Round 5 was good to go, and Omar and Lazaro began setting up for their duel. Omar pulled out a custom Malicious-Stratos-Trooper mat and shuffled up to play, while Lazaro went with the traditional game mat. These two decks were ready to trade blows . . . or rather, trade drawing cards, as it would turn out. Diamond Dude for the win!

Drawing Cards is FUN!

Lazaro chose to go first. He activated Reinforcement of the Army to fetch Elemental Hero Stratos from his deck. He then normal summoned, using Stratos’ effect to fetch Destiny Hero – Disk Commander from his deck. He activated Destiny Draw and discarded Destiny Hero – Dasher to draw 2 cards. He then activated another Destiny Draw, this time discarding Destiny Hero – Disk Commander. He drew another 2 cards, set 2 spell or trap cards, and then ended his turn.

Omar must have thought this was a good strategy, because he went right for his own Reinforcement of the Army to get Elemental Hero Stratos and fetched his own Destiny Hero – Disk Commander. Then he broke ranks and activated Trade-In, discarding Dark Magician of Chaos to draw 2 cards. Omar used his Stratos to take out Lazaro’s Stratos in a battle of equals. He set 1 spell or trap card and ended his turn.

Lazaro activated his set Mystical Space Typhoon during Omar’s end phase, destroying Omar’s set Reinforcement of the Army. Lazaro began his turn and activated Allure of Darkness, removing Dark Armed Dragon from play. He passed to Omar, who normal summoned Cyber Valley. Lazaro activated Torrential Tribute, clearing the field of monsters. Omar ended his turn.

Lazaro activated Reinforcement of the Army, fetching a Destiny Hero – Fear Monger. He activated Destiny Draw, discarding the Fear Monger and drawing 2 cards. He then special summoned Dark Armed Dragon and prepared his final assault. He activated Allure of Darkness, removing Dark Magician of Chaos from play. He then set Dust Tornado and Return from the Different Dimension, but they were not long for this world. Dark Armed Dragon claimed them both as victims to its powerful effect, allowing Lazaro to remove Destiny Hero – Fear Monger and Destiny Hero – Dasher from play. Lazaro unleashed his final blow: Dimension Fusion. Omar conceded the Duel.

Lazaro takes the lead, 1 – 0.

I’m the Diamond Dude

Omar chose to go first. He activated Trade-In, ditching Destiny Hero – Plasma to his graveyard to draw 2 cards. He then normal summoned Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude and activated his effect, sending Magical Stone Excavation to his graveyard. He passed to Lazaro, who set 1 monster and 1 spell or trap card.

Omar used the effect of the Magical Stone Excavation to return Trade-In to his hand, free of charge. He then used Diamond Dude’s effect again, this time sending Allure of Darkness to his graveyard. He activated the Trade-In, tossing Destiny Hero – Dogma to draw 2 cards. He normal summoned Elemental Hero Stratos and used Stratos’ effect to fetch another Diamond Dude. Omar set 1 spell or trap card and proceeded to his battle phase. Stratos attacked Lazaro’s face-down monster, Sangan. When it was destroyed, Lazaro checked over his hand for options and then added Armageddon Knight to his hand with Sangan’s effect. Diamond Dude went in for the direct hit and Omar passed the turn.

Lazaro normal summoned the Armageddon Knight and used its effect to put Darklord Zerato into his graveyard. Armageddon Knight attacked Diamond Dude, destroying both cards. Lazaro set 1 spell or trap card and ended his turn. Omar began his turn with Heavy Storm, to which Lazaro chained one of his 2 set copies of Raigeki Break, discarding Return from the Different Dimension to destroy Elemental Hero Stratos. Omar used Allure of Darkness’ effect, from the blessing of Diamond Dude, to draw 2 cards and remove another Diamond Dude from play. He then normal summoned Phantom of Chaos and used its effect to remove Stratos from play, assuming his name and now un-usable effects. He activated Monster Gate, tributing the “Stratos.” He lost a few cards from his deck before hitting The Creator! He used The Creator to get Diamond Dude back into the game. He then used Monster Reborn to special summon Lazaro’s Darklord Zerato and followed with Dimension Fusion, to which Lazaro conceded the Duel.

Seriously . . . I’m the Diamond Dude

Lazaro started off with Reinforcement of the Army, fetching Elemental Hero Stratos. He activated Destiny Draw and discarded Destiny Hero – Disk Commander to draw 2 cards. He then normal summoned Armageddon Knight and used its effect to put Dark Magician of Chaos into his graveyard. He used Premature Burial to special summon the Magician back into play and then returned Destiny Draw to his hand. He discarded Destiny Hero – Dasher for the returned Destiny Draw, drawing another 2 cards. He then ended his turn.

Omar activated his Reinforcement of the Army and also chose Elemental Hero Stratos. He normal summoned Stratos and fetched Destiny Hero – Plasma, which he then discarded with Destiny Draw to draw 2 cards. He then used Monster Gate to tribute Stratos, special summoning “the Diamond Dude” into the game. He activated the Dude’s effect, sending Reasoning to his graveyard. He activated Lightning Vortex, discarding Dark Magician of Chaos to destroy Lazaro’s monsters. He attacked directly with Diamond Dude, set 1 spell or trap card, and ended his turn.

Lazaro normal summoned Snipe Hunter. He discarded Jinzo and targeted Omar’s set spell or trap card. He rolled a 5 and destroyed Omar’s Giant Trunade. He attacked Diamond Dude with the Sniper, destroying him. Next, he discarded D.D. Crow to remove the Reasoning in Omar’s graveyard from play, preventing Omar from using its effect during his next turn. He set 1 spell or trap card and ended his turn.

Omar set 1 spell or trap card and ended his turn. Lazaro normal summoned Strike Ninja and attacked, getting direct hits with both of his monsters. He set 1 spell or trap card and ended his turn. Omar opened with Reinforcement of the Army, fetching another Diamond Dude. He flipped his face-down Destiny Draw, discarding the Diamond Dude to draw 2 cards. Having not drawn anything he could use to pull out of the situation, he conceded the match to Lazaro.

Lazaro wins 2 – 1.