Only one Round remained in this tournament, and now the French 2008 National Champion would Duel Ohio’s own Kevin Slapnik. The match-up was Twilight versus Destiny Hero Zombies. Both competitors would win their copy of “Dark End Dragon” as a reward for getting to the final table, but the winner here would walk away with even more prizes and the glory of a SHONEN JUMP Championship title.

Ralambomiadana opened the match with “Tragoedia,” “Beckoning Light,” “Charge of the Light Brigade,” “Honest,” “Necro Gardna,” and “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness.” He activated Charge, sending “Celestia, Lightsworn Angel,” “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast,” and “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner” to his Graveyard. He searched “Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid” from his Deck and Special Summoned Wulf. He Summoned Aurkus, ended, and sent “Dark Armed Dragon” and “Judgment Dragon” to his Graveyard with Aurkus’ effect.

Slapnik summoned “Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude,” revealed “Sangan” from the top of his Deck with Diamond Dude’s effect, attacked Aurkus, and ran into “Honest.” Slapnik Set a card to his back row and ended.

Ralambomiadana turned Aurkus to defense, attacked with Wulf for 2100 damage, then sent “Necro Gardna” and “Tragoedia” to his Graveyard. Slapnik Summoned another Diamond Dude, and this time he sent “Allure of Darkness” to the Graveyard with the Dude’s effect. He Set another card to his back row and ended. Wulf attacked Diamond Dude on the turn that followed, dropping Slapnik to 4000 Life Points. Aurkus sent “Solar Recharge” and “Honest” to the Graveyard.

Slapnik took his Allure’s effect next turn, drawing 2 cards and removing “Caius the Shadow Monarch.” He activated “Gold Sarcophagus,” removed “Destiny Draw” from his Deck, and Set a monster. Ralambomiadana drew, discarded “Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress” for “Solar Recharge,” and sent Celestia and Charge to the Graveyard. He now had two “Tragoedia,” Gorz, “Beckoning Light,” “Honest,” “Judgment Dragon,” and “Necro Gardna” in hand. He turned Aurkus to attack, attacked with it to destroy his opponent’s “Mezuki,” then swung again with Wulf for 2100 damage. Slapnik had 1900 Life Points left. Ralambomiadana Set a Spell or Trap, ended, and sent “Allure of Darkness” and Wulf to his Graveyard in his End Phase. Wulf was Summoned.

Slapnik activated “Allure of Darkness,” drew 2, and removed another Caius. He discarded “Goblin Zombie” for “Lightning Vortex,” destroyed Ralambomiadana’s 3 monsters, and removed “Mezuki” to Special Summon “Goblin Zombie” in Defense Position. He Set a third Spell or Trap and ended.

Ralambomiadana Special Summoned “Judgment Dragon,” and Slapnik flipped “Solemn Judgment” to negate the Summon and drop to 950 Life Points. Ralambomiadana activated “Beckoning Light,” discarding 6 cards to take back 2 “Judgment Dragon” – Slapnik conceded the Duel before Ralambomiadana finished declaring the cards he’d return to his hand.

Kevin Slapnik seems to get off to a slow start, as Vincent Ralambomiadana makes persistent presses with “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast” before forcing the win with “Judgment Dragon”! One more Duel like that and Ralambomiadana would be taking home the title to France.

Slapnik started Duel 2 with “Reinforcement of the Army,” searching his Deck for “Elemental Hero Stratos.” He Summoned it, grabbed “Destiny Hero – Malicious” from his Deck, and discarded it for “Destiny Draw.” He Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone to finish out.

Ralambomiadana had “Solar Recharge,” 2 “Charge of the Light Brigade,” “Necro Gardna,” “Royal Decree,” and “Beckoning Light.” He activated Charge, sending “Chaos Sorcerer,” “Tragoedia,” and “Necro Gardna” to his Graveyard to get “Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior.” He activated his next Charge to send “Celestia, Lightsworn Angel,” “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner,” and “Mystical Space Typhoon” to his Graveyard, getting “Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress.” He discarded Garoth for “Solar Recharge,” drawing “Tragoedia” and another Recharge and sending “Ehren, Lightsworn Monk” and “Ehren, Lightsworn Monk” to the Graveyard. Recharge with Lyla sent “Heavy Storm” and “Judgment Dragon” to the Graveyard next. A Set Spell or Trap finished the turn.

Slapnik summoned “Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer,” attacked for 1800 damage, and Ralambomiadana Special Summoned “Tragoedia.” Kycoo’s effect kicked in though, and Slapnik removed Aurkus and Lumina from Ralambomiadana’s Graveyard. “Tragoedia” had 2400 ATK, and Slapnik ended his turn by Setting a card to his back row.

Ralambomiadana turned “Tragoedia” to Attack Position, ran over Kycoo, and pressed through 1200 damage. Ralambomiadana Set a second Spell or Trap. The Duel stood at 6200 Life Points to 6800 with Slapnik leading.

Slapnik tributed Stratos for “Caius the Shadow Monarch,” removed “Tragoedia” from play, and attacked. Ralambomiadana blocked the attack with “Necro Gardna.” He removed monsters to Special Summon “Chaos Sorcerer,” then used the Sorcerer’s effect to remove Caius from the game. He then activated “Beckoning Light,” taking back “Judgment Dragon,” Lyla, Garoth, and Ehren. He Normal Summoned Lyla, Slapnik activated “Light-Imprisoning Mirror,” and Ralambomiadana attacked for 1700 damage. Slapnik was down to 5100 Life Points.

Slapnik activated “Brain Control,” taking Sorcerer to remove Lyla from the field. He tributed Sorcerer for “Caius the Shadow Monarch,” removed Ralambomiadana’s “Royal Decree,” and attacked into another “Necro Gardna.” Ralambomiadana passed. The Duel stood at 5200 Life Points to 4300, with Slapnik trailing behind.

That changed, as Slapnik Summoned “Sangan,” attacked, and then attacked with Caius – Ralambomiadana dropped to 1800 Life Points, but he Special Summoned “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness”! He lost his field to “Lightning Vortex” in Main Phase 2 though, as Slapnik pressed on and discarded “Mezuki” for “Lightning Vortex.”

Ralambomiadana Summoned Garoth and ended. Slapnik Summoned “Breaker the Magical Warrior,” attacked Garoth, and then made another attack with Caius – Caius was again blocked by “Necro Gardna.” “Sangan” sunk another 1000 damage into Ralambomiadana.

He activated “Allure of Darkness,” drew 2 cards, and didn’t like what he saw. “That’s good: one-one.”

Kevin Slapnik fights back, keeping Ralambomiadana from his best LIGHT tricks with “Light-Imprisoning Mirror” and “Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer,” blasting through “Necro Gardnas” to win Duel 2. This match and this tournament now came down to one more Duel!

Ralambomiadana had “Celestia, Lightsworn Angel,” “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast,” “Honest,” “Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress,” “Breaker the Magical Warrior,” and “Royal Decree.” He Set Decree, Summoned Lyla, and sent “Necro Gardna,” “Solar Recharge,” and “Allure of Darkness” to his Graveyard with Lyla’s ability.

Slapnik activated “Reinforcement of the Army,” searched for “Elemental Hero Stratos,” Summoned it, and got “Destiny Hero – Malicious” from his Deck. Stratos attacked Lyla, Ralambomiadana activated “Honest’s” effect, and Stratos was destroyed. Slapnik Set two cards to his back row and Ralambomiadana flipped “Royal Decree” in the End Phase!

He drew “Celestia, Lightsworn Angel,” Summoned “Breaker the Magical Warrior,” and attacked for 3600 Battle Damage total. Slapnik was down to 2700 Life Points, and he lost his “Mirror Force” and “Light-Imprisoning Mirror” to Breaker and Lyla in Main Phase 2. Ralambomiadana sent “Tragoedia,” “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness,” and “Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior” to the Graveyard in his End Phase.

Slapnik discarded Malicious for “Lightning Vortex” next turn, then attacked with “Goblin Zombie.” Its effect sent “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner” from Ralambomiadana’s Deck to his Graveyard. Ralambomiadana Summoned Lumina, discarded Wulf to Special Summon a second Lumina, then discarded another Wulf to Special Summon another Wulf. Wulf attacked over “Goblin Zombie,” one Lumina attacked directly, and the last Lumina attacked for game.

Vincent Ralambomiadana is our newest SHONEN JUMP Championship winner!

Post-Event Analysis!
See what our panel of experts had to say about this Duel after the event was over.

Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
At first glance, Ralambomiadana’s opening hand didn’t look too strong in the third Duel. He didn’t have “Judgment Dragon,” “Solar Recharge,” or “Charge of the Light Brigade” in it. Yet, he still won in just a couple of turns. With “Royal Decree” and “Honest” in his hand, Ralambomiadana was able to play very aggressively and inflict fast damage to Kevin Slapnik. Typically, Lightsworn and Twilight Decks want to send cards to the Graveyard in order to benefit from the effects of other cards. But the monsters played in those Decks can also stand strong by themselves. Ralambomiadana took full advantage of that in the third Duel to push damage through with “Honest” and direct attacks. By doing so, Ralambomiadana was able to beat Slapnik before even drawing a Spell Card.

Matt Peddle (2009 Canadian National Championship Runner-Up; Five-Time Top 8 National Finalist)
In the second Duel, Vincent does not flip his “Royal Decree” to negate “Light-Imprisoning Mirror.” This allows “Light-Imprisoning Mirror” to negate the effect of Vincent’s “Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress.” Because her effect is being negated, Lyla cannot destroy the Mirror. This turns out to cost Vincent because his “Royal Decree” is removed by “Caius the Shadow Monarch.” With Decree gone Vincent cannot prevent “Light-Imprisoning Mirror” from negating all his monster effects.

Michael McTavish (Top 8 Finalist – 2009 Canadian National Championship)
Some fantastic plays by Ralambomiadana in this Match. One example is during game 3, he made the possibly game-breaking decision of pushing for 3600 damage BEFORE activating his “Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress” and “Breaker the Magical Warrior.” Due to his “Royal Decree” he knew he was safe to deal some more very important damage and THEN destroy his opponent’s face downs.

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