This is it – the road to the World Championship ends here! Mathias Rivadeneira, from Ecuador, is using True Draco. He’s facing Peruvian Duelist Diego Romero and his Pendulum Deck. Only one Duelist can move on from here – it’s time to Duel!

Duel 1

Rivadeneira started by Setting True Draco Apocalypse and Tributing it for Majesty Maiden, the True Dracocaster. He then played Disciples of the True Dracophoenix, using its effect to Tribute it for Ignis Heat, the True Dracowarrior. He Set one back row card.

Romero had a hand of Supreme King Dragon Darkwurm, Mythical Beast Jackal King, Harmonizing Magician, Abyss Actor – Curtain Raiser, Black Fang Magician, and Speedroid Passinglider. He Special Summoned Curtain Raiser, and Normal Summoned Darkwurm. He added Supreme King Gate Zero to his hand, then Link Summoned Heavymetalfoes Electrumite. It put Chronograph Sorcerer in his Extra Deck. He then played Gate Zero and targeted it with Electrumite. Rivadeneira responded by flipping True King’s Return, Tributing it to play Dinomight Knight, the True Dracofighter. Electrumite resolved, adding Chronograph Sorcerer to Romero’s hand. In a new Chain, Romero activated Chronograph from his hand and Electrumite on the field, and True King’s Return targeted Electrumite for destruction. Electrumite went down, Chronograph Special Summoned itself and Passinglider, and Romero drew Dragon Shrine. Rivadeneira added another Ignis Heat to his hand with Majesty Maiden. Romero used Passinglider and Chronograph to Link Summon another Electrumite, then Tributed Apocalypse to play Ignis Heat. Electrumite was still able to put a Chronograph in the Extra Deck before it was destroyed by Apocalypse. Romero played Dragon Shrine, and Rivadeneira used Ignis Heat to add Disciples to his hand. Romero sent Darkwurm to the Graveyard. He Special Summoned it, and Rivadeneira used his other Ignis Heat to get True Draco Heritage. Romero played Jackal King and Black Fang in his back row – he Pendulum Summoned Chronograph from his Extra Deck but couldn’t do more without any Link Monsters in play. He thought a moment before conceding the first Duel!

Duel 2

Romero began with Harmonizing Magician, two Curtain Raisers, Wisdom-Eye Magician, and D/D Savant Kepler. He Special Summoned Curtain Raiser and Normal Summoned Kepler, which added Dark Contract with the Gate to his hand. He Link Summoned Electrumite, placing Chronograph in his Extra Deck. He activated Dark Contract next, adding D/D/D Rebel King Leonidas to his hand. He played Curtain Raiser in his Pendulum Zone, and activated Electrumite to destroy it. He added Chronograph to his hand, then Special Summoned it along with Leonidas, then drew Mythical Beast Jackal King. He used Chronograph and Leonidas to play another Electrumite, which placed Gate Zero in his Extra Deck. He played Wisdom-Eye and Harmonizing in his back row, using Wisdom-Eye to put Oafdragon Magician on the field. Electrumite destroyed Harmonizing to add Wisdom-Eye to his hand, and he used its effect again to put Black Fang on the field. Oafdragon added Harmonizing Magician back to his hand. He used his two Electrumites to play Zefra Metaltron. With Metaltron’s Link Arrows, he was now free to Pendulum Summon! He played Gate Zero, Leonidas, Chronograph, and Harmonizing Magician. Harmonizing brought Purple Poison Magician to the field as well. He stacked Gate Zero and Leonidas to play Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon, then used Absolute and Chronograph to play Underclock Taker. Absolute Special Summoned Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon. Romero then stacked Harmonizing and Purple Poison to play Abyss Dweller!

Romero used Abyss Dweller in Rivadeneira’s Draw Phase. Rivadeneira played Dragonic Diagram and Amano-Iwato. He used Diagram to trade True King’s Return for True Draco Apocalypse, despite being unable to use Return’s Graveyard effect due to Abyss Dweller. He played True Draco Heritage and drew one card. He Set two cards in his back row, then Tributed Heritage to play Ignis Heat, the True Dracowarrior. He Set a third card in his back row, and moved to the Battle Phase. Amano-Iwato attacked Abyss Dweller, and Ignis Heat destroyed Zefra Metaltron. Amano-Iwato returned to the hand in the End Phase.

Romero drew Mythical Beast Master Cerberus, and took 1000 damage from Dark Contract with the Gate. Rivadeneira responded with Ignis Heat, adding Disciples to his hand. Romero used Dark Contract to add D/D Savant Thomas to his hand. He Pendulum Summoned Chronograph from his Extra Deck and Jackal King from his hand, and Rivadeneira flipped Skill Drain – Romero negated it with Vortex Dragon. Rivadeneira responded to that by flipping True Draco Apocalypse, Tributing another Set Apocalypse to weaken Romero’s monsters. The Tributed Apocalypse destroyed Vortex Dragon. Romero used Chronograph and Jackal King to play Electrumite, putting Harmonizing Magician in his Extra Deck. Oafdragon added Harmonizing to his hand. He used Black Fang to weaken Ignis Heat. Black Fang was destroyed, and it Special Summoned Purple Poison from the Graveyard. He played Thomas in his Pendulum Zone next, which added Kepler to his hand. Electrumite destroyed Thomas to add Chronograph to Romero’s hand. He used Chronograph’s effect to Special Summon itself and Master Cerberus from his hand, and Electrumite let him draw another Cerberus. He Normal Summoned Harmonizing Magician, stacking it with Purple Poison for Supreme King Dragon Dark Rebellion! Its effect drained the ATK of Ignis Heat, crushing it in battle! His remaining monsters finished things up, and we now are at an even Match!

Duel 3

Rivadeneira started the final Duel with Disciples, Tributing it to play Dinomight Knight. He Set two back row cards.

Romero’s opening hand consisted of Kepler, Master Cerberus, Foolish Burial, Darkwurm, and Dark Contract with the Gate. He drew Evenly Matched! He went to his Battle Phase to play it, and Dinomight Knight added Apocalypse to Rivadeneira’s hand. Evenly Matched then banished everything on the field except Dinomight Knight. In Main Phase 2, Romero used Foolish Burial to put Darkwurm in the Graveyard, and Special Summoned it to get Gate Zero in his hand. He played Master Cerberus, destroying it to add Jackal King to his hand. He played Jackal King, destroying it to Special Summon Master Cerberus. He played Dark Contract and Darkwurm in his back row next. That gave Master Cerberus enough Spell Counters to banish Dinomight Knight! He then used his monsters to Link Summon Electrumite, which put Chronograph in his Extra Deck. Electrumite destroyed Darkwurm to add Chronograph to Romero’s hand. He used Chronograph from his hand, Special Summoning it and Kepler, and drew Master Cerberus with Electrumite. Kepler’s effect searched out another Dark Contract. He used Chronograph and Kepler to play another Electrumite, placing Black Fang in his Extra Deck. He used Dark Contract’s effect next, adding Rebel King Leonidas to his hand. Electrumite destroyed the Dark Contract to add Black Fang to Romero’s hand. He used both Electrumites to play Zefra Metaltron, then played Black Fang and Leonidas in his Pendulum Zones. He Pendulum Summoned two Darkwurms and Jackal King from his Extra Deck, and stacked the dragons to play Abyss Dweller.

Romero used Abyss Dweller at the start of Rivadeneira’s turn. Rivadeneira was unphased, as he Tributed all of Romero’s monsters to hand over The Winged Dragon of Ra – Sphere Mode! He Set two back row cards to finish.

Romero drew D/D Savant Thomas. He Pendulum Summoned Chronograph from his Extra Deck and Gate Zero from his hand, using both to play his last Electrumite. It put another Chronograph in the Extra Deck. He had Electrumite destroy Leonidas to add Chronograph to his hand. He Special Summoned Chronograph and Master Cerberus from his hand, and Electrumite let him draw Evenly Matched. He played Dark Contract and added Kepler to his hand; he Normal Summoned it. He used Kepler and Sphere Mode to play Underclock Taker, and moved to the Battle Phase. Rivadeneira flipped Apocalypse and True King’s Return, using Apocalypse to send Return to the Graveyard and weaken all of Romero’s monsters. Return’s effect in the Graveyard destroyed Master Cerberus. Still, Romero attacked directly with his monsters, leaving Rivadeneira with 5600 Life Points.

Rivadeneira had a second Sphere Mode! Once again, Romero lost all his monsters!

Romero drew Dragon Shrine and took 1000 damage from his Dark Contract. He played Thomas in his Pendulum Zone, adding Kepler to his hand. He Pendulum Summoned Leonidas from his Extra Deck, and Normal Summoned Kepler. His monsters attacked to drop Rivadeneira to 3000 Life Points. In the End Phase, Sphere Mode returned to Rivadeneira’s control.

Rivadeneira played True Draco Heritage, using Apocalypse to destroy it, then destroyed Apocalypse, which destroyed Leonidas. Unfortunately, even with the extended timer for the Finals Match, this intense Match had taken up the entire hour! Romero was ahead in Life Points, giving him the Duel! Even The Winged Dragon of Ra can’t protect against the unforgiving march of time.

Peru’s Diego Romero wins the final Duel, becoming the newest South American Dragon Duel WCQ Winner, and earning a place in the Dragon Duel World Championship in Japan!