Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL - Episode 027

A Team Performance, known as "WDC Game Kickoff! The Flame Striker Kakeru" in the Japanese version, is the twenty-seventh episode of the Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL anime. It first aired in Japan on October 17, 2011, and aired in the United States on September 1, 2012.

Summary
The episode starts with the soccer duelist saying that the soccer ball chosen Yuma for their duel (NOTE: he kicked it at Yuma's face in the previous episode) and kicks the ball up saying he has skills for kicking it. Yuma asks if there are cards on the soccer ball, so he tells him to put up his Heart Piece. Yuma introduces himself and the soccer player says his name is Striker which Caswell is surprised that his name is Striker because he heard it before. Yuma and Striker puts on their Duel Disks and Duel Gazers as they start the duel.

Yuma starts first and sets "Gogogo Golem" in Defense Position. Astral explains the effect of "Gogogo Golem" and says that he thought that Yuma is stupid enough to place him in Attack Position which angers Yuma. Striker draws and plays the Field Spell Card; "Stadium of Dreams", changing the scenery to a soccer stadium, everyone's clothing is changed to soccer uniforms (girls wear cheerleader uniforms instead), Caswell and Cathy are commentaries, and augmented reality cheerleaders appear (seen behind Tori). Yuma is surprised of the Field Spell, as "Stadium of Dreams" flips all Face-down Defense mode monsters Face-up. As "Gogogo Golem" is flipped Face-up, he is wearing a soccer uniform.

Next Striker summons "Wing Captain" in Attack Mode and attacks "Gogogo Golem". Yuma says he has more DEF points than the ATK points of "Wing Captain" which Striker activates a Spell Card called "Perfect Pass" which doubles the trouble (doubles the ATK points to 2200) because "Gogogo Golem" has more DEF points but Yuma says that "Gogogo Golem" cannot be Destroyed in Battle once per turn if he is in Defense Position but Striker says "Perfect Pass" negates his ability to be indestructible in battle once which destroys him. A soccer ball aims at Yuma and tries to save it only to fail. Yuma lost Life Points which he says it's unfair because he isn't supposed to take damage because his monster is defending him but Striker says that "Wing Captain" does piercing damage and sets a card, Yuma's friends are cheering for Yuma which he is proud of.

Yuma draws "Gagaga Magician" and summons him (with his soccer uniform) and attacks, Caswell says that "Gagaga Magician" has more ATK than Wing Captain who has his ATK back to 1100 but he ends up getting an offside. Astral says he smells a Trap Card and Yuma says it stinks too because Striker activated "Offside Trap" which negates the goal (battle damage) and his monster isn't destroyed and ends his turn much to Yuma's dismay. Astral has observation #15 which angers Yuma because that observation is an insult to Yuma, then Striker mocks his gameplay and summon "Top Scorer". Astral and Yuma say that's is ought to be illegal because he need to tribute a monster because "Top Scorer" is a Level 5 monster but Striker says that if the has "Stadium of Dreams" card in play, he doesn't need to sacrifice anything. He then attacks "Gagaga Magician" and then attacks directly which he now has 1700LP. He then activates "Eye Contact" which lets him add "Offside Trap" to his hand and sets it.

Astral thinks it's seems to be hopeless and Yuma angrily replies "So that's your advise, things are hopeless thanks a ton coach, way to bring my confidence here!" Striker continues to trash talk him but then, his brothers came in which surprises everyone and Caswell says that they play for Heartland United. Cathy asks why are they here and he tells her that he knows Striker because he is related to them and won more championships than any other teams. Yuma then asks why he is in a Duel tournament and he replies that he isn't anything like his father or his brothers. He also says he hates teamwork. Yuma says that dueling is about teamwork and says that his monsters are his teammates and says all of his cards are a team. Astral says he has a plan to win, teamwork.

Astral tells Yuma to summon "Zubaba Buster" but Yuma is angry at him for stealing his line and summons it. Then Astral tells Yuma to play "Monster Reborn" which Yuma is mad at again for stealing all of his lines and plays it to revive "Gogogo Golem". Striker isn't proud of his moves, then Astral tells Yuma to play "Cross Attack" which allows "Zubaba Buster" attack directly. "Zubaba Buster" then destroys "Wing Captain" which decreases his ATK by 800 for using that effect. Yuma then uses "Extra Blast" which damages Striker by 500LP which evens things up. Yuma then sets a card.

Striker says that he never believes in teamwork because his thinks his teammates are slackers so he decides to win on his own only to lose which the other team makes fun of him for being a bad player but when his teammates help him, he yells at them for being slackers but his brothers are mad at him and tells him he has no business here. So he quits soccer and start trying to prove them wrong but Yuma tells him he's wrong and tells him he still has some passion for soccer which makes him wonder if he is still into it.

He draws and summons Defending Sweeper in Attack Position and it level increases by 1 because he has Stadium of Dreams on the field and then plays All for One. Astral says that he can play that if he has 2 monsters with the same type and level and can Special Summon a monster from the Graveyard with the same type. Striker revives Wing Captain and he says he also gains a level. Yuma realizes he can Xyz Summon, Striker overlays his 3 Level 5 monsters and builds the overlay network and Xyz Summons Playmaker in Attack Mode. Cathy is shocked that Playmaker has 2600 ATK points and Caswell says that that's enough to get Yuma disqualified from the World Duel Carnival.

Striker then attacks Zubaba Buster with Playmaker but Yuma activates Half Unbreak which cuts the damage in half and saves his monsters from being destroyed. Striker detaches an Xyz Material to Attack again but this time, he attacks Gogogo Golem but Yuma reminds him he can survive 1 attack per turn. He detaches another Xyz Material to attack again which destroys Gogogo Golem and detaches his last Xyz Material to attack Zubaba Buster but Half Unbreak protects him but his Life Points are now 100. Tori asks if Yuma's okay but Yuma says he's feeling great because he's winning. Striker says that he has 100LP left but Yuma says that if he believe in his teammates, than he is winning which makes Striker smile.

Yuma draws and summon Gagaga Girl (with her cheerleader uniform) but Striker says that she doesn't have enough ATK points to beat Playmaker but realizes that she and Zubaba Buster are both Level 3 monsters which means he can Xyz Summon. Yuma overlays Gagaga Girl and Zubaba Buster which he created the overlay network and Xyz Summon Muzurhythm the String Djinn. He activates Giant Hunter and equip it to Muzerhythm which disables his Spell and Trap cards during this turn only. Yuma says that if a monster equipped with Giant Hunter attacks another monster, then that monster loses half of his ATK points if he has lewer Life Points. Yuma detaches an Xyz Material to double Muzerhythm's ATK points to 3000 and Attacks Playmaker which reduces Striker's Life Points to 0.

Everyone is happy that Yuma won, as the Argumental Reality vision disappears, everyone is back to their own clothes and Argumental Reality cheerleaders behind Tori disappear too. Striker learns that he's still into soccer and he also learns about the meaning of teamwork. His brothers are proud that he learned about teamwork and welcomes him back to the team. He agrees and won't forget what he learned. Yuma handsakes Striker and during the handshake, he gave a Heart Piece to him which gives Yuma his second Heart Piece.

Featured Duel: Yuma Tsukumo vs. Striker
Turn 1: Yuma

Yuma Sets "Gogogo Golem" (1800/1500).

'''Turn 2: Striker

Striker activates the "Stadium of Dreams" Field Spell Card, forcing "Gogogo Golem" into face-up Defense Position and he Normal Summons "Wing Captain" (1100/1100).

He then activates "Perfect Pass", targeting "Wing Captain". "Wing Captain" attacks "Gogogo Golem", with "Perfect Pass" doubling the ATK of "Wing Captain" and negating the effect of "Gogogo Golem" as "Wing Captain" has lower ATK than the DEF of "Gogogo Golem".

"Gogogo Golem" is destroyed and "Wing Captain" inflicts piercing damage to Yuma as "Stadium of Dreams" is face-up (Yuma 4000 → 3300). Striker Sets a card.

Turn 3: Yuma

Yuma Normal Summons "Gagaga Magician" (1500/1000). It attacks and destroys "Wing Captain", but Striker activates his face-down "Offside Trap", negating the destruction of "Wing Captain" and the Battle Damage from the attack as Striker has no other cards in his Spell & Trap Card Zone.

Turn 4: Striker

Striker Normal Summons "Top Scorer" (2000/100) without a Tribute as "Stadium of Dreams" is face-up. "Top Scorer" attacks and destroys "Gagaga Magician" (Yuma 3300 → 2800) and "Wing Captain" attacks directly (Yuma 2800 → 1700). He activates "Eye Contact", adding "Offside Trap" from his Graveyard to his hand. He Sets "Offside Trap".

Turn 5: Yuma

Yuma Normal Summons "Zubaba Buster" (1800/600). He then activates "Monster Reborn", Special Summoning "Gogogo Golem" (1800/1500) from his Graveyard in Defense Position. He activates "Cross Attack" letting "Zubaba Buster" attack directly since both it and "Gogogo Golem" have the same ATK, though "Gogogo Golem" may not attack this turn (Striker 4000 → 2200).

He then activates the effect of "Zubaba Buster", destroying "Wing Captain" as it has the lowest ATK of the monsters on Striker's field and "Zubaba Buster" inflicted Battle Damage, though its own ATK decreases by 800, to 1000 ATK.

Yuma activates "Extra Blast", inflicting 500 damage to Striker as 1 of his monsters was destroyed via a card effect (Striker 2200 → 1700). He Sets a card.

Turn 6: Striker

Striker draws "All for One" and Normal Summons "Defending Sweeper" (100/2200). Its Level is increased by 1, to 5 as "Stadium of Dreams" is face-up. He activates "All for One". As "Defending Sweeper" and "Top Scorer" are both Level 5 and have the same Type, he may Special Summon a monster from his Graveyard of the same Type as those two monsters and increase its Level by 1. He Special Summons "Wing Captain" from his Graveyard in Attack Position with its Level increased to 5.

He overlays his three Level 5 monsters to Xyz Summon "Playmaker" (2600/2500) in Attack Position. It attacks "Zubaba Buster", but Yuma activates his face-down "Half Unbreak", preventing its destruction by battle this turn and halving any Battle Damage from battles involving it (Yuma 1700 → 900).

Striker activates the effect of "Playmaker", detaching an Overlay Unit to allow it to attack again, though it must target the monster Yuma controls with the highest ATK. It attacks "Gogogo Golem", but its effect prevents its destruction in battle once per turn. Striker activates the effect of "Playmaker" again, detaching another Overlay Unit. "Playmaker" attacks and destroys "Gogogo Golem".

Striker activates the effect of "Playmaker" a third time, detaching the last Overlay Unit. "Playmaker" attacks "Zubaba Buster", with "Half Unbreak" preventing its destruction in battle and halving the Battle Damage (Yuma 900 → 100).

Turn 7: Yuma

Yuma Normal Summons "Gagaga Girl" (1000/800). Yuma overlays his two Level 3 monsters to Xyz Summon "Muzurhythm the String Djinn" (1500/1000) in Attack Position. Yuma equips it with "Giant Hunter", which will prevent Striker from activating Spell and Trap Cards until the end of the Battle Phase.

"Muzurhythm the String Djinn" attacks "Playmaker", with the effect of "Giant Hunter" halving the ATK of the latter monster to 1300 as Yuma's Life Points are lower than his opponent's.

Yuma detaches an Overlay Unit to activate the effect of "Muzurhythm", doubling its ATK to 3000 as it is battling an Xyz Monster. "Playmaker" is destroyed (Striker 1700 → 0).

Featured cards
The following cards appeared in this episode. Cards in italics debuted here.

Trivia

 * In the dub, it is first shown that the Rank Stars in Xyz monsters are located at the center of the stats instead of the left of the stats.