Kris was worried going into this match that it could be potentially embarrassing if Glass managed to burn through him like he does most of his Day 1 opponents. Both players were packing Diamond Dude Turbo today, and, according to Perovic, Glass’ deck could move much faster than his. Marc Glass is, of course, your SJC Columbus champion, while just one Jump previously Kris made second place running the same deck type in Houston.

“If I Creature Swap and take an ultimate Dasher, I’m not giving it back!” quipped Kris as the preparations for the match were being carried out. After four rounds of tied dice rolls, Marc finally won the roll and opted to start. He came out of the gate with Reasoning, and Kris sighed before calling 4. Jinzo was the first card off the deck (where have we seen that before?) and Glass passed his turn. Elemental Hero Stratos came down for Kris allowing him to fetch out Destiny Hero — Malicious to discard to Destiny Draw. The next Malicious was brought out, and Kris discarded his third Malicious to play Lightning Vortex. Kris attacked with Malicious and Stratos and set a spell or trap before passing. Glass set a spell or trap and passed right back to Kris who summoned Card Trooper and knocked Card Destruction, Diamond Dude and Threatening Roar off his deck. Threatening Roar from Glass stopped the battle phase from happening, and Kris switched Malicious to defense and passed. Glass simply set another card and ended, and Kris activated his Trooper again before using Reinforcement of the Army to fetch Destiny Hero — Diamond Dude. Another Threatening Roar blocked the attacks, and Kris summoned Diamond Dude. He missed on the effect, sending Dark Magician of Chaos to the bottom of the deck, and Glass set another spell or trap. Diamond Dude switched to defense mode, and Card Trooper’s effect was activated once more before Kris declared his attacks. This time they went through, dropping the SJC Columbus champion beneath the 2000 he needed for Dimension Fusion.

Marc simply set another card and ended. Kris switched his Trooper to defense after using it, but the attack of Stratos was blocked by the final Threatening Roar. Finally, Glass had a play to make. He discarded Malicious to Destiny Draw and then summoned the next Malicious. Glass flipped Heavy Storm, but Kris flipped his Threatening Roar from the start of the game. Marc then cleared out Kris’ field with Lightning Vortex, set a monster, and passed. Kris had a look over his rather sizeable graveyard before deciding to remove two Diamond Dudes to pull back a Phoenix Blade he had dropped into the graveyard earlier during one of his Card Trooper activations. He had 10 cards left in his deck at this point, and he needed to be careful not to give away a game that was practically his by decking out. Kris returned a second Phoenix Blade to his hand, and discarded them both to Magical Stone Excavation to bring Card Destruction out of his graveyard. He activated Card Destruction for six cards, hoping that Dimension Fusion would be in his top six, but it wasn’t! He activated another Stone Excavation for Card Destruction and activated it drawing all but the last card of his deck. He finally found the Dimension Fusion, and, after activating Premature Burial on Exiled Force to clear Marc’s set Card Trooper, he activated it to end the game.

That last game was probably the longest that a mirror match between Diamond Dude Turbo decks will ever go, mainly because one of the players didn’t draw any of the cards that add the “Turbo” part to the name. Both players side decked, and it was Marc’s turn to choose who would start the next game. Marc opted to begin, and he did so with Reinforcement of the Army into Elemental Hero Stratos. Stratos fetched Malicious, and Marc ended his turn. Kris opened by activating Lightning Vortex to discard his Malicious and destroy Stratos. The second Malicious was summoned, and Monster Gate traded it in for Exiled Force. The final Malicious hit the field and Kris activated Reasoning. Glass called 4, but seven or so cards later Dark Magician of Chaos came off the top of the deck. The Magician brought Reinforcement of the Army to Kris’ hand, and he used it to fetch and summon Stratos. Stratos brought him a Diamond Dude, and Kris ordered an attack.

The attack of all four monsters brought Glass down to 1600, but fortunately for him he had a Lightning Vortex of his own to stop the hurt. He discarded Malicious for it and brought the second one out of his deck at this time. Diamond Dude came down next, activating and hitting a Monster Gate, and Glass attacked before setting a spell or trap and ending. Kris drew another Reasoning next turn, and Glass called 6 this time. Exiled Force flopped, and Kris activated Heavy Storm, clearing out Glass’ Mirror Force. He then summoned Diamond Dude and missed with his effect before sticking a Phoenix Blade on the Dude and having him take down Marc’s. He passed his turn, and Glass took his free Monster Gate, finding Dark Magician of Chaos and using him to bring back Monster Gate. Gate traded Malicious for Dasher, and Glass cleared out Kris’ monsters. He set a monster to finish the turn, and Perovic was up.

Premature Burial pulled back Exiled Force, and, with the aid of Phoenix Blade, it took down Dasher before being tributed to destroy Dark Magician of Chaos. Glass tributed his set Card Trooper for Jinzo and took a swing. Kris had one draw left to try and win the game he thought he had already won, but he picked up another Phoenix Blade and conceded pushing the match to game 3!

Kris started off the final game of the match with Diamond Dude. Dude missed, sending a Phoenix Blade to the bottom of the deck, and Kris set a spell or trap before ending. Card Trooper came down for Glass, dumping Card Destruction, Jinzo, and Phoenix Blade before dropping the Dude. He set a spell or trap and passed over to Kris who flipped Heavy Storm and nailed Glass’ Torrential Tribute! Reinforcement of the Army for Stratos was next, and Stratos grabbed Malicious upon his successful summon. Stratos took down the Trooper and Kris ended his turn without setting anything else. Magical Stone Excavation came down for Glass, dropping the other two Phoenix Blades to pull back Card Destruction. He played it and passed his turn. Kris activated Reinforcement of the Army for Diamond Dude and brought out his second Malicious before activating Monster Gate to send him away. Jinzo took his place, and the third Malicious came down in attack position. Reasoning was next, and this time Glass called it right. A call of 4 put Diamond Dude into the graveyard, but a Phoenix Blade joined him and Kris was able to get it back before summoning Diamond Dude and attacking for game!

Kris Perovic manages to give Marc Glass his first Day 1 loss in 3 SJCs, moving on to 2-0. Before he left though, Kris wanted let everyone know that he was thankful to Marc Glass for showing everyone that DDT could still win a Jump and Dale Bellido for lending him the Excavations he needed to even be running the deck today.