The Finals: Lazaro Bellido VS Roy St. Clair
This was it: out of a field of Blackwings, Gladiator Beasts, Machina Gadgets, Naturias, Scraps, and dozens of other Decks, one Deck was left in this tournaement – X-Sabers. While Roy St. Clair was piloting a focused X-Saber Deck with Gold Sarcophagus, Bellido was running X-Sabers with cards like Effect Veiler, Super-Nimble Mega Hamster, Debris Dragon, and Pot of Duality instead of Sarcophagus.
St. Clair opened the match with 2 XX-Saber Emmersblade, Mirror Force, Bottomless Trap Hole, Mind Control, and XX-Saber Fulhelmknight. He Set Emmersblade, Set Bottomless, and Set Mirror Force.
Bellido Set a monster, and Set a Spell or Trap.
St. Clair drew XX-Saber Boggart Knight. He Summoned Fulhelmknight, activated Mind Control, and took Bellido’s X-Saber Pashuul. He Flip Summoned it, attacked for 1300 Battle Damage with Fulhelmknight, and Flip Summoned Emmersblade in Main Phase 2. Bellido activated Book of Moon, turning Pashuul face-down to stop St. Clair from Synchro Summoning a Naturia Beast with it. Stymied, St. Clair passed back the Pashuul and ended his turn.
Bellido activated Dark Hole next turn to clear the field, then Summoned XX-Saber Fulhelmknight to attack for 1300 Battle Damage. He Set a Spell or Trap.
St. Clair drew Trap Stun, Set it, and tried to Summon XX-Saber Emmersblade: Bellido negated the Summon with Solemn Warning.
Bellido attacked with Fulhelmknight for another 1300 Battle Dmage, and he Set a card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.
St. Clair Summoned XX-Saber Boggart Knight, attacked, and the attack was negated by Fulhelmknight’s effect.
Bellido activated Pot of Duality, revealing Sangan, Faultroll, and Mirror Force: he added Sangan to his hand and shuffled back the other 2 cards. He Set a monster, turned Fulhelmknight to Defense Position and ended.
St. Clair drew Gold Sarchophagus, attacked Fulhelmknight with Boggart Knight, and activated Sarcophagus to remove Gottoms’ Emergency Call from his Deck: he’d add it to his hand 2 turns from now.
Bellido Set another Spell or Trap Card.
St. Clair drew another Trap Stun and passed. Bellido activated Gottoms‘ Emergency Call, and St. Clair Chained Trap Stun to negate it.
Bellido Set another monster.
St. Clair drew XX-Saber Darksoul and added his Gottoms’ Emergency Call to his hand. Bellido had 4700 Life Points left, and St. Clair carefully weighed his options. He Normal Summoned Darksoul, Special Summoned Faultroll, activated its effect, and targeted Fulhelmknight to Special Summon it: Bellido waited for the Summon to happen, then flipped Torrential Tribute! St. Clair lost Faultroll, Darksoul, Boggart Knight, and Fulhelmknight, while Bellido’s face-down monsters were Darksoul and Sangan! He used Sangan’s effect to get Debris Dragon from his Deck. St. Clair had Trap Stun and Gottoms’ Emergency Call in hand, with Bottomless Trap Hole and Mirror Force Set. He searched his Deck to add Fulhelmknight to his hand, and Bellido got a Fulhelmknight too.
Bellido activated Cold Wave. He Summoned Debris Dragon, Special Summoned Darksoul, attacked for 1000 Battle Damage, and Synchro Summoned Black Rose Dragon (4+3=7) to destroy St. Clair’s Bottomless Trap Hole and Mirror Force! He got XX-Saber Faultroll with Darksoul in his End Phase.
St. Clair drew Reinforcement of the Army, adding it to his hand of Fulhelmknight, Gottoms’ Emergency Call, and Trap Stun. He Summoned Fulhelmknight, attacked for 1300 Battle Damage, and ended. “Show me the win. I know you’ve got it: Boggart or Reborn.”
Bellido activated Monster Reborn, bringing back a Fulhelmknight. He Normal Summoned another, Special Summoned XX-Saber Faultroll, and Special Summoned Darksoul with Faultroll’s effect. He Tuned Darksoul to a Fulhelmknight to Synchro Summon Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier (3+3=6) and St. Clair conceded!
Lazaro Bellido is just one victory away from yet another Championship win in Toronto! Could he pull off yet another high-profile win, or would St. Clair finally chalk up his first Championship? We were minutes away from finding out.
St. Clair opened with Book of Moon, Giant Trunade, XX-Saber Fulhelmknight, Nobleman of Extermination, XX-Saber Faultroll, and X-Saber Pashuul. He Set a monster. Set a Spell or Trap, and ended.
Bellido passed.
St. Clair Set a Spell or Trap Card.
Bellido Set a card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone and ended.
St. Clair activated Nobleman of Extermination from his hand, removed Bellido’s Set Mirror Force, and removed his own copy from his Deck. He Normal Summoned XX-Saber Fulhelmknight and contemplated the strong possibility of Bellido having Gorz the Emissary of Darkness. He Flip Summoned Pashuul, Special Summoned XX-Saber Faultroll, and attacked: Pashuul, Fulhelmknight, and Faultroll all made direct attacks, and Bellido didn’t Summon Gorz!
Bellido activated Dark Hole to destroy all 3 of St. Clair’s monsters next turn! He activated Monster Reborn to Special Summon St. Clair’s Pashuul, tried to Summon XX-Saber Boggart Knight, and St. Clair didn’t negate the Summon with Solemn Warning. Bellido tried to Synchro Summon XX-Saber Hyunlei (4+2=6), and now St. Clair activated the Warning to negate that: successfully eliminating both the Boggart Knight and Pashuul. Bellido Set 2 Spell or Trap Cards.
St. Clair Summoned XX-Saber Fulhelmknight and attacked for 1300 Battle Damage.
Bellido Normal summoned Boggart Knight, Special Summoned Fulhelmknight, and St. Clair activated Book of Moon to turn Boggart Knight face-down. But Bellido had Gottoms‘ Emergency Call! He activated it to Special Summon St. Clair’s Pashuul and Fulhelmknight, and attacked with his first Fulhelmknight: St. Clair negated the attack, but Bellido’s next Fulhelmknight attacked, and Bellido activated Enemy Controller, to turn St. Clair’s Fulhelmknight to Defense Position! St. Clair’s mosnter was destroyed, the effect of Bellido’s Fulhelmknight was triggered, and he Special Summoned Boggart Knight! Pashuul and Boggart Knight both made direct attacks, and in Main Phase 2 Bellido Tuned Pashuul and Boggart Knight to Synchro Summon Hyunlei (4+2=6). He wasn’t finished: he Tuned Fulhelmknight to Hyunlei and Synchro Summoned XX-Saber Gottoms (6+3=9). He then Tributed his face-down Boggart Knight and his face-up Fulhelmknight for Gottoms’ effect, making St. Clair discard his last 2 cards: Mind Control and Giant Trunade. St. Clair had nothing but his next draw.
St. Clair drew XX-Saber Faultroll, which was absolutely no help.
Bellido attacked directly one more time to win the Duel, the Match, and the Championship!
Lazaro Bellido wins Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series Toronto!
“I’ve defended home twice,” smiled Bellido, referring to his previous Championship win in Toronto in 2008. “That’s what I wanted to do!” Congratulations to our new YCS winner, Lazaro Bellido!
Post-Event Analysis!
See what our panel of experts had to say about this Duel after the event was over.
Jason Grabher-Meyer (The Old Man of Dueling)
In the first Duel, Bellido wiped the field of monsters with Torrential Tribute and in doing so, he destroyed his own Sangan and Darksoul. Sangan got him Debris Dragon, and the Dragon let him destroy St. Clair’s Mirror Force and Bottomless Trap Hole with Black Rose Dragon. In 2 turns St. Clair had lost virtually everything, and Bellido capitalized to take the win.
Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
Debris Dragon was a good inclusion in Bellido’s Deck. Using Debris Dragon to Special Summon XX-Saber Darksoul from your Graveyard is a powerful play that not only lets you clear the field by Synchro Summoning Black Rose Dragon, but also lets you instantly recover by searching your Deck for an X-Saber to add to your hand in the End Phase, thanks to Darksoul’s effect.
Click here to check out the next feature match.
