“Can you make sure, to make clear, that we’re Team Overdose?” asked Levitin with a grin full of mischief and glee. Earlier in the week Adam Corn, Paul Levitin, Anthony Alvarado, and Shane Scurry had roughed out a deal to join Team Yu-Gi-Oh! ETC, but the deal fell through due to disagreements over travel expenditures. Now Levitin and Corn were in a great position to take home not one, but two prize cards, and they were quite happy that they wouldn’t be splitting their prizes with their long-time rivals.

Corn opened with Armageddon Knight, summoning it to send Jinzo to his graveyard. He set a spell or trap and play passed to his teammate. Levitin summoned Mystic Tomato, rammed into Armageddon Knight, and used Tomato to special summon Spirit Reaper! Reaper hit direct and cost Corn another Knight from his hand. “I really hope you don’t have Dark Armed Dragon,” noted Levitin, who set a spell or trap to finish out.

Corn did next turn! He special summoned it, removed Jinzo to destroy Spirit Reaper, and removed Armageddon Knight to destroy Levitin’s Return from the Different Dimension. He summoned a Reaper of his own and both monsters attacked, forcing Levitin to discard Darklord Zerato — not a disaster by any means. Corn passed.

That let Levitin bring out his own Dark Armed Dragon! He removed Darklord Zerato to destroy Corn’s Dragon and removed Tomato to target Corn’s face-down, but watched as it was chained — Escape from the Dark Dimension bringing back Jinzo! But Levitin summoned Armageddon Knight, sent Jinzo to his graveyard, and removed both of his remaining monsters to clear Corn’s field. Knight and Dark Armed attacked.

“That went terribly wrong,” commented Corn. He drew and shuffled his hand: Morphing Jar, Breaker the Magical Warrior, and Prometheus, King of the Shadows. He set the Jar, hoped, and Levitin revealed Reinforcement of the Army! Corn scooped immediately: Levitin would use the Reinforcement to search out another Knight, summon it, and drop one more Dark to his graveyard to feed to the Dragon and destroy the Jar. The match was over in mere moments!

Paul Levitin takes the first duel, and after some quick side decking play moved to game 2!

The duelists exchanged a heartfelt handshake and Corn began. He activated Allure of Darkness, removed Darklord Zerato, and summoned Armageddon Knight: He was holding Crush Card Virus, Enemy Controller, another Knight, Dark Armed Dragon, and Dimension Fusion, so he sent Dark Magician of Chaos from his deck to his graveyard. It was a killer hand, and a set spell or trap finished Corn’s turn.

Levitin summoned Armageddon Knight, also opted to send Dark Magician of Chaos to his graveyard, and set one spell or trap. Corn drew Strike Ninja, summoned his second Armageddon Knight and sent Jinzo to his graveyard. “The big J-Dawg?” commented Levitin. Corn then tributed one Armageddon Knight for Enemy Controller, giving him three Darks in his graveyard! He special summoned Dark Armed Dragon, cleared Levitin’s field and played Dimension Fusion for game!

“That’s a pretty good hand there,” grinned Levitin. “Usually it takes ‘til at least turn 4!” Corn laughed, and the final shuffles of the match were quick. Levitin began.

He activated Allure of Darkness, removing Dark Magician of Chaos. He set a card to each zone, ended, and screwed up his face for a moment thinking: “Go ahead.” Corn activated Allure and also removed Dark Magician of Chaos! He activated Heavy Storm, but Levitin chained Threatening Roar! “You got me,” admitted Corn.

“Do you have game in your hand already? To use your Heavy like that?” Levitin smiled, ribbing Corn over his ambitious play. Corn set a card to each zone and pulled his hoodie up over his head, ending his turn. “Go.”

Levitin set a spell or trap, flipped Morphing Jar, and Corn flipped Dust Tornado! It destroyed Levitin’s back row card, Reinforcement of the Army, then set a card from his hand to save it from the Jar! Nice play. Both duelists got new hands. Corn tried to activate the Escape from the Dark Dimension he just set, forgetting he’d just set it, but the mistake was caught. Levitin activated Allure of Darkness, removed Tomato, and attacked into Spirit Reaper with the Jar. He set two cards to his back row and ended.

Corn drew for his turn and activated Allure of Darkness. He debated which Dark monster he would remove for quite a while, deciding between Sangan, Dark Armed Dragon, and Breaker the Magical Warrior. He settled on Sangan and then wondered aloud what Levitin had set. “E-Con . . . and . . . Goats . . . ? There’s nothing else it can be besides E-Con.” Corn flipped Escape, brought back Dark Magician of Chaos and targeted Allure of Darkness for its effect. Levitin activated his own Escape, but Mystical Space Typhoon cut the play short. “Why do you have to be Adam Corn? Why do you have to be so great at this game?” Corn laughed.

He activated Reinforcement of the Army and searched his deck for Strike Ninja. “Is that the unreadable Torrential?” mused Corn. He summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior and activated his effect. Levitin flipped Threatening Roar! That left Corn to set one back row card and end.

“Cards in hand?” asked Levitin. Corn spread his four cards out behind his spell and trap zone. Levitin looked at his hand, appearing thoughtful. Not beaten, but thoughtful.

He activated Dimension Fusion, bringing out Dark Magician of Chaos and Mystic Tomato — Corn brought back Sangan in defense mode. Levitin fetched Strike Ninja with Reinforcement of the Army, summoned him, and then discarded Smashing Ground for Lightning Vortex! Corn’s field was wiped, leaving him with just one spell or trap set. Sangan got Corn Prometheus, and Levitin started attacking.

Mystic Tomato attacked first. Corn let it through. Strike Ninja attacked next, and he too hit directly. When Dark Magician of Chaos attacked Corn flipped Fires of Doomsday! Levitin destroyed both Tokens after counting Corn’s graveyard. He set his last card to his back row.

Corn sprung into action! He activated Allure of Darkness and removed Jinzo from play. With Prometheus and Dark Armed Dragon in hand he could unleash some big hitters this turn, but Levitin’s one set card was still an unknown. Another Allure of Darkness removed Darklord Zerato, leaving him with Jinzo, Zerato, and Dark Magician of Chaos out of play! Dimension Fusion now would be crushing.

He summoned Prometheus, King of the Shadows and removed Spirit Reaper and Breaker the Magical Warrior to bring himself down to three Darks. He special summoned Dark Armed Dragon, removed Armageddon Knight with priority, and targeted Levitin’s set card for destruction: he let it go. It was Return from the Different Dimension. Corn counted Levitin’s graveyard Darks, four, and debated his further plays.

Tomato was removed to destroy Dark Magician of Chaos. Corn didn’t have game this turn: “Right now you’re in a situation where you can top Armed Dragon,” noted Corn. Levitin nodded, already aware of this fact. Doing so would likely mean game. Corn had control, but a bit of luck on Levitin’s side would turn the tables entirely.

Corn removed Sangan to target Strike Ninja, and Levitin dodged it out of the way by removing two Darks from his graveyard. Prometheus attacked Mystic Tomato, and Levitin pulled Spirit Reaper. Corn opted to run over Morphing Jar instead of pressing for a bit of extra damage. “Can I topdeck for my life?” asked Paul Levitin aloud. Corn set two cards to his back row and ended.

Levitin brought back Strike Ninja. The duel stood at 4900 to 3300, and Paul drew . . .

. . . Something that didn’t help him. He flipped over the next card just to see what it was — it was Dark Armed Dragon. He’d been two millimeters away from victory, but today just wasn’t Paul Levitin’s day.

Adam Corn moves on to the finals, facing off against Jonathan Moore and The Six Samurai!