Round 8 Feature Match: Dale Bellido vs. George Murray
Dale Bellido and his brother Lazaro Bellido are both 6-1 in this tournament heading into Round 8, and both of the SHONEN JUMP Championship-winning brothers are packing the same Deck – a Zombie variant that’s served them quite well here today.
His opponent is George Murray, who won a previous Feature Match today in Round 2. Murray is playing Blackwings, and demonstrated earlier today that there was nothing he wasn’t willing to do to try and clinch a win as he made some extremely unorthodox plays. Murray’s playstyle could spell trouble for Bellido.
Bellido opened the match with “Book of Moon,” “Sangan,” “Krebons,” “Dark Armed Dragon,” “Phoenix Wing Wind Blast,” and “Burial From a Different Dimension.” He Set “Sangan,” Set Book, and ended.
Murray activated “Mystical Space Typhoon,” destroyed Book, and activated “Black Whirlwind.” He Normal Summoned “Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn,” searched his Deck for “Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame,” Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone, and attacked “Sangan.” “Sangan” got Bellido “Goblin Zombie” and Bellido was up.
He Set the Goblin, Set “Dimensional Prison,” and Murray Normal Summoned Shura. That got him “Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North” with Whirlwind, and he attacked with it straight into “Dimensional Prison.” Sirocco destroyed “Goblin Zombie” and Bellido searched out “Mezuki.”
Bellido drew “Solemn Judgment,” Set a Spell or Trap, and took 2000 damage from Sirocco next turn. Murray Normal Summoned “Blackwing – Bora the Spear,” nabbed “Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow” from his Deck, and ended. In the End Phase Bellido discarded “Mezuki” for “Phoenix Wing Wind Blast,” blowing Murray’s Set Spell or Trap back to the top of his Deck.
He removed “Mezuki” to Special Summon “Goblin Zombie,” Normal Summoned “Krebons,” Tuned it to Goblin, and Synchro Summoned “Goyo Guardian.” “Goblin Zombie” got him “Plaguespreader Zombie.” He Special Summoned “Dark Armed Dragon,” destroyed, Bora, Sirocco, and attacked with both of his monsters to drop Murray to 2400 Life Points. He then removed his last DARK monster to destroy Whirlwind, neatly dodging the possibility of “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness.” Two Set cards to his back row ended the turn.
Murray activated “Heavy Storm,” and Bellido Chained “Burial From a Different Dimension” to send everything but “Krebons” back to his Graveyard. Murray Normal Summoned Blizzard, brought back Bora, and Synchro Summoned “Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier.” He discarded “Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor,” bounced away “Dark Armed Dragon,” and discarded “Royal Oppression” to bounce “Goyo Guardian.” He Special Summoned “Blackwing Armed Wing” with Vayu’s effect, attacked with Brionac, attacked with “Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow,” and revealed his last two in-hand cards: two copies of Kalut for game!
Dale Bellido gets things off to a slow, seemingly controlled start, but George Murray breaks out and takes the win! Bellido saw the pacing as a mistake: “That was too slow. I just let him keep getting cards.” Both Duelists used their Side Decks, and play began moments later.
Bellido opened with “Bottomless Trap Hole,” “Trap Hole,” “Phoenix Wing Wind Blast,” “Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind,” “Goblin Zombie,” and “Pyramid Turtle.” He Set “Trap Hole,” Set Goblin, and ended. Murray had the “Mystical Space Typhoon” yet again, destroying “Trap Hole,” and Summoned “Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame”! Shura attacked “Goblin Zombie,” Murray Special Summoned “Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor,” attacked and Bellido got “Mezuki.” Murray Set a Spell or Trap Card and ended.
Bellido drew “Dark Armed Dragon.” He Summoned “Pyramid Turtle,” attacked Vayu, and Set another Spell or Trap. Shura ran it over next turn, but Murray opted not to search with Shura’s effect. Bellido Special Summoned “Goblin Zombie,” Murray Set a second Spell or Trap, and Bellido drew for his turn.
He got “Brain Control,” holding it with “Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind.” He could “Black Rose Dragon” here if he wanted to, destroying his “Goblin Zombie.” He activated “Brain Control” after a moment’s thought, took Shura, and attacked with “Goblin Zombie.” That sent “Blackwing – Bora the Spear” to Murray’s Graveyard. Shura made another direct attack and Murray was down to 4700 Life Points. In Main Phase 2 Bellido Special Summoned Gale, Tuned it to a monster and Synchro Summoned “Black Rose Dragon”!
Murray’s “Allure of Darkness” and “Waboku” were both destroyed, while Bellido lost his “Phoenix Wing Wind Blast.” “Goblin Zombie” got him “Zombie Master,” he Set “Bottomless Trap Hole,” and Murray Set a Spell or Trap himself. Play was back to Bellido.
He Special Summoned “Dark Armed Dragon,” removed Gale for its effect, but lost Dark Armed to “Bottomless Trap Hole.” He Normal Summoned “Zombie Master,” discarded a “Goblin Zombie” to Special Summon a second copy, and attacked for a combined total of 2900 damage. “Royal Oppression” was sent to Murray’s Graveyard.
He cleared the field with “Heavy Storm,” destroying Bellido’s “Bottomless Trap Hole.” He then activated “Black Whirlwind,” Normal Summoned Sirocco, and searched his Deck for Gale. He Special Summoned Gale, halved “Zombie Master’s” ATK, then poured all of his ATK into Sirocco. Sirocco attacked “Zombie Master” and Bellido was down to 3600 Life Points. Murray had just 1800 Life Points left, and he Synchro Summoned “Colossal Fighter” in Defense Position.
Bellido turned “Goblin Zombie” to Defense Position, Set “Mystical Space Typhoon,” and used it to destroy “Black Whirlwind” when Murray Normal Summoned “Blackwing – Bora the Spear” next turn. Bora attacked through “Goblin Zombie,” Bellido Special Summoned “Tragoedia,” and “Colossal Fighter” destroyed it! Bellido searched his Deck for “Plaguespreader Zombie,” his last in-hand card.
He drew “Heavy Storm” – no help there, but he still had “Mezuki” in his Graveyard. He removed it to Special Summon “Zombie Master,” discarded “Plaguespreader Zombie” to Special Summon “Goblin Zombie,” then returned his Storm to the Top of his Deek to bring back Plaguespreder.
He Tuned it to “Goblin Zombie,” Synchro Summoning “Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier,” and searching his Deck for “Mezuki” with “Goblin Zombie’s” effect! He discarded “Mezuki” to bounce away “Colossal Fighter,” attacked with “Zombie Master” into Bora, and Murray showed his last card: “Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow”! “Zombie Master” was destroyed and Bellido had 1650 Life Points left.
He removed “Mezuki,” Special Summoned “Zombie Master” again, and ended. Murray drew “Allure of Darkness” and had to activate it, drawing Blizzard (which he removed) and another card. He removed Vayu and Sirocco from his Graveyard, Special Summoned “Blackwing Armed Wing,” and rammed it into Brionac. Bora went to Defense Position and Murray Set “Mirror Force.” Bellido slammed “Zombie Master” into it next turn, leaving himself with one card in hand.
He Set it to his Spell and Trap Card Zone, Murray attacked, and Bellido offered the handshake – his Set card was “Dust Tornado.”
George Murray takes his second Feature Match win of the day, triumphing with Blackwings over Bellido’s Zombie Deck!
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)
Dale Bellido made a bunch of brilliant plays in this Match. It may look like he took a lot of damage that he could have avoided, but I think he made his best possible plays. It’s okay to take damage from attacks if it means you’ll be able to keep more cards to use later. For example, Bellido took 2000 damage from Sirocco while he had “Phoenix Wing Wind Blast” face-down. By absorbing the damage, he was able to flip the Wing Blast after Murray Set a Spell or Trap Card, and then safely Summon “Dark Armed Dragon” to clear Murray’s field. It wasn’t enough to win Bellido the game, but if you’re a player looking to improve, it’s still important to note the advantages of making the play that he did.
It’s also important to realize that even veteran players sometimes regret their plays and are constantly looking to improve, just as Bellido said he did in the first Duel. That attitude is the mark of a great player.
Matt Peddle (2009 Canadian National Championship Runner-Up; Five-Time Top 8 National Finalist)
After using “Black Rose Dragon” to destroy everything on the field, Bellido went for the win on the next turn with “Dark Armed Dragon.” “Bottomless Trap Hole” stopped him from being able to get enough Attack Points to win and Murray takes control of the game on the following turn. By getting “Black Rose Dragon,” Bellido put all his eggs into one basket and went for the win. If he’d been less aggressive and gone for “Blackwing – Armor Master,” Murray would have been in a much tougher spot. It would have been highly unorthodox but would have produced a better result.
