Round 9’s feature match was between sixteen-year-old Marcial Bode of Tampa, Florida, representing Team Alpha, and Paul Levitin, a fifteen-year-old from Brooklyn, New York here with Team Scoop. Both players were undefeated, so they took the matchup very seriously. Marcial won the high roll, and chose to go first. After drawing his card, he set one spell or trap and ended. Paul followed, setting one spell or trap.

This style of play continued for several turns until Paul activated Confiscation. After looking over Marcial’s hand, Paul took away his Cyber Dragon. Paul set another monster, and ended his turn. Marcial set a monster and also ended.

Paul summoned Mystic Swordsman LV2 and attacked Marcial’s facedown monster to reveal Magician of Faith. He then activated Swords of Revealing Light and ended his turn. Both players made rapid, assured moves, confident in their decks and secure in their ability to play them. Marcial activated his own Confiscation, quickly selecting Paul’s Mobius the Frost Monarch, and set some additional spell or trap cards. With no monster protecting him, Paul was able to attack directly with Mystic Swordsman LV2 for 900 damage.

Marcial drew and summoned D. D. Survivor, banking on its raw ATK value to protect him. Paul drew, looked at his hand for a moment, activated Smashing Ground to drop the Survivor, but hit a surprise—Marcial flipped Call of the Haunted to bring Magician of Faith back to the field, and the Smashing Ground hit it instead! The incredibly low ATK value of D. D. Survivor saved it!

Swords of Revealing Light was soon gone, but both players passed their turns. Paul attempted to press a bit next turn, summoning Zombyra the Dark, but it was quickly swallowed up by Bottomless Trap Hole.

His opponent tried to press his advantage on the following turn, over-extending at a lightning-fast pace and attacking with Spirit Reaper. However, Paul flipped Scapegoat, pulling Marcial up short. Marcial fired back by summoning Don Zaloog, sending it right into the Spirit Reaper that Marcial had attempted to use on the attack. It cost Marcial his Nobleman of Crossout.

The format’s signature card, Smashing Ground, then wrecked Don Zaloog, keeping Marcial alive in terms of hand presence. The Reaper picked off a Sheep token, leaving Paul with one. He brought out another D.D. Survivor next turn, and ran it into the Reaper. Call of the Haunted then brought Don Zaloog back to the land of the living, and Marcial lost another card along with a hearty chunk of life points. With a commanding presence, Paul ended his turn.

After a beating like that, all Marcial could do was turn the Reaper to defense position, so he did and passed.

Paul summoned D. D. Warrior Lady, and with the life point totals standing at 3900 for Marcial to his own 7000, he was really looking to expand his advantage and end the game. He attacked Spirit Reaper with D. D. Warrior Lady, removed both monsters from play with her effect, and then swung with D.D. Survivor.

Marcial was ready for it, though, and D.D. Survivor smacked headlong into a Sheep token. Don Zaloog cut one down as well, and Paul passed. Two over-extensions, both deflected by Scapegoat. It was an impressive duel, to say the least.

Snatch Steal gave Marcial control of Paul’s D.D. Survivor, attempted to attack with it, and was stymied by Mystical Space Typhoon. The Typhoon destroyed Snatch Steal, Survivor went back to Paul, and after Marcial set one more spell or trap, he ended his turn.

Mobius the Frost Monarch hit the field, and sparked a flurry of battle that was too fast for the human eye. Marcial survived the turn, precisely how being a mystery to all onlookers, and looked to attack with a freshly-summoned Drillroid. Sakuretsu Armor engulfed and destroyed it, and both players were forced to pass for several turns, each rather spent.

The pace blazed along as both players set cards to their monster and spell and trap zones. Marcial eventually jockeyed his way into a position of field advantage, and attacked with Spirit Reaper. It was not to be, though, as Paul would respond with Enemy Controller in an attempt to destroy it. Marcial would concede the attack, but not the monster—Book of Moon was added to the chain, turning his Spirit Reaper face down and protecting it from its own interaction with Enemy Controller!

Paul drew, activated Dark Hole, and set a monster. He set one card to his spell and trap zone, ended his turn, and was met by yet another “large scale answer” similar to his Dark Hole. However, Heavy Storm ripped his field apart the moment he passed. Moments later he managed to flip summon the set monster, revealing Gravekeeper’s Spy. A second Spy hit the field thanks to the effect of the first, and both attacked Marcial directly.

Marcial drew, looked through his graveyard, and played Premature Burial to summon Jinzo. It wasn’t enough: Smashing Ground destroyed Jinzo next turn, and Paul followed it up with a Nobleman of Crossout a turn later. His final Gravekeeper’s Spy attacked directly to end game 1!

Both players opted to side deck, neither announcing how many cards they decided to rotate. They seemed to know they weren’t required to do so, or were playing so fast that neither cared. Portions of the previous duel had actually just involved cards being revealed from hands, never even hitting the table, accounting for its incredibly fast pace. Both players knew the routine inside out.

Marcial, being down one duel, opened game two and set one spell or trap. Paul summoned D. D. Assailant and sent it at Marcial, attempting to call his bluff.

But the set card wasn’t a bluff—it was Sakuretsu Armor, and it made short work of the Assailant. Paul set one spell or trap and then passed.

Marcial summoned Sangan, and unfazed by Paul’s one set, it was HIS turn to call Paul’s bluff. Sure enough, Sangan’s little teeth sunk right into Paul’s delicious life points. Marcial set Enemy Controller and ended his turn.

Paul tentatively took a defensive role, setting one monster and two spells or traps. He flipped his previous set, Dust Tornado, and blew away Marcial’s set Enemy Controller. Marcial drew, activated Nobleman of Crossout on Paul’s lone set monster, removing both of the Gravekeeper’s Spies from the game. Paul again set a monster and passed.

Marcial drew Dark Hole, destroying his own Sangan but also destroying Paul’s face down Tsukuyomi. He took Spirit Reaper into his hand with Sangan’s effect and summoned it, but attacked straight into Sakuretsu Armor.

Another set spell or trap was Paul’s only move after drawing, and Marcial brought back Sangan with Call of the Haunted. Paul summoned Zombyra the Dark, attacked Sangan, and hammered through some damage.

Marcial drew and summoned Kinetic Soldier, looking to use its effect to punish the Warrior-type Zombyra, but Trap Hole swallowed up the Soldier. It was a Premature Burial though, and with a flick of a spell Marcial brought the Soldier back onto the field! Premature Burial defeats the Trap Hole tech! The Soldier attacked into Zombyra, taking it down after receiving the massive ATK boost it gets when it’s attacking Warriors.

Paul was on the defensive, but so long as he didn’t expose another Warrior to the Soldier’s effect, it would remain rather small and manageable. Understanding this, he set one monster and ended his turn.

The Soldier pressed on the following turn, flipping over the face down monster and revealing Spirit Reaper. Playing aggressively though, Marcial used Enemy Controller to destroy it. Next turn Paul played Confiscation, discarded Marcia’s Snatch Steal, and then cleared the field with Dark Hole. Neither player had a fast answer for that one, and both passed their turns while they attempted to rebuild.

A brief respite left Marcial with an Exiled Force, Swords of Revealing Light, and one set spell or trap. Paul drew, activated Reinforcement of the Army, mulled over his decision, and then passed over a briefly-considered Don Zaloog to take D. D. Assailant. He set a monster and then ended.

 Exiled Force lashed out, straight into the set D. D. Assailant. The life point totals were 5500 to 1550 in Marcial’s favor, but the hit had cost him. The duel again moved at its blurry pace, and a moment later Paul was tributing to bring out Mobius the Frost Monarch. It was sucked up by Bottomless Trap Hole, and Paul’s last line of defense was Swords of Revealing Light.

Both players reverted to turtle mode, setting cards while the timer on Swords ran down. Once his Swords was gone, Paul was forced to make a move. He flipped Magician of Faith, retrieved Enemy Controller from his graveyard, and then sent D.D. Survivor into one of Marcial’s face downs, looking to start an onslaught that would hopefully win the duel and end the match.

Paul’s move did win the duel, but not for him. The face-down monster that the Survivor had attacked was a set Kinetic Soldier, and the resulting battle damage that hit Paul as Survivor bounced off of its would-be-victim was enough to end the game.

The match stood at one victory for each duelist. It was going to a third game!

Predictably, Paul opted to begin. He made the classic opening of a set card to each zone and passed. Marcial hit him with Confiscation almost immediately, and was faced with a choice of Book of Moon, Trap Hole, Tsukuyomi, and Reinforcement of the Army. He chose to discard Reinforcement, then set two spells or traps, set a monster, and ended.

Paul tributed his Sangan for Mobius the Frost Monarch, and Marcial chained one of the targets, Dust Tornado, and destroyed Paul’s set Sakuretsu Armor. Marcial’s choice to refrain from attacking on turn 1 turned out to be a smart bet. Paul then sent Sangan off to grab Exiled Force, and Mobius stomped on Marcial’s face down.

Big mistake! The set monster was D. D. Assailant, and both were removed from play. Marcial now had a clear shot at Paul, and before the turn ended, he flipped Scapegoat.

Once he reached his own turn, he attacked with Spirit Reaper, taking Paul’s hand down a card. Paul set one card, but the Reaper was tributed for Jinzo a turn later and Jinzo attacked, scoring damage before Paul briskly destroyed it with Exiled Force. A turn later both players had several Sheep tokens to their names, and Marcial attacked with D. D. Warrior Lady before being repelled a turn later with Swords of Revealing Light. Paul pressed his advantage while the Swords protected him, but didn’t gain much footing on the field thanks to Bottomless Trap Hole.

The Swords dropped and it was Marcial’s turn to strike back. He activated Wave-Motion Cannon, then Dark Hole to equalize what little field presence his opponent had established. He then summoned Steamroid and attacked directly for a quick bite of Paul’s life points, setting the life point totals to 7000 for himself and 4400 for Paul. It was still anybody’s game, but that Wave-Motion Cannon was going to get big, fast.

Paul brought up D.D. Survivor with Call of the Haunted, set another monster, and did not attack the Steamroid. Marcial drew, took the Survivor down with Steamroid, brought up Cyber Dragon, and ended his turn.

Paul drew and used Nobleman of Crossout to remove a face down Kinetic Soldier that had been sitting on the field for ages. But he looked at Marcial and confessed: “Nothing I can do about Cyber Dragon, and the Wave-Motion Cannon.” He passed, and asked “Is it over this turn?”

“No. Next turn,” replied Marcial.

Sure enough, Marcial ended his turn and Paul drew. His last card didn’t help him, and he admitted defeat.

Marcial Bode of Team Alpha moves on to Day 2 as the only undefeated competitor in the Swiss rounds of Shonen Jump Championship Atlanta!