We saw Chalana Bel-Air lose in the Feature Match Area yesterday, but he managed to fight through the Swiss rounds with his super cool Performage Challenger Deck with a 9-2 record. He was one of two Duelists to make it into the Top Cut with a similar strategy, but is it strong enough to keep putting up those results? Jonathan Rosario is the one posing that question right now. He finished 9-1-1 in Swiss with his Performage Shaddoll Deck which has been a very popular choice for the weekend. Shaddoll is known for having an advantage against strategies that need the Extra Deck to work effectively, and the Xyz-centric Performage Challenger Deck seems to be one of those.

Both Duelists are fighting for their tournament life as this is now the Single Elimination Top Cut Rounds. Who will move onto the Top 16?

Rosario won the roll and chose for Bel-Air to start.

Duel One:

Bel-Air opened a hand of Instant Fusion, Forbidden Lance, Performage Hat Tricker, and Maxx “C” along with Traptrix Myrmeleo. He Normal Summoned Traptrix Myrmeleo and used its effect to add Bottomless Trap Hole, which he then Set along with Forbidden Lance before he passed.

Rosario started with the Normal Summon of Mathematician, sending Shaddoll Squamata to his Graveyard which then sent Shaddoll Falco. The Shaddoll Falco triggered, Bel-Air Chained Maxx “C”, and when Shaddoll Falco hit play Bel-Air drew Heroic Challenger – Assault Halberd. Rosario Set two to his back row before ending.

Bel-Air drew Mirror Force for turn. He Normal Summoned Heroic Challenger – Assault Halberd and tried to declare an attack on the Set Shaddoll Falco, but lost out to Rosario’s Compulsory Evacuation Device. Bel-Air Set Mirror Force and tried to move to End Phase, but Rosario had Sinister Shadow Games to send Shaddoll Dragon and Flip his Set Shaddoll Falco. The Shaddoll Dragon destroyed the Mirror Force, and Shaddoll Falco brought back the Shaddoll Dragon face down.

Rosario drew and activated Shaddoll Fusion, sending his Shaddoll Dragon and Shaddoll Falco to the Graveyard to Special Summon El Shaddoll Winda. Both the Shaddoll Dragon and the Shaddoll Falco triggered, the Dragon blowing away Bel-Air’s Set Mirror Force. Rosario declared an attack with El Shaddoll Winda on Traptrix Myrmeleo but during the Damage Step Bel-Air used Forbidden Lance to win the Battle. Rosario added Shaddoll Fusion thanks to the effect of El Shaddoll Winda, then Set a back row before he ended.

Bel-Air drew Fiendish Chain for turn. He Normal Summoned Heroic Challenger – Assault Halberd and then Special Summoned Performage Hat Tricker before he overlayed the Performage Hat Tricker along with Traptrix Myrmeleo to Xyz Summon Abyss Dweller. Next, he went to Battle Phase and declared an attack on Mathematician with Heroic Challenger – Assault Halberd, and during the Battle Step tried to use Abyss Dweller but lost out to Rosario’s Set Breakthrough Skill. The Heroic Challenger – Assault Halberd hit and the Mathematician went down, allowing Bel-Air to add Heroic Challenger – Assault Halberd off of the effect of the other copy, as well as Rosario to draw a card. Bel-Air then activated Instant Fusion, Special Summoning Elder Entity Norden, and then used the effect of Elder Entity Norden to Special Summon Traptrix Myrmeleo. He overlayed both for Number 80: Rhapsody in Berserk but when he tried to use its effect Rosario used Effect Veiler. Bel-Air Set Fiendish Chain and ended.

Rosario drew, Flipped his Set Shaddoll Falco to Special Summon Shaddoll Dragon, and then slammed down his Shaddoll Fusion which prompted Bel-Air to respond with Abyss Dweller but Rosario banished his Breakthrough Skill to negate it. The Shaddoll Fusion resolved, and Rosario sent Shaddoll Hedgehog from his Deck along with Shaddoll Dragon from his Field to Special Summon El Shaddoll Winda. Shaddoll Dragon blew away Bel-Air’s ‘Chain and the Shaddoll Hedgehog let Rosario add Shaddoll Falco to his hand. He activated Mind Control next, taking Bel-Air’s Heroic Challenger – Assault Halberd and Synchro Summoning Goyo Guardian using the stolen Monster along with Shaddoll Falco. He declared an attack over Abyss Dweller with Goyo Guardian and over Number 80: Rhapsody in Berserk with El Shaddoll Winda before ending.

Bel-Air drew Performage Damage Juggler and passed.

Rosario drew and immediately banished a LIGHT and a DARK to Special Summon his in hand Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning. He began swinging for game with his Monsters, but Bel-Air used Performage Damage Juggler to mitigate the damage from Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning and stay alive at 900 Life Points.

Bel-Air drew Traptrix Nightmare Trap Hole but it was too little too late and he conceded!

While things seemed like they were going in Bel-Air’s favor, a clutch Breakthrough Skill allows Rosario to push his Shaddoll effects through and take the Duel. Can Bel-Air muster what he needs to win the next two? Or will his tournament end here?

Bel-Air chose for Rosario to go first.

Duel Two:

Rosario started off with El Shaddoll Fusion but Bel-Air opened with Retaliating “C”! He responded to his own Retaliating “C” with Maxx “C”, and Rosario was forced to resolve the Fusion Spell by banishing Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning and Shaddoll Hedgehog from his hand to Special Summon El Shaddoll Construct. The Maxx “C” let Bel-Air draw Performage Trick Clown, and Rosario used the effect of El Shaddoll Construct to send Shaddoll Fusion from his Deck to the Banished. He Set a back row before ending.

Bel-Air opened with Breakthrough Skill, Void Trap Hole, Traptrix Myrmeleo, Foolish Burial, and Performage Trick Clown. He Normal Summoned the Traptrix Myrmeleo, used it to add Bottomless Trap Hole, and then tried to overlay the Traptrix Myrmeleo along with Retaliating “C” for Castel, the Skyblaster Musketeer but lost out to Rosario’s Compulsory Evacuation Device once again. Bel-Air Set all of his traps before ending.

Rosario drew and declared an attack with El Shaddoll Construct, then activated El Shaddoll Fusion during the Battle Phase to Fusion Summon El Shaddoll Winda by using the El Shaddoll Construct and an in hand Shaddoll Squamata as materials. Once the El Shaddoll Winda hit play, Bel-Air had Void Trap Hole to destroy it, but Rosario still got to add back El Shaddoll Fusion thanks to El Shaddoll Construct and send Shaddoll Falco thanks to Shaddoll Squamata. The Shaddoll Falco triggered to Special Summon itself facedown, and Rosario ended.

Bel-Air drew and activated Foolish Burial, he used its effect to send Performage Damage Juggler which he then banished to add Performage Hat Tricker. He Normal Summoned the Performage Trick Clown, then Special Summoned Performage Hat Tricker and overlayed both for King of the Feral Imps he used its effect to add Jigabyte, and the detached Performage Trick Clown Special Summoned itself. He Special Summoned the Jigabyte next and overlayed it with the Performage Trick Clown for Diamond Dire Wolf, which he used to blow itself up along with the Set Shaddoll Falco. The Shaddoll Falco got itself back, but then Bel-Air attacked over it with King of the Feral Imps before he Set Torrential Tribute and ended.

Rosario drew and Normal Summoned Mathematician but lost its effect to Bel-Air’s Breakthrough Skill. He passed without further action.

Bel-Air drew Heroic Challenger – Assault Halberd and then activated King of the Feral Imps to add Jigabyte to his hand. He Normal Summoned the Heroic Challenger – Assault Halberd, declared an attack with it over Mathematician and directly with King of the Feral Imps but forgot to use the effect of his Heroic Challenger – Assault Halberd. He ended his turn.

Rosario drew to three cards, Set two of them to his back row, and ended.

Bel-Air drew a second copy of Heroic Challenger – Assault Halberd and Normal Summoned it. He moved to Battle Phase and attacked with a Heroic Challenger – Assault Halberd but Rosario started going off. He activated Sinister Shadow Games to send Shaddoll Hedgehog, which let him add Shaddoll Squamata. He then used El Shaddoll Fusion, using Shaddoll Beast and Shaddoll Squamata as Fusion Materials, to Special Summon El Shaddoll Winda. However, once the El Shaddoll Winda hit play Bel-Air used Bottomless Trap Hole and Chained Breakthrough Skill to make sure it went away. The Shaddoll Squamata triggered sending Shaddoll Falco, and Shaddoll Beast drew Rosario a card. However, even with all of that he no longer had the defenses to survive the Battle Phase!

An impressive showing by Retaliating “C” allows Bel-Air to completely blow out Rosario! Things were getting tense as both Duelists shuffled, both eager to advance.

They shook hands and wished each other good luck; Rosario chose for Bel-Air to go first.

Duel Three:

Bel-Air opened with a hand of Traptrix Myrmeleo, Performage Damage Juggler, Jigabyte, Foolish Burial, and Void Trap Hole before he Normal Summoned Traptrix Myrmeleo and used its effect to add Bottomless Trap Hole. He Set both Traps before passing the turn.

Rosario Set a Monster along with four back row before he ending.

Bel-Air drew a second copy of Jigabyte for turn. He contemplated for a moment, then chose to try to declare an attack with Traptrix Myrmeleo but that elicited a Sinister Shadow Games from Rosario. He sent Shaddoll Hedgehog and Flipped his Set Shaddoll Squamata, getting to add Shaddoll Falco to his hand and shoot down the opposing Traptrix Myrmeleo. Bel-Air decided to activate Foolish Burial next to send Performage Damage Juggler which he banished to add Performage Trick Clown. Rosario took a moment to consider activating something at resolution, but ultimately chose not to. Bel-Air Normal Summoned the Performage Trick Clown but Rosario Flipped his Set Mind Crush trying to get rid of Performage Hat Tricker from Bel-Air’s hand but he didn’t have one! Rosario had to randomly lose Shaddoll Beast, which netted him a draw, but with the new knowledge he activated his second Mind Crush to rip both Jigabyte from Bel-Air’s hand. Bel-Air was forced to pass.

Rosario drew and Normal Summoned Shaddoll Squamata which caused Bel-Air to try to Bottomless Trap Hole, but Rosario had El Shaddoll Fusion sending the Shaddoll Squamata along with a Shaddoll Falco to Special Summon El Shaddoll Winda. Bel-Air had Void Trap Hole to get rid of the El Shaddoll Winda, but Rosario still got Shaddoll Falco to Special Summon itself and draw a card from the Shaddoll Beast he sent with Shaddoll Squamata. He declared an attack with Shaddoll Squamata on Performage Trick Clown which Bel-Air then activated to Special Summon itself back but took 1000 Life Points. Rosario ended with two back row, a Set Shaddoll Falco, an Attack Positon Shaddoll Squamata, and a single card in hand.

Bel-Air drew Book of Moon for turn and Normal Summoned Performage Damage Juggler and overlayed it with his Performage Trick Clown for Evilswarm Exciton Knight, but when he tried to use its effect Rosario had Breakthrough Skill! He next tried to attack over Shaddoll Squamata with Evilswarm Exciton Knight, but Rosario activated El Shaddoll Fusion to fuse away his Shaddoll Squamata along with an in hand Effect Veiler to Special Summon El Shaddoll Construct. The El Shaddoll Construct and Shaddoll Squamata triggered, sending Shaddoll Core and Shaddoll Fusion. The former added back the latter, and Bel-Air was stopped. Bel-Air redeclared an attack with Evilswarm Exciton Knight into El Shaddoll Construct, which caused the Performage Trick Clown to hit the Graveyard and Special Summon itself back but deal 1000 Life Points to Bel-Air. He then banished the Performage Damage Juggler from his Graveyard to add Performage Trick Clown, which he chose to Special Summon. He overlayed both for Performage Trapeze Magician and Set Book of Moon before he passed it back.

Rosario drew and gave his Graveyard a quick look through before he Flip Summoned Shaddoll Falco, using its effect to Special Summon El Shaddoll Winda facedown. He then activated Shaddoll Fusion, which Bel-Air considered chaining Book of Moon to but ultimately did not. The Shaddoll Fusion resolved and Rosario sent Shaddoll Dragon and Shaddoll Hedgehog from his Deck to the Graveyard to Special Summon El Shaddoll Winda. The Shaddoll Hedgehog triggered to add Shaddoll Falco, and when the Shaddoll Dragon went to pop this Set back row Bel-Air chose to Chain Book of Moon on the freshly Summoned El Shaddoll Winda. Rosario wanted to add more pressure as he Normal Summoned Mathematician and sent Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress from his Deck to the Graveyard. He put both his El Shaddoll Construct and Shaddoll Falco to the Graveyard to Synchro Summon Leo, Keeper of the Sacred Tree which let him add back El Shaddoll Fusion from the El Shaddoll Construct. He activated that El Shaddoll Fusion, fusing away his two El Shaddoll Winda for a third copy! He added back Shaddoll Core and El Shaddoll Fusion thanks to both copies of El Shaddoll Winda. Rosario moved tp Battle Phase and declared an attack with Leo, the Keeper of the Sacred Tree over Performage Trapeze Magician. Bel-Air activated the effect of Performage Trapeze Magician when it hit the Graveyard; he Special Summoned Performage Damage Juggler in Defense Mode which was then destroyed by Mathematician. Rosario attacked directly with El Shaddoll Winda to put Bel-Air down to 3600 Life Points. He Set two to his back row before ending.

Bel-Air drew Maxx “C” for turn and gave a laugh. He banished his third Performage Damage Juggler to add Performage Trick Clown and Normal Summoned it to attack over Mathematician dealing 100 Life Points and letting Rosario draw a card. During the End Phase Rosario Flipped his Set Shaddoll Core.

Rosario drew and went to Battle Phase to declare an attack over Performage Trick Clown with Leo, Keeper of the Sacred Tree. The Performage Trick Clown triggered but Special Summoned Performage Trapeze Magician from the Graveyard. El Shaddoll Winda made an attack over the Performage Trapeze Magician and then Rosario attacked directly with Shaddoll Core to put Bel-Air down to 650 Life Points. He then activated his Set El Shaddoll Fusion, fusing away the Shaddoll Core and Shaddoll Falco, to Special Summon El Shaddoll Shekhinaga. Bel-Air Chained Maxx “C” to the Fusion Spell, but the Mirror Force he drew off of it was too late!

After an insane set of back and forth Duels, Jonathan Rosario manages to fuse his way to victory with his Shaddoll Deck over Chalana Bel-Air’s Performage Challenger Deck to move onto the Top 16!