decree. He attacked with the Mask, set his last two cards to his back row, and tried to end his turn, but Torossian flipped Dust Tornado. He made the right guess, and destroyed Royal Decree!

Torissian turned the Mask to defense, set two more cards to his back row, and passed. Scurry’s D. D. Warrior Lady swung into Sakuretsu Armor, and Torossian pressed with the Mask, attacking with it directly yet again. Scurry set a monster, passed, and Torossian summoned his own D. D. Warrior Lady. The Lady attacked, destroyed Skelengel, and Scurry drew a card for its effect. The Mask attacked directly once more.

Scurry drew, removed Breaker and Skelengel to special summon Chaos Sorcerer, and removed D. D. Warrior Lady from Torossian’s side of the field. Torossian activated Snatch Steal, took control of the Sorcerer, and removed it with its own effect. He attacked with Mask of Darkness again before setting another spell or trap and ending his turn.

Premature Burial brought back D. D. Warrior Lady for Scurry, but Torossian flipped Bottomless Trap Hole to remove her from play. Scurry set a monster, set his last card to his back row, and passed. Torossian shook his head, looking at his draw, and both duelists laughed a bit: “You used all your power cards!” said Scurry with a grin. Torossian smiled, nodded, and attacked with his Mask, hitting Scurry’s set Spirit Reaper. Scurry set a spell or trap, passed, Torossian set a monster, turned the Mask to defense, passed, Scurry passed back, and Torossian flipped Skelengel to draw a card. After a bit of thought he ended his turn.

Scurry passed again, Torossian set a third spell or trap card, Scurry passed, and Torossian passed back. Scurry passed, Torossian summoned Tsukuyomi, Skelengel turned face down, and Torossian flip summoned it to draw yet another card. He was running Scurry for cards in a passing war, similar to game 1. He ended his turn, Tsukuyomi bounced back to his hand, and Scurry was up.

He was again forced to pass. Torossian tributed Skelengel for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch: Scurry had no response, and Zaborg destroyed Spirit Reaper with its effect. Mask of Darkness went to attack position, but when Zaborg attacked it hit nothing but Sheep, as Scurry flipped Scapegoat. Mask and Zaborg each destroyed a Sheep token and Torossian ended.

Scurry looked at Torossian’s graveyard, and Torossian read him: “Two Jar of Greeds!” he grinned. Scurry played Heavy Storm anyway, and Torossian chained Book of Moon to turn his Mask of Darkness face down. It was Jar of Greed this time, as he lost Pot of Avarice and Mirror Force. Scurry summoned Tsukuyomi, turned Zaborg face down, hit it with Tsuku, and then used Metamorphosis to turn a Sheep into Thousand-Eyes Restrict. It inhaled the set Mask of Darkness, Scurry set a spell or trap, and play passed to Torossian.

He summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, broke Scurry’s set Call of the Haunted, and then removed a pair of Light and Dark monsters! Premature Burial brought up Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, but Scurry had already scooped and was offering the handshake.

Shonen Jump Indy Champion Nareg Torossian claims a 2-0 victory over Shonen Jump Baltimore Champ Shane Scurry!