The Finals of two of the last four Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series tournaments have both come down to this: two times, Floowandereeze has gone up against Tearlaments; and two times, Tearlaments won the weekend.

Chris LeBlanc defeated Michael Tamez at YCS Minneapolis. Vincenzo Orofino defeated Mario Argiro at YCS Dortmund. And now, Cristian Urena is piloting Tearlaments against Cezar Victor Lopez Coscia’s Floowandereeze.

Could the third time be the charm for Floowandereeze? Let’s find out.

Urena got the Match started with Tearlaments Scream, then activated Instant Fusion to Special Summon Tearlaments Kitkallos. He used its effect as Chain Link 1, and Scream as Chain Link 2: Urena sent two copies of Mudora the Sword Oracle and one Tearlaments Havnis to the Graveyard, then searched Tearlaments Cryme. Urena used Tearlaments Kitkallos’s effect to target itself, Special Summoned Havnis, and sent five cards to the Graveyard: Terraforming, Triple Tactics Talent, Diviner of the Herald, Primeval Planet Perlereino, and Herald of Orange Light. He Set a card to his backrow and ended.

Lopez entered his Main Phase and activated Pot of Prosperity to reveal 6 cards:  Infinite Impermanence, Floowandereeze and the Unexplored Winds, Harpie’s Feather Storm, Book of Moon, Floowandereeze and the Advent of Adventure, and Floowandereeze and the Magnificent Map. He took Map, moved to his Battle Phase, and tried to Evenly Matched, but Urena blocked it with Tearlaments Cryme. Urena sent Havnis to the Graveyard for Cryme, and used its effect to Summon Predaplant Dragostapelia. That triggered Scream’s effect, sending Tearlaments Reinoheart, Kelbek the Ancient Vanguard, and Tearlaments Scheiren to the Graveyard.

Urena sent five cards to the Graveyard for Kelbek’s effect: Keldo the Sacred Protector, Tearlaments Merrli, Scream, Mudora, and Scheiren. Lopez sent Dimension Shifter, Floowandereeze & Robina, Floowandereeze and the Magnificent Map, Evenly Matched, and Pot of Duality. 

Urena Fusion Summoned Tearlaments Kitkallos, then triggered Scream as Chain Link 1, Merrli as Chain Link 2, and Kitkallos as Chain Link 3. He resolved his search, then Fusion Summoned Tearlaments Kaleido-Heart.

Lopez continued: he activated Floowandereeze and the Magnificent Map, revealed Floowandereeze & Robina for Map’s effect, and banished Floowandereeze & Eglen from his Deck. While he did so, Lopez flipped his Deck over and revealed several cards to the Remote Duel camera. This had been an ongoing problem for Lopez over the course of the tournament, and he’d received written Warnings for it previously.

Lopez took the Eglen into his hand and searched his Deck for Floowandereeze & Stri with Robina’s effect. He Normal Summoned Eglen, used its effect, and Urena Chained the effects of Havnis, then Predaplant Dragostapelia targeting the Eglen. Urena sent Agido the Ancient Sentinel to the Graveyard, and both players sent five more cards to the Graveyard: Scheiren, Merrli, Agido, Keldo, and Perlereino for Urena; and Pot of Duality, Pot of Extravagance, Evenly Matched, Harpie’s Feather Storm, and Mist Valley Apex Avian.

Urena used Tearlaments Kaleido-Heart’s effect to spin away Lopez’s Eglen, returning it to his Deck. He Summoned Floowandereeze & Stri, but when he tried to use Stri’s effect targeting Pot of Duality, Urena used his Keldo to shuffle back the target (and both of his own copies of Primeval Planet Perlereino). Cut off from his Stri effect, Lopez was out of Summons and swiftly scooped his cards.

Lopez started the second Duel of the Finals with Pot of Extravagance, banishing 6 cards and chaining Dimension Shifter. He drew 2 cards, activated Floowandereeze and the Magnificent Map, and revealed Robina for Map’s effect. He banished Eglen, Summoned Robina, made Robina Chain Link 1 and Eglen Chain Link 2, got the Eglen to his hand, and searched Floowandereeze & Toccan. At this point a freeze play was called by the table judge.

After a pause in play, the Head Judge arrived at the table to issue a penalty: because Lopez had revealed cards from his Deck to his opponent in the first Duel while he was resolving the effect of Floowandereeze and the Magnificent Map, a penalty needed to be issued. And because Lopez had received warnings previously in the tournament for the same infraction, that penalty needed to be upgraded from a Warning to a Game Loss.

The situation was explained to both Duelists, and Cristian Urena won the second Duel as a result. Since he’d won Game 1 as well, the Match was over and Urena was the winner.

Cristian Urena defeats Cezar Victor Lopez Coscia, winning the Remote Duel YCS!