Gong faces his first opponent, Grizzlepike Jones. Grizzlepike is a former disciple of the Steadfast Dueling school where Gong trains, and was once a star pupil before he was kicked out. A bully who will win at any cost, Grizzlepike taunts Gong that he's had minions of his abduct Yuya, and Gong cannot save him if he wants to duel him. Distressed and angered, Gong fights to stay true to his ideals of Steadfast Dueling and outsmart Grizzlepike's strategy of seizing control of enemy monsters. When Yuya arrives, having saved himself, Gong uses a Tuner monster that can combine with enemy monsters to summon his Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo and win the duel.
This episode provides examples of:
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Grizzlepike's ace monster is Battleguard Shaman, which can do this to an opposing monster.
- Break Them by Talking: Grizzlepike's initial plan was putting Yuya into a trap in order to make Gong worry more for his friend's safety than for the duel and constantly taunt him about his inability to go to help Yuya, in order to make Gong easy to read. Not to mention that he actually enjoyed seeing Gong in such "pathetic" state.
- Call-Back: Grizzlepike's deck uses Battleguards, much like Ishijima had. Given his clothes and repeated reference to Yuya's dad, it's possible Grizzlepike was a fan of his.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Grizzlepike first showed up in a flashback as a random bully. Now he's back, and in the championships.
- Distressed Dude: Grizzlepike attempts to have his thugs do this to Yuya. Read attempt. He defeats all four of them, still thinking that the entire thing is about Gong's sash being stolen.
- Mugging the Monster: A very downplayed example, but four nameless, non-descript goons attacking the main character never really stood a chance.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Yuya manages to defeat Grizzlepike's four goons by himself, offscreen
