With the 50th Shonen Jump Championship still within our recent memory, I find it quite appropriate that the winner of the very first Shonen Jump Championship is here, undefeated thus far. He’ll be facing off against a player who hails from my home town of Pittsburgh, PA. Zach Smith had no Fusion deck, so he was pretty clearly not running Gladiator Beasts despite putting the deck together last night. In fact, this would be a Dark Armed Dragon mirror match, though neither of them knew it at the time
Umali won the roll 2 to 1 on a 20-sided die, and he opened with Trade-In pitching Destiny Hero - Dreadmaster. Umali set a card and passed to Zach who activated Allure of Darkness and removed Darklord Zerato from play. Zack matched Umali’s set and passed to Umali, who simply did nothing. D.D.R. - Different Dimension Reincarnation came down for Smith, pitching Disk Commander to bring Darklord Zerato back into play. Zerato swung for 2800 and play was back to Umali, who shook his head and looked disdainfully at the graveyard. He normal summoned Dark Grepher and pitched Destiny Hero - Malicious to send Dark Magician of Chaos to the graveyard. With three Dark monsters in the graveyard, it was time for Dark Armed Dragon to take the stage, but a Solemn Judgment from Zach Smith stopped it. Brain Control came down next, and with Zach’s reduced life points, it was over! Two uneventful starting turns are followed by a quick flurry of huge monsters and powerful spells, giving Umali the first game!
Both players side decked, and Zach was up first for game 2. He started with Destiny Draw pitching Malicious and a set spell or trap. Umali had the ideal opening with Elemental Hero Stratos searching for Destiny Hero - Disk Commander. He took a free shot for 1800 and set two spell or trap cards before passing. Trap Dustshoot flipped in the draw phase to reveal Allure of Darkness, D.D.R, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, Return from the Different Dimension, Darklord Zerato, and Phantom of Chaos. Umali hurried to scribble down Zach’s hand as he sent Darklord Zerato back to the deck. Allure of Darkness let Zach draw two and remove the Phantom from play, but he still wasn’t happy with his options or the fact that Umali knew almost all of them. He set a card to each zone and passed over to Umali who pitched Dreadmaster to special summon Dark Grepher. Umali pitched Disk Commander to activate Grepher’s effect with priority, and Zach chained Torrential Tribute! The field was wiped clean, and Zach took his Sangan’s effect to fetch D.D. Crow! Grepher resolved, sending Malicious to the graveyard, and Umali removed it to summon another.
Zach chained with Crow on Disk Commander to keep Umali’s Dark count at two, and he passed with Malicious and a set spell or trap with two cards in hand. Phoenix Wing Wind Blast pitched Limit Reverse to spin away Umali’s back-row card, and Zach pitched another to activate D.D.R. It was a huge mistake. He wanted to switch the D.D.R. with The Dark Creator from his hand, but the play was made and he was not allowed to modify it. He removed Malicious to bump with Umali’s and passed with a 0 ATK monster on the field. It was all over in an instant, as Umali dropped two Dark Armed Dragon cards and pressed through for game.