Both of these duelists had their invites to the World Championships, and both hailed from the very nation in which this weekend’s competition took place: Italy. Three members of the Top 4 were representing Italy this year, and now this duel was for one thing only: the right for one duelist to call himself “Champion.”

Sarpa opened with a set spell or trap, and Bellocchio sent three cards to his graveyard to power up a freshly-summoned Card Trooper on the following turn. Card Trooper attacked, and Sarpa took an early 1900 damage! Bellocchio passed with an open back row.

Cyber Dragon came down for Sarpa, who opted to turn it into Dark Balter the Terrible with Metamorphosis! It attacked the Trooper, hammered home 1600 damage, and Sarpa set another back row card.

A set monster was Bellocchio’s only move; not a great one against Dark Balter. He lost his set Fear Monger to Balter and Sarpa passed, leaving Bellocchio to set yet another monster. Destiny Draw let Sarpa discard his Fear Monger to draw two, and he pressed with Balter again, this time destroying Bellocchio’s set Morphing Jar. Bellocchio set another monster — what on earth was he doing? Couldn’t he at least bluff?

Sarpa summoned Elemental Hero Stratos, searched for Malicious with his effect, and discarded Malicious with Destiny Draw. He removed one Malicious to special summon another in attack position, and then attacked with Balter, destroying Bellocchio’s set Card Trooper. Stratos and Malicious attacked directly.

Bellocchio summoned Snipe Hunter and discarded Destiny Hero – Dasher to target and destroy Dark Balter the Terrible. He activated Destiny Draw next, tossing another Destiny Hero – Dasher to the graveyard. He activated Reinforcement of the Army, searched his deck for Destiny Hero – Disk Commander, and activated another Destiny Draw! His dead cards were certainly coming together, perhaps just in the nick of time!

He discarded Destiny Hero - Malicious to destroy Elemental Hero Stratos with Snipe Hunter’s effect, and then attacked Malicious to finish out his turn. Bellocchio again passed with nothing in his back row. “I lose,” he stated.

Yes, he did. Sarpa special summoned Cyber Dragon, normal summoned Card Trooper, and activated Brain Control to take the Snipe Hunter! Bellocchio was defenseless, and Sarpa had an unblocked 5500 damage on the table.

Mattia Sarpa dishes out a savage beating, destroying Davide Bellocchio, who just couldn’t seem to get a single workable draw.

The second duel began after a bit of side decking. Bellocchio opened with Destiny Draw, discarding Destiny Hero – Dasher, and set a card to each zone. He set a spell or trap card in addition and ended; a vast improvement over last game!

In Sarpa’s draw phase, Bellocchio flipped Trap Dustshoot, revealing Metamorphosis, Snipe Hunter, Brain Control, Destiny Draw, Morphing Jar, and Dark Magician of Chaos. Sarpa passed his turn after losing Snipe Hunter. Bellocchio flip summoned Sangan, normal summoned Trooper, sent three cards to his graveyard to power its effect, attacked directly, and set a second spell or trap yet again.

It was Trap Dustshoot again! It returned Sarpa’s freshly-drawn Cyber Dragon to his deck! Sarpa had no choice but to activate Brain Control, take Card Trooper, and hope to send something like Malicious to his graveyard: no dice. He lost Torrential Tribute, Call of the Haunted, and Pot of Avarice. He attacked Sangan and Bellocchio used its effect to pull Snipe Hunter. In main phase 2 Sarpa set a monster, set a spell or trap, and used Metamorphosis to special summon Dragoness the Wicked Knight.

Bellocchio special summoned Cyber Dragon, and played a Metamorphosis of his own to special summon Dark Balter the Terrible! He activated Reinforcement of the Army, searched his deck for Elemental Hero Stratos, summoned him, and fetched Destiny Hero – Malicious from his deck. Stratos attacked Dragoness the Wicked Knight, and Balter attacked and negated Sarpa’s set Morphing Jar!

Sarpa flipped Destiny Draw, discarding the Malicious he had finally drawn. It didn’t help him though, and he conceded the duel to Bellocchio.

He opened the third duel with a set spell or trap. Bellocchio did the same and passed back. Sarpa set Heavy Storm, passed, and Bellocchio set a monster and another back row card. Sarpa flipped Scapegoat in the end phase.

He proceeded to flip Heavy Storm, costing his opponent Brain Control and Mystical Space Typhoon! Sarpa summoned Snipe Hunter and attacked, but slammed into Morphing Jar; both duelists got new hands, and Sarpa had negated the work he had done with the Heavy. He set a spell or trap and ended.

Bellocchio special summoned Cyber Dragon, tributed for a set monster, and activated Metamorphosis to trade it, Malicious, for Ryu Senshi! It attacked Snipe Hunter and Sarpa took the attack. Bellocchio set a spell or trap to end, not bringing up Malicious.

Sarpa flipped Mystical Space Typhoon in the end phase, destroying Bellocchio’s set Trap Dustshoot. He summoned Elemental Hero Stratos in his turn, searched for Malicious with Stratos’ effect, and then set a spell or trap. He ended his turn.

Bellocchio removed Malicious from his graveyard, special summoning another in attack. He then normal summoned Card Trooper, and sent three cards to his graveyard. Ryu Senshi attacked Stratos, and Malicious and Trooper each hit a Sheep token: Sarpa was down to two Sheep and Bellocchio ended.

Destiny Draw let Sarpa discard Destiny Hero – Malicious, and he summoned Snipe Hunter. He discarded another Malicious, trying to destroy Ryu Senshi, but missed! He discarded Disk Commander next, and this time Senshi went down. Sarpa removed one Malicious from his graveyard to bring out another Malicious, and then turned him into Dark Blade the Dragon Knight with Metamorphosis. Snipe Hunter attacked Bellocchio’s Malicious, Dark Blade attacked Card Trooper, and Sarpa removed Malicious and one of two Dashers from his opponent’s graveyard, before deciding his last removal, Dark Magician of Chaos.

Card Trooper was summoned and boosted by Bellocchio. It attacked Snipe Hunter and Bellocchio ended. The duel stood at: 5500 for Bellocchio to 6900 for Sarpa.

Sarpa summoned Sangan. Dark Blade attacked the Card Trooper, a few more monsters were removed, and Sangan attacked directly. Bellocchio activated Destiny Draw, discarded Malicious, and summoned Elemental Hero Stratos. He searched his deck with Stratos’ effect to bring out Destiny Hero – Disk Commander, possibly the only Destiny Hero he had left. Stratos ran over Sangan and Sarpa dove into his deck to pluck out Card Trooper.

A set spell or trap ended Bellocchio’s turn, and he passed turn player rights to Sarpa. He activated Premature Burial, targeted Snipe Hunter, and discarded Card Trooper to target Bellocchio’s back row card. It was Scapegoat, and Bellocchio flipped it! Dark Blade ran over Stratos though, and Snipe Hunter hit a Sheep.

Bellocchio set a monster, still fighting to establish himself on the field. Snipe Hunter attacked it, and it was Sangan; Bellocchio grabbed Snipe Hunter from his deck. Dark Blade hit a Sheep token and now each duelist had only one Sheep remaining. Bellocchio activated Destiny Draw, discarded Disk Commander, and summoned Snipe Hunter! He discarded Reinforcement of the Army to blow away Dark Blade, discarded Metamorphosis to destroy Sarpa’s set Torrential Tribute, and then discarded Trap Dustshoot to destroy Snipe Hunter! His Hunter then hit a Sheep to leave Sarpa in a bad position.

He drew, and had Cyber Dragon, Threatening Roar, and Brain Control: not too hot, to say the least. He set Roar and ended. It was 4500 to 5300, with Sarpa leading, but now in a very bad place. Bellocchio activated Heavy Storm and Sarpa chained Threatening Roar. Bellocchio passed.

Sarpa drew Dark Magician of Chaos, another dead card! He activated Brain Control, took the Hunter and thought a bit about what he’d do. He finally decided to tribute it for Cyber Dragon, and attacked a Sheep token.

Bellocchio set a monster and ended; he was running out of cards in his deck, and seemed to have only five or six left. Reinforcement of the Army got Destiny Hero - Fear Monger for Sarpa, and he attacked Bellocchio’s remaining Sheep token with Cyber Dragon before setting the Fear Monger. Bellocchio was up.

He searched Sarpa’s graveyard, seeing that yes, he did indeed have Disk Commander. He tributed his set Card Trooper for Cyber Dragon, attacked Sarpa’s Sheep, and set his last two cards to his spell and trap zone.

Sarpa tributed his Fear Monger for Jinzo, but when it attacked, Bellocchio flipped Limiter Removal! Jinzo was destroyed when it crashed into Bellocchio’s massive Cyber Dragon. Sarpa ended his turn and Bellocchio’s Cyber Dragon exploded. He set his topdeck to his back row.

Sarpa attacked, and Bellocchio took 2100 damage. Sarpa set a spell or trap and Bellocchio topped into Pot of Avarice! He wiped some sweat from his brow before selecting the five monsters he’d shuffle back; with only two cards left in his deck, he’d probably be seeing them quite soon.

He shuffled back Cyber Dragon, Snipe Hunter, Destiny Hero – Disk Commander, Elemental Hero Stratos, and Destiny Hero – Fear Monger. He drew two, and activated Destiny Draw to discard Disk Commander! He summoned Snipe Hunter, and discarded Fear Monger to try and destroy Cyber Dragon, but missed! He discarded his last card, Stratos, and destroyed the Dragon! Snipe Hunter then attacked for 1500. The duel stood at 2400 to 1300, with Bellocchio leading!

Sarpa had nothing. After his next draw his hand consisted of Destiny Hero - Dasher and Dark Magician of Chaos, and he flopped them to the table in disappointment. It was over! Snipe Hunter attacked next turn and Bellocchio won!

Davide Bellocchio comes back from a crushing game 1 loss to move on to the finals!