Lozon won the opening roll and opened with a set card to each zone. His opponent special summoned Cyber Dragon, attacked into Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, set a spell or trap card himself, and ended. His opponent fired back with another set card to each zone, and when Lazaro attacked next turn he lost his Cyber Dragon to D. D. Warrior Lady. He set a card to each zone and concluded.

Lozon set a monster, Lazaro set a monster, Lozon set a monster, and Lazaro flipped Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive. The Train went after the freshest monster, hit Magical Mechant, and cut through five monsters (including two Chaos Sorcerer and Jinzo, ouch) before nabbing Lozon Nobleman of Crossout. Lazaro set another monster and passed. “Aaaand . . . I’m getting screwed,” remarked Lozon.

He dropped Nobleman of Crossout, and removed Lazaroo’s Treeborn Frog from the game. He set a third spell or trap card and passed. Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive attacked again, again hitting the most recently set monster: it was Magician of Faith, and Lozon took back Nobleman of Crossout. Lazaro flip summoned Magical Merchant, got Enemy Controller, normal summoned Tsukuyomi, and turned the Merchant face down before passing! A stellar turn for Lazaro: if Lozon couldn’t shake up the infrastructure his opponent had established, he was going to get rolled.

Nobleman of Crossout removed Lazaro’s Merchant from the game, breaking that Tsukuyomi loop, but still leaving Lazaro with the Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive to repeatedly flip. Lazaro lost a second Merchant from his deck, Lozon set a monster, and passed. “Yeah, this is your game,” said Lozon, unhappy with the current state of affairs. He was unable to stop the Tsukuyomi loop.

Lazaro kept the offense coming, again attacking with Dekoichi. This time he hit Sangan, and Lozon used its effect to fetch Treeborn Frog. Sure enough, Tsukuyomi came down in main phase 2 to turn Dekoichi face down. Lazaro set a third spell or trap to match Lozon and ended.

Lozon set a monster and passed, still slow rolling the game and still unable to stop the Tsuku. Lazaro flipped Heavy Storm, costing himself Scapegoat (he didn’t chain it) and Sakuretsu Armor, but destroying Lozon’s Force, Scapegoat, and Book of Moon. He flipped Dekoichi, attacked with it for what was possibly the eight billionth time, and asked the obvious question: “Treeborn Frog?”

“Nope” replied Lozon, flipping his attacked Magician of Faith.

“Not a Treeborn Frog!” Lazaro exclaimed. The Magician grabbed back Nobleman of Crossout, but Lazaro turned his Dekoichi face down with Tsukuyomi anyways: he had so many cards and so much field advantage that he could afford to just play into the Nobleman and force it out early. He set two cards to his back row, emphasizing the point, and passed.

“Typhoon TT?” asked Lozon, activating Mystical Space Typhoon and hoping to hit the Torrential Tribute that he believed was somewhere in Lazaro’s back row. Nope. The Typhoon destroyed Return, leaving Lazaro with one set spell or trap. Lozon summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, but Lazaro flipped the Torrential that Lozon had read! It wiped the field, destroying Lozon’s Spirit Reaper. He set one spell or trap card and passed play to Lazaro, with a paltry three cards in hand to Lazarro’s six. Lazaro drew, played Graceful Charity, and attacked with Sangan for 1000. He set a spell or trap and passed. To say that Lozon had his work cut out for him would be a massive understatement, and at this point he was just playing to outs and hoping to see more of Lazaro’s deck.

“Call of the Haunted?” asked Lozon, activating it. Lazaro had no response, and Jinzo erupted from the graveyard to smack around Sangan. It was 6600 to 7000, with Lozon leading. Sangan grabbed Lazaro D. D. Warrior Lady, and Lozon set Treeborn Frog. His other in-hand monster was Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, so if the Frog could survive, he might have a shot. Unfortunately, if Jinzo was destroyed it was going to trap the Call of the Haunted on the field with its negation effect: whether the Frog was removed from play by D. D. Warrior Lady, or attacked, it wasn’t coming back. Still, it was Lozon’s only shot.

“Light and Dark,” announced Lazaro, removing two cards from his graveyard to bring out Chaos Sorcerer: it removed Jinzo, and the Call of the Haunted stuck to the field. D. D. Warrior Lady hit the Frog and removed it from play anyways, maybe not the best play, but Lazaro was being thorough and could afford to do so at this point. Lozon drew for his turn, set a card to each zone, and passed.

Lazaro attacked with the Sorcerer for 2300, leveraging his superior range of in-hand options into raw field control and aggression. Lozon topdecked into Heavy Storm, a more than dead card: it was no help against the Sorcerer, Lozon had no monsters, and if he activated the Storm he’d lose two cards plus his dead Call of the Haunted and the Storm itself to Lazaro’s two set back row cards. Not a good trade in any case, especially this one. Next turn Lazaro played Mystical Space Typhoon on Lozon’s set Return from the Different Dimension, forcing him to activate it: Lazaro chained his own, to bring out Treeborn Frog, Cyber Dragon, Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, and D. D. Warrior Lady. Lozon brought out D. D. Warrior Lady, Jinzo, and Frog, with everything in defense save the Jinzo. Cyber Dragon attacked Lozon’s D. D. Warrior Lady, his own D. D. Warrior Lady took out the Frog, and then Lazaro tributed his Treeborn Frog for Enemy Controller! Controller grabbed Jinzo, Lozon was left with no defenses, and Lazaro attacked for game.

Lazaro Bellido takes a crushing victory in the first duel of the day!

Both duelists side decked casually before beginning game 2. Lozon opened again with a set to each zone, and ate an attack from Cyber Dragon just like game 1. The Dragon hit his Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, Lazaro set a monster, set Book of Moon, and lost it to Mystical Space Typhoon in the end phase.

Nobleman of Crossout ripped through Lazaro’s set Magical Merchant, tearing an extra copy from each duelist’s deck. Snatch Steal took the Cyber Dragon, and Lozon summoned Spirit Reaper: both monsters attacked directly and Lozon lost Creature Swap from his hand to Reaper’s effect. Lozon set a spell or trap and passed.

Lazaro had the Heavy Storm! He took back his Cyber Dragon, hit the Reaper with it for 1800 damage, and set a monster. Lozon set a card to each zone, shifted Spirit Reaper to defense position, and play passed back to Lazaro, and Cyber Dragon attacked his opponent’s set monster: Magician of Faith. Lozon retrieved Snatch Steal from his graveyard, and in main phase 2, Lazaro flipped his Magician to retrieve Book of Moon. He set two back row cards and passed.

Lozon set a spell or trap and passed, not willing to lose his Snatch Steal to the set Book of Moon. Lazaro turned Magician of Faith to defense, set a monster, Lozon passed, Lazaro flip summoned Magician of Faith to target his Heavy Storm, and Lozon chained Torrential Tribute! Lazaro passed, briefly stymied, but Lozon had now follow up and was forced to pass back without making a move.

Lazaro passed as well, Lozon set a monster, Lazaro set one, and Lozon flipped his Night Assailant . . . to destroy Lazaro’s set Night Assailant! Lazaro shook his head a bit as he drew for his turn.

He special summoned Cyber Dragon, attacked with it, and Lozon let the attack through. Lazaro passed, Lozon drew into Morphing Jar, and special summoned Cyber Dragon. He played Snatch Steal on Lazaro’s Cyber Dragon, and Lazaro gave it over. Lozon’s Cyber attacked, but was blocked by Book of Moon. The stolen one then attacked, and hit directly.

Lazaro gained his 1000 life points for Snatch Steal and then activated Heavy Storm, taking back his Cyber Dragon. It attacked Lozon’s to destroy it in battle, demonstrating why he had saved the Book of Moon the way he did, and he set a card to each zone. Lozon activated Graceful Charity discarding Return from the Different Dimension and Scapegoat. He special summoned Cyber Dragon, and noted that Lazaro had two cards in hand: Lozon was holding Confiscation and the duel appeared to be tilting in his favor. He set a spell or trap card, Cyber Dragon attacked the set monster but was repelled by Enemy Controller, and Confiscation discarded Lazaro’s Zaborg the Thunder Monarch over Call of the Haunted. Lozon set a second spell or trap and ended, now having shaky control over the game.

“Faith?” asked Lozon. Lazaro shook his head. Cyber Dragon attacked, but Mirror Force destroyed it! Lazaro set his last two cards to the field, one to each zone. The ball was clearly in Lozon’s court, and the match appeared to be heading to a third duel.

Cyber Dragon attacked, destroying Lazaro’s Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive and rejuvenating his hand with a card. Lazaro drew another for his turn, summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, attacked into Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, and he special summoned Chaos Sorcerer to remove Lozon’s Cyber Dragon from the game. Suddenly the tables were turned. Play passed back to Lozon, with Lazaro now in a considerably better position on the field than he was on the previous turn.

Lozon drew and looked at his hand: Treeborn Frog, D. D. Warrior Lady, and Morphing Jar. After considering setting the Lady, he set the Jar. It was all bad beats considering Lazaro’s huge field presence.

Lazaro flip summoned Sangan, and D. D. Warrior Lady attacked the Morphing Jar! Each player drew a new hand, but Chaos Sorcerer attacked directly. Sangan attacked as well, but Lozon flipped Call of the Haunted to special summon Cyber Dragon and block Sangan’s attack. Lazaro used Confiscation to reveal Lozon’s hand: Breaker the Magical Warrior, Sangan, Smashing Ground, Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, and Chaos Sorcerer. He discarded the Sorcerer from his opponent’s hand, summoned Tsukuyomi to turn down D. D. Warrior Lady, and ended his turn.

Lozon summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, and broke Call of the Haunted: Laqzaro didn’t have a Sangan to bring up on the chain, but things were academic by this point. Smashing Ground destroyed Sorcerer, Cyber Dragon attacked into the D. D. Warrior Lady (removing both), and Breaker the Magical Warrior attacked Sangan. It got Lazaro Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive. Lozon was struggling to minimize field presence.

It was game on the next turn though: Lazaro special summoned Chaos Sorcerer, normal summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, and attacked with both. Sorcerer took down Lozon’s Breaker, Lazaro’s Breaker hit directly, and the match was over.

Lazaro Bellido captures the first match of what is sure to be many more here today!