"A New Rival" is the one-hundredth and eighteenth episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.
After Leo has an encounter with Team Taiyo, he requests for Yusei and Bruno to help them. Meanwhile Jack, Crow and Akiza gather in an Exhibition Match where Team Ragnarok also is.
Summary[]
As he is running to meet Team 5D's, Leo has a run-in with the team called Team Taiyo, led by Taro Yamashita. They have come from the countryside of Japan to fight in the WRGP, pooling their time, effort and limited resources to buy a nearly-junk Duel Runner and get it working again. They have already been declared the winners of their Preliminary Block and are to participate in the Tournament Finals, but their one D-Wheel was damaged by the hordes of Diablo, and it is barely functional.
Yoshizo wants to get Yusei's autograph, and Leo offers the assistance of Yusei to repair their Duel Runner, but the team seems hesitant to become indebted to their rivals. Jinbei in particular overrides Leo's insistence, but as Leo walks away, he sees workmen repairing the damage to the city from the Diablo attacks. He then overhears Team Taiyo trying and failing to get their Machine Day Breaker working again.
The next day, Leo goes to Yusei, explaining their situation and saying that he can't just leave it at that. Yusei understands, and Bruno expresses interest in seeing a handmade D-Wheel. With that, they all go to meet Team Taiyo, finding them at a park. Team Taiyo has made no progress, but when Leo renews the offer, Jinbei still wants for them to be able to handle it on their own. Even so, Taro reflects how he didn't know if they'd win their first duel, yet they did. He wondered if it was dumb luck, but they kept winning. It might make sense to stay just on their own, but he wants to see how they can do in the finals. Jinbei relents, and Bruno and Yusei go to work.
Meanwhile, Jack, Crow and Akiza go to watch the Exhibition Duel of Team Ragnarok, who are famous for wielding the 3 Aesir of the Stars. The match will be a ground duel, and Dragan is allowed to choose any duelist from any of the teams in attendance as his opponent. With a flourish, he chooses Jack, and the Duel commences.
Jack immediately summons Red Dragon Archfiend, but Dragan uses his heedless attack as an opportunity to Synchro Summon his strongest monster, Thor, Lord of the Aesir. As the demonic dragon and the northern god clash, the sky grows dark, and the arena trembles with the force of an earthquake. Hastily, Lazar stops the duel to avoid more damage, and though he maintains his stern face, Jack is left mildly impressed by the powers of Team Ragnarok.
As the repairs continue, it becomes apparent that Team Taiyo's Machine Day Breaker is partly held together with scraps and garbage. Even Bruno is unable to tell for what reason some of the "parts" were installed, but Team Taiyo is surprised when Yusei is able to identify and justify each of the substitutions. He further amazes them by saying that his first Duel Runner was also built of whatever items he could find. But he remembers that, even from the backwaters of Satellite, he found the hope to move on. Also during the repairs, Yoshizo realizes he left his notebook behind, so he asks if Yusei could sign his Deck. When he holds out the cards, the 5D's crew is surprised to see that they are all Normal Monsters of very low level and low power. Jinbei promptly gets Yoshizo to stop showing his cards, as the two teams might wind up dueling, and that would give 5D's an advantage.
Soon enough, the job is finished, and Yoshizo starts the Duel Runner up. It even sounds different, and when he gets going, he eagerly notes that its acceleration has improved, and it's more stable to boot. He swings it around 180 degrees, skidding to a stop before accelerating again right past his astounded friends, who wonder if it's really the same Duel Runner. The two teams part, with Yusei and the others having gotten Taiyo's gratitude and the promise that, if they face each other, they can duel without regrets.
Soon enough, the finals begin. 5D's sees that Team New World is in the other block, so they will have to make it to the final round in order to face them. But for this first round, they are surprised to see that their opponents are none other than Team Taiyo!
Featured Duel: Jack Atlas vs. Dragan[]
Turn 1: Dragan
Dragan draws "Tanngrisnir of the Nordic Beasts" and subsequently Normal Summons it (3/1200/800) in Attack Position. He then sets a card.
Turn 2: Jack
Jack draws "Vice Dragon". Since Dragan controls monsters, but Jack doesn't, he Special Summons "Vice Dragon" from his hand in Attack Position by halving its original ATK and DEF (5/2000 → 1000/2400 → 1200). Jack then Normal Summons "Dark Resonator" (3/1300/300) in Attack Position. Jack then tunes "Vice Dragon" with "Dark Resonator" in order to Synchro Summon "Red Dragon Archfiend" (8/3000/2000) in Attack Position.
"Red Dragon Archfiend" attacks and destroys "Tanngrisnir of the Nordic Beasts" (Dragan 4000 → 2200). The effect of "Tanngrisnir of the Nordic Beasts" then activates, Special Summoning two "Nordic Beast Tokens" (3/0/0 for both) in Defense Position. Jack sets a card.
Turn 3: Dragan
Dragan draws "Guldfaxe of the Nordic Beasts". Since Jack controls a Synchro Monster, Dragan Special Summons "Guldfaxe of the Nordic Beasts" (4/1600/1000) in Attack Position. Dragan then tunes his two "Nordic Beast Tokens" with "Guldfaxe of the Nordic Beasts" in order to Synchro Summon "Thor, Lord of the Aesir" (10/3500/2800) in Attack Position. "Thor, Lord of the Aesir" attacks "Red Dragon Archfiend".
The shockwave created by the collison between "Thor" and "Red Dragon Archfiend" starts destroying parts of the arena's surroundings. Lazar calls the Duel off to prevent any further damage.
Featured Cards[]
The following cards appeared in this episode. Cards in italics debuted here.