Ryan Hayakawa needs no introduction. The world’s only two-time Shonen Jump Champion, he’s a fixture of Team Comic Odyssey and one of the most respected duelists in North America . . .

 . . . and boy, did he look tired. “My God, I can’t believe it, I woke up at six AM just to get here.” Hayakawa talked about missing his scheduled flight from California. “First time, right, I was waiting. Flight got delayed, I missed that one. Another one, got delayed, another one, missed that one too, and then another one got delayed. I was delayed for six hours! That’s insane. I got here at, like, 11:30 last night.” Ouch.

Hayakawa opened the duel, setting a monster and then setting a card to his back row. Demott set a card to each zone as well, and then set a second spell or trap. Hayakawa set a card to each zone, ended his turn, and Demott was up.

Lava Golem came down from Demott’s hand, and Hayakawa lost Don Zaloog and D.D. Assailant! “Hmm, Burn!” remarked Hayakawa. Demott played Messenger of Peace, and ended his turn. Demott played Mask of Restrict and passed.

Book of Moon shot out of Hayakawa’s hand to turn Lava Golem face down, saving him from the Golem’s burn. Hayawaka summoned Mystic Tomato, attacked with it, but Demott blocked with Nightmare Wheel! His opponent borrowed the card for a moment to read it, and then ended his turn.

Demott paid to keep Messenger of Peace on the field, and then set a second monster. Dust Tornado destroyed Nightmare Wheel, and Mystic Tomato again attacked. It hit Magician of Faith, and Demott did not have any spells to return to his hand. Hayakawa set another monster, putting himself at three, and ended. Demott kept the Messenger on the field, flip summoned Des Lacooda, drew for its effect, and flipped it face down. Hayakawa gave a slight sigh and set his jaw for a moment, as Demott set two more cards to his spell and trap zone.

“Secret Barrel . . . ” mused Hayakawa. He dropped Heavy Storm, but Demott played Solemn Judgment to negate it! The life point totals were 3900 to 7500 in Hayakawa’s favor. Mystic Tomato attacked, but Demott had another Nightmare Wheel to block it! Hayakawa played Confiscation, discarded Lava Golem over Mask of Restrict, and ended his turn. Hayawaka took a whack from the Wheel while Demott paid for Messenger. He got another card from Des Lacooda, set a second monster, and ended.

Hayakawa was leading, but Demott was cinching in the lock and had eliminated Heavy Storm: Hayakawa passed. Demott again spun the Nightmare Wheel for 500 damage, paid for Messenger of Peace, and flipped Des Lacooda, but this time he flipped two! He played Graceful Charity, discarded a third Des Lacooda and Mask of Restrict. He had five cards in hand, and announced that fact. “Oh wow,” said hayakawa. Demott set a third monster and passed.

Exiled Force was summoned on Hayakawa’s side, and he passed priority, but Demott had no response. Exiled Force attacked one Des Lacooda, destroying it, and Hayakawa had to struggle to decide what he’d do. He eventually passed, not tributing the Exiled Force.

Demott burned with the Wheel, kept Messenger up and running, and flipped his remaining camel to draw a card. He flipped it back down, flip summoned Mask of Darkness, and took back his Solemn Judgment, eliciting a groan from Hayakawa. “’Little security blanket” said Demott, who now had the game thoroughly under control. He summoned Tsukuyomi, turned Mask of Darkness face down, moved to the battle phase, and attacked Exiled Force with Tsukuyomi. Sakuretsu Armor destroyed Tsuku, Demott set another back row card, and concluded his turn.

The life point totals were 5000 to 3600, with Demott closing the gap. Hayakawa sent Exiled after the last Des Lacooda, and destroyed it successfully! He then ended his turn. With the camels gone, Demott’s source of free card presence was at least eliminated. Now Hayakawa needed to struggle his way back into control of the duel, or somehow steal a win through fast, unexpected damage.

The Wheel hit him again, and Messenger of Peace stuck around for another turn. Demott set a second monster, played Wave-Motion Cannon, and ended. Exiled Force attacked the freshly set monster, but ran into Des Koala! He took 800 for the DEF of the Koala, and 1600 for the Koala’s burn effect. It was 2100 to 3500, and Hayakawa had no choice but to tribute Exiled Force to destroy the Mask of Darkness. He ended his turn and Demott cranked the Wheel again, dropping Hayakawa to 1600.

Demott paid for Messenger of Peace, set a monster, and ended his turn.

“I think you have this one,” said Ryan as he passed without doing anything. The Wheel and the Wave-Motion Cannon finished him off a turn later!

Demott took the first duel! Hayakawa began doing some serious side decking, and Demott shuffled his deck thoroughly.

Both duelists wished eachother good luck for game 2, and Hayakawa again opted to open. He set a card to each zone, ended his turn, and Demott set a monster, set a spell or trap card, and played Nightmare’s Steelcage before passing.

Hayakawa drew, and Demott flipped Mask of Restrict! Hayakawa hit him with Nobleman of Crossout though, hitting Des Lacooda, and flip summoned D. D. Assailant. He forgot about the Steelcage, and tried to attack. The attack was denied, and Hayakawa passed. Demott set a monster, passed, Hayakawa passed back, and the Steelcage fell to the graveyard.

Demott flipped Steal Bird though, burning Hayakawa and then turning it face down. He set a card to each zone and ended. Dust Tornado destroyed Demott’s set card in the end phase, revealing Gravity Bind! D.D. Assailant attacked the set monster that Hayakawa knew was not Stealth Bird, and destroyed Tsukuyomi! Tsukuyomi turned D.D. Assailant face down, and hayakawa passed. Demott flipped Stealth Bird, burned, flipped it face down, and then activated Messenger of Peace.

Hayakawa blasted the Messenger with Mystical Space Typhoon, and summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior! Breaker cleared out the Stealth Bird, D.D. Assailant hit directly, and Hayakawa set a back row card. He had four cards in hand to Demott’s two, and was pressing his advantage!

Demott drew and considered his potential options, but Breaker was making his choices difficult. He set a spell or trap card and then played Mask of the Accursed on D. D. Assailant. Demott passed, Hayakawa lost 500 life points to the Mask, and it was 5500 to 6300 for Demott.

Hayakawa played Heavy Storm, clearing the field! Demott’s set card was Nightmare Wheel, not chainable to Storm. Hayakawa tributed D.D. Assailant for Airknight Parshath and hit directly with both the Parshath and Breaker! Hayakawa set a spell or trap and passed, leaving Demott at just 2500 life points.

Demott thought long and hard for about twenty seconds before picking up the Lacooda that Nobleman of Crossout had removed from play. “That’s game,” he announced, scooping his cards and shuffling for game 3.

Hayakawa side decked again, tweaking one more card.

They started talking about Shrink while shuffling. “I’d play it for a while,” said Demott. “I’d play it, and just keep winning Shonen Jumps with it to get more,” said Hayakawa with a grin. That’s the authentic Comic Odyssey answer, right there.

Demott set a monster, a spell or trap, and then ended. Hayakawa flashed spectators Graecful Charity and Confiscation, activating the latter. He chose between Mask of Restrict, Ceasefire, Des Lacooda, and Mask of the Accursed: he ended up forcing the discard of Ceasefire. He summoned Mystic Tomato, but Nightmare Wheel stopped it again, just like in game 1! Hayakawa set one spell or trap card and ended, keeping the Graceful Charity in his hand.

Mask of Darkness flipped on Demott’s side, getting him back his Ceasefire! He set a card to each zone, contemplated the situation a moment, and then ended his turn. Hayawaka drew, and Demott flipped Mask of Restrict in his draw phase! Hayakawa summoned Exiled Force though, ran over Mask of Darkness, and tried to tribute to destroy the set monster, but he couldn’t, due to Mask of Restrict. Hayakawa appeared briefly disheartened, then set a spell or trap card before passing.

Demott flipped up Des Lacooda, drew, and flipped it down before setting a monster. He set a third card to his back row, next to Nightmare Wheel and Mask of Restrict, and ended. Hayakawa played Graceful Charity, discarded My Body as a Shield, and Gravekeeper’s Spy. He then played Heavy Storm! Demott flipped Ceasefire on the chain, and Hayakawa lost Enemy Controller and Bottomless Trap Hole! He took 2000 damage from Ceasefire, but whipped away both Des Lacoodas. He set another monster and ended his turn before leaning back in his chair, arms folded. It was his 4000 life points to Demott’s 7900.

Nightmare’s Steelcage locked down the field, and Demott set a monster. Hayakawa had established control over the field on the previous turn, but Demott had again stopped him dead in his tracks. Exiled Force was tributed, and destroyed Demott’s set Spirit Reaper. Hayakawa flipped Magician of Faith, took back Confiscation, and discarded Messenger of Peace. He then summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior! Breaker destroyed Nightmare’s Steelcage, and all three monsters attacked! It was 4600 to 3000, with Demott still leading, but now in trouble!

Demott played Mask of the Accursed on Breaker the Magical Warrior, and set his last card to his back row. Hayakawa summoned D.D. Assailant, and after some calculations Demott let attacks from Mystic Tomato and D.D. Assailant go through. It was 2500 to 1500, with Hayakawa now leading.

Time was called, and Demott had the first turn of three before the match would be called. Still, it wasn’t enough! Demott showed his remaining cards, Solemn Judgment and Wave-Motion Cannon: there was nothing he could do but extend the handshake. “Well done!” He congratulated Hayakawa, who graciously accepted his concession, and both duelists begain resetting their decks for the next round.

Ryan Hayakawa gets one step closer to what may be his first Shonen Jump Top 8 in a long time!