We interviewed the Coronel family earlier today, so we’ve already seen Mexican Champion Juan Carlos Coronel once so far in coverage.  But now we’ll see him in action, piloting Qliphorts against Cesar Alvarado Ramos’ Star Seraph Shaddolls.  The kicker?  Coronel and Ramos are close friends, Dueling at the same local stores in Guadalajara!  This would be a friendly Match, but highly competitive: both Duelists are undefeated here in Round 3.

Coronel chose to start the first Duel, with a hand of Upstart Goblin; Pot of Duality; Mystical Space Typhoon; Mirror Force; and Mind Crush.  He activated Upstart to draw Lose 1 Turn, then activated Pot of Duality to reveal Qliphort Stealth, Qliphort Helix, and another Pot of Duality.  He took Helix and shuffled the rest back into his Deck.  Coronel Normal Summoned Helix, then Set everything but Space Typhoon.

Ramos Set two cards to his backrow.

Coronel drew Qliphort Stealth.  He Normal Summoned it, and Ramos destroyed both monsters with Torrential Tribute: they went to Coronel’s Extra Deck.

Ramos Summoned Star Seraph Sovereignty, then revealed another from his hand in a bid to Special Summon it with its effect.  Coronel responded with Mind Crush, calling Sovereignty to discard it before Ramos could Special Summon it.  That revealed Ramos’ hand of Archlord Kristya, Shaddoll Fusion and El Shaddoll Fusion.  Ramos attacked with Sovereignty, and Coronel destroyed it with Mirror Force.

Coronel drew Qliphort Monolith and Set Mystical Space Typhoon.

Ramos Set Shaddoll Core, but Coronel destroyed it with Mystical Space Typhoon in the End Phase.

Coronel drew Qlimate Change and Set it.  He was still struggling with nothing to really do.

Ramos Summoned Mathematician, sending Shaddoll Hedgehog from his Deck to his Graveyard to search Shaddoll Squamata. He made a direct attack with Mathematician, then activated El Shaddoll Fusion still in the Battle Phase to fuse Kristya and Squamat for El Shaddoll Construct.  Coronel protected himself with Lose 1 Turn, forcing Construct into Defense Position.

Ramos used Squamata’s effect to send Shaddoll Beast to the Graveyard, drawing a card with its ability and ending his turn.

Coronel drew another Lose 1 Turn.  He flipped Qlimate Change to retrieve Qliphort Stealth and Qliphort Helix, then Normal Summoned Stealth to run over Mathematician – Ramos got another draw when Mathematician’s effect triggered in the Graveyard.  Coronel Set his second Lose 1 Turn.

Ramos activated Shaddoll Fusion, fusing Effect Veiler and Shaddoll Dragon from his hand for another El Shaddoll Construct.  The Dragon’s effect destroyed Coronel’s face-down Lose 1 Turn, but he still had his first copy face-up and Construct went to defense mode.  Ramos shifted his first Construct to Attack Position and attacked over Stealth.

Coronel drew Pot of Duality.  He activated Qliphort Monolith and Qliphort Helix as Pendulum Spells, then Pendulum Summoned Qliphort Stealth in Defense Position.  He Set Duality.

Ramos turned his second Construct to attack and ran over Stealth with one, then made a direct attack with the other.  He Set a second Spell or Trap, then Set a monster.

Coronel was down to 3000 Life Points, while Ramos had 7700.  He drew and Set Skill Drain, then Pendulum Summoned Qliphort Stealth, again in defense.

Ramos Flip Summoned Shaddoll Falco to Special Summon Shaddoll Dragon face-down from his Graveyard.  When he announced that he was attacking, Coronel knew he couldn’t mount a comeback and instantly conceded, eager to get to Game 2.

Juan Carlos Coronel never manages to see a Qliphort Scout, and despite a valiant effort simply can’t get anything going. Cesar Alvarado Ramos makes some bold high-cost Fusion Summons to press his advantage, taking the First Duel as a result!

Coronel chose to go first, with a hand of Summoner’s Art; Qliphort Helix; Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror; Qliphort Carrier; and The Monarchs Stormforth.  Much better than last time.  He activated Art to search his Deck for Qliphort Scout, then activated it as a Pendulum Spell.  He paid 800 Life Points to activate Scout’s effect, searching his Deck for Saqlifice.  He Normal Summoned Carrier and equipped it with Saqlifice, then Set Mirror Force and Stormforth.

Ramos Set three cards to his backrow, then Set a fourth.

Coronel drew Qliphort Monolith.  He activated Scout’s effect, but Ramos Chained Mistake to prevent searching.  Coronel attacked with his buffed Qliphort Helix and Ramos dropped to 6900 Life Points.

Ramos Set a monster.

Coronel drew Pendulum Impenetrable and attacked with Qliphort Carrier.  He flipped Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror, then destroyed Ramos’ Shaddoll Falco.  Coronel activated Monolith in Main Phase 2, and when Ramos responded with Mystical Space Typhoon on Scout, Coronel Chained Pendulum Impenetrable to keep it from being destroyed!

Ramos Summoned Shaddoll Dragon and attacked Carrier, then flipped Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Saqlifice.  Carrier and Saqlifice were both destroyed.

Coronel drew another Helix, then Pendulum Summoned his Carrier from his Extra Deck along with the Helix from his hand.  He Tribute Summoned another Carrier, Tributing Helix to remove Mistake from the Field, and attacked to destroy Dragon.  He made a direct attack next, then tried to search with Qliphort Scout in Main Phase 2 … but Ramos had another Mistake!  Coronel went to his End Phase and drew another Qliphort Helix with Monolith’s ability.

Ramos pondered his options, eventually activating Soul Charge to revive Falco and Dragon.  That dropped him to 1000 Life Points, and he followed up with El Shaddoll Fusion for El Shaddoll Winda.  He shook his head, folded his arms, and ended his turn.

Coronel drew Summoner’s Art.  He Pendulum Summoned Qliphort Helix from his Extra Deck, then Tributed it for the Helix from his hand, destroying Ramos’ Set Call of the Haunted!  With no defenses left, a string of attacks ended the Duel moments later.

Juan Carlos Coronel battles back in the second Duel, fighting his way through double Mistake and double Mystical Space Typhoon to take a decisive win!  Ramos would get to choose who’d play first in Game 1.

Ramos opted to go first, opening with two Set cards to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.

Coronel had Mirror Force; Soul Transition; Pot of Duality; Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror; Pendulum Impenetrable; and Summoner’s Art.  He activated Duality, but a Chained Mistake from Ramos kept Coronel from claiming any of the revealed cards!  Book of Moon, The Monarchs Stormforth, and Upstart Goblin were all shuffled back into Coronel’s Deck.  Coronel Set Mirror Force, Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror, Pendulum Impenetrable, and Transition.

Ramos Set another card to his backrow.

Coronel drew and Set another Mirror Force.

Ramos Summoned Shaddoll Squamata.  Coronel flipped Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror, and destroyed Squamata with Mirror Force when Ramos attacked.

Coronel destroyed Mistake with Mystical Space Typhoon, then searched Qliphort Scout with Summoner’s Art.  He activated Scout as a Pendulum Spell, then paid 800 Life Points to activate its Pendulum Effect, searching Qliphort Helix from his Deck.  He Normal Summoned it, then Tributed it away for Soul Transition.  He drew Qliphort Monolith and Helix, destroying Ramos’ face-down Shaddoll Fusion with Helix’s effect.

Ramos passed with a blank field and five cards in his hand.

Coronel scored another Summoner’s Art, using it to get another Qliphort Scout.  He activated Qliphort Monolith as a Pendulum Spell, paid 800 Life Points to get Qliphort Disk with Scout’s effect, then Pendulum Summoned two Helix and his second Scout!  He Tributed Scout and Helix for Disk, used its ability to Special Summon a Helix and a Carrier from his Deck, and attacked with Disk, Helix, Carrier, and finally the second Carrier to finish the Duel!

Juan Carlos Coronel escapes a dismal defeat in the first Duel to win two more back-to-back, scoring a dominant win in Game 3.  He’s now undefeated with a 3-0 record.  The two friends immediately clasped hands over the final field, wishing each other all the best in the rounds of competition to come!  A great show of friendship and sportsmanship here at the WCQ.