T is back in action after a year on the bench. Holding the record for the most Shonen Jump Top 8’s ever (a whopping six), he’s still never managed to capture the championship. Is today his day?

Jose is driving today’s only dedicated Cyber-Stein build, with a side into burn. This is his first ever Shonen Jump Championship, so he’s off to a fantastic start. Will the first time be the charm?

Who will emerge triumphant — Dark World, or the mad Machine?

They shuffled up and got ready, listening to some rules rundowns from the table and head judge. With 60 minutes for the round, they should have plenty of time—especially considering there’s a Cyber-Stein OTK in the lineup! After a high roll for first, T takes the lead, and chose to go first.

The tournament clock hit 10:00 am, and the match began.

T drew his five, his first card, and looked through his hand. He held Spirit Reaper, Ring of Destruction, Scapegoat, Nobleman of Crossout, Treeborn Frog, and Heavy Storm. He took a few moments to think about it, then set Spirit Reaper and Ring of Destruction, and ended his turn.

Jose special summoned Cyber Dragon, then set a spell or trap. After looking through his hand, he set another, and attacked T’s set card—Spirit Reaper! He checked his hand again, and ended his turn. T drew, set a spell or trap, and ended his turn. Jose drew, set a monster, checked his set spell or trap cards, and ended his turn.

T looked at the field for a few moments, then drew his card. He thought his next move over carefully before activating Nobleman of Crossout on Jose’s set monster. It was a Nimble Momonga, and out of play it went. T ended. Jose drew, and set one monster, then set two spell or traps. Hmm . . . could that possibly be his Morphing Jar?

T shuffled his hand and considered the field, then drew his card, Giant Orc. He looked at the Heavy Storm in his hand. Was it worth giving up the two cards on his field to get rid of the four on the field across from him? He went for it, placing it face up on the field, only to see Jose chain two copies of Poison of the Old Man. Jose gained 2400 life points, then T chained Ring of Destruction to destroy Jose’s Cyber Dragon. They each took 2100 damage, bringing the life point total to 8300 for Jose and 5900 for T. T then looked through Jose’s graveyard, summoned Giant Orc, turned Spirit Reaper to attack, and went after the set card with Giant Orc. It was indeed a Morphing Jar! After both players discarded their hands and drew five new cards, he attacked directly with Spirit Reaper, relieving Jose of a Megamorph. Orc turned to defense, and T looked at his hand. Activating Graceful Charity, he discarded Smashing Ground and Cyber Dragon, then went straight into Confiscation. Jose spread out his hand—Limiter Removal, Cyber-Stein, Sakuretsu Armor, and Magic Cylinder. T searched through both graveyards, reexamined his hand, then chose to take away Stein. He set a spell or trap, and ended his turn.

Jose drew, set a spell or trap, and then set two more. “Go,” he said. It was a quiet duel, without the banter that usually enlivens things. T drew, and looked at his hand. After double-checking the life points, he attacked directly with Reaper, only to hit Jose’s Sakuretsu Armor. T set another spell or trap, and ended.

Jose drew, set the monster he drew and ended his turn without a hand. T tributed his Orc for Zaborg to destroy the set monster—Nimble Momonga—and attacked directly once more. Jose was ready for it though, and flipped up Magic Cylinder, sending 2400 damage right back to T and dropping him to 2500 life points. Jose set another spell or trap and ended.

T attacked directly again with Zaborg, and pow! Ring of Destruction! T had only 100 life points remaining, and he activated Call of the Haunted to bring that ill-fated Zaborg back to the field. Alas, Jose had an answer for that as well, activating Mystical Space Typhoon to send it back to the graveyard. T set a monster, and ended his turn.

Jose drew, summoned Cyber Dragon, and attacked. T got a bit of his own back, responding with Sakuretsu Armor. T drew, and considered his predicament. He had one set monster, one set spell or trap, and 100 life points left. He looked through his graveyard, and ended his turn.

Jose drew, set the monster he drew, and ended. T drew, and flip summoned Night Assailant, destroying the set monster—Sangan! Jose searched out Spirit Reaper, and put it in his hand. T tributed the Night Assailant for Cyber Dragon and attacked directly. Jose took the 2100 hit, dropping his life points to 3500.

Jose drew, and T stopped him there. “In your draw phase, I’ll activate this,” he said, flipping up Deck Devastation Virus. Jose showed his hand, revealing no eligible monsters. Jose activated Level Limit - Area B, switching the Dragon to defense, and ended his turn.

T drew and summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, and broke the Level Limit. He turned Cyber Dragon to attack, and lashed out for another 2100. Jose drew, special summoned his own Cyber Dragon, attacked, and activated Limiter Removal for game.

Both players settled down to make their side deck choices, as the table judge reminded them of the time limit. The first duel lasted fifteen minutes, so they still had plenty of time remaining in the round. Both players counted out their side decks to show fifteen cards, shuffled up, and were ready to go again. T elected to go first.

Game 2

T drew, and looked through his hand as he shuffled it rapidly. He then set a Dekoichi and a spell or trap, and ended his turn. Jose special summoned Cyber Dragon, and T checked his set. Jose set a monster and a spell or trap and ended—and during the end phase, T activated Dust Tornado, destroying the freshly set Poison of the Old Man. T then activated Dark World Lightning, special summoning Siilva and destroying Jose’s face-down monster. He attacked the Cyber Dragon to deal out 200 damage, then set a monster and a spell or trap and ended his turn.

Jose set a monster, activated Messenger of Peace, and ended his turn. T drew, looked at his set, and flip summoned it. It was the Dekoichi, so he drew a card, then took out Messenger with Mystical Space Typhoon and attacked Jose’s set card—Nimble Momonga—with Siilva. Jose gained 1000 and brought out another, which T attacked with Dekoichi. Life points were 8800 for Jose and 8000 for T.

Jose set 2 spell or trap cards, one monster, and ended his turn. T activated Heavy Storm, and Jose chained Secret Barrel to dish out a total of 1400 damage, bringing T to 6600. T tributed Dekoichi for Cyber Dragon, set a spell or trap card, and then flip summoned Morphing Jar, discarding a Siilva and bringing it back. He then activated Graceful Charity, discarding Goldd and Night Assailant. Goldd hit the field, filling in the last monster zone, and he used Dark World Lightning to remove Jose’s set monster. Then he attacked with all five: one after the other! Right down the line—2300, 2300, 2300, 2100 and a final chomp of 700 from the Morphing Jar, leaving Jose with only 100 life points. An echo of the previous game!

Jose drew, and T stopped him. “Draw phase,” he said, and activated Trap Dustshoot. Jose had two Cyber Dragon cards, a Nobleman of Crossout, Ring of Destruction, Level Limit - Area B, and Scapegoat. Cyber Dragon went back to the deck, and then T activated Mind Crush. Jose summoned his remaining Cyber Dragon and attacked the Morphing Jar, then activated Level Limit - Area B. Would he manage to hold off another onslaught?

T drew, then held up Mobius the Frost Monarch. Jose nodded, and scooped up his cards.

With a score of 1-1, it was on to game 3!

Both players consulted their side decks, then displayed fifteen cards and shuffled up for the next and final duel. Jose elected to go first.

Game 3

Jose drew, set a monster followed by two spell or trap cards, took one back, and ended his turn. T drew, summoned Sangan, then activated Nobleman of Crossout. He took out Jose’s Des Koala, then attacked with Sangan for first blood.

Jose drew, set a monster, and pondered setting another spell or trap. Finally, he activated Messenger of Peace, then set two more spells or traps and ended. T drew and studied the field. He set a spell or trap and summoned Breaker. Jose had no response, so he used the counter to break Messenger. He attacked the set card with Breaker, and it turned out to be Morphing Jar. T just happened to be holding a Goldd and a Siilva, and returned them both to the field. Jose couldn’t chain his pair of Just Desserts because it’s the damage step, and he took a three-point attack from Sangan, Goldd, and Siilva that dropped his life points to 1400. T set another spell or trap and ended his turn.

Jose drew, and in his draw phase, T activated Deck Devastation Virus, destroying the Nimble Momonga in Jose’s hand, then flipping up Ring of Destruction to wipe out his remaining Dark World Monster for game. T would be moving on to the Semifinals, against Fili Luna!