Both of these duelists had been under serious tournament pressure before: Jorge Olivella is the reigning Mexican National Champion, while Keanson Ye has made repeated Day 2 appearances at Shonen Jump Championships. But this was the 50th Shonen Jump Championship, and the stakes had never been higher. One of these duelists would be very likely to move on to Day 2. The other would probably fall short of the 32-man cutoff.
Ye opened the match by discarding two copies of Thunder Dragon. He then discarded them for Hand Destruction, and Jorge discarded Destiny Hero – Dasher and Card Trooper. Ye set one spell or trap and ended.
Next turn Olivella drew Darklord Zerato, and special summoned it with Dasher’s effect! He activated Reinforcement of the Army, searched out Dark Grepher, and activated Allure of Darkness. He removed Jinzo after drawing his two cards. That left him with Dark Armed Dragon, Armageddon Knight, Dimension Fusion, Monster Reborn, and another Dark Grepher. He activated Dimension Fusion, Ye chained Reckless Greed, and Olivella brought back Jinzo! He normal summoned Armageddon Knight, announced that he would send Dark Magician of Chaos to his graveyard, and flashed Monster Reborn — Ye conceded!
Mexico’s Jorge Olivella captures the first duel in just one turn, all thanks to his opponent’s Hand Destruction! Both competitors quickly shuffled and moved to game 2.
Keanson opened game 2 with yet another Thunder Dragon discard, getting two more from his deck. He summoned Elemental Hero Stratos, searched his deck for Destiny Hero – Disk Commander, and then activated Upstart Goblin. He followed it up with Destiny Draw, discarding Disk Commander, then activated Monster Reborn to special summon Commander in defense mode and draw two cards.
Reinforcement of the Army let him get Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude, and he discarded Destiny Hero – Dogma for Trade-In to draw two more cards. He set two to his back row, pondered a moment, and then ended his turn.
Olivella was up, and was holding Crush Card Virus, Gold Sarcophagus, Dark Grepher, Destiny Hero – Fear Monger, Mystical Space Typhoon, and Raigeki Break. He activated Sarcophagus to remove Dark Armed Dragon from his deck, then summoned Fear Monger to attack Disk Commander — he fell in battle. He set all three remaining spells and traps to his back row and ended. Go.”
Ye activated Upstart Goblin, then Destiny Draw discarding Diamond Dude. He activated Reckless Greed, Olivella chained Mystical Space Typhoon to target his other spell or trap, and it too was Reckless Greed: Ye chained it to draw four cards total. Another Upstart Goblin let Ye draw again, and when he activated Trade-In and discarded Destiny Hero – Dreadmaster Olivella chained Crush Card Virus — it destroyed Stratos, forced Ye’s two Thunder Dragon to the graveyard, and revealed his hand of Trade-In, Hand Destruction, Reckless Greed, Premature Burial, two Allure of Darkness, and an Exodia piece. He then drew into another piece of Exodia and Destiny Draw.
He activated Premature Burial targeting Disk Commander, but Olivella discarded his last card (Dark Grepher) to destroy it on the chain! Ye set two spell or trap cards to finish his turn.
Olivella drew, and took the Dark Armed Dragon he had removed with Gold Sarcophagus. He ended, Ye passed, and Olivella drew into Allure of Darkness. He activated it, getting Reinforcement of the Army and Destiny Hero – Malicious! He removed Malicious and activated Reinforcement of the Army, but when it resolved to get him Armageddon Knight Ye flipped Hand Destruction to make him ditch the Dragon and the Knight! Olivella’s perfect play was foiled! Ye activated Allure of Darkness next turn, ended, and Olivella activated one himself, getting another Armageddon Knight.
He summoned it, and sent Dasher to his graveyard with its effect. He set two cards to his back row, passed to Ye, and Ye passed back. Olivella attacked with Armageddon Knight for another 1400 damage, Ye drew for his turn, then activated Reckless Greed again! He was free of Crush Card Virus, and he activated Pot of Avarice to shuffle back five monsters and draw two. He then discarded Destiny Hero – Plasma for Trade-In, activated Allure of Darkness, and removed Diamond Dude. He summoned Stratos, searched his deck for Dreadmaster, and activated another Allure! He removed Dogma this time, but still didn’t have the last piece of Exodia! Only three cards were left in his deck. He set three to his back row and ended.
Olivella flipped his set Soul Release, stripping his graveyard of three monsters and leaving only one Dark Armed Dragon. He then activated Dimension Fusion! Dasher, Grepher, Armageddon Knight, Fear Monger, and Malicious hit the field alongside Olivella’s Armageddon Knight, and he fed the Malicious to Dasher to give it an ATK boost. He proceeded to remove the Malicious from his graveyard to bring out another in attack mode. Dasher ran over Stratos, Grepher took down Diamond Dude, and the last three monsters finished the match!
Mexican National Champion Jorge Olivella defeats Keanson Ye, redeeming himself from his Round 9 feature match and earning a strong chance at a place in the Top 32!