This was it. Comic Odyssey had clinched both spots in the finals, creating another windfall victory for the team. But this was also the first SJC Series Champion versus Champion match—someone would be walking away from this table a double-Championship winner!

 

Hayakawa opened game one and did so with Pot of Greed before setting a card in each of his zones. Luc summoned Sangan, played Nobleman of Crossout to deprive Hayakawa of his, attacked directly, set a spell or trap and passed.

 

Hayakawa set a monster and passed play over to Luc. Luc summoned Slate Warrior but it was swallowed up by Bottomless Trap Hole. Sangan attacked the face down Don Zaloog, and next turn Don went after Sangan, but Ring of Destruction kept it around.

 

Hayakawa set a monster, passed, and was then attacked by Sangan and another Slate Warrior. He busted out a Ring of his own to kill of the Slate Warrior, and Sangan smacked into D. D. Assailant. Next turn he turned the Assailant to attack, played Premature Burial on Don Zaloog, and normal summoned Tribe-Infecting Virus. It was over in an instant and game one went to Ryan Hayakawa.

 

Game Two

 

Luc opened game two with a pair of face down spells or traps, and he quickly got hit with Heavy Storm. He chained a Scapegoat but lost his Torrential Tribute. Hayakawa summoned Don Zaloog to poke a goat, used Graceful Charity, and set a face down card to his spell and trap zone. Next turn he kept the pressure up with Enraged Battle Ox, but was repelled by Magical Cylinder. Luc used Metamorphosis to bring out Thousand-Eyes Restrict and sucked up the Battle Ox, then attacked with Thousand-Eyes, but smacked into Mirror Force. He placed Hayakawa on the defensive though, and next turn, he started harassing him with Tsukuyomi.

 

Hayakawa was running low on monsters, and a turn later his last one, Don Zaloog, was smacked down by Slate Warrior. He set Magician of Faith, his only monster, and used Smashing Ground on Slate Warrior. The score was 4900 to 6300 in Hayakawa's favor.

 

Nobleman of Crossout removed Hayakawa's Magician from the field, ripping three copies out of Luc's deck and two out of his opponent's. He had no follow-up, though, and couldn't press his offensive. Hayakawa continued having no monsters to attack with though, so his lone sheep token wandered about the field for a turn. Next turn Luc summoned Tribe-Infecting Virus, but it was immediately destroyed by Ring of Destruction.

 

Luc set a monster and passed. Hayakawa attacked the last sheep with Sinister Serpent, then played Nobleman of Crossout on Luc's face down Night Assailant, tearing another from his deck in the process, and passed. Next turn Luc again set another card, rebuilding from his low-card situation. Hayakawa was matching his pace though, towards the same intent, and while he was down one card from Luc, he still had a substantial lead in life points.

 

Luc started to press an attack with D. D. Warrior Lady, but the moment it was summoned, it was sucked into a Bottomless Trap Hole. Hope it likes the Different Dimension. Hayakawa continued setting monsters and Luc continued to attempt to attack, next with Slate Warrior. He did so successfully, but the face down he attacked turned out to be Sangan, which netted Hayakawa a D. D. Warrior Lady of his own.

 

Hayakawa set a second face down monster and another spell or trap. Slate Warrior slammed into the newly set monster, and sure enough it was D. D. Warrior Lady—Hayakawa removed them. Luc set a monster and another spell, and his field of four cards communicated that he might have been sitting on a Morphing Jar. Both players passed a round until Hayakawa broke the lull, summoning and attacking with Blade Knight to wipe out Luc's last monster.

 

Luc summoned Tsukuyomi, and it turned Blade Knight face down before attacking and destroying it. Hayakawa set another spell or trap and passed. Luc passed, and Hayakawa brought out Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning. He ran some math on his calculator and clucked his tongue a bit. “Risky.” He was considering something.

 

Hayakawa decided to go for it! He used Metamorphosis to bring out Gatling Dragon, then attacked with it. Luc had four face down monsters, though, and one of them was Sakuretsu Armor, which he flipped to take down the Dragon.

 

Next turn, Luc used Graceful Charity. He set another spell or trap, placing himself at four again, and then set a monster.

 

Hayakawa flipped Ceasefire during Luc's end phase, flipping his monster and revealing it to be Tsukuyomi while dishing out 1000 damage. Tsukuyomi bounced off the field due to its own effect. Premature Burial brought up Black Luster Soldier at the cost of 800 life points, and Luc looked at his three face downs. He settled on Scapegoat and Black Luster Soldier attacked one. Enemy Controller turned the sheep to attack position, but Luc used Ring of Destruction to destroy the attack position sheep before the attack could resolve!

 

Next turn Luc flashed Premature Burial and Snatch Steal. “That's game,” he announced. It was, and play moved to game three.

 

Game Three

 

Hayakawa opted to open this game, and smiled at his hand. He opened with Delinquent Duo to force Luc to ditch Metamorphosis and Night Assailant. He then played Graceful Charity. “Into the Pot, into the Magician!” he joked.

 

It turned out to be no joke. He scored a Pot of Greed, discarded Nobleman of Crossout and Enemy Controller, and then activated the Pot. The entire trinity on turn one! He set a card to each of his zones and passed.

 

Luc set a spell or trap and passed. Next turn, Hayakawa summoned Don Zaloog, attacked with it, and also swung with Sangan. He was now up three cards, four cards on his own turn. He set another spell or trap and passed.

 

Luc fought back though, playing Heavy Storm to clear away two of Hayakawa's cards. He attacked Don Zaloog with D. D. Warrior Lady and passed.

 

Hayakawa summoned Blade Knight, played Premature Burial to grab Don Zaloog, and then smacked Luc all the way down to 2700 life points. Luc had only one card remaining.

 

Luc drew, set both of his cards into the spell and trap zone, and passed. Hayakawa attacked with Don Zaloog, but Luc flipped Scapegoat. Don Zaloog and Sangan ate two sheep, and next turn they ate two more after Luc set his next draw in his spell or trap zone.

 

Heavy Storm hit the field on Hayakawa's side and Luc chained Scapegoat. Blade Knight went down but was replaced with D. D. Assailant, and two sheep disappeared. Luc got the topdeck, though, and he spent his next turn using Metamorphosis for Thousand-Eyes Restrict, sucking up the Assailant, and attacking Sangan. The card counts were now almost dead even: three for Hayakwa, two for Luc.

 

Hayakawa flipped his set monster from the last turn, revealing Magician of Faith. He took back Premature Burial, selected Don Zaloog as its target when he activated it, and summoned D. D. Warrior Lady. Magician attacked the last sheep, Don attacked directly, and D. D. Warrior Lady ended the game.

 

Ryan Hayakawa wins his second Shonen Jump Championship with back-to-back victories in Houston and in New Jersey! Ryan Hayakawa is Yu-Gi-Oh!'s first two-time SJC Champion!