Seven of the Top 8 decks were Dark Armed Dragon, and the only one that wasn’t, Kris Perovic’s, was a Diamond Dude Turbo that also ran Dark Armed Dragon. So we were in for a mirror match, fought between two long-time friends and two topnotch duelists: Jesus Suarez and Adam Corn. This is Suarez’s fifth appearance at Day 2 of a Shonen Jump Championship, and Corn’s sixth. Neither has ever managed to score a victory, and both were certainly hungry to do so this time around.
Adam Corn seems to have a significant advantage in this matchup. Both duelists are playing Dark Armed Dragon, but Corn has both Gold Sarcophagus and Crush Card Virus at his disposal, while Suarez is playing neither. They could be a deciding factor in this match.
Taking even more of an edge, Corn won the opening roll and opted to go first. He activated Allure of Darkness, drew two, and removed Jinzo from his hand, a strong first move. He set two cards to his back row, flipped Trap Dustshoot next turn, and revealed Elemental Hero Stratos, Morphing Jar, Destiny Hero - Fear Monger, Card Trooper, and two spells: he sent back Stratos. Suarez then discarded Fear Monger for Destiny Draw, activated Allure of Darkness to remove Dark Magician of Chaos, and summoned Card Trooper. He used its effect to send away Torrential Tribute, Monster Reborn, and Destiny Hero – Dasher, striking for 1900 damage! He set a card to his back row and ended. “Go.”
Destiny Draw let Corn discard Fear Monger, and he flipped Heavy Storm, destroying Suarez’s set Heavy Storm! He set Mirror Force and ended, stuck with high-level monsters and trap cards. Suarez activated Destiny Draw, discarded Disk Commander, then sent two Armageddon Knight and Dark Armed Dragon to his graveyard for Card Trooper. He summoned Strike Ninja, attacked, and ran into Mirror Force. Strike Ninja dodged at the cost of Fear Monger and a Knight.
He set a card to his back row, ended, and brought back Strike Ninja. Corn set another spell or trap card, passed, and ate 1700 damage from Suarez.
He set another spell or trap, and Corn set a monster. Suarez summoned Snipe Hunter, discarded Morphing Jar to target and destroy Corn’s Return from the Different Dimension, and then discarded Stratos to blow away Corn’s monster. “Scoop,” announced Corn. “That was so bad. I had double Dark Armed Dragon, Dasher, and Dark Magician of Chaos.” Both duelists shuffled their side decks into their main decks and began stripping out cards.
Jesus Suarez takes a decisive victory, and the match moves to Game 2!
Corn opened with Allure of Darkness, removing Destiny Hero – Dasher. He activated another, removed Snipe Hunter, and set two cards to his back row. Trap Dustshoot showed him Suarez’s hand: Destiny Draw, Mind Crush, Dimension Fusion, Sangan, Darklord Zerato, and Destiny Hero – Dasher. Sangan, the only live monster, was shuffled back.
That left Suarez to discard Dasher for Destiny Draw, drawing two cards. He set one to his back row and ended. Corn set another himself, passed, and Suarez topped into another Dasher! He summoned him with the effect of the first, attacked, and turned Dasher to defense mode. “Go ahead.”
Corn activated Gold Sarcophagus to remove Dark Magician of Chaos from his deck. Suarez activated Mind Crush thinking Corn had Dimension Fusion, but he didn’t, and Suarez lost his Dark Armed Dragon as a result!
Corn brought back his Dark Magician of Chaos with Escape from the Dark Dimension, returning Gold Sarcophagus to his hand! Dark Magician of Chaos attacked Dasher. Corn set a third spell or trap and ended.
Suarez summoned Armageddon Knight, activated its effect, and Corn took some time to ponder his potential responses. He eventually decided to flip Torrential Tribute, and Suarez sent his own Dark Magician of Chaos to his graveyard. Corn was holding Monster Reborn, and had played Suarez right into the position he wanted.
But Suarez had Reborn too! Smelling a rat, he activated it and brought back his Magician. He took back Monster Reborn, activated it again and brought out Destiny Hero – Dasher. Both monsters attacked and Corn took the damage. He was down to just 1000 life points.
Suarez ended. Corn drew for his turn, activated Gold Sarcophagus and removed Darklord Zerato. He flipped Return from the Different Dimension and Suarez conceded!
The match moved to a third and final duel!
Suarez opened with a set card to each zone. Corn had Gold Sarcophagus and Crush Card Virus in his opening hand! He activated Allure of Darkness, removed Jinzo, and then activated Allure again to remove Destiny Hero – Dasher. Those draws got him Reinforcement of the Army, which he activated to search for Destiny Hero – Disk Commander.
“Stratos?” asked Suarez as Reinforcement hit the table. Corn just flopped the Disk Commander, and Suarez’s face sunk. Corn activated Gold Sarcophagus, removed Monster Reborn from his deck and set two traps, plus Disk Commander. Suarez drew and Corn flipped Crush Card Virus, tributing away Disk Commander.
Suarez lost his in-hand Dasher and Zerato. He set one more card to his spell and trap zone, then summoned Card Trooper. He sent three cards to the graveyard, hit nothing of use, and attacked. Corn blocked with Jinzo, courtesy of Escape from the Dark Dimension. Corn was up.
He set two cards to his back row, summoned his last card, Armageddon Knight, and sent Dasher to his graveyard. Jinzo ran over Card Trooper, and Suarez lost the Dasher he drew from Trooper’s effect. Armageddon Knight then attacked, flipped Suarez’s Morphing Jar, and Suarez only got to keep two of the five cards he drew! Corn set yet another card to his spell and trap zone.
Suarez set two more cards to his back row so he wouldn’t lose his entire hand when he proceeded to activate Allure of Darkness — he removed Strike Ninja and got to keep the Sangan he drew. He sent it away for another Allure, drawing into Prometheus, and then summoned it, removing five Dark monsters from his graveyard to boost it up. Prometheus had 3200 ATK, enough to attack and destroy Jinzo! Suarez flipped Return from the Different Dimension, brought back Jinzo, two Dasher, and Darklord Zerato, and it was over! The topped Prometheus was Suarez’s only out, and it was also an instant-win!
Jesus Suarez wins out from a terrible game position, devastating Adam Corn and moving on to the Top 4! Jesus Suarez wins a guaranteed copy of Doomcaliber Knight!