Carlos Navarro and Honorable Henry Vi are both 5-1 in the tournament. Navarro is using a Gladiator Beast Deck without Test Tigers in it, strengthened by Storm of Ragnarok thanks to the addition of 2 copies of Forbidden Lance. He dropped his Deck down to a single copy of Trap Stun and Seven Tools of the Bandit, and so far, that trade-off is paying off for him. Honorable Henry Vi is running a Six Samurai Deck, of course also bolstered by the release of Storm of Ragnarok. Vi is hoping to finish Navarro off quickly, before his Gladiator Beast Deck can take control of the Duel.

Navarro opened up with Call of the Haunted, Mirror Force, Thunder King Rai-Oh, Gladiator Proving Ground, Book of Moon, and Bottomless Trap Hole. He Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh and Set 4 cards to his back row before ending his turn.

Vi Set a card to each zone and passed.

Navarro drew Forbidden Lance next turn. He wasn’t able to activate his Gladiator Proving Ground since he had Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh on his last turn, and instead attacked Vi’s face-down Legendary Six Samurai – Kageki with Thunder King Rai-Oh. He lost 100 Life Points in the exchange. He Set Forbidden Lance and ended his turn.

Vi Normal Summoned Hand of the Six Samurai next turn and Tributed Kageki to destroy Thunder King Rai-Oh with Hand’s effect. Navarro Chained Bottomless Trap Hole to remove Hand of the Six Samurai from the Duel. In Vi’s End Phase, Navarro flipped Call of the Haunted to try to Special Summon Thunder King Rai-Oh back from his Graveyard, but Navarro Chained Solemn Judgment and paid half of his Life Points to negate it.

Navarro drew Book of Moon next turn. He activated Gladiator Proving Ground and searched his Deck for a copy of Gladiator Beast Laquari to add to his hand. He Summoned it to the field and then attacked directly, dropping Vi down to 2200 Life Points. He Set Book of Moon to his Spell and Trap Card Zone before ending his turn.

Vi activated Shien’s Smoke Signal next turn. He searched his Deck for Legendary Six Samurai – Kageki and added it to his hand. Then he Normal Summoned Kagemusha of the Six Samurai. Navarro flipped Book of Moon to put Kagemusha face-down before Navarro could Special Summon another Samurai.

Navarro drew and Summoned Gladiator Beast Retiari next turn. He Attacked Kagemusha with Laquari and Retiari, and then tagged out Retiari to Special Summon Gladiator Beast Bestiari from his Deck. Bestiari destroyed Vi’s face-down Shien’s Smoke Signal with its effect. Then Navarro tagged out Gladiator Beast Laquari to Special Summon Gladiator Beast Murmillo, and used its effect to destroy Kagemusha.

Vi activated Dark Hole next turn, but Navarro Chained Forbidden Lance to protect his Bestiari. Only Murmillo was destroyed. Vi Normal Summoned Legendary Six Samurai – Kageki next, and Navarro activated Book of Moon to put it face-down.

Navarro drew Solemn Judgment next turn. He attacked Kageki with Gladiator Beast Bestiari and then tagged out Bestiari to Special Summon Gladiator Beast Laquari from his Deck in Attack Position. He Set Solemn Judgment before ending his turn.

Vi activated Six Samurai United next, but Navarro flipped Solemn Judgment and paid 3400 Life Points to negate it. Navarro Special Summoned 2 copies of Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan in Attack Position next, and tried to attack Laquari with one of them, but Navarro flipped Mirror Force to take down both copies of Kizan.

Navarro drew Gladiator Beast Retiari next turn and Summoned it. He attacked Kageki with his 2100 ATK Laquari, and then attacked directly with Retiari, dropping Vi down to just 1000 Life Points. Retiari tagged out and a Defense Position Gladiator Beast Hoplomus tagged in.

Vi Set a card to his back row and passed.

Navarro attacked with Gladiator Beast Laquari next turn, but lost it to Mirror Force. Navarro Set a Dust Tornado before passing back to Vi.

Vi Set a monster and ended his turn.

Navarro switched his Hoplomus to Defense Position and attacked Vi’s face-down Kagemusha. He lost 1100 Life Points, but Navarro was able to tag-out his Retiari and Special Summon a 2100 ATK Laquari in its place. He Set Gladiator Beast War Chariot and ended his turn.

Vi activated Shien’s Smoke Signal next turn. He activated it to search his Deck for Kageki, and then Normal Summoned it. He Tuned it with Kagemusha and Synchro Summoned Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En. Shi En attacked and destroyed Laquari, concluding Vi’s turn.

Navarro Set Gladiator Beast Darius next turn to stay alive in the Duel.

Vi attacked and destroyed Darius with his Shi En. Then he Set a back row and ended his turn.

Navarro activated Dust Tornado next turn to destroy Vi’s face-down Solemn Warning, then activated Monster Reborn to try to revive Gladiator Beast Laquari. But Vi activated his Shi En’s effect to negate the Reborn.

On his next turn, Vi attacked directly with Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En, wiping out Navarro’s remaining 1900 Life Points.

Honorable Henry Vi comes back from behind to steal a victory with Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En! Carlos Navarro will be going first in Duel 2!

Navarro opened up with Cyber Dragon, Book of Moon, Torrential Tribute, Dust Tornado, Gladiator Proving Ground, and Forbidden Lance. He activated Gladiator Proving Ground to search his Deck for Gladiator Beast Laquari and Summoned it to the field. Then he Set 4 cards to his back row and ended his turn.

Vi started off his turn by activating Gateway of the Six. Then he Normal Summoned Legendary Six Samurai – Kageki and activated its effect. Navarro Chained Dust Tornado to destroy the Gateway, and Vi Special Summoned Kizan from his hand with the effect of the Kageki. Vi Special Summoned another copy of Kageki from his hand next. Navarro flipped Torrential Tribute to wipe out all 3 of Vi’s Samurais, along with his own Laquari.

Navarro drew Call of the Haunted next turn and Set it.

Vi Set a back row and passed. In his End Phase, Navarro flipped Call of the Haunted to revive Gladiator Beast Laquari.

Navarro drew Gladiator Beast Bestiari next turn and Summoned it. He attacked with Bestiari, and Vi flipped Mirror Force. When Navarro Chained Forbidden Lance to save Laquari, Vi Chained Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Call of the Haunted and make sure Gladiator Beast Laquari went to the Graveyard.

Vi drew a card and passed his turn with an open field.

Navarro drew Gladiator Beast Hoplomus next turn and Summoned it. He attacked directly, dropping Vi down to 6300 Life Points, and then tagged out for Equeste, returning Bestiari to his hand with Equeste’s effect.

Vi once again passed with an empty field.

Navarro drew Bottomless Trap Hole and then Summoned Gladiator Beast Bestiari to the field. Bestiari and Equeste attacked directly, dropping Vi down to 4200 Life Points. Navarro tagged out his monsters for Gladiator Beast Darius and Gladiator Beast Murmillo. Darius Special Summoned Laquari from Navarro’s Graveyard, and then Murmillo hit the field. Navarro didn’t realize Murmillo’s effect was mandatory, so he targeted his own Darius and activated Book of Moon to put it face-down so that he could save it. In Main Phase 2, Navarro fused all 3 of his Gladiator Beasts together to Summon Gladiator Beast Heraklinos.

Vi activated Smashing Ground next turn to destroy Gladiator Beast Heraklinos, and Navarro pitched a Cyber Dragon from his hand to negate it. Next, Vi activated Dark Hole to take the Heraklinos down. Navarro was out of cards to discard. Vi Normal Summoned Kageki and activated its effect next, Special Summoning Hand of the Six Samurai from his hand. Navarro activated his last card, Bottomless Trap Hole, to remove the Hand from the Duel. He was left with nothing in his hand or on his field. Vi had no cards in his hand either, but had a Kageki in Attack Position.

Navarro drew Gladiator Beast Laquari next turn! It was just what he needed. He attacked over Vi’s Kageki with his Laquari and then tagged out for Darius. He used the effect of Darius to Special Summon Gladiator Beast Heraklinos from his Graveyard.

When Vi drew his next card, he instantly conceded. It couldn’t protect his 2600 Life Points from the attacks of Darius and Heraklinos.

Honorable Henry Vi will be going first in Duel 3!

Vi started things off by Setting 4 cards to his back row.

Navarro opened up with 2 copies of Gladiator Proving Ground, Mystical Space Typhoon, Dust Tornado, Book of Moon, and Gladiator Beast Bestiari. He activated Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Vi’s face-down Musakani Magatama, and then activated Gladiator Proving Ground to search his Deck for Gladiator Beast Laquari. He Summoned it to the field and attacked, but Vi flipped Mirror Force to destroy it. Navarro Set Book of Moon and Dust Tornado before ending his turn, and in his End Phase, Vi flipped Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy the Book of Moon.

Vi activated 2 copies of Gateway and then Summoned Kageki with no other cards in his hand. Navarro activated Dust Tornado to destroy a Gateway before Vi could remove 4 Bushido Counters from his side of the field. Kageki attacked for 200 points of damage.

Navarro Summoned Thunder King Rai-Oh next turn and attacked Kageki with it. He Set Gladiator Proving Ground and passed.

Vi activated Dark Hole and passed.

Navarro drew Bottomless Trap Hole and then Summoned Gladiator Beast Bestiari. He attacked with Bestiari and tagged out, Special Summoning Gladiator Beast Equeste from his Deck. Navarro used Equeste’s effect to return Laquari from his Graveyard to his hand. He Set Bottomless Trap Hole before ending his turn.

Vi drew Reinforcement of the Army next turn and activated it to search his Deck for Kagemusha of the Six Samurai. He Summoned Kagemusha and added 2 Bushido Counters to his Gateway of the Six, for a total of 4 Counters. He removed all 4 Counters to search his Deck for Grandmaster of the Six Samurai and Special Summoned it to the field. Navarro flipped Bottomless Trap Hole to remove Grandmaster from the Duel, and Grandmaster’s effect activated to return Kageki to Vi’s hand.

Navarro drew Dark Hole next turn and then flipped his face-down Gladiator Proving Ground. He searched his Deck for Gladiator Beast Bestiari and added it to his hand. He attacked Kagemusha with Gladiator Beast Equeste and then Summoned Gladiator Beast Bestiari in Main Phase 2. He fused Bestiari with Equeste to Summon Gladiator Beast Gyzarus and destroy Vi’s Gateway and face-down Rivalry of Warlords. Navarro Set Dark Hole and passed.

Vi Set a monster and ended his turn, with no other cards on the field and only 1 card in his hand.

Navarro Summoned Gladiator Beast Laquari next turn. He attacked Vi’s face-down Kageki with Gladiator Beast Gyzarus and then attacked directly with Laquari, dropping Vi down to 1800 Life Points. Gyzarus tagged out to Summon Gladiator Beast Laquari and Gladiator Beast Darius in its place, and in Main Phase 2, Navarro fused both copies of Laquari with Darius to Fusion Summon Gladiator Beast Heraklinos!

Vi activated Six Samurai United next turn and Navarro discarded the last card in his hand to negate it. Then Navarro activated his last card, Smashing Ground, to destroy Heraklinos.

Navarro drew Cyber Dragon next turn and passed.

Vi drew and activated Shien’s Smoke Signal to search his Deck for Hand of the Six Samurai and add it to his hand. He Summoned it and attacked Navarro directly.

Navarro drew Smashing Ground next turn. Vi only had 1800 Life Points remaining! He activated Smashing Ground and then reeled, noticing he could’ve Summoned Cyber Dragon first, to win the Duel.

Vi drew Bottomless Trap Hole and Set it in his Spell and Trap Card Zone.

Navarro drew Gladiator Beast Murmillo and attacked on his next turn, dropping Vi down to 1000 Life Points. He tagged out Murmillo to Special Summon Darius from his Deck, and targeted the Gladiator Beast Heraklinos in his Graveyard with Darius’s effect. Vi activated his face-down Bottomless Trap Hole to remove Darius from the Duel, and then Heraklinos hit the field. Since Darius was no longer in play, Heraklinos even had its effect!

Vi drew a card and Set Kagemusha next turn, with no other cards on the field or in his hand.

Navarro drew Torrential Tribute and then attacked and destroyed Kagemusha with his Heraklinos.

Vi drew a card and Set it to his back row on his next turn, but it couldn’t save him! Navarro attacked directly with Heraklinos to finish off the Duel in style!

Carlos Navarro defeats Honorable Henry Vi in a close 2-1 victory, moving on with a 6-1 record using Gladiator Beasts!