Both competitors laughed a bit. Jorge took a sip of his bottle of water, and Jesus followed suit—they were sharing it. Neither man could believe that they would have to play each other, especially this early in the day.

Jesus won the die roll, and began the duel with just a set monster. Jorge fired back with a set to each zone, Jesus set a spell or trap, and Jorge flip summoned his Magical Merchant to get Heavy Storm. He set another monster and play passed back to Jesus.

“You already know the deck!” Jorge laughed. “We’ve been playing for like, the past two weeks.”

Breaker the Magical Warrior camed down on Jesus’s side, and broke Enemy Controller – Jorge chained it to keep Breaker the Magical Warrior from attacking. Jesus ended his turn. Jorge flipped another Merchant, and then played Heavy Storm. Jesus flipped Compulsory Evacuation Device, took back his Breaker, and Jorge set two cards. He then activated Card Destruction, bringing two copies of Goldd to the field and drawing three cards! Jesus had nothing but one set monster left! “Dark Hole next?” He grinned.

One Goldd cleared out Jesus’s set Sand Moth, and then the other Goldd and both Merchants hit directly. The life point totals were 5300 to 8000, and Jesus began his turn.

Heavy Storm wiped away Sakuretsu Armor and Snatch Steal from Jorge’s side of the field, robbing him of the two cards he’d prioritized to save from Card Destruction. Jesus then activated Swords of Revealing Light, set a monster, and ended his turn.

It was Jorge’s turn to summon Breaker the Magical Warrior, and he used Breaker’s token to destroy Swords. Goldd again cleared out yet another face down Sand Moth, and Jesus was forced to take the attack from Goldd and two Merchants once more. He drew for his turn, played Brain Control, took Goldd with it, and used Snatch Steal to take his brother’s Breaker the Magical Warrior. The two Goldds destroyed each other in battle, Breaker destroyed a Merchant, and Jesus set a monster before passing. It was 200 to 7600 before Jorge got the bonus from Jesus’s Snatch Steal.

“I think that’s game,” said Jorge. He tributed his remaining Merchant for Sillva, Warlord of Dark World and sent it into Breaker, pressing through the last bit of damage he needed to win the first duel.

“Time to side deck!” declared Jesus. Jorge laughed a bit, and started siding himself, giving a nefarious but friendly little chuckle. He rotated in one card, while Jesus swapped in a whopping twelve. “You’re siding twelve, right?” asked Jorge, knowing his brother’s deck by heart.

“You can type this,” said Jorge, showing me his calculator after punching in some numbers. “That’s the percentage chance of me playing my brother in the second round.” The number? It was 0.3 percent. Ouch.

Jesus opened with a set monster card, and that was all. Jorge blew it away with Dark World Lightning, special summoned Goldd, summoned Bronn, and swung with both directly. When Brron hit, Jorge discarded Sillva, and dealt even more damage. It brought Jesus down to a whopping 1600 life points! Jorge set a back row card.

But Jesus had Dark Hole! He played it next turn, and then activated his own Dark World Lightning to destroy Jorge’s set Heavy Storm! He brought out Sillva, Warlord of Dark World with its effect, then debated his next move. Finally, he decided to summon Spirit Reaper and attack. Sillva swung first, and then Reaper hit. Jesus held his breath, and the discarded card hit the graveyard—it was Tsukuyomi! Jesus set one back row card and passed.

Jorge set a monster, ended his turn, and Jesus hit that set monster with Sillva. It flipped, was revealed to be Mask of Darkness, and Jorge had no traps to return to his hand. Reaper went to defense. Jorge set his draw to his back row, Sillva hit directly, and Jorge drew and set a monster. Jesus played Swords of Revealing Light, flipped Jorge’s set Morphing Jar, and both players drew five cards! Jorge had equalized the match, and no Dark World monsters were discarded as a result! Jesus played Enemy Controller, tributed Spirit Reaper to take the Jar, turned it to attack position, and attacked with both monsters! It was 1600 to 100 in Jesus’s favor, and Jorge hung onto the match by a thread!

Jorge drew, and in the draw phase, Jesus flipped Deck Devastation Virus. The face up Morphing Jar was destroyed, and two Magical Merchant, and Sangan were disarded from Jorge’s hand. Sillva was tributed for the Devastation, leaving Jorge a chance to attack! He summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior and broke Jesus’s face down, but found it to be Scapegoat! He pegged a Sheep token and passed his turn.

Jesus played Enemy Controller, used its effect to tribute a Sheep token and take control of Breaker, and attacked for game! It was one to one, as the brothers moved into side decking for game 3!

“You win, I’m putting you in the will, man,” said Jorge, teasingly. Both laughed, and shook hands solemnly before beginning the round.

Jorge opened the duel, setting a card to each zone and passing. Jesus summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, broke Enemy Controller, and again, Jorge chained it to turn Breaker to defense position. Jorge set a card to each zone again and ended his turn. Jesus turned Breaker to attack and did nothing, leaving Jorge to dictate momentum for the coming turns. He flipped Magical Merchant, lost a few monsters, and drew Dark World Lightning. He set one monster and ended.

Jesus had the Dark Hole yet again! He blasted all three of Jorge’s monsters off the field, but one of them was Sangan, which allowed Jorge to pull Cyber Jar.

“Should’ve gotten Morphing Jar!” teased Jesus. “Your deck is killer with that.” Knowing that Jorge had Dark World Lightning, Jesus passed again. He had six cards in hand and nothing on the field. Jorge passed back, with one remaining set spell or trap.

Jesus passed back again, discarding Bottomless Trap Hole in his end phase. Jorge summoned Broww, Huntsman of Dark World and attacked with it directly for 1400. He needed to get some sort of pressure on his brother, to force him to play cards, and Broww was the best way to do it.

Sure enough, it worked. Unable to continue slow-rolling without taking damage, Jesus set a card to each zone and passed. Jorge summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, and Jesus had to think long and hard before deciding his move. Finally, he flipped Enemy Controller, tributed his set Cyber Jar, and took Breaker on the chain before Jorge could use its token. Jorge passed.

Jesus used Dark World Lightning to destroy Jorge’s set Bottomless Trap Hole, and discarded Goldd to bring it back into play. Goldd attacked Breaker, dishing out a big of damage, and Jesus passed with no back row. It was 6600 to 7600 in Jorge’s favor, and after Jorge drew for his turn he started running some math. “That’s game,” he announced.

Snatch Steal took Jesus’s Goldd. Jorge set a back row card, used Dark World Lightning to destroy his own set card and bring out another Goldd, and then normal summoned Cyber Jar! It was just enough damage to claim the win, thanks to the normal summon!

A highly unconventional play wins an intense match for the Mexican National Champion!