After six long months on the bench, Eric Wu is back in Shonen Jump Championship competition! With a Shonen Jump title already under his belt, and a heavy investment of time and interest in the game, it would be hard to imagine anyone being happier to be back in the game!
Allen Hin is a local competitor who plays with his family, including his son, who was 4-2 going into the round. Both of these duelist were 5-1, so while the winner would go on with a decent shot at a Day 2 qualification, the loser would need a miracle to make the Top 8 here this weekend.
Wu opened the first duel with nothing but a set monster. With the lack of Cyber Dragon in many of the matches here today, it was a safer and safer play. Still, Hin played Dark Hole, destroyed D. D. Warrior Lady, and attacked with Don Zaloog directly. Wu lost Reinforcement of the Army, Hin set a spell or trap, and play passed back to Wu.
He summoned Breaker, and broke Hin’s set Premature Burial before attacking Don Zaloog. He set a spell or trap and passed. Hin summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior of his own, but Torrential Tribute cleared the field.
Wu played Nobleman of Extermination, but Hin flipped Scapegoat, chaining it. Wu set a card to each zone, Hin set a monster, and play was again Wu’s. He passed, doing nothing, and Hin set a spell or trap. It was destroyed by Mystical Space Typhoon as soon as it was set, but Wu had jumped the gun—Hin had not yet moved into the end phase. Hin flipped Morphing Jar, each player drew a new hand of five cards, and Morphing Jar attacked into Wu’s set monster, Spirit Reaper. Smashing Ground destroyed it, Hin set a spell or trap, and Wu drew for his turn.
He set a monster and two spell or trap cards. Hin drew for his turn, shifted Morphing Jar to defense position, and Wu was up. After some debate, he flip summoned his set Magician of Faith to return Mystical Space Typhoon to his hand. He summoned D. D. Assailant, attacked Morphing Jar with it, and destroyed the Jar. Magician of Faith hit a Sheep and Wu passed.
Hin activated Pot of Avarice, drew his two cards, and set a monster. Wu used Nobleman of Crossout to remove the set monster from play (Spirit Reaper) and hit one Sheep with Magician of Faith. D. D. Assailant attacked a third Sheep, but Sakuretsu Armor destroyed it. Hin set another monster and ended his turn.
Wu topdecked into Dark Hole and played it immediately, since Hin had no spell or trap cards. Wu summoned Blade Knight, attacked directly, and the life point totals were 6200 to 6600 for Wu. He ended his turn, and Hin special summoned Cyber Dragon. He tributed it for Mobius, but Wu responded with Trap Hole, chaining it to destroy Mobius. Hin played Smashing Ground to destroy Blade Knight, set a back row card, and ended his turn.
Mystical Space Typhoon destroyed Hin’s one set card, Call of the Haunted, and Wu summoned Mystic Swordsman LV2 to attack directly. He set one spell or trap and passed. Hin summoned D. D. Warrior Lady and attacked into Widespread Ruin, losing her, and then setting a spell or trap. Wu summoned Don Zaloog, attacked with Mystic Swordsman LV2 and the Don, and robbed Hin of Tsukuyomi! Wu set his last card to his spell and trap zone and passed.
Hin played Mystical Space Typhoon from his hand, destroying Wu’s Snatch Steal. He flipped his own set Snatch Steal, took Don Zaloog, and hit the Mystic Swordsman LV2. Hin debated his choice, but then opted to discard the top two cards off of Wu’s deck, discarding Pot of Avarice and Cyber Dragon! Wu set a monster and ended his turn after claiming his 1000 life points.
Don Zaloog was tributed for Cyber Dragon, but when Hin attacked with the Dragon, it hit nothing but Spirit Reaper. The life point totals were 3000 to 7100 with Wu still leading. Wu set a monster, Hin attacked it with the Dragon, and found it to be another Reaper. He set a monster. Wu drew and set a spell or trap, Hin drew, set a spell or trap, and passed.
Wu passed his turn without doing anything. Both players had lost cards in minor over-extensions, and after resorting to topdecking for a brief period, they were both in the rebuild phase. Hin set a monster, passed, Wu passed back, Hin set a fourth monster, and laughed a little. “I just can’t kill the Reapers.” Wu passed back, again, without doing anything. Hin passed, still unable to destroy one Reaper let alone both. Wu again ended his turn without taking action.
Hin passed back, Wu passed back, and finally it seemed as if Hin was ready to make his move. He checked his two set cards in his spell and trap zone, looked at each of the three monsters he had set, and summoned Exiled Force. He tributed it to destroy one Reaper and followed it up with . . . a mighty pass.
Wu summoned Drillroid, attacked into one of Hin’s sets, and found it to be Sangan. Hin took Morphing Jar with its effect, prompting Wu to set a third card to his spell and trap zone. Wu ended his turn, Hin summoned D. D. Warrior, and attacked Spirit Reaper. Wu flipped Sakuretsu Armor, but Hin chained Royal Decree. Wu chained a second Sakuretsu Armor! Hin chained Book of Moon to turn the Reaper face down, but lost his D. D. Warrior to the second Sakuretsu Armor. He played Nobleman of Crossout though, and removed the Reaper from play! Cyber Dragon attacked Wu’s Drillroid, and the momentum seemed to shift to Hin’s favor!
Wu summoned a Cyber Dragon of his own, fighting to keep control of a field that was occupied by three of Hin’s monsters. He then used Premature Burial to return Mystic Swordsman LV2 back to the field, and it was 5800 to 3000, with Wu still leading. Hin had no set spells or traps, so Wu had his opening! He special summoned Chaos Sorcerer, attacked Cyber Dragon with it, used Mystic Swordsman LV2 to destroy Hin’s face down Treeborn Frog, and Cyber Dragon smashed into Spirit Reaper! Wu had made the wrong read, sending Mystic Swordsman LV2 into the wrong monster and robbing himself of the ability to use the Swordsman to destroy Reaper.
Hin set a spell or trap, and a monster. He kept his hand on the monster a moment, eyeing the Swordsman, but set the monster anyway.
Wu played Smashing Ground to destroy the Spirit Reaper, and when he saw Smashing Ground hit the field, Hin knew it was over. He scooped, showing Wu that his set monster was Morphing Jar.
Both duelists side decked very quickly, exchanging pleasantries while still maintaining their intense focus on the match. After a few moments of shuffling the second duel began.
Hin opened game 2 with two spell or trap cards and a set monster. Wu played Nobleman of Extermination on one of the set spell or trap cards, hitting Widespread, but Hin only ran one! Wu had to remove two copies of Widespread Ruin from his deck. Breaker the Magical Warrior destroyed Hin’s other set, Dust Tornado, and Breaker attacked the set monster, revealing it to be Spirit Reaper. Wu set a back row card, Hin summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior as well, but when he tried to use its token Wu chained Book of Moon to turn Breaker face down. Hin set a spell or trap, ended his turn, and play passed to Wu.
Wu played Reinforcement of the Army, searched his deck for Exiled Force, summoned it and tributed it off to destroy Spirit Reaper, and set his Breaker on Hin’s set twin. Hin’s went down, Wu passed his turn, and looked at his hand full of monsters: Blade Knight, Mobius, and Spirit Reaper. Hin drew, flipped his set Reinforcement of the Army, took Exiled Force, and used it to destroy Breaker. What a desperation play. Hin set a spell or trap, passed to Wu, Wu summoned Don Zaloog and attacked with it. Hin flipped Call of the Haunted, bringing back Breaker and forcing Wu to end his turn. Next turn Hin summoned Don Zaloog too, hit Wu’s with Breaker, attacked with Don to discard Blade Knight, and ended.
Wu took a beating for two turns, losing field presence to a series of lightning-fast exchanges. He finally topdecked into a Spirit Reaper, and set it, still getting wailed on by Hin’s Breaker. The Breaker attacked, exposing the Reaper, and Hin set a third card to his spell and trap zone, leaving himself with two set cards there and Call of the Haunted.
Wu drew into Heavy Storm, and since he was armed with that and Mobius, he had to decide how he was going to play out of the predicament he was in. He tributed for Mobius, targeted one set and Call of the Haunted, and ate Book of Moon for his trouble. Mobius went face down, Wu set a spell or trap card, and Hin was up.
He special summoned Cyber Dragon and attacked Mobius, taking it down. Wu set Mystic Swordsman LV2, and lost it to Cyber Dragon a turn later. Wu set a Sakuretsu Armor, and next turn the Dragon ran right into it. Hin set a monster and passed.
Pot of Avarice came off the top of Wu’s deck, and he eagerly activated it, shuffling back Mystic Swordsman LV2, Exiled Force, Spirit Reaper, Mobius, and Breaker the Magical Warrior. He set a monster, ended his turn, and Hin flip summoned Dekoichi to draw a card. He summoned Spirit Reaper from his hand, attacked with Dekoichi, and ran into Wu’s Reaper. Smashing Ground destroyed the Reaper in the second main phase, and Hin set another back row card, leaving himself at two total. Wu still had that Heavy Storm.
He drew Breaker the Magical Warrior, and summoned it, destroying Torrential Tribute. Breaker attacked, hit Dekoichi, and scored the first damage of the game to Hin! Next turn, Hin tried to summon Mobius, tributing away his Spirit Reaper, but Torrential Tribute cleared the field! Wu set two back row cards and Morphing Jar, lost the Jar to Dark Hole, and Hin set a monster. Wu blasted it with Exiled Force, destroying it and revealing it to be Tsukuyomi. Hin passed back, Wu checked the cards on his field, and passed as well.
Hin summoned Sangan, attacked with it, Wu set a monster, and Hin tributed Sangan for Cyber Dragon. With Sangan’s effect, Hin took Treeborn Frog from his deck into his hand, attacked into Wu’s set Magician of Faith with Dragon, and Wu took back Pot of Avarice. Only five minutes remained in the round, and Wu shuffled back Morphing Jar, Exiled Force, Beaker, Mobius, and Don Zaloog. Hin ended his turn, Wu used Pot of Avarice, and then activated Nobleman of Extermination, again hitting Scapegoat! Hin chained, claiming his four Sheep tokens, and Wu flipped Dark Hole! He special summoned Chaos Sorcerer, normal summoned Blade Knight, and swung directly for 4300 damage! With one card in hand and one card in his spell and trap zone, Wu ended his turn.
But hin had the answers. He played Snatch Steal on the Sorcerer, destroyed Blade Knight with Smashing Ground, and attacked with the Sorcerer for game! With just scant minutes left in the match, both players began side decking.
Table Judge Simon Choy described the end of match procedure for this situation. Wu would get to decide whether he wanted to go first or second. Then, four turns would take place, and at the end of those four turns the match would be called on life points. Wu had a tough decision to make. If he went first, he’d get a card of advantage, but if he went second, he’d get to attack twice. After much consideration, he opted to go second!
Hin drew his free card and labored over his play. He eventually settled on a single set monster and two cards to his back row. Wu played Nobleman of Extermination, and hit Snatch Steal. He special summoned Cyber Dragon, normal summoned Don Zaloog, and hit with Cyber Dragon into Morphing Jar! Both players drew five new cards! Don hit directly, and Hin lost Dark Hole, a massive loss in this kind of scenario! Wu then set two cards to his spell and trap zone and passed, up by 1400 life points! If Hin couldn’t take the lead on the following turn, he’d lose!
Hin played Brain Control, taking Cyber Dragon with it. He then played Heavy Storm, and special summoned Chaos Sorcerer. He normal summoned Sangan, attacked with everything, and it was 2600 to Hin’s 5800! It was an amazing comeback for Hin, who then set his last card to his spell and trap zone before giving back the Cyber Dragon.
Wu needed to deal 3200 damage for the tie, or 3300 for the win! His life in this tournament, and his comeback in Yu-Gi-Oh! depended on his ability to deal that damage! He summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, but Hin played Torrential Tribute! Wu had no way of dealing damage for the turn, and Allen Hin won the match!
Allen Hin scores a to-the-wire victory over the returning Shonen Jump Champion Eric Wu!