This match was sure to be a good one, as top members from the two best teams on the East Coast faced off in the quarterfinal round. Paul Levitin is in his third Top 8 appearance, but he has yet to make it any farther. Jerry Wang is no stranger to these high pressure situations, and he seemed downright jovial as the players shuffled up for the match. Jerry won the toss (for the first time in a long time, apparently) and chose to go first.

Game 1

Jerry started off with the standard one card to each zone, but Paul had a more aggressive approach. He summoned Twin-Headed Behemoth and attacked to reveal Mystic Tomato. The Tomato fetched Sangan, and Paul had to stop to consider his options. He set a card and passed over to Jerry, who shifted his Sangan to defense and set two more spell or traps before ending. Next turn, Paul added a D. D. Assailant to his field, but Torrential Tribute from Jerry cleared the field. Paul set two more cards and ended his turn, returning the Behemoth to the field. Sangan had fetched Spirit Reaper for Jerry, and he summoned it after special summoning a Cyber Dragon. The Dragon attacked and Paul used Sakuretsu Armor. Jerry chained with his Royal Decree, but Paul had a Dust Tornado at the ready. Jerry had to set a card and end. Paul destroyed Reaper with a Smashing Ground, and then attacked with Behemoth for the first damage of the game.

Jerry played Premature Burial on his Sangan and then tributed for Mobius the Frost Monarch. Paul had to use his Torrential Tribute before seeing what Jerry searched out, though, and Jerry took the opportunity to fetch a Don Zaloog and add it to his hand. He couldn’t summon it, though, so he set a card and passed. Paul had a Premature Burial of his own and used it to resurrect D. D. Assailant. The Assailant attacked and connected for 1700 to Jerry. Paul then set the rest of his hand and passed to Jerry, who hit it with Smashing Ground and summoned his Don, only to have it hit a Trap Hole. Paul ripped another D. D. Assailant, but it fell to Bottomless Trap Hole. Both players traded sets over the next few turns, and when the next move was made, it was Jerry flipping Magician of Faith to bring back Premature Burial. He revived Mobius and attacked to reveal a Spirit Reaper from Paul. He burned Snatch Steal to drop the Reaper and left Paul with only one card face down. Paul ripped a Goblin Elite Attack Force and flipped his Smashing Ground before summoning and attacking. The Elite Force died to Sakuretsu Armor and Magician of Faith was joined by Morphing Jar next turn, bringing the weenie beats. Paul was having monster issues, and was forced to keep passing to the weenies. Eventually he pulled another Elite Force and considered his attack. He swung on Morphing Jar, but Enemy Controller put the Goblins in defense. Call of the Haunted during battle brought back D. D. Assailant and it took out the Jar instead.

Jerry considered his options carefully before summoning Breaker and destroying Paul’s face-down Widespread Ruin. He then played Creature Swap, leaving Paul with a difficult choice. He was obviously getting the Magician, so he chose to send over the attack-mode D. D. Assailant instead of the defensive Goblin Elite Attack Force. It would end up costing him, as the move allowed Jerry to force through enough damage next turn to bring both players to dangerous levels. Both players needed one more good hit to win, but no one was drawing any monsters. Eventually Paul brought out Exiled Force and swung to bring Jerry to 100, but Call of the Haunted in the end phase ended yet another game. He bought back Jerry’s Mobius, which he swung with next turn for the game.

Jerry-1 Paul-0

Game 2

Both players took time to access their side decks, and soon enough the duel was back on. Paul had the option for game 2, and he chose to go first. He started off with 2 spell or traps and a defense monster, and Jerry chose to just set two cards. This turned out to be a mistake, as he lost both of his cards due to a Dust Tornado. He also lost a second Dust Tornado in Paul’s draw phase due to the secondary effect of the first Tornado. Paul swung in with a freshly summoned Don Zaloog and a flipped Spirit Reaper, putting Jerry in a very tight spot. Chiron the Mage next turn destroyed Jerry’s bluff Creature Swap, and then attacked into a face-down Legendary Jujitsu Master, which returned it to the top of Paul’s deck. Next turn the Chiron returned and swung on a Sangan from Jerry. Sangan fetched out a monster, and Jerry set it. Breaker joined Paul’s field next turn and attacked the Jujitsu Master. Chiron then eliminated the facedown Magician of Faith, and Jerry returned Snatch Steal to his hand.

Things weren’t looking good for Jerry, and he needed to mount a comeback right now. He stole the Chiron with Snatch Steal and attacked Don. Paul let it through and Jerry set a monster before ending. Paul drew the Breaker once again and summoned it, using its effect to retrieve his Chiron from Jerry. Paul attacked the face-down Mystic Tomato, prompting Jerry to fetch another Tomato, which was attacked as well. This Tomato brought Spirit Reaper to the field to face off against Paul’s Reaper. Jerry tried to get him to attack “just for fun,” but Paul didn’t bite and instead passed to Jerry. Jerry set one of each and shifted his Reaper. A topdecked Nobleman of Crossout removed Jerry’s Morphing Jar from play, removing his last chance to even up the hand count. He was forced to summon Exiled Force on the next turn and use it to eliminate Chiron from the field. Jerry’s face-down cards were safe, and Spirit Reaper was still the only thing holding Paul back from a victory in this game. Paul set a monster and passed to Jerry, who couldn’t do anything and passed. Paul passed as well, and next turn a Mystic Swordsman LV2 from Jerry was taken down by Paul’s Sakuretsu Armor. Paul set a fourth monster and passed. Jerry summoned D.D. Survivor and hit into a facedown D. D. Assailant for a plus one, and Paul fired back by tributing his Sangan for a Cyber Dragon to fetch Exiled Force. That Spirit Reaper was still around, and it had kept Jerry going long enough to put him back into the duel. Paul was planning to fix that next turn.

Paul needed to end this quickly before Jerry could recover any further, so he summoned Bazoo the Soul-Eater and removed three monsters from his graveyard to pump it to 2500 ATK. D.D. Survivor was felled by Bazoo, and Jerry knew he needed another big move to stay alive. Spirit Reaper was going down next turn, so Jerry played Dark Hole to clear the field. He summoned D. D. Assailant and swung. Paul set a monster and another card, but his Mystical Space Typhoon was destroyed in the end phase by Jerry’s Dust Tornado. Next turn Jerry added a D. D. Warrior Lady to his field and attacked the face down monster, but it was Kinetic Soldier and Jerry’s life points dropped to a dangerously low level. D. D. Assailant hit as well, but it was destroyed by Smashing Ground in the next turn by Paul. He summoned King Tiger Wanghu to press the advantage. Jerry set another card next turn, but both were bluffs and King Tiger ended the game next turn.

Jerry-1 Paul-1

Game 3

Paul was now one win away from his first Top 4 in a Shonen Jump, so he considered his side deck choices very carefully. Jerry took a while before he started to look through his side deck. The players discussed Paul’s inability to get rid of Spirit Reaper for most of the game, and soon enough it was time to begin the final duel of the match. It was Jerry’s choice, and he chose to start.

Jerry started off once again with a card to each zone, and Paul summoned D.D. Survivor and attacked, suspecting D. D. Assailant. It was a Legendary Jujitsu Master, however, and Paul set two cards and ended. Jerry summoned Breaker, but fell to Paul’s Torrential Tribute. He set another card and passed Paul, who summoned the D.D. Survivor again and attacked. Sakuretsu Armor destroyed it, and play returned to Jerry. He summoned a D. D. Assailant and swung unobstructed before setting a card and passing to Paul. Paul used Call of the Haunted to revive D.D. Survivor and swung into the Assailant. Paul set a card, passed, and D.D. Survivor returned to the field.

In the next turn, Jerry stole the Survivor with Snatch Steal and considered his options before summoning a Mystic Swordsman LV2 to swing on Paul’s face-down Swarm of Locusts. The Survivor hit directly, and things weren’t looking good for Paul. He was stuck with a hand full of monsters, but a clever play with Exiled Force allowed him to rid the field of both of Jerry’s monsters. Jerry swung with a Don next turn, dropping the dreaded Kinetic Soldier from Paul’s hand. Paul topdecked Snatch Steal, though, and was able to return the favor, along with 1900 points from Bazoo the Soul-Eater, as well as the hit from Don. Jerry lost Morphing Jar and was forced to set a monster before passing. Those monsters were all of a sudden coming in handy for Paul, as he summoned his own Mystic Swordsman LV2 and attacked Jerry’s face-down Spirit Reaper. Paul continued the assault, dropping a Sangan from Jerry’s hand. The Soul Eater came in for 2200 this time.

Jerry flipped Premature Burial and used it on his Mystic Tomato. The Tomato took out Mystic Swordsman LV2, and the turn went back to Paul. Jerry wanted to keep gaining the life from Snatch Steal, but Paul had already figured that out and rammed Don into the Tomato. He took another Tomato which Bazoo attacked, and this time Reaper hit the field. Paul set the rest of his hand (a monster and a spell or trap) and passed. Dust Tornado destroyed the face-down Book of Moon, and Jerry set two cards. Paul hadn’t removed anything for Bazoo, however, and Jerry was tempted to use Reinforcement of the Army to get a D.D. Survivor and attack it. He should have, as the Exiled Force he did get killed Paul’s Sangan.

Paul summoned D. D. Warrior Lady and removed the Spirit Reaper from play. Bazoo was pumped up to 2200 and tried to attack for game, but Scapegoat blocked the way and a Sheep Token fell. Paul had total control of the game at this point, so he attacked a sheep then set a card to each zone and passed. Jerry’s time was running out as Breaker entered the fray. Paul tributed it for Spell Canceller next turn, but Torrential Tribute cleared the field again. Paul tried for game again with a Don Zaloog, but Call of the Haunted dropped a Breaker into its path. It wasn’t enough, however, as next turn Jerry had nothing and scooped the game.

Paul Levitin makes his first Top 4 in a Shonen Jump event, defeating Jerry Wang 2-1!