Emon Ghaneian almost went down in history as the first duelist to ever no-show a Shonen Jump Championship Top 8. Arriving twenty minutes past the projected 9:30 start time, delays in deck checks saved Emon from having to resign the entire match, but the clock was running as he came through the door. Head Judge Franklin Debrito was forced to give him a game loss after consulting Upper Deck Entertainment’s Ian Estrin for the sake of impartiality.
Daniel Fitzgerald, Team Nexus’s newest recruit, is Saturday’s only undefeated duelist, so Emon is going to have his work cut out for him if he’s going to win the next two duels.
“I thought it was 10 am,” said Emon, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. Duelists had been requested to arrive at 9 am.
More bad news arrived for Emon as the judges administered the deck check. Though his physical main deck included Heavy Storm, his registered decklist did not account for the card, either in the main or side. Though no game penalty was enforced, Emon’s decklist contained 41 cards. If he had had 39, and thus an illegal deck, he might have been permitted to use the unregistered Heavy Storm. But because his registered deck was legal, he was not permitted to use the staple spell card.
“Great, everything bad happens to me,” said Emon with only a small hint of moroseness. He was actually handling it pretty admirably, and was eager to get into the match. It would be an uphill battle.
Emon was about to either take the most sympathetic loss of all time, or pull out the greatest Shonen Jump comeback we’ve ever seen.
Both duelists were permitted to side deck, and Emon was allowed to go first. He opened the second game of the match with Reinforcement of the Army, searching for Exiled Force. He set a card to each zone and passed.
Fitzgerald used Soul Control to summon Mobius, blowing away Magician of Faith and Sakuretsu Armor. He set a face down and passed. Tsukuyomi turned Mobius face down, but when Emon attacked, it was destroyed by Sakuretsu Armor. He set another back row card. Mobius was flip summoned, but did not attack: Fitzgerald just set a card to each zone and ended. Emon summoned Exiled Force and tributed it to destroy Mobius. Call of the Huanted brought it back, and he tributed it again to destroy Fitzgerald’s face down Magical Merchant. Another set spell or trap ended his turn.
Fitzgerald drew, set a monster, and ended. Emon summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, broke Torrential Tribute (Fitzgerald opted not to chain it), and attacked into D. D. Warrior Lady. The Lady remained on the field. Fitzgerald played Heavy Storm, but Emon chained Book of Moon, turning D. D. Warrior Lady face down. Fitzgerald tributed D. D. Warrior Lady for Thestalos, discarding Sangan from Emon’s hand! Thestalos ran over Breaker and play passed to Emon.
Emon played Snatch Steal and set a monster, attacking directly with Thestalos. Fitzgerald drew, set a monster, and passed. Emon flip summoned Gravekeeper’s Spy, brought out another in attack, and summoned Spirit Reaper. One Spy hit, smashing into Fitzgerald’s face down Spirit Reaper. Emon’s over-extension was denied as the Reaper stuck on the field!
Fitzgerald took his 1000 life points for Snatch Steal, set a card to each zone, and passed. Emon summoned Mystic Swordsman LV2, attacked the new face down monster, and found that it was Sangan. Emon was now fully committed to the field with no cards in hand, and five monsters in his front row! A Dark Hole here would be a crushing blow.
Sangan got Treeborn Frog for Fitzgerald, and Emon put the Spies and Reaper into defense position. Fitzgerald set a monster, passed, and Emon hit it with Mystic Swordsman LV2, revealing that it was the Frog. Next turn Fitzgerald summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, broke Snatch Steal, and wiped Mystic Swordsman LV2 and one of the Spies off the board.
Emon topdecked Pot of Avarice and shuffled back five monsters. The life point totals were 9600 to 6200 in Fitzgerald’s favor as Emon drew his two cards. He summoned Exiled Force again, used it to destroy Thestalos, and passed.
Smashing Ground destroyed the last Spy, and Enemy Controller destroyed Emon’s Spirit Reaper. Fitzgerald’s Reaper and Breaker the Magical Warrior hit directly, discarding Emon’s in-hand Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive. Emon set a card to each zone.
Treeborn Frog hopped back onto the field for Fitzgerald, and Breaker attacked Emon’s set Sangan. He pulled Tsukuyomi. Reaper attacked, but was stopped dead by Sakuretsu Armor. Emon summoned Tsukuyomi, turned Breaker face down, and attacked it. He set his last card to his back row and passed.
Spirit Reaper came out for Fitzgerald and hit directly, discarding the Tsukuyomi from Emon’s hand. But Emon topdecked another Pot of Avarice, and drew two more cards! “It’s not like I need a Heavy right now . . .” he remarked, seeing that Fitzgerald’s back row was clear. He summoned Exiled Force yet again, attacking the Reaper to press through some damage and then tributing it off to destroy the Reaper.
Fitzgerald special summoned Chaos Sorcerer, but it was swallowed up by Bottomless Trap Hole! Fitzgerald set a back row card, Emon summoned Sangan, and attacked the Frog. Fitzgerald’s set card would prevent the Frog from returning to the field.
Premature Burial dropped from Fitzgerald’s hand and brought back D. D. Warrior Lady. He attacked with it, removing Sangan from play. It seemed as if Fitzgerald’s turn was over, but he wasn’t through yet! He flipped his one remaining card, Call of the Haunted, and brought Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch back to the field.
Having no answer, Emon extended the handshake. “It was a good game,” he said, despite his obvious disappointment.
The newcomer Daniel Fitzgerald moves on to compete against either Chris Pittao or Roy St. Clair in the semifinals. Emon Ghaneian falls to a heartbreaking set of circumstances, but despite the loss, he left the feature match area with his head held high. “Long Beach next week,” Emon declared. No doubt, Emon Ghaneian is going to be hungry like never before heading into Shonen Jump Championship Long Beach.