It all came down to this: two duelists, from the same locale, each wielding TeleDAD with Plaguespreader Zombie. Velasquez is actually Jerry’s self-declared apprentice; Jerry taught him every trick he knows, playing weekday tournaments and playtesting together. Now, they were each guaranteed a copy of Doomcaliber Knight, and one would walk away a Shonen Jump Champion.

Jerry won the roll and opened with a hand of Destiny Hero – Malicious, Dark Armed Dragon, Reinforcement of the Army, Allure of Darkness, Krebons, and Plaguespreader Zombie. He activated Allure, drew Solemn Judgment and Brain Control, and removed his Krebons from play. He set Solemn and ended.

Velasquez activated Destiny Draw, discarded Destiny Hero – Malicious, and remarked, “You’re used to this!”

“He usually draws extremely well,” noted Jerry. “I think that’s why I taught him!” Velasquez special summoned Destiny Hero – Malicious from his deck, tributed him for Caius the Shadow Monarch, and removed Jerry’s Solemn Judgment from the field. Caius attacked, Jerry took 2400 damage, and Velasquez ended his turn by setting a spell or trap.

Jerry activated Reinforcement of the Army, searched out Dark Grepher, discarded Malicious to special summon the Grepher, then discarded Plaguespreader Zombie to send Snipe Hunter to the graveyard — Velasquez chained Torrential Tribute to wipe the field, and Jerry announced that he had game! He revealed Krebons, and along with his Malicious and his Plaguespreader Zombie in the graveyard he’d be able to get two Synchro monsters to the field. He flashed his last card: Dark Armed Dragon, definitely enough to seal the first duel!

Jerry Wang is just one win away from taking his second Shonen Jump Championship!

Velasquez opened the second duel by setting a single spell or trap card. Jerry had Reinforcement of the Army, Monster Reborn, two Dark Armed Dragon, Mystical Space Typhoon, and Krebons. He summoned Krebons, set Mystical Space Typhoon, and ended. Next turn Velasquez summoned Elemental Hero Stratos, searched for Malicious, and lost his set Torrential Tribute to Mystical Space Typhoon. He set another spell or trap and ended. Where exactly the Typhoon was activated was unclear; it was lost in the blaze of cards hitting the table.

Jerry played Reinforcement of the Army to fetch Stratos, which got him Destiny Hero – Malicious. He discarded him for Destiny Draw, removed one Malicious to summon another, then Synchro summoned with Krebons to bring out Thought Ruler Archfiend. He summoned his third Malicious, activated Emergency Teleport, summoned another Krebons, and Synchro summoned another Thought Ruler Archfiend. He special summoned one Dark Armed Dragon, flopped the second, and that was more than enough for George Velasquez to concede defeat!