Steve Aragon is a member of Team Madness who has traveled all the way here from California to play in the Jump. Paul Levitin on the other hand needs no introduction for those of you have kept your list of Shonen Jump Champions up to date. They rolled dice to decide who would have the option to start, and Paul won with a handy 6 to Steve’s 4.

Paul started things off with a set Mystical Space Typhoon and a face down Giant Rat. Cyber Dragon dropped on Steve’s side and attacked into the Rat, allowing Paul to fetch another Rat. Steve set a card to each zone in main phase two, and passed. In the end phase though, his attempt at pro-Heavy Storm was foiled by Paul’s Typhoon!

Paul dropped a Nobleman of Crossout on Steve’s Gravekeeper’s Spy, and then summoned Injection Fairy Lily! Lily pumped over the Cyber Dragon and then Giant Rat swung unopposed! Paul set a spell or trap and Steve was forced to act! He took Lily with Brain Control and tributed for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch eliminating the Rat in the process, but Zaborg was destroyed in battle by Widespread Ruin. Paul then showed a new side of his deck, summoning Yellow Gadget to fetch Green and attacking. Scapegoat blocked the assault, and Steve revealed his Gadgets starting with Red into Yellow! Paul fired right back with Green and ended with no backfield and a Green Gadget to Steve’s three Sheep! Steve set a monster which was destroyed by Exiled Force. That monster was Sangan, and Steve fetched Morphing Jar with its effect.

With the Jar in mind, Paul activated Pot of Avarice shuffling his Rats, Lily, Exiled Force, and a Yellow Gadget back into his deck and drawing two cards. Green Gadget took down another goat, and Steve set a card to each zone. Paul dropped Heavy Storm and Exiled Force destroyed Steve’s set Morphing Jar. The Sheep were cleared, as was Steve’s Jar, and things were looking grim. Paul set a spell or trap and passed over to Steve who summoned Yellow Gadget. He set a spell or trap and passed back to Paul who summoned a Red Gadget! The Gadgets attacked successfully, and Steve was left with nothing but a back row card. He summoned his own Green Gadget and ordered it into Paul’s Red Gadget. The attack went through, and Steve played Swords to end his turn. Paul set a monster and Steve tributed for Mobius to destroy Paul’s bluff Smashing Ground. Green Gadget went down, and play was back to Paul. Paul summoned Yellow Gadget and activated Creature Swap to send it over to Steve in exchange for his Mobius! It didn’t matter though, as the Gadget became a Zaborg, destroying Paul’s set monster, and Snatch Steal allowed Steve to grab back Mobius and end the game!

Other than a remark about luck-based dueling from Paul, side decking was done quite silently, as it was now apparent that two drastically different Gadget builds had come to the table. So much for the deckbuilding being mostly done for you! Neither of these decks was the traditional Fifth Gadget build, an encouraging sign for the health of the format! Paul once again had the option to start, and he started off with Elemental Hero Stratos to fetch Elemental Hero Wildheart! He set a spell or trap, and play was to Steve. Red Gadget dropped to the field, fetching Yellow for Steve, and Swords of Revealing Light was played as well before the turn was up. Paul simply set a spell or trap and passed back to Steve who then summoned Green Gadget. For those of you keeping track, we now know that Steve has two Gadgets in hand, Yellow and Green.

Green attacked into Stratos, and, with the aid of Rush Recklessly, the little cog won out! Red then swung directly and Paul used Sakuretsu Armor to eliminate it. Paul was now up, and he set a card to each zone. Steve fired back with Zaborg, destroying Paul’s Card Trooper, but the Monarch fell to Ring of Destruction. Paul was living dangerously, and he continued the trend by paying another 1000 life points for Confiscation to relieve Steve of Brain Control! He set a monster and passed back to Steve, who set a monster and two spells or traps. Wildheart was revealed to be Paul’s set monster, and he then flipped Call of the Haunted for Stratos! He targeted Steve’s set Scapegoat with the effect, which was then chained. Sakuretsu Armor took down the Stratos, and Wildheart hit a Sheep. Exiled Force in Main Phase two took down Steve’s set Gadget, but a Yellow one appeared next turn and beat Wildheart with the help of Rush Recklessly.

Paul fired back with Cyber Dragon and Neo-Spacian Grand Mole! Cyber Dragon took down the Gadget, and Paul attacked a Sheep, bouncing Mole to his hand and the Sheep out of the game. The same thing occurred next turn, and Steve was out of monsters. Except of course, for the Cyber Dragon he had stuck in his hand! He summoned it and tributed for Mobius, but Pulling the Rug obliterated Mobius! It was all over in another short turn as Grand Mole and Cyber Dragon finished the job. Paul Levitin forces the match to game three!

After a quick discussion about how cool Grand Mole is, the players finished side decking and moved to game 3 with 17 minutes left in the round. It was Steve’s turn to start, and after a quick handshake he set a spell or trap and ended. Paul couldn’t play a monster though, so he set Sakuretsu Armor and passed, losing it to Mystical Space Typhoon in the end phase. Yellow Gadget came down for Steve, and he attacked directly before setting another card. Paul summoned Cyber Dragon and activated a freshly drawn Reinforcement of the Army for Elemental Hero Stratos! Stratos hit the field allowing Paul to have a Wildheart from his deck, and both monsters attacked. Paul set a spell or trap and passed back to Steve who was already seemingly in trouble. He flipped his set Brain Control and tributed Cyber Dragon for Zaborg before attacking. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t have anything to set in his backfield, and Paul announced, “That’s game.” He summoned Card Trooper, burned three to the effect, then played Premature Burial and Call of the Haunted to resurrect his monsters. Smashing Ground sealed the deal and Paul Levitin moves on, 3-0!