Fifteen Rounds of competition and an entire year of qualifying events has all come down to this: 292 Duelists have been whittled down to just two, and by the end of this Match, one of them will be the new South American Champion.  The winner here takes it all: an extra copy of Minerva, the Exalted Lightsworn; a 64GB iPad; the title of Champion; and the honor of representing their country and South America as a whole at the 2016 World Championship in August.

Carlos Eduardo Lopez Rangel is Dueling for Colombia, armed with Fire King Kozmos.  His opponent is Argentina’s Joaquin Rinaldi Petroni, playing Dracoslayer Performapals with Majespecter Unicorn – Kirin.  Both of these Decks are tremendously explosive, and can make massive fields on Turn 1 that are virtually impossible to answer.  The early game was going to be clutch, and one misstep could easily become the downfall of either Duelist.  Each needed to play flawlessly, and a little help from the Heart of the Cards wouldn’t be bad either.

Petroni opened the Match with Terraforming to search Sky Iris.  He activated Majespecter Unicorn – Kirin as a Pendulum Spell, activated Sky Iris, and used its effect to destroy Kirin, fetching Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn from his Deck.  Petroni activated Master Pendulum, the Dracoslayer and Unicorn as Pendulum Scales, then Pendulum Summoned Kirin and Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer, destroying his two Scales with the Sorcerer’s effect; that got him Performapal Skullcrobat Joker and Performapal Guitartle.  He Normal Summoned Joker to search Performapal Lizardraw, off to a great start.

Petroni activated Performapal Guitartle, then Lizardraw, drawing a card with Guitartle.  He destroyed Lizardraw to get a draw with that, too.  Petroni ended.

Lopez was in trouble: he had Kozmo Tincan; Kozmojo; Kozmo Landwalker; and a whopping three Call of the Haunted.  He Summoned Tincan, Set all four of his Traps, and tried to move to his End Phase, desperate to get stuff into his Graveyard with Tincan to make his Calls live.  Petroni cut him off, attempting to bounce Tincan away with Kirin while taking back his Performapal Skullcrobat Joker.  Lopez Chained Tincan’s effect, Special Summoning Kozmo Landwalker.  This was not looking good for Lopez.

Petroni Summoned Joker to search his Deck for another Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer.  He activated it as a Pendulum Scale, drew again with Guitartle, and destroyed his on-field Sorcerer – the monster – with Sky Iris to get Performapal Odd-Eyes Light Phoenix.  Petroni’s Deck was firing on all cylinders!  He Pendulum Summoned Performapal Lizardraw and Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer, then targeted Lizardraw and Landwalker with Kirin’s effect; Lopez Chained Kozmojo to destroy his Landwalker, banishing Kirin from the game.  He banished Landwalker to Special Summon Kozmoll Dark Lady.

Petroni blew away two of Lopez’s Calls with Mystical Space Typhoon, then Xyz Summoned Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!  He attacked over Kozmoll Dark Lady, then activated his second Terraforming to get Necrovalley!  He activated it, forcing Lopez to play his third Call of the Haunted to bring back Kozmoll Dark Lady then and there.

Lopez drew and activated Terraforming, searching Kozmotown and using it immediately to retrieve his banished Landwalker.  He banished Dark Lady to Summon Landwalker, ran it into Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, and used Landwalker’s effect to transfer the destruction to Kozmotown.  That triggered its search effect and got Lopez Kozmojo, which he Set.  He was still hanging on, but only barely.

Petroni Tributed his Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon for Majespecter Unicorn – Kirin!  He Pendulum Summoned Master Pendulum, Performapal Odd-Eyes Light Phoenix, and Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer, then attacked Kozmo Landwalker.  The Kozmojo wasn’t going to be enough to save Lopez and he immediately conceded to get to Game 2!

Colombian Carlos Eduardo Lopez Rangel hits an insanely poor opening with triple Call of the Haunted and can’t get his Kozmo Tincan going to bring them online!  Argentina’s Joaquin Rinaldi Petroni does an expert job of keeping Lopez down, controlling the first Duel and taking a quick, methodical win.

If Petroni could do that one more time, he’d become the 2016 South American Champion and punch his ticket to the World Championship.  But Lopez wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

Petroni opened with Magical Abductor, then activated Sky Iris to place a counter on it.  He activated Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer as a Pendulum Spell, destroyed it with Iris, and searched his Deck for Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn.  He activated it, then searched his Deck for Majespecter Unicorn – Kirin with Abductor’s effect. He activated Draco Face-Off next, presenting Lector Pendulum, the Dracoverlord and Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer, Special Summoning Luster Pendulum and sending Lector Pendulum to his Extra Deck.  Petroni Pendulum Summoned Sorcerer, Lector Pendulum, and Kirin, and blew his Scales with Sorcerer to search Performapal Lizardraw and Performapal Guitartle.

Petroni Synchro Summoned Ignister Prominence, the Blasting Dracoslayer, Special Summoned Master Pendulum, the Dracoslayer, and overlaid Lector Pendulum and Master Pendulum for Majester Paladin, the Ascending Dracoslayer.  He detached Master Pendulum to return Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer to the field with Majester Paladin’s ability, activated Guitartle, and drew a card by activating Lizardraw.  He popped Lizardraw for another card, Normal Summoned Master Pendulum and Contact Fused for Dinoster Power, the Mighty Dracoslayer!  Petroni brought back Master Pendulum, then overlaid Dinoster Power and Ignister Prominence to Xyz Summon Number 38: Hope Harbinger Dragon Titanic Galaxy!  He Set one card to his back row, ended, and searched his Deck for Performapal Skullcrobat Joker.

Lopez had two Twin Twisters; two Kozmo Slipriders; Kozmo Soartroopers; and Kozmo Delta Shuttle.  What do you even do against a field like Petroni’s?  Lopez activated Twin Twisters to pitch Kozmo Sliprider, destroying Petroni’s Book of Eclipse.  He Set the other Twin Twisters, Summoned Kozmo Soartroopers and ended.  Petroni activated Kirin’s effect in the End Phase targeting Soartroopers.  Lopez banished it to Special Summon Kozmo Sliprider, destroyed Petroni’s Guitartle with it, and ended.

And just like that it was over.

Petroni activated Archfiend Eccentrick to destroy Lopez’s second Twin Twisters, Normal Summoned Performapal Skullcrobat Joker to get Performapal Monkeyboard, and Lopez tapped out then and there!   There was nothing he could do to get over Petroni’s astounding field, and he was the first to shake the new South American Champion’s hand.

Argentina’s Joaquin Rinaldi Petroni wins the 2016 South American World Championship Qualifier with Dracoslayer Performapals, locking in his ticket to the World Championships in August!