Anthony Alvarado was in Top 8 contention in the final round of both Shonen Jump Orlando and Shonen Jump Baltimore, but was narrowly eliminated from Day 2 in both tournaments. After taking home the title for Overdose at Charlotte last year, Alvarado managed only one more Top 8 showing in 2005. That’s all over now, though, and the Big Shark has got his eyes set on becoming the second two-time Shonen Jump champ!
A member of Team Ikura, Mike Ibrahim has a local rep as a top-notch duelist. Though he doesn’t have Alvarado’s level of Shonen Jump experience, he does have plenty of tech, packing cards like Twin-Headed Behemoth and Asura Priest that might give him an edge against Alvarado’s more conventional Chaos build. He won the roll, and play began with two set spell or trap cards!
Alvarado played Graceful Charity, discarding Bottomless Trap Hole and Sakuretsu Armor. Mystical Space Typhoon destroyed Ibrahim’s set Bottomless Trap Hole, then used Breaker the Magical Warrior to destroy Enemy Controller. It was chained to turn Breaker to defense position. Alvarado set a spell or trap and passed. Then, it was Ibrahim’s turn to play Graceful. He special summoned Cyber Dragon and attacked, but lost it to Mirror Force! He ended his turn with just a single set back row card.
Breaker the Magical Warrior charged him immediately, before Alvarado did anything else, and hit for 1600. Alvarado set a monster and ended. Snatch Steal stole Breaker for Ibrahim, who then played Nobleman of Crossout to remove Alvarado’s set Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive from play: one was knocked from his deck, while Ibrahim had to remove two, meaning that he had his third in his hand. Breaker hit Alvarado for 1600 and Ibrahim set another monster.
A 1000 life point gain bumped up Alvarado, making the life point totals 7400 to 6400 in his favor. He played Nobleman of Crossout, removing Ibrahim’s set Dekoichi and giving Ibrahim a slightly perturbed look. With only one card remaining in his hand, Ibrahim would have liked that draw. Alvarado played Smashing Ground to destroy his Breaker, set a monster, and passed.
Ibrahim passed back, leaving Alvarado to flip Magician of Faith and take back Graceful Charity! He activated it, discarded Night Assailant and Skelengel, and took back his Skelengel with the Assailant’s effect! Magician of Faith attacked for 300 life points, a set card hit each of Alvarado’s zones and played passed to Ibrahim.
He set a card to each zone as well, and Alvarado flip summoned Skelengel, drawing another card! Both players had three cards on the field, but Alvarado had three cards in hand to Ibrahim’s one. Magician of Faith went to defense, and Skelengel hit Ibrahim’s lone set monster, revealing it as Spirit Reaper. With one Smashing gone from Alvarado’s arsenal, it seemed like an effective defense for the moment.
Ibrahim again did nothing on his turn but pass, a game Alvarado was willing to play with his superior hand presence. Alvarado drew, set a spell or trap to match his opponent’s two back row cards, and passed. Ibrahim passed back, and Alvarado returned the favor. Ibrahim passed again, and seemed like he was perhaps aware of the fact that he was participating in a race he couldn’t win. Alvarado played Book of Moon on Magician of Faith, took back Mystical Space Typhoon, blasted Ibrahim’s set Bottomless Trap Hole, and then summoned Tsukuyomi to turn Magician of Faith face down again! The exchange of cards with Mystical Space Typhoon, if continued, would erode away the card presence Ibrahim was struggling to establish. Alvarado ended his turn, Ibrahim set another back row card, and sure enough, Alvarado flipped Magician of Faith to bounce back Mystical Space Typhoon! Ibrahim flipped Torrential Tribute to clear the field, but the Mystical Space Typhoon destroyed his last set, Mirror Force! Spirit Reaper was summoned by Alvarado, pegged Ibrahim, and stole his Magician of Faith! Then Alvarado dropped Confiscation! He could choose Mystical Space Typhoon, Chaos Sorcerer, or Heavy Storm, and the Sorcerer was the obvious pick. Ibrahim was getting wrecked.
He set all three of his cards to his back row in one last ditch effort, unable to leave any cards in his hand due to the threat of Spirit Reaper. Alvarado tributed it on the following turn for Cyber Dragon, and attacked directly. Ibrahim had no recourse, and was forced to eat the 2100 damage.
He topdecked a monster on the turn that followed and set it, but Alvarado summoned another Spirit Reaper. Cyber Dragon attacked the set monster, hit D. D. Warrior Lady, and both were removed from play. Reaper hit directly, poking Ibrahim for 300 damage. Alvardo then set cards in his back row till he had three. He lost one to Mystical Space Typhoon, which was Call of the Haunted.
Ibrahim summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, broke Return, and attacked Spirit Reaper, but Alvarado’s last set card was Sakuretsu Armor! Breaker was destroyed and Ibrahim had to pass. Alvarado used Premature Burial to bring back Magician of Faith, summoned Tsukuyomi tot urn Magician of Faith face down, and attacked with Tsukuyomi, knowing that one of Ibrahim’s two set cards was Heavy Storm. Reaper went to defense, Tsukuyomi bounced, and Alvarado passed.
Asura Priest was summoned by Ibrahim, then attacked Alvarado’s Magician of Faith, and there was nothing he could do to defend his life points. A turn later Alvarado cleared his field with Heavy Storm and dropped the hammer with Chaos Sorcerer. It was all over.
The first duel is utterly owned by Anthony Alvarado!
Ibrahim’s loss was definitely owed to his series of passes. He was two cards behind when he started trying to regain hand presence, and Alvarado just let the cycle of drawing continue until he had the game in the bag. Leaning on Ibrahim with multiple Mystical Space Typhoon activations forced Ibrahim to lose that one card per turn that he was gaining, and from there it was all downhill.
Ibrahim’s lack of experience showed a bit during side decking, when he asked Alvarado how many cards he was rotating. Alvarado politely told him that he wasn’t obligated to answer that question, a tournament policy that Ibrahim seemed to be unaware of. Though Ibrahim certainly deserved his spot in the Top 8 and was a top-notch player, he was clearly having some difficulties.
He began game 2 with an expert move, though, summoning Sangan and setting a back row card. Alvarado set a spell or trap card and passed. Ibrahim played it smart, attacking with Sangan before doing anything else. The attack hit, and he set a second spell or trap card. Alvarado matched him, setting a Mystical Space Typhoon, but it was destroyed by Ibrahim’s Typhoon in the end phase. When Ibrahim gave a bit of an over-extension by summoning Twin-Headed Behemoth Alvarado was forced to activate Torrential Tribute. The fact that Behemoth and Sangan would replace themselves no doubt hurt, but he needed to prevent the damage that he would have otherwise incurred. Ibrahim brought back his Behemoth and passed.
Alvarado set a monster and passed, but Ibrahim blew it away by tributing for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch! It destroyed Alvarado’s Spirit Reaper, and attacked directly! Ibrahim was solidly controlling the match! Alvarado used Exiled Force to destroy the Zaborg, set a back row card, and passed, but Ibrahim had Breaker the Magical Warrior! He destroyed Alvarado’s set Call of the Haunted with Breaker and attacked directly! It was 3000 to 8000 in Ibrahim’s favor!
Alvarado special summoned Cyber Dragon, finally getting a monster he could use. He tributed it for Zaborg, destroying Breaker, and then attacked successfully. He set a back row card and ended his turn. Now it was 3000 to 5600.
But Ibrahim had Snatch Steal, continuing to produce the exact cards that Alvarado didn’t want to see! It took Zaborg, and Tsukuyomi turned it face down to steal it permanently! Tsukuyomi and Zaborg attacked directly, and Alvarado’s one set spell or trap card couldn’t stop the onslaught!
Ibrahim reverses roles completely between game 1 and game 2, capturing the second duel and moving the match to a third game!
Alvarado finally got to begin a duel, and set a monster. He ended his turn, an uncommon move in game 3 of a Shonen Jump quarterfinal. Normally duelists tighten up a bit, making ambiguous plays that are tougher to break, so it was gutsy for Alvarado to not set a spell or trap.
Ibrahim played Graceful Charity, hucking Brain Control and Scapegoat. He then played Nobleman of Crossout to remove Alvarado’s set D. D. Warrior Lady, but didn’t follow up! He set a monster and passed. Alvarado special summoned Cyber Dragon, normal summoned Exiled Force, and used its effect to destroy Ibrahim’s set monster, Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive. Cyber Dragon then attacked directly! Again, Alvarado didn’t set anything to his back row, perhaps broadcasting that he had an all-monster hand.
Ibrahim set one card to his back row and passed. Alvarado played Heavy Storm, destroying Mirror Force! He summoned Spirit Reaper, and swung directly with Reaper and Dragon for 2400 damage and a card, discarding Breaker the Magical Warrior! Ibrahim was left with just three cards in hand.
He used Snatch Steal to take Cyber Dragon, and again tributed it for Zaborg, destroying Spirit Reaper before attacking directly! He set a back row card and passed. Alvarado summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, broke Mystical Space Typhoon, reused Exiled Force with Premature Burial and blew away Zaborg! Breaker attacked directly, and it was 4800 to 1900.
Ibrahim special summoned Cyber Dragon and ran over Breaker, setting his last card, a monster, before ending his turn. Alvarado set a card to each zone, passed, and ended. Ibrahim flipped Magician of Faith, took back Nobleman of Crossout, and tributed Magician of Faith for Jinzo. The Nobleman of Crossout removed Alvarado’s set monster, Night Assailant, from play, and that was all she wrote! Jinzo and Cyber Dragon attacked directly, and Alvarado revealed his set spell or trap card: it was Sakuretsu Armor, useless when faced with Jinzo.
The rookie Mike Ibrahim takes down Anthony Alvarado with a series of high-impact topdecks!