The classics battle of Northern California versus Southern California is what we have in the Feature Match Area for this Round, pitting Carlos Talamantes against Julio Rodas. Carlos Talamantes is piloting a Masked HERO strategy centering around Masked HERO Dark Law, trying to take advantage of its effect to banish his opponent’s cards and deplete their resources. Julio Rodas is one of many Duelists this weekend using Majespecter, a new Pendulum theme from Dimension of Chaos that can quickly snowball its advantage thanks to consistent search effects.

Can Talamantes defend his region of Northern California? Or will Rodas show that Southern California is a force to be reckoned with?

Rodas won the roll and chose to go first.

Duel One:

Rodas started with Terraforming to add Majesty’s Pegasus to his hand before he Normal Summoned Majespecter Raccoon – Bunbuku. He used its effect to add Majespecter Crow – Yata to his hand before placing it along with Majespecter Cat – Nekomata on his Pendulum Scales. He then activated his Majesty’s Pegasus and tributed his Majespecter Raccoon – Bunbuku to Special Summon Majespecter Cat – Nekomata, which he triggered. He then announced he would Pendulum Summon as Majespecter Raccoon – Bunbuku hit the Field from the Extra Deck and Majespecter Fox – Kyubi came into play from his hand. The Majespecter Fox – Kyubi triggered which let him add Majespecter Tempest to his hand which he Set along with another back row. He overlayed his Majespecter Cat – Nekomata and Majespecter Raccoon – Bunbuku in Main Phase 2 for Totem Bird. During the End Phase he added Majespecter Raccoon – Bunbuku to his hand thanks to Majespecter Cat – Nekomata.

Talamantes opened with a hand of Elemental HERO Shadow Mist, Elemental HERO Bubbleman, Mirror Force, Fiendish Chain, and Mystical Space Typhoon before he drew Memory Loss. He Normal Summoned the Elemental HERO Shadow Mist and Set all of his Spells and Traps to his back row before he Special Summoned Elemental HERO Bubbleman. He overlayed both of his Monsters to Xyz Summon Diamond Dire Wolf, but lost out to Rodas’ Majespecter Tempest! Elemental HERO Shadow Mist hit the Graveyard which let Talamantes trigger its effect to add Elemental HERO Blazeman to his hand before he ended.

Rodas drew for turn and during the Draw Phase Talamantes used his Set Mystical Space Typhoon to blow away one of his Pendulum Scales. Rodas moved to Main Phase 1 and tried to Normal Summon Majespecter Raccoon – Bunbuku but lost to Talamantes’s Memory Loss! Rodas continued to press as he activated the effect of Majesty’s Pegasus, using it to tribute his Majespecter Raccoon – Bunbuku to Special Summon Majespecter Cat – Nekomata. He moved to Battle Phase and tried to declare an attack with Totem Bird, but using a combination of Fiendish Chain and Mirror Force Talamantes answered it. Rodas moved to End Phase and added Majespecter Raccoon – Bunbuku to his hand thanks to Majespecter Cat – Nekomata.

Talamantes drew Raigeki for turn and took a look at his opponent’s Extra Deck as he thought. He Normal Summoned Elemental HERO Blazeman and used its effect to send Elemental HERO Shadow Mist to his Graveyard so he could add another copy of Elemental HERO Blazeman to his hand thanks to the Shadow Mist’s effect. Talamantes couldn’t do much else and ended his turn.

Rodas drew and Normal Summoned Majespecter Raccoon – Bunbuku which let him add Majespecter Fox – Kyubi to his hand, which he placed on his Pendulum Scale. He then announced he would Pendulum Summon and brought out Majespecter Crow – Yata, Majespecter Cat – Nekomata, and Majespecter Fox – Kyubi to the Field! Both Yata and Kyubi triggered which let him add Majespecter Tempest and Majespecter Cyclone to his hand. He overlayed both copies of Majespecter Cat – Nekomata for Totem Bird before he moved to Battle Phase and declared attacks with all of his Monsters to put Talamantes down to 2700 Life Points. Rodas Set two cards to his back row and moved to End Phase where he searched Majespecter Tornado thanks to Majespecter Cat – Nekomata.

Talamantes drew Mask Change for turn and thought for a minute before he activated Raigeki, which prompted Rodas to negate it with Totem Bird. He then Normal Summoned Elemental HERO Blazeman and tried to use its effect, but when Rodas Flipped his Majespecter Tempest to negate it Talamantes conceded!

Rodas shows just how powerful an unanswered Majesty’s Pegasus could be as he gained a ton of advantage and made great use of the Pendulum mechanic. Can Talamantes win the back two with his unique HERO Deck? Or will the consistency of Majespecters be too much?

Talamantes chose to go first in after both Duelists had Side Decked.

Duel Two:

Talamantes opened with a hand containing Reinforcement of the Army, Summoner Monk, Elemental HERO Blazeman, Solemn Warning, and Polymerization. He Normal Summoned the Summoner Monk and used its effect, discarding Polymerization, to Special Summon Elemental HERO Shadow Mist from his Deck. The Elemental HERO Shadow Mist triggered letting Talamantes add Mask Change to his hand, which he then Set along with Solemn Warning before he ended.

Rodas drew and announced his phases before he tried to Normal Summon Majespecter Fox – Kyubi which Talamantes let through. However, when Rodas activated the effect of Majespecter Fox – Kyubi, Talamantes responded with Mask Change! Rodas used his Mystical Space Typhoon in response to blow away Talamantes’s Set Solemn Warning. At the resolution of the effect that Rodas used to add Majespecter Tornado, Talamantes used Masked HERO Dark Law to banish Majespecter Crow – Yata from Rodas’s hand. Rodas Set four to his back row before he ended.

Talamantes drew Raigeki for turn and activated the effect of Elemental HERO Blazeman to add Polymerization to his hand. He then used the Polymerization as cost to activate the effect of Summoner Monk, which let him Special Summon Elemental HERO Shadow Mist from his Deck to trigger and add Mask Change. He then considered his options for a moment before he overlayed his Elemental HERO Blazeman and Elemental HERO Shadow Mist for Diamond Dire Wolf. He used the effect of the Xyz to blow itself away and one of Rodas’s back row, which wound up to be Storming Mirror Force! Talamantes moved to Battle Phase and tried to declare an attack with Masked HERO Dark Law, which prompted Rodas to activate his Majespecter Tornado, tributing his Majespecter Fox – Kyubi, to try to banish it, but Talamantes activated his second copy of Mask Change to Summon a second copy of Masked HERO Dark Law using the first! Rodas fell to 5600 Life Points and Talamantes ended his turn.

Rodas drew for turn and Normal Summoned Majespecter Cat – Nekomata. He chose not to activate its effect and ended his turn.

Talamantes drew Summoner Monk, then used the effect discarding Raigeki to Special Summon Elemental HERO Shadow Mist. When he went to activate its effect, Rodas had seen enough and conceded!

Both Duelists looked tense as they shuffled up; Rodas announced he would go first in their final Duel.

Duel Three:

Rodas Normal Summoned Majespecter Raccoon – Bunbuku, and used its effect to add Majespecter Fox – Kyubi. He placed Archfiend Eccentrick on his scale along with Majespecter Fox – Kyubi, then announced a Pendulum Summon to Special Summon Majespecter Fox – Kyubi and Majespecter Crow – Yata. Both of them triggered which let him add Majespecter Cyclone and Majespecter Tempest to his hand; he Set both along with a mystery card before ending his turn.

Talamantes opened with Raigeki, Reinforcement of the Army, Instant Fusion, Mystical Space Typhoon, and Memory Loss before he drew a second copy of Mystical Space Typhoon. He activated one Mystical Space Typhoon blindly, managing to hit Majespecter Tempest before he activated the second copy to blow away an opposing Set Mystical Space Typhoon. Talamantes considered his lines of play, finally deciding to activate Reinforcement of the Army which let him add Elemental HERO Shadow Mist to his hand. He Normal Summoned the HERO and activated Instant Fusion to Special Summon Elder Entity Norden. However, at resolution Rodas chose to use his Set Majespecter Cyclone and blow away Elder Entity Norden by tributing away Majespecter Raccoon – Bunbuku. Talamentas surveyed the Field before he Set Memory Loss and ended.

Rodas drew Mystical Space Typhoon and slammed it down to blow away Talamantes’s single back row! He then announced he would Pendulum Summon the Majespecter Raccoon – Bunbuku from his Extra Deck to add X. He overlayed his Majespecter Fox – Kyubi and Majespecter Crow – Yata for Abyss Dweller before he moved to Battle Phase; he used the effect of the Xyz and then declared attacks with his Monsters to clear away Elemental HERO Shadow Mist and put Talamantes down to 3600 Life Points.

Talamantes slowly drew and saw Greater Horn of Heaven which wasn’t enough!

After some intense back and forth games, Julio Rodas’s Majespecters takes the match over Carlos Talamantes’s HERO Deck to move on 2-0!