Both of these well-renowned duelists had a chance at making Top 16, albeit Hayton’s tiebreakers were far better than Levitin’s. “He’s fortieth and he’s still gonna play!” Hayton complained. Levitin wasn’t giving up any chance he had at making Day 2, even if his odds were slim.
Hayton opened with one set spell or trap, and Levitin fired back with a set card to each zone. Nobleman of Crossout removed his Gravekeeper’s Spy from play, plus two more from his deck. Hayton set a monster, then two cards to his back row and Levitin was up.
Levitin summoned Protector of the Sanctuary, a rather unexpected play. “There are so many other plays than that, but I want to make this one in the feature match.” He grinned.
Hayton smiled “Are you going to attack my Morphing Jar?” He phrased the question in a goofy voice, and Levitin laughed, believing Hayton was joking.
Then he attacked, and Hayton sheepishly flipped his Morphing Jar. Holy crap.
Kris Perovic immediately whipped out cell phone from the sidelines. “I’ve gotta call Anthony Alvarado. There’s no way he’s gonna believe this.” Morphing Jar flipped, Levitin got a new hand, and Hayton discarded his for nothing in return because of Protector’s effect. It was the biggest beating of all time, and it was about to get worse.
Armed with a ton of cards, Levitin activated Premature Burial for Card Trooper, set a back row card, and ended. Hayton passed, and Levitin set a monster before attacking with both Trooper and Protector.
Hayton summoned Card Trooper himself, and then activated Brain Control to take one of Hayton’s Troopers. He pumped them both, attacked the Protector, and Levitin responded with Crush Card Virus, tributing his set Night Assailant! It destroyed both Troopers, and Hayton couldn’t draw because of Protector! Hayton was forced to reveal his last card: a useless Pot of Avarice, pinned down by the Protector. He looked dizzy.
“WHAT’S HAPPENING?!” screamed Hayton.
Protector attacked directly, and Hayton attacked it next turn with Cyber Phoenix, determined to get the darn thing off the field. Levitin responded with Book of Moon on the Protector, but Hayton had had enough: he activated Limiter Removal to boost his Phoenix’s ATK, high enough to destroy the Protector. It was small consolation.
Levitin passed, and Hayton lost his Cyber Dragon to Crush Card Virus. He attacked with Sangan, Levitin set a monster, and Hayton turned Sangan to defense. He set a monster, Levitin set a spell or trap, and play was to Hayton.
He flip summoned Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive. “Chain Call for Protector?”
“I’m thinkin’ about it.” Levitin grinned.
“Oh shut up!” Levitin had Call set, but let it go. Dekoichi attacked into Legendary Jujitsu Master and bounced to the top of Hayton’s deck. Hayton set a card to each zone and activated Trap Dustshoot the next turn: Levitin revealed six cards, none of which were monsters. Hayton heaved a sigh; nothing was going his way, and the match just continued to grow more embarrassing with each passing minute.
Jujitsu Master went to attack position and wiped out the Sangan, sending Hayton to his deck to search out Cyber Phoenix. Call of the Haunted brought back Protector of the Sanctuary, but it attacked into Hayton’s set copy of The Light – Hex-Sealed Fusion. Levitin ended.
Hayton summoned Cyber Phoenix and special summoned Cyber Dragon from his graveyard with Call of the Haunted. He tributed Cyber Dragon and The Light for Cyber Twin Dragon, and promptly ran both his monsters into Mirror Force. Jujitsu Master and Protector attacked to drop Hayton to 1100 damage, and when Hayton drew he revealed his last two cards:
. . . Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive and Morphing Jar. Again. With Protector out, that was a scoop.
“I need to do some aggressive side decking!” announced Hayton in a loud voice. He picked up his side deck and looked through them: “Nothing in here helps!” He pondered briefly. “I’ll side in Prickle Fairy; Chris Moosman told me it was a good idea.”
Play began swiftly, and Hayton set one spell or trap to begin. Levitin pinged him with Sangan, then set a spell or trap card. Hayton summoned Cyber Dragon, attacked Sangan, and Levitin pulled Protector of the Sanctuary from his deck!
Levitin set a monster and Hayton passed. Levitin set a spell or trap, Hayton drew for his turn, and Levitin activated Trap Dustshoot: it revealed that Hayton had drawn Morphing Jar again. He lost The Light – Hex-Sealed Fusion to his deck, and then sent Cyber Phoenix to attack, thinking Levitin had set Protector of the Sanctuary.
“Let’s shed some light on this Protec-“ the monster he attacked flipped, and turned out to be Gravekeeper’s Spy. “What the hell?” Levitin special summoned Gravekeeper’s Guard in defense and Hayton set Trap Dustshoot, which he used next turn to send Protector back to Levitin’s deck. I’ve never seen an entire match revolve around Protector of the Sanctuary before.
Levitin activated Heavy Storm, summoned Spirit Reaper, set two cards to his back row, and attacked: after some lightning-fast battle he was left with Gravekeeper’s Guard and Spirit Reaper, and both duelists had new hands, courtesy of Hayton’s Morphing Jar. He summoned Card Trooper and used Machine Duplication to bring one more from his deck. He pumped both to 1900 ATK, attacked over Levitin’s Guard, then his Reaper, and ended.
Levitin topdecked into Protector of the Sanctuary again! He summoned it, then activated Call of the Haunted to bring back Sangan! Sangan and Protector each destroyed a Trooper, and Spirit Reaper forced Hayton to discard The Light – Hex-Sealed Fusion. Hayton took the Protector on the following turn with Snatch Steal, attacked Spirit Reaper with it, then set a monster.
But Levitin tributed his Sangan for Mobius the Frost Monarch, destroying Snatch Steal and taking back his Protector of the Sanctuary! “Is your last set card there Dekoichi?” asked Levitin with a smirk.
Hayton hung his head, and flipped his Dekoichi. It was all over. I’ve never seen such a thorough embarrassment in my three and a half years of duel coverage.
But Levitin came to his senses and realized his fortieth place standing wasn’t likely to bring him to Day 2. After smiting Hayton so viciously he took pity on him, and offered to concede the duel.
After suffering the most vicious defeat of all time, Andrew Hayton may be headed to Day 2 for his first time ever!