GAME 1

Paul opened up with a set to each zone. Roy considered doing the same, but opted for two set spells or traps instead. Play passed back to Paul who revealed his facedown to be Gravekeeper’s Spy and fetched out another one. Both hit directly, and Paul set a card. Roy fired back with Snatch Steal on one of the Spies and rammed it into the other to clear the board. Paul set a monster and passed to Roy, who simply ended his turn. Paul set yet another monster and added another spell or trap to his board, ending with two monsters and two spells or traps on the field. Roy played Nobleman of Crossout on one of the monsters, and both players removed all Magical Merchants from their deck. Roy had no followup play, however, so Paul decided to try to press the attack with D. D. Warrior Lady. Unfortunately for Paul, it fell into a Bottomless Trap Hole, and he was forced to pass the turn. Roy revealed his other face down spell or trap as Heavy Storm to clear Paul’s backfield, and then set a monster and another card before ending. Levitin had Metamorphosis in his hand, and he decided to use it on his face down Treeborn Frog to bring out Thousand-Eyes Restrict. The Restrict ate Roy’s face down, and Paul passed the turn. Roy set another monster and ended.

Paul then managed to absorb Roy’s next face down monster as well by activating Mystical Space Typhoon during his draw phase on the previous monster. This also allowed his Treeborn Frog to return. Paul sucked up the new monster and the stall was on. Both players took turns passing until Roy finally eliminated Thousand-Eyes Restrict with Dark Hole. The absorbed Sangan was destroyed, fetching Spirit Reaper for Roy, which quickly went after Paul’s hand. He lost a Dark Magician of Chaos, and then fired back by special summoning Cyber Dragon and attacking. Roy had no response, so Paul set two spells or traps and passed back after dealing 1800 damage. Roy decided that it was his turn to play aggressively, and he did so by returning Sangan with Call of the Haunted and tributing it for Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World. Goldd fell to Sakuretsu Armor, and Roy set one more spell or trap before passing.

Paul added another card to his spell or trap zone and passed back to Roy who opted to do nothing. Roy’s Heavy Storm was gone, so Paul was safe in setting a third spell or trap. A furious flurry of card exchanges then occurred as Paul used Dust Tornado to take out a face down Trap Hole and then summoned Airknight Parshath. Airknight wasn’t long for the world, though, as Sakuretsu Armor took it off the field. Reaper swung again discarding a Chaos Sorcerer, and Paul once again tried to force through some damage with Cyber Dragon. It didn’t work this time, as Roy had a Bottomless Trap Hole waiting. He set a monster and passed over to Roy who did the same. Paul eliminated the facedown Sand Moth with a Nobleman of Crossout, and then ended his turn.

Roy looked to score some damage and remove Paul’s Frog with Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer, but a Bottomless Trap Hole halted the exercise. Roy decided to simplify the field at this point by chaining Torrential Tribute—a move that also resulted in his Kycoo being around for a Pot of Avarice activation. He drew two and set a monster. Paul pulled out his Breaker the Magical Warrior and used it to take out a Sakuretsu Armor. Breaker then attacked into a facedown Gravekeeper’s Spy bringing another Spy to Roy’s field. Roy tributed for another Goldd and then stroked his chin a bit before deciding to attack the Breaker Paul was in serious trouble at this point with only a face down monster, Treeborn Frog and a card in hand against Roy’s Goldd, Spy, spell or trap and big hand. Goldd swung on the facedown monster revealing Sangan and fetching Spirit Reaper for Paul. Paul lamented at the huge gap between the players’ card presences, but set his Reaper anyway.

Roy didn’t seem to care though, and he summoned Sangan before activating Premature Burial on Kycoo. Treeborn Frog fell to Sangan and the remaining Spy revealed the Reaper. An Enemy Controller during the battle phase kept Roy on the offensive, and he forced through some serious damage with Goldd and Kycoo while removing Sangan and Treeborn Frog from play. It was crunch time for Paul Levitin, but his draw revealed nothing usable and he conceded the first game.

GAME 2

Both players side decked at the same furious pace in which they had played the previous game, and soon they were ready for the second game. Paul opted to start once again, and he did so with a set to each zone. Roy decided to press from the start with Mystic Swordsman LV2 destroying Paul’s Magical Merchant. Roy set Sakuretsu Armor, and it was taken out in the end phase by Dust Tornado. D.D. Warrior Lady came down next turn for Paul and took down the tiny Swordsman. Roy set another monster and passed, but Paul had a Spirit Reaper next turn to join his Lady. The Lady removed itself and Sand Moth and Reaper hit home to discard a Gravekeeper’s Spy. Things were looking grim for Roy, but the pace of the game became slowed again with both players opting to set and flip Magical Merchants . Roy blinked first and tributed his Merchant for Mobius the Frost Monarch in an attempt to clear Paul’s backfield. It fell into Paul’s Bottomless Trap Hole though and Roy was forced to pass with one set spell or trap. Paul returned the Frosty favor with his own Mobius, but it also fell victim to a Bottomless Trap Hole. Roy took advantage of this with Chaos Sorcerer and Spirit Reaper, scoring some huge damage and picking the Dark Hole out of Paul’s sizeable hand. Paul was forced to play defense for yet another turn, but Call of the Haunted resurrected Roy’s Mystic Swordsman LV2 and Roy was on the move again.

His field now consisted of the Swordsman, Sangan, Spirit Reaper, and Kycoo, and he laid into Paul with all of them, discarding a Spirit Reaper from Paul’s hand. Paul destroyed the Swordsman with a Sangan, but Roy just kept on bringing the heat. Two turns later, Roy was stymied by a Gravekeeper’s Spy. Paul couldn’t capitalize on it though, and he seemed to know exactly what was coming, so he set another monster and passed. Roy made a questionable summon of Gravekeeper’s Spy and sent it into the face down monster. The risky move paid off, though as Treeborn Frog was eliminated. Roy then tributed his Sangan to Enemy Controller to steal the Spy and attempted to attack for game with Kycoo. Paul wasn’t out of it yet, though, and he saved the game with a Sakuretsu Armor.

Roy set one last spell or trap and passed it back to Paul. Paul had one last chance to get back into the game, and he took it summoning Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer. It was no good however, as Roy’s set card was revealed to be Trap Hole. Faced with insurmountable odds, Paul was once again forced to concede.

Roy St. Clair defeats Paul Levitin, 2-0!