Both of these Duelists would walk away from this weekend with their very own copy of “Dark End Dragon,” but only 1 would leave this table a SHONEN JUMP Championship winner. Adric High is playing Zombie Lightsworn, while Satoshi Kato is running a similar Deck, but with “Phantom of Chaos” and “Sky Scourge Norleras” instead of “Judgment Dragon.”

High started the last Match of the tournament with “Charge of the Light Brigade,” sending “Caius the Shadow Monarch,” “Solar Recharge,” and “Torrential Tribute” to his Graveyard to get “Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress” from his Deck. He Summoned Lyla, sending “Charge of the Light Brigade,” “Solar Recharge,” and “Goblin Zombie” to his Graveyard.

Kato activated “Allure of Darkness,” removing “Necro Gardna” from his hand. He Summoned “Mezuki,” crashed it into Lyla, and ended. High Summoned “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner,” discarded “Necro Gardna” for Lyla, and attacked for 2700 damage total. Kato Summoned “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness” in response to the Battle Damage from Lyla, Special Summoning a 1700 ATK “Emissary of Darkness Token.” A Set card to the Spell & Trap Card Zone ended High’s turn.

Kato turned his “Emissary of Darkness Token” to Attack Position, sent both of his monsters after Lumina, one after the other, only to have both attacks stopped by High’s “Necro Gardnas.” Kato Set a monster and Set 2 cards to his back row, but lost one of them (“Giant Trunade”) to Lyla next turn. “Solar Recharge” let High draw 2 cards and Special Summon “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast” next turn, and he discarded “Mezuki” to Special Summon another Lyla, using Lumina’s effect. He activated Lyla’s effect, too, this time targeting and destroying “Burial From a Different Dimension.”

High attacked with Wulf, destroying Kato’s “Necro Gardna,” and removed “Mezuki” in Main Phase 2 to Special Summon “Goblin Zombie” in Defense Position. Lyla was changed to Defense Position too, and High Set another back row card before sending 9 cards off his Deck to the Graveyard.

Kato drew, and had “Sky Scourge Norleras,” “Phantom of Chaos,” and Lumina in-hand, with Gorz and its Token on the field. High’s Monster Card Zones were all filled, and he was in danger of Decking out. Kato turned his Token to Defense Position and ended, hoping for the best with 2 “Necro Gardnas” in the Graveyard. Would High have a Tribute Monster to save himself from Decking out, and if not, would he make attacks to destroy his own monsters?

“I messed up really really bad,” groaned High. He turned Lumina and “Goblin Zombie” to Attack Position, tried to ram Lumina into Gorz, and was denied by “Necro Gardna.” Wulf attacked Gorz next, and Kato let it smash into his monster. In Main Phase 2, High activated “Foolish Burial” to send “Plaguespreader Zombie” to his Graveyard, then removed “Mezuki” to Special Summon it, and Tuned it to Lyla and Lumina for “Mist Wurm.” It bounced Gorz back to Kato’s hand, and removed the “Emissary of Darkness Token” from play. High brought back “Plaguespreader Zombie” with its effect, then Tuned it to Lyla for “Goyo Guardian.” He activated “Trap Dustshoot” next turn, and Kato conceded, without revealing his hand to High.

Adric High gets off to a bit of a rocky start, but powers through with multiple Synchro Summons to take the first Duel anyways! One more win like that and High would reign victorious in this tournament!

Starting off Duel 2, Kato discarded “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast” for “Solar Recharge,” drawing to a hand of “Heavy Storm,” “Charge of the Light Brigade,” “Chaos Sorcerer,” “Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer,” “Burial From a Different Dimension,” and “Bottomless Trap Hole.” He sent “Mezuki” and “Mystical Space Typhoon” to his Graveyard to finish Recharge’s effect, then sent “Torrential Tribute,” Kycoo, and “Zombie Master” to his Graveyard while getting “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner” with Charge. He Summoned Lumina, discarded Kycoo for her ability, and Special Summoned Wulf, Setting a Spell or Trap Card to finish out. He sent “Burial From a Different Dimension,” “Allure of Darkness,” and “Necro Gardna” to his Graveyard in the End Phase.

High Set 2 cards to his Spell & Trap Card Zone, Set a monster, and ended. Kato had “Chaos Sorcerer,” Charge, “Heavy Storm,” and “Burial From a Different Dimension” in-hand. He activated Storm, destroying High’s “Torrential Tribute” and Recharge, along with his own “Bottomless Trap Hole.”

Kato activated Charge, sending 2 “Goblin Zombies” to the Graveyard alongside “Solar Recharge” to get Lyla. He Summoned Lyla, removed “Mezuki” to Special Summon “Goblin Zombie,” attacked with Lyla, and destroyed High’s face-down “Goblin Zombie.” High got “Mezuki” with “Goblin Zombie’s” effect. Wulf attacked, “Goblin Zombie” attacked to put High’s Lumina into the Graveyard, and Lumina attacked last. In the End Phase, “Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter,” “Mezuki,” “Foolish Burial,” “Dark Armed Dragon,” “Tragoedia,” and “Burial From a Different Dimension” were sent to the Graveyard.

High drew, and Kato removed “Necro Gardna” during the Standby Phase. High Summoned “Zombie Master,” discarding “Mezuki” to Special Summon “Goblin Zombie.” “Goblin Zombie” attacked Lumina, Kato negated the attack with “Necro Gardna,” and “Zombie Master” destroyed her in battle.

Next turn Kato Normal Summoned “Zombie Master,” then Special Summoned “Chaos Sorcerer.” He Removed “Goblin Zombie,” attacked over “Zombie Master” with Wulf, then attacked directly with Lyla. One more attack from “Zombie Master” ended the Duel!

Satoshi Kato plays aggressively and pushes hard, breaking through High’s field and pushing for the win, driving this tournament to one last Duel!

High Set a monster, then Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone. Kato had “Mirror Force,” Tragoedia, 2 “Foolish Burials,” “Lightning Vortex,” and “Mezuki.” He Summoned “Mezuki,” attacked “Necro Gardna,” Set “Mirror Force” and ended. High Summoned “Jain, Lightsworn Paladin,” attacked “Mezuki,” and Kato let the attack through. Jain sent Charge and “Heavy Storm” to the Graveyard.

Kato drew “Charge of the Light Brigade.” He sent “Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter,” “Solar Recharge,” and “Dark Armed Dragon” to the Graveyard for it, getting him “Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress.” He Summoned Lyla and High flipped “Torrential Tribute,” costing himself Jain– a risky move by High. Kato activated “Foolish Burial,” sent “Goblin Zombie” to his Graveyard, removed “Mezuki,” and Special Summoned it. “Goblin Zombie” attacked, and High sent “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner” to his Graveyard. Kato ended, with “Mirror Force” still Set.

High Summoned Lyla and destroyed the “Mirror Force.” He Special Summoned “Chaos Sorcerer” with his Lumina and “Necro Gardna,” then removed his opponent’s “Goblin Zombie.” He sent “Necro Gardna,” “Burial From a Different Dimension,” and Gorz to the Graveyard.

Kato had “Chaos Sorcerer,” “Lightning Vortex,” Targoedia, and “Foolish Burial.” He passed his turn. High Summoned “Plaguespreader Zombie,” Tuned it to Lyla and Synchro Summoned “Goyo Guardian.” He Special Summoned “Dark Armed Dragon” next, attacked with “Goyo Guardian,” and Kato took the damage. He Special Summoned “Tragoedia,” “Chaos Sorcerer” attacked it, and “Dark Armed Dragon” dropped him to 2000 Life Points. He had 2 cards left in-hand.

Kato drew “Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer.” His decision to pass his previous turn had worked in his favor, drawing out more monsters from High. Kato discarded “Foolish Burial” for “Lightning Vortex,” destroying Sorcerer, Dark Armed, and “Goyo Guardian”! High had 6900 Life Points left. Kato Summoned Kycoo, attacked for 1800 damage, and removed “Plaguespreader Zombie” and “Jain, Lightsworn Paladin” from High’s Graveyard.

High activated “Foolish Burial” sending “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast” to his Graveyard to Special Summon it. He attacked Kycoo, destroying it, and Set a card to his Spell & Trap Card Zone. Kato activated “Mystical Space Typhoon,” destroying “Bottomless Trap Hole,” then Special Summoned “Chaos Sorcerer,” removing “Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter” and Kycoo! He then removed Wulf with Sorcerer’s effect!

High Set a monster next turn, ending with just 1 card in-hand. Kato drew another Sorcerer! He Summoned the second copy. One attacked High’s face-down “Goblin Zombie,” and the other attacked directly for 2300 damage as High searched his Deck for “Mezuki.”

High discarded “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast” for “Solar Recharge,” sending “Caius the Shadow Monarch” and Lyla to the Graveyard. He activated Charge, sending Dustshoot, Burial, and another Charge to the Graveyard, getting Lumina. He Summoned Lumina, discarded “Mezuki” for her effect, and Special Summoned Lyla in Defense Position. He then sent 6 cards to his Graveyard to end, with 1 card left in-hand.

Kato drew “Zombie Master” and Summoned it. High had 2800 LP to Kato’s 1700. “Chaos Sorcerer” attacked over Lumina for 1300 damage, and “Zombie Master” destroyed Lyla, but the second Sorcerer was blocked by “Necro Gardna.”

High drew, and removed “Mezuki” to Special Summon “Goblin Zombie.” He removed another one to Special Summon another Goblin. Kato had made this Match extremely difficult for High when he removed High’s “Plaguespreader Zombie,” which had really proven to be a game-winning move. High Summoned Kycoo, and traded it off in battle against his opponent’s “Zombie Master.”

Kato removed both “Goblin Zombies” with his Sorcerers, then Set a Spell or Trap. High drew, activated “Allure of Darkness,” saw his cards, and conceded!

Kato comes back from a loss in the first Duel, to win 2 straight and take the tournament! Satoshi Kato wins SHONEN JUMP Championship Nashville!

See what our panel of experts had to say after the Duel.

Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
In Duel 1, Kato set “Giant Trunade” and “Burial from a Different Dimension” as bluffs, even though High had Lyla on the field. This was a great move, because it allowed him to avoid taking damage from Lyla, since High shifted them to Defense Position to destroy Kato’s bluffs. Kato knew he was in trouble and started playing defensively to buy himself more time. He also knew that if he could set up a play with Norleras’s effect to turn the Duel around, the extra cards in his hand would become irrelevant anyway.

Michael McTavish (Top 8 Finalist – 2009 Canadian National Championship)
Despite seeming to over commit slightly to his field in game 1, High was able to work through that and summon a game winning “Mist Wurm” to win out. Unfortunately, a focused and unyielding Kato was unwilling to give the tournament away so easily; and through a mixture of aggressive and well-calculated plays, was able to come out on top.

P.J. Tierney (Duelist from across The Pond)

At the end of Duel 1, High activated “Trap Dustshoot.” Kato knew that High would send back “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness,” which would mean that he’d lose the Duel next turn. Since he knew this he conceded right away, before High could see his hand. By doing this, High didn’t know about the “Sky Scourge Norleras” and “Phantom of Chaos” that Kato was using in his Deck, and he could possibly surprise High with them later on.

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