Cedric Sequerra was the only remaining member of Team Face2Face in the Top 8, and as I arrived at the table where he and his opponent Chris Bowling were seated he was . . . chanting. He was chanting numbers.

“81, 64, 51, 43,” said Sequerra over and over. “81, 64, 51, 43 . . . 81, 64, 51, 43 . . . 81 64, 51, 43 . . .” He’d memorized the ratio of monsters in Bowling’s deck, and had used those four numbers as a code to memorize the number of monsters Bowling had at each level: one at Level 8, four at Level 6, one at Level 5, and three at Level 4. With that information Sequerra would be able to make intelligent calls when Bowling played Reasoning. “81, 64, 51, 43.” Cute.

While Sequerra chanted away and shuffled Bowling’s deck, Bowling decided to do the world’s first 40-card pile shuffle in the Top 8 of a Shonen Jump. There was a stark contrast between how each duelist used their time during the pre-match period.

Sequerra won the roll and opened strong with Reinforcement of the Army, searching his deck for Elemental Hero Stratos. He set a monster, set two cards to his back row, and ended. He flipped Crush Card Virus in Bowling’s standby phase, tributing Sangan to reveal Bowling’s hand of two Reinforcement of the Army, Monster Gate, Allure of Darkness and two monsters: Jinzo and Destiny Hero – Dasher. Both were sent to the graveyard, and Sangan got Sequerra Card Trooper.

Reinforcement of the Army got Bowling Elemental Hero Stratos, and the second Reinforcement let him dig for Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude. He activated Allure of Darkness, drew Gold Sarcophagus and Destiny Hero – Malicious, and removed Diamond Dude to complete Allure’s effect. The Allure was a gutsy move considering Crush Card Virus was still in effect, but it paid off. Bowling summoned Elemental Hero Stratos, searched his deck for another Diamond Dude and added him to his hand.

He tributed Stratos for Monster Gate, and Sequerra took a moment to consider his face-down card. He raised it, and then placed it on the table again, letting Monster Gate resolve. Bowling lost about ten cards on his way to special summoning Destiny Hero – Malicious, losing two Dark Armed Dragon but getting Divine Sword – Phoenix Blade into the graveyard in the process. Malicious came out in attack mode and attacked for 800 damage and Bowling moved to main phase 2. Once there, he activated Gold Sarcophagus, removed Dimension Fusion from play with its effect, and removed Dasher and Stratos to take back his Divine Sword. “Your go.”

Sequerra activated Allure of Darkness, drawing two and removing Jinzo. He played another to remove Breaker the Magical Warrior. He summoned Elemental Hero Stratos, searched his deck for Destiny Hero – Disk Commander, and gave a bit of a nervous laugh: “I hope I don’t regret that.” He activated another Allure! This time he removed the Disk Commander and heaved a sigh. He knew he had to take Bowling down fast — with the Dimension Fusion on layaway thanks to Gold Sarcophagus, Sequerra was playing on borrowed time.

“Whatever, doesn’t seem like I’ve got much of a choice here . . .” He activated his own Gold Sarcophagus and searched his deck for Dark Magician of Chaos, removing him from the game. “This is going to suck. Big time.” He set two more cards to his back row, sent Stratos to attack Bowling’s Malicious, and ended.

Bowling drew into Allure of Darkness, activated it, and drew Mirror Force, then Dark Magician of Chaos. He had to lose the Magician due to Crush Card Virus. He removed Malicious for Allure’s effect, activated Diamond Dude, and missed a normal spell. He set his last two cards to his back row and ended.

Card Trooper came down for Sequerra, sending Raigeki Break, Soul Release, and Snipe Hunter to the graveyard. Sequerra thought for a few moments, and then erupted: “Oh my god! I think I’ve got you!” He made some hand gestures, counted a few numbers and tapped the table, thinking through what appeared to be a long play sequence.

“. . . As Chris falls asleep” laughed Bowling, who leaned back in his seat.

Call of the Haunted brought up Sequerra’s Sangan, and he flipped Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy it. That let him get Destiny Hero – Fear Monger with Sangan, which he then discarded for Destiny Draw! That gave two draws, but more importantly three Dark monsters in his graveyard!

A pair of Dark Armed Dragons hit the field and Bowling couldn’t believe it! He politely picked up Sequerra’s graveyard to check it for three Dark monsters: “Oh, I put that third one in there with the Destiny Draw!” Sequerra grinned. “Man, I was so dead if I couldn’t win that turn.”

“Well, that’s a scoop for me then!” Bowling grinned and swept up his cards, eager to move to game 2. Both duelists used the maximum time allotted to ponder their side decks.

Bowling opened Game 2 with Reinforcement of the Army, grabbing Stratos and searching out Malicious with his effect. He activated Destiny Draw, discarded Malicious, and things were looking good. Bowling had drawn his other Malicious, but he still had two Reasoning and a Monster Gate in his hand, alongside Jinzo and Divine Sword – Phoenix Blade. “Go.”

Sequerra also used Reinforcement of the Army to dig out Elemental Hero Stratos. He summoned him to get Destiny Hero – Dasher from his deck, and then discarded him for Destiny Draw: almost a perfect mirror image of Bowling’s opening. He then activated another Destiny Draw to discard his second Dasher! He then activated Soul Release to wipe Bowling’s graveyard clean. His Stratos attacked Bowling’s and Sequerra set one card to end his turn. The Soul Release was a big mistake — Sequerra didn’t know that the in-graveyard Malicious was useless.

Bowling activated Reasoning and Sequerra talked himself through his choice. “Four is unlikely . . . you’ve got three left . . . I’ll call six.” And sure enough that’s what came off of Bowling’s deck — Destiny Hero – Dasher! A Divine Sword was discarded along the way.

But Bowling had another Reasoning! Sequerra whipped out his pen and started doing some math. “Fours you’ve got one left . . . Fives you’ve got two left . . .” He scribbled at a fast pace. “I’m gonna call six again.” This time Sequerra was wrong and Bowling summoned a monster, Diamond Dude. A second Divine Sword was discarded, along with five other spells. He activated Diamond Dude, flipped Destiny Draw into the graveyard, and removed Dasher and Stratos to bring back a Divine Sword! Monster Gate let him trade Diamond Dude for Jinzo, and he followed it up with Card Destruction. He didn’t get to Dimension Fusion, but he did draw into Dark Armed Dragon. Bowling hadn’t yet used his normal summon.

He summoned another Diamond Dude and activated him to flip Lightning Vortex! Next turn Bowling would wipe the field and draw two cards for free.

“I’m so nervous I feel like puking a bit,” groaned Sequerra. That feeling got worse as Bowling special summoned Dark Armed Dragon and removed Jinzo from his graveyard to destroy Sequerra’s set Raigeki Break!

“I’ll attack with everybody and that’ll leave you at 1400. It’s your go.” Play was back to Sequerra.

He activated Allure of Darkness, drew his two, and removed Armageddon Knight from his hand. Brain Control let him take Bowling’s Dark Armed Dragon! He removed Dasher from his graveyard to destroy Jinzo, and that left him with three Darks in his yard — Sequerra brought out a Dark Armed Dragon of his own, again in control of two Dragons. Removing Snipe Hunter destroyed Diamond Dude. Sequerra was down to 600 life points, but once both Dark Armed Dragons attacked Bowling was down to 2400. Sequerra removed Breaker to destroy Bowling’s Dragon, and then set two cards to his back row. “Go ahead.”

Bowling activated Heavy Storm! Sequerra chained Return from the Different Dimension to bring out Breaker, Snipe Hunter, Armageddon Knight and Dasher in defense mode, losing his on-field Dimension Fusion.

Bowling activated his in-graveyard Destiny Draw that Diamond Dude had discarded last turn, and Sequerra chained D.D. Crow to remove the Lightning Vortex. “Well, now it’s really game” stated Bowling flatly. He removed Diamond Dude and Malicious from his yard to bring back a Divine Sword, discarded a Sword and Reasoning for Magical Stone Excavation to take back Premature Burial, brought back Jinzo, and then activated another Lightning Vortex to wipe the field! That let Jinzo attack directly and the duel was over!

Chris Bowling comes back from having his Dark Armed Dragon stolen, recovering from another dual Dragon beatdown to press the match to a third game!

“I’m gonna lose,” said Sequerra as he shuffled his deck. “I can feel it.” Sequerra’s lack of confidence was completely out of character, and he began the third game with a grim look on his face.

He drew and blinked at his hand, opening with Allure of Darkness and removing Destiny Hero – Disk Commander for its effect. Definitely sub-optimal. He activated another Allure, then removed Darklord Zerato. Much better. He summoned Armageddon Knight, sent Destiny Hero – Dasher to his graveyard with the Knight’s effect, and set one spell or trap to reinforce his position. “Go ahead.”

Bowling cut loose with Reasoning right off the bat! Sequerra chose Level 6 again, and Bowling lost Dimension Fusion and a couple of traps on his way to a free Elemental Hero Stratos! Stratos fetched him Malicious, and he discarded Malicious for Destiny Draw — Sequerra chained D.D. Crow to remove Malicious from play on the chain.

Monster Gate flipped Divine Sword, Card Destruction, Reinforcement of the Army, and finally Diamond Dude off the top of Bowling’s deck. Diamond Dude was special summoned, Bowling activated his effect to hit Lightning Vortex and then tributed the Dude for Jinzo! He removed Stratos and Diamond Dude to take back Divine Sword – Phoenix Blade, then discarded the Blade and Dark Magician of Chaos to return Dimension Fusion to his hand with Magical Stone Excavation. He activated Premature Burial to target Dark Magician of Chaos, but Sequerra chained his one set card: Mystical Space Typhoon! Bowling didn’t press his luck, and instead opted to attack with Jinzo and destroy Armageddon Knight. Play was to Sequerra.

He looked at his draw for the turn, leaned back in his seat and then flipped to a fresh page in his notebook. “What am I at?”

“You’re at 7000.”

Sequerra special summoned two Dark Armed Dragon, then normal summoned Elemental Hero Stratos! He used Stratos’ effect to get Destiny Hero – Fear Monger, blew away Jinzo with one of the Dragons by removing Armageddon Knight from his graveyard, and attacked with everything for 7400 damage! Bowling only had 7200 life points, and the match was over.

Cedric Sequerra moves on to the Top 4!