“I have to give a shout-out to my man,” noted Tundo, in a rehearsed, sort of confused tone of voice, “Said Zaki.” I’m not exactly sure what kind of bet Tundo had lost, or why he had to speak in an uncharacteristic breed of jive while giving the shout-out, but there it is.

Tundo’s opponent this round is Tristan Gonzalez. A nineteen year-old native of Toronto, he’s made respectable showings at several Shonen Jump Championships in the past, as well as multiple Canadian National Championships.

Game 1

Gonzalez opened with E – Emergency Call, searched out Elemental Hero Stratos, and then summoned him to get Elemental Hero Prisma from his deck. Tundo activated Reinforcement of the Army to get his Stratos, summoned him, and then searched for Destiny Hero – Malicious.

He discarded Malicious for Destiny Draw, drew two, and then contemplated his hand: Monster Reborn, Trade-In, Allure of Darkness, Reckless Greed, Darklord Zerato, and D.D.R. - Different Dimension Reincarnation. He dropped Darklord Zerato for Trade-In, activated Allure of Darkness, and removed his second Malicious for its effect. Now he had two Reckless, Dark Armed Dragon, Trade-In, Reborn, and Reincarnation.

He attacked Gonzalez’s Stratos to destroy both, and then set two copies of Reckless to his back row. Gonzalez attacked next turn with Spirit Reaper forcing Tundo to discard Dark Armed Dragon, then set another spell or trap to his back row. Tundo drew for his turn, flipped one Reckless, then the other to draw a total of five cards! He played Upstart Goblin next, drew, and then activated Allure of Darkness. He removed Destiny Hero – Dreadmaster to pay for it, then discarded Light and Darkness Dragon for Trade-In getting another two draws.

Dark Armed’s effect blew away Gonzalez’s Spirit Reaper, then his face-down Mystical Space Typhoon. Tundo followed it up with Upstart Goblin, discarded Destiny Hero – Fear Monger for Destiny Draw, and then activated Premature Burial. That brought back Elemental Hero Stratos, who searched out Destiny Hero – Dreadmaster. Another Trade-In let him discard the Dreadmaster, and he special summoned another Dark Armed Dragon!

He normal summoned Dark Grepher, discarded Dreadmaster to send Dark Magician of Chaos to his graveyard, then activated Monster Reborn to special summon the Magician! That was more than enough damage to end the duel.

Vincent Tundo is one win away from a strong shot at Day 2!

Game 2

Gonzalez opened once again by searching out Elemental Hero Stratos, this time getting him with Reinforcement. He used Stratos to dig out Prisma, set a spell or trap, and ended. “Go.”

Tundo played Upstart Goblin, and had a mostly-useless hand: Mystical Space Typhoon, Reckless Greed, Book of Moon, Dark Grepher, Darklord Zerato, and Dark Magician of Chaos. He set Reckless and Mystical Space Typhoon, but lost Reckless in the end phase to Dust Tornado.

“I’ll use its effect,” noted Gonzalez, setting another spell or trap card. He summoned Spirit Reaper next turn, attacked for 1800 damage with Stratos, and then struck for another 300 with Reaper. The shot cost Tundo his Zerato. Gonzalez set another back row card, but lost it to Mystical Space Typhoon in the end phase: Solemn Judgment.

Tundo discarded Dark Magician of Chaos for Trade-In next turn, got Stratos with Reinforcement of the Army, then searched out Destiny Hero – Disk Commander. He set another card to his back row, traded his Stratos for Gonzalez’s, and was left with a hand of Disk Commander, Dark Grepher, and Destiny Hero – Malicious. He passed his turn.

In the end phase he lost his back row card to Phoenix Wing Wind Blast. Gonzalez discarded Book of Moon to pay for it, and next turn played Monster Reborn to special summon Dark Magician of Chaos from Tundo’s graveyard. That let him take back his Reborn, which he used to pilfer his opponent’s Darklord Zerato as well. He normal summoned Elemental Hero Prisma and it was over.

Tristan Gonzalez presses the match to one more duel, the last game either of these competitors would play here today. Tundo would open Game 3.

Game 3

He had Stratos, Reborn, Reckless, Destiny Draw, Dark Grepher, and Dreadmaster. He summoned Stratos, got Disk Commander, and discarded him for Destiny Draw. He then activated Premature Burial, bringing back the Commander and drawing two more cards! Gonzalez shook his head, and another Destiny Draw let Tundo trade Dreadmaster for another two cards. He set a spell or trap to end his turn.

“Alright, I’m doing this in a feature match,” remarked Gonzalez. He normal summoned Gladiator Beast Bestiari, special summoned Test Tiger, and traded Bestiari for Gladiator Beast Secutor. Secutor swung over Disk Commander, then brought Laquari and Bestiari to the field — Tundo chained Bestiari’s target, Reckless Greed. Gonzalez activated Monster Reborn in main phase 2, special summoned his opponent’s Disk Commander to draw two cards, and then contact Fused for Gladiator Beast Heraklinos! Tundo was in trouble, and Gonzalez set two cards to his back row. Tundo had eight cards in hand to Gonzalez’s three.

He set another Reckless, set a monster, and sent Stratos to attack his own Disk Commander — the attack went through and the Commander was return to Tundo’s graveyard. Gonzalez attacked with Heraklinos, taking down Stratos on the turn that followed. He normal summoned Gladiator Beast Laquari and when he ended his turn, Tundo activated Reckless Greed — Gonzalez discarded Book of Moon to negate it with Heraklinos.

Tundo activated Allure of Darkness — Gonzalez had only two cards remaining in hand. He discarded one of his remaining cards, Dust Tornado, to negate the Allure. Tundo was left with Dark Magician of Chaos, two Dark Grepher, Reinforcement of the Army, and Monster Reborn. He needed Gonzalez to spend his last card negating the Reinforcement.

He didn’t. “Exiled Force?” Tundo fetched Strike Ninja instead, Exiled Force being unavailable (it was unclear whether or not he even sided it). He then activated Monster Reborn, targeting Disk Commander, but lost out to Solemn Judgment! This one just wasn’t going Tundo’s way.

He flip summoned Destiny Hero – Fear Monger, rammed it into Laquari, and set one of the Grephers. Gonzalez was up.

He summoned Elemental Hero Prisma and sent Bestiari to the graveyard for its effect. He then contact Fused Bestiari and Laquari for Gyzarus, and attacked for 5400 damage direct. Gyzarus then tagged out to special summon Gladiator Beast Laquari, then Gladiator Beast Darius. Darius brought back Bestiari, and the two were contact Fused for another Gyzarus. Gonzalez still had one card in his hand.

Tundo brought back Disk Commander with Fear Monger’s effect and drew two cards — Mystical Space Typhoon and Dreadmaster, neither of which were any help. He activated the Typhoon and Gonzalez negated it with Heraklinos.

He special summoned Dark Grepher and tributed for Dark Magician of Chaos, but Gonzalez flipped Solemn Judgment! Left with three mismatched cards there was nothing Tundo could do but offer the handshake.

Tristan Gonzalez moves on with a shot at Day 2!