Jashawn Brooks is a familiar face, frequently judging at major Yu-Gi-Oh! events. Hailing originally from St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands, this is his first major Shonen Jump Championship showing.
Robert Ackermon has never tasted Shonen Jump success, but that hasn’t stopped him from being a favorite of several in-the-know duelists. Highly underrated in the opinions of many, Ackermon is a potential star on the rise.
He opened the game with a set monster and two set back row cards. “Do you have the Heavy?” he asked. “You’ve got a Heavy, don’t you? I usually lose when I do the whole table-talk thing, but, it’s a feature match, so I figure I’d go for it.” He had a polite and cheery demeanor.
Jashawn set three cards in the same configuration, but in his end phase he lost Bottomless Trap Hole to Dust Tornado. Ackermon flipped Dekoichi, tributed it for Mobius to target Dust Tornado, and the Tornado was chained to destroy his Sakuretsu Armor. Mobius attacked the face down monster, hit Spirit Reaper, and Smashing Ground destroyed the Reaper. Jashawn set a monster and passed right back.
Ackermon summoned D. D. Assailant and attacked with it. He hit another Spirit Reaper and passed after setting another spell or trap. Jashawn set yet another monster, and again ended his turn. He had no back row.
Exiled Force came down on Ackermon’s side of the field, and was tributed to destroy Jashawn’s face down D. D. Warrior Lady. Call of the Haunted brought it back, and he tributed it again to destroy Spirit Reaper. He attacked with D. D. Assailant and Mobius directly.
Jashawn special summoned Cyber Dragon and slammed it into D. D. Assailant. He then set a monster and passed. Ackermon attacked the face down with Mobius, hitting Newdoria and destroying both monsters. He set another monster and passed.
Mystic Swordsman LV2 was summoned, and Jashawn attacked with it, destroying Magician of Faith. Ackermon came back with Cyber Dragon and Sangan, and Jashawnj fought back with his own dragon. Two turns later it was Jashawn topdecking against Ackermon with three cards, one of which was a Spirit Reaper. He tributed the Reaper for Cyber Dragon, attacked directly, and took the win in the first duel!
Jashawn opened the second game with the same opening as last time: one set monster and two set cards in his spell and trap zone. Ackermon special summoned Cyber Dragon, got hit with Bottomless Trap Hole, and then special summoned another! It attacked, and smashed into Don Zaloog, destroying it.
“Nice,” Ackermon remarked, contemplating his set spell and trap. He dropped one to the field and passed.
Setting a monster with authority, Jashawn invited Ackermon to take his turn. Ackermon summoned D. D. Assailant, lost it to Trap Hole, and attacked Cyber Dragon into the face down monster. It was D. D. Assailant, and both were removed from play. Jashawn summoned Newdoria, brought back Don Zaloog with Premature Burial, and attacked with Don. The attack went through, Ackermon lost a card, and Newdoria added insult to injury with its own attack. It was 5400 to 7200 in Jashawn’s favor. He set a spell or trap and passed.
“One in hand?” asked Ackermon. Jashawn confirmed. Ackermon played Dark Hole, summoned Spirit Reaper, flipped his set Premature Burial, took his Don Zaloog back, and attacked with Reaper. Jashawn lost his last card! Trap Hole hit the graveyard, Don swung directly, and it was 4600 to 5500, Jashawn still leading.
He ripped D. D. Assailant, and summoned it to attack Don Zaloog. Don went down, Jashawn ended his turn, and passed. Ackermon summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, played Snatch Steal to take the D. D. Assailant, and ended his turn.
Jashawn drew, gained his 1000, and set one spell or trap. Next turn the Assailant attacked, Reaper attacked, and D. D. Warrior Lady was smacked by Sakuretsu Armor – why Jashawn didn’t flip it to block D. D. Assailant was a mystery, but it didn’t really matter. Next turn he topdecked Cyber Dragon, summoned it, and lost it to Bottomless Trap Hole. With nothing left to save him from Ackermon’s triumvirate of monsters, he offered the handshake and conceded.
Robert Ackermon moves on with an 8-1 record. Most 8-1 duelists will proceed to Day 2, but Ackermon was paired down with a 6-1 competitor in this round, and will be biting his nails until the Top 8 is finally announced. Even after winning Round 9, he’s still on the bubble, and either victory or the bitter defeat of ninth place could await him.