Jonathan Moore took his seat and groaned—this wasn’t how he pictured his first round. Tundo shot him a grin, knowing that Moore was about to start complaining: these two duelists had just spent the past several days playtesting together, and while Tundo knew what his opponent was running, Moore was in the dark.

Jon Moore is packing a mean looking Zombie build that techs Caius the Shadow Monarch, solving the deck’s challenge of running aground on big monsters while really taking advantage of Goblin Zombie. With so much special summon power, it’s easy for Moore to always have tribute fodder.

But he’s not the only one in this matchup packing Monarchs. After finding big success in the side-event regional at the Canadian National Championships with a Gladiator Beast deck that sided into Dark Armed Dragon, Tundo is playing another switch-up strategy here today. This time, he’s maining Gladiator Beasts and siding into Monarchs as necessary. Moore had no idea.

“So I play one of the smartest people, who knows what I’m playing, and who knows my entire decklist.” Moore gave a groan and a laugh. He was here representing the new Texas team Main Phase 3, and a strong showing today would do a lot for the group’s reputation. For Moore, this was also a personal challenge: renowned for playing Six Samurai and frequently derided despite his Shonen Jump Championship title, he was out to prove that he could play more than just one type of deck.

Moore opened the mach by setting Goblin Zombie. He had Card of Safe Return, Mezuki, and a few other cards in hand that gave him a solid strategic spread. Tundo set two cards to his back row, and Moore flip-summoned goblin Zombie for an attack on the turn that followed. The card sent off the top of Tundo’s deck with the Goblin’s effect was Gladiator Beast Murmillo, and Moore gave a big fist pump! “Thank God!” He set a monster to end his turn.

A pass was Tundo’s only play, but when Moore summoned Spirit Reaper, Tundo flipped Torrential Tribute. Torrential Tribute destroyed Moore’s face-down Mezuki, his Goblin Zombie, and his Spirit Reaper. Moore used the Goblin to search out another Mezuki. Tundo had one face-down spell or trap card left and Moore activated Card of Safe Return!

Moore removed Mezuki to try to special summon Spirit Reaper; in response, Tundo had D.D. Crow to remove the Reaper from Moore’s graveyard! Robbed of his free draw and his Spirit Reaper, Moore passed. On the next turn, Tundo summoned Gladiator Beast Secutor. Moore knew what was coming: Tundo special summoned Test Tiger. Tundo tributed the Tiger to send Secutor back to his back and then bring it back to the field, and then he attacked with it. That let Tundo special summon Gladiator Beast Darius and Gladiator Beast Heraklinos at the end of the battle phase. When Darius went to special summon Gladiator Beast Murmillo from Tundo’s graveyard, Moore used D.D. Crow to remove Murmillo. It was a weak move in the face of what would surely become Gladiator Beast Heraklinos, but Moore was covering all his options. He wasn’t giving up yet.

All the Gladiator Beasts were sent back to Tundo’s deck, and he special summoned Gladiator Beast Heraklinos. The pressure was on.

Moore was up, and Tundo had three cards in hand to fuel Heraklinos’s negation effect. Moore summoned Zombie Master, discarded Mezuki with priority to special summon Goblin Zombie in defense mode, and shuffled his hand: Dark Armed Dragon, Ryu Kokki, Pyramid Turtle, and Crush Card Virus. He needed to get that Dark Armed Dragon to the field, but with just one Dark monster in his graveyard, he couldn’t do it yet. He ended with Mezuki and D.D. Crow in the yard.

Tundo drew to four cards in hand and fiddled with his Heraklinos, prompting a good-natured quip from Moore. “Just give it a little turn like that,” smiled Moore, suggesting that Tundo should turn his Heraklinos to defense mode. “You keep touching it! It’s a solid play.” Tundo laughed and activated Cold Wave. He sent Gladiator Beast Heraklinos to attack Zombie Master, Moore dropped to 6400 life points, and Tundo ended his turn. Moore needed to get one more Dark in his graveyard.

Moore topdecked Caius the Shadow Monarch and all bets were off—he tributed Goblin Zombie to summon it! He used Caius’s effect to remove Heraklinos from the field, and then he searched out Zombie Master with the Goblin. Dark Armed Dragon hit the field next. Moore removed Mezuki to special summon Zombie Master, and he followed that up by removing D.D. Crow from his graveyard to destroy Tundo’s last card, Solemn Judgment. Unfortunately, with his own Cold Wave locking him down, Solemn Judgment was no help to Tundo.

Dark Armed Dragon, Caius, and Zombie Master all attacked for a total of 7000 damage! Just like that, Moore had shattered Tundo’s Heraklinos lock and stole the game.

Jonathan Moore struggled out from under Gladiator Beast Heraklinos and Cold Wave, battling back to take a dominating win in the first duel! Both competitors did some extensive smoke screening. Will Tundo side into Monarchs?

Tundo started off the second duel with an ambiguous single set card to his spell and trap zone. Moore summoned Spirit Reaper to punish him for it, and he swung right into Tundo’s life points, forcing Tundo to discard D.D. Crow!

Tundo gave a shout of annoyance, as he watched one of his biggest advantages disappear.

“That helps,” remarked Moore.

“Yeah, it does.”

Moore set Solemn Judgment and lost it to Dust Tornado in the end phase. Tundo set a spell or trap card with the Tornado’s effect. He couldn’t capitalize on it next turn though. Tundo destroyed Spirit Reaper with Brain Control just to fend off a possible Caius, and he set a card to each zone.

Moore summoned Goblin Zombie and attacked. Tundo activated D.D. Crow to remove Spirit Reaper from Moore’s graveyard. As a result, Moore read Morphing Jar, and he chained his own Crow to remove Tundo’s from the graveyard. Sure enough, when the Goblin crashed into Tundo’s monster, it was indeed Morphing Jar. Moore sent two copies of Mezuki to the graveyard—thanks to its effect—while Tundo lost Raiza the Storm Monarch. It looked like Tundo had indeed sided into his secondary strategy, but Moore hadn’t figured that out yet.

Moore had a fresh hand: Heavy Storm, Zombie Master, Pyramid Turtle, Caius the Shadow Monarch, and Bottomless Trap Hole. He set Bottomless, and Tundo set four cards to his back row next turn.

Moore activated Heavy Storm! Tundo chained Solemn Judgment, and then he saw that Moore had only four cards remaining in his hand. Tundo activated Trap Dustshoot, revealing Moore’s four cards: Pyramid Turtle, Caius the Shadow Monarch, and two copies of Zombie Master. Tundo sent Caius back to Moore’s deck, and Moore kept the pressure on.

Moore removed one Mezuki from his graveyard to special summon another Goblin Zombie. Both Goblins made direct attacks, knocking Tundo down to 1250 life points and sending Gravekeeper’s Spy and Crush Card Virus off the top of Tundo’s deck! Moore was doing a great job of keeping his field invested only in monsters that would replace themselves when destroyed. Unless Tundo could remove those Goblins with his own copies of Caius, aggressive tactics would be useless.

Tundo drew for his turn, and then he activated Reckless Greed. “You sided into Monarch?” Moore had finally figured out Tundo’s strategy, but Tundo had five cards in hand and two cards set on the field with which to run wild. He needed to do something big to regain control.

Tundo activated Premature Burial to special summon Gravekeeper’s Spy. Book of Moon let him turn it face down, and Tundo set two more cards to his back row. Not exactly the big turn he needed, but it was all he had. Tundo ended his turn, and Moore summoned Card Trooper next turn. He activated its effect, sending Card of Safe Return, Bottomless Trap Hole, and Dark Armed Dragon to his graveyard—nothing for his second Mezuki to special summon. Since he couldn’t get through Gravekeeper’s Spy, he opted to end. Moore had three cards in his hand and Bottomless Trap Hole still set.

Tundo flip-summoned Gravekeeper’s Spy, special summoning another copy from his deck in defense position. He tributed the defense-position card for Caius the Shadow Monarch and targeted Moore’s Goblin Zombie with its effect. Moore retaliated by chaining Bottomless Trap Hole. Tundo flipped Solemn Judgment to negate the Bottomless, keeping Caius on the field. Tundo was down to 225 life points—one Caius would knock him out of the match. His attack-position Spy was an even bigger concern.

Tundo was played out with three cards set in his back row and Caius and Spy in attack mode. He sent Caius to smash Card Trooper for 2000 damage, giving Moore a draw with Trooper’s effect. Spy then took out Moore’s second Goblin Zombie, and it fetched him a copy of Mezuki. “Mind Crush Mezuki?” asked Moore playfully. Tundo shook his head and ended his turn.

Moore activated Mystical Space Typhoon, and destroyed Tundo’s face-down Phoenix Wing Wind Blast. With three Dark monsters in his graveyard, Moore special summoned Dark Armed Dragon and removed his other Dark Armed Dragon from his graveyard for Dark Armed’s effect. Then he proceeded to target Caius. Tundo chained Book of Moon to turn the Dragon face down. Caius was removed and Dark Armed Dragon was stuck face down. But hold on to your hat, because Moore wasn’t finished!

Moore summoned Mezuki, and with Gravekeeper’s Spy still in attack mode. Tundo was forced to flip Torrential Tribute. Moore’s Mezuki went to the graveyard, he removed it to special summon another Mezuki, and the match was over! Tundo had nothing left with which to defend himself, and Mezuki made a direct attack to seal the game.

Jon Moore takes a quick pair of duels over Vincent Tundo’s Gladiator Beast Siding Monarchs strategy! Chalk one up for Zombies.

Moore grinned one more time. “See? I can play more than just Samurai!”