Bellido lost the roll, scoring a magnificent three to Morgan’s nine. Bellido heaved a brief sigh and settled in for an uphill battle.

Morgan opened with a set monster, and Dale removed it with Nobleman of Crossout, revealing it to be D. D. Assailant. He then summoned D. D. Warrior Lady and poked for 1500, scoring first blood early on. He set a spell or trap card and passed with authority.

Cyber Dragon and Spirit Reaper hit Morgan’s side of the field, and the Dragon took out D. D. Warrior Lady, removing both from play. Spirit Reaper swung but hit nothing but Sheep tokens. Scapegoat flipped, a Sheep went down, and Morgan passed, again with no backfield.

Dale set a spell or trap and passed. Morgan pegged a Sheep token, passed back, and Dale returned the favor. A Sheep went down and play was again to Dale.

He set a monster with one Sheep remaining, checked his set spell or trap card, and ended his turn. Morgan played Tsukuyomi, looped it with Spirit Reaper, and Dale paused the game for a moment. He flipped Torrential Tribute, clearing the field and destroying his own Magician of Faith. But Morgan played Last Will, special summoned another Reaper from his deck, and hit directly to discard Bellido’s Dust Tornado! The Last Will tech emerges! Morgan set a spell or trap card and passed.

Dale needed to go all in. He summoned Mystic Tomato, attacked the Reaper with it, scored some damage, and set two cards to his back row, leaving himself with one card in hand. Morgan blasted the Tomato with Smashing Ground, attacked with Reaper, but lost it to Sakuretsu Armor. He set two back row cards.

Another Mystic Tomato came down on Dale’s side, and again attacked for damage. Morgan set another spell or trap, a third, leaving himself highly vulnerable to Mobius or Heavy Storm. Dale summoned Sangan, attacked with both monsters, and hit with both!

Morgan played Dust Tornado to destroy Dale’s set Call of the Haunted, and then flipped Return from the Different Dimension! He dropped to 800 life points, not realizing how low he was! Cyber Dragon and D. D. Assailant came to the field, and the Dragon attacked Dale’s tomato! With its effect, he pulled Spirit Reaper to the field. D. D. Assailant attacked Sangan next, and Dale grabbed Morphing Jar from his deck. It was 5700 to 800, and with one back row card Morgan passed. He had four cards in hand.

Dale summoned the Morphing Jar, and attacked directly with the Reaper. Morgan couldn’t stop it! The Morphing Jar hit to try and finish the game, and Morgan had nothing: Morphing Jar struck for game, and Bellido began shuffling his deck with confidence!

Morgan flopped his hand: Confiscation, two Nobleman of Crossout, and a dead Chaos Sorcerer. “There was nothing I could do,” he explained. “My set card was Bottomless Trap Hole. It’s useless against your Tomatoes.” Ouch.

He did some side decking, and Bellido did a little himself towards the end of the timed side decking period.

Morgan began the second duel with Graceful Charity, opening up hard with a discarded Mystic Tomato and Skelengel. He set a back row card and passed. Dale went at him hard and fast, summoning Mystic Tomato and rushing him for a quick 1400 damage. He set one spell or trap and passed.

Play passed back to Morgan, who immediately activated Reinforcement of the Army to dig through his deck for D. D. Warrior Lady. He sure hated that Mystic Tomato. In fact, he hated it enough to play Smashing Ground. D. D. Warrior Lady attacked directly, but Dale played Dust Tornado in the end phase, destroying Morgan’s Torrential Tribute and setting Call of the Haunted.

He activated the Call next turn to bring back the Tomato, and tributed it off for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch! Zaborg’s effect destroyed D. D. Warrior Lady, and attacked directly while Morgan shook his head for a moment. Dale set a back row card, Morgan set one, and destroyed Zaborg with Exiled Force. Dale passed, Morgan passed, and then Dale kept the aggression coming: he normal summoned Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive from his hand and scored another hit of 1400 damage. The life point totals were 6500 to 2800 in Dale’s favor.

Morgan set another spell or trap and passed. Dale attacked with the Train again, but was stopped by Morgan’s Call of the Haunted, grabbing Mystic Tomato back to the field. Dale did not attack, but moved to main phase two. Tsukuyomi turned Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive face down, and Smashing Ground destroyed Morgan’s Tomato.

Morgan brought out Mystic Swordsman LV2 and tried to attack, but was denied by Enemy Controller: Mystic Swordsman LV2 went to defense position. Morgan moved to main phase two and activated Nobleman of Crossout, trying to get rid of the Dekoichi. Dale had no spell or trap cards set, so his on-field Dekoichi was removed from play. Morgan lost one from his deck, and Dale did not remove one. He flashed his side deck to the table judge.

Another back row card hit Morgan’s spell and trap zone, and he passed. Dale summoned Mystic Tomato, and rammed it straight into Mirror Force. He passed with an empty field. Morgan set a second spell or trap and attacked directly with Mystic Swordsman LV2, not summoning anything. Dale summoned Tsukuyomi, turned the Swordsman face down, and attacked the Mystic Swordsman LV2. It was successfully destroyed, but Dale was again forced to pass with an open field.

A Light and a Dark monster were removed from Morgan’s graveyard, and he attacked directly with Chaos Sorcerer! Dale returned the favor next turn and removed Morgan’s from play, setting a monster. The life point totals were 3300 for Dale to 2800 for Morgan. Dale passed, Morgan set a spell or trap and passed, and play moved to Dale.

He flip summoned his set Gravekeeper’s Spy, bringing out another in defense position. He attacked with the flipped one, forcing Morgan to activate Return from the Different Dimension! He brought out Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, Chaos Sorcerer, Mystic Tomato, and D. D. Warrior Lady, but dropped down to 1400. Dale set a spell or trap card, but lost it to Dust Tornado in the end phase, revealing it to be Scapegoat. Morgan summoned Asura Priest, attacked the one attack position Gravekeeper’s Spy, and set another spell or trap card.

Dale saw his opening. He tributed the remaining Gravekeeper’s Spy for Jinzo, and there was nothing that Morgan could do. Chaos Sorcerer and Jinzo attacked for game.

Morgan was a bit disappointed, and scooped his cards. He left the table, but Dale called out to him: “Morgan!” Morgan turned around and stopped, on his way out of the Top 8 area. Dale got up from his seat, and gave Morgan a handshake and a hug.

Dale Bellido moves on, one step closer to his two-time title-holder dream!