Kirk Leonhardt has come a long way in eleven months. The last time he was on Metagame.com was when he was featured at the last SJC Anaheim. At that point, the main reason he got a feature was the fact that he was part of a father-son team. But now he’s returned to the limelight, and this time it’s to compete as a potential champion. Overcoming 421 other duelists with a tight Soul Control build, Loenhardt has entered his prime as a duelist.
He’ll need every advantage he can get, though, when he takes on Paul Levitin, the absolute monster of Team Scoop who swept Day 1 undefeated. This is Paul’s fourth consecutive Shonen Jump Championship Top 8 showing, and he is undisputedly the most consistent player in the game right now. Armed with Team Scoop’s Return from the Different Dimension deck, Levitin may be well on his way to his first SJC win.
With a peck on the cheek from his lovely wife Lyn, Leonhardt rolled off and won the right to go first.
“Have a real good game,” said Leonhardt, shaking Levitin’s hand before drawing.
Leonhardt had a strong opening, choosing Big Shield Gardna over Sangan and Nimble Momonga as his opening set. He set one spell/trap and passed.
Levitin had the answers, though, summoning Cyber Dragon and Drillroid. Drillroid took down Big Shield, Cyber Dragon hit directly, and Leonhardt went down to 5900. He drew into another Momonga (ouch) and played Reinforcement of the Army, taking Exiled Force from his deck. He flipped Premature Burial, targeting Big Shield Gardna. He went down to 5100. He then played Creature Swap, and Levitin gave him Drillroid after some brief thought. Leonhardt summoned Exiled Force, used its effect with priority to blow away Cyber Dragon, and attacked Big Shield with Drillroid: Levitin flipped Sakuretsu Armor to destroy the Drillroid.
It was Levitin’s turn to play Reinforcement of the Army next, and he pulled and summoned Don Zaloog. Don hit Leonhardt for 1400, discarded Leonhardt’s Sangan, switched Big Shield to defense mode, and wrapped up Levitin’s turn.
Leonhardt set a monster and passed—Levitin’s counter to his opening, and his hitting Sangan, were really hurting Leonhardt’s game. Levitin summoned D. D. Assailant and sent it into the face down Nimble Momonga. Leonhardt pulled another Momonga to the field. Leonhardt went up to 4700, and when Don attacked the second Momonga, he went up to 5700.
Brain Control opened Leonhardt’s next turn, bringing him down to 4900 and giving him control of D. D. Assailant. He then tributed it for Mobius the Frost Monarch. Mobius smashed Zaloog, and Levitin finally took some damage, going down to 7000 LP. With one card in hand to Levitin’s three, Leonhardt ended his turn.
Spirit Reaper and Smashing Ground came down on Levitin’s side of the field, and Spirit Reaper attacked, discarding Leonhardt’s last Momonga. Leonhardt was forced to set the spell or trap he drew.
Levitin summoned Bazoo the Soul-Eater and used priority to activate the monkey’s effect, removing three monsters from play. But Bazoo fell in a Bottomless Trap Hole, and Levitin opted to turn Spirit Reaper to defense position. Leonhardt again set his newly-drawn spell or trap, and Levitin tributed Big Shield Gardna on the following turn to summon Cyber Dragon. Cyber Dragon attacked directly for 2100, and Leonhardt had 2500 LP remaining to Levitin’s 7000.
Leonhardt flipped his set Smashing Ground and once more set his drawn spell or trap. Levitin turned the Reaper to attack and started poking him. He drew a monster, set it, and passed.
Levitin flipped Return from the Different Dimension, paying half his LP, but Leonhardt chained Royal Decree! It was 2200 to 3500. Leonhardt followed it up with Nobleman of Crossout on Levitin’s set monster, Sangan, and set a monster of his own. D. D. Assailant came down to fight for Levitin a turn later, and it smacked into Leonhardt’s face-down monster, D. D. Warrior Lady. The Lady removed both herself and the Assailant from play, and Levitin passed.
Leonhardt was still topdecking and set yet another card to his spell and trap zone. Spirit Reaper again pressed, dropping Leonhardt down to 1900. Leonhardt drew, looked at his card, and then made a hard decision after a few moments of consideration, using Snatch Steal to destroy the Reaper. Levitin set a monster and passed, and Leonhardt passed right back. Levitin then flipped Gravekeeper’s Spy and brought out a second copy, both were in attack position. He summoned D. D. Warrior Lady and attacked with a Spy, and Leonhardt announced that it was game. He revealed his last set card, Book of Moon, and both players immediately started side decking.
Twenty-eight minutes remained in the round.
“You’re going to go first?” asked Levitin.
“Yes I will,” confirmed Leonhardt. Both duelists began drawing their opening hands.
Leonhardt had a hand of all spells and Giant Rat. He set the Rat and started contemplating his next move. He decided to set Heavy Storm and ended his turn. Levitin set a card to each zone as well, and play moved back to Leonhardt. He activated Swords of Revealing Light, flipping Levitin’s set Sangan, and summoned Nimble Momonga. He flip summoned Giant Rat, and Levitin didn’t respond to either monster. Momonga flew at the Sangan and took it out, leaving Levitin to search his deck for Exiled Force and the Rat to attack directly. It scored a hit for 1400 LP, and Levitin went down to 6600.
Levitin activated Smashing Ground, taking down Giant Rat. He then set another monster and passed. Leonhardt went straight to his battle phase, sending the Momonga into the set Gravekeeper’s Spy. It dealt 1000 damage from defense position, and a second Spy came to join it. Leonhardt ended his turn, Levitin set one card to his spell and trap zone, took a deep breath, and passed.
Reinforcement of the Army fetched Leonhardt Exiled Force. He summoned it, destroying one of the Spies with its effect. He then played Smashing Ground, entered his battle phase, and attacked with Momonga. It nibbled on Levitin’s LP and brought him down to 5600.
Exiled Force then appeared on the opposite side of the field, destroying Leonhardt’s Momonga. Levitin ended his turn, and now he had his set Heavy Storm to Levitin’s two set spell/trap cards. “Ooh!” Levitin was a bit shocked, and lost his Trap Hole and Mystical Space Typhoon. Leonhardt had no followup, though; he set two cards to his spell and trap zone and ended his turn.
Levitin looked to take advantage of the lack of monsters and attacked, summoning D. D. Assailant to do so. He four cards in his hand and D. D. Assailant on the field, to Leonhardt’s two cards in hand and two set spell or traps. The assailant swung, Scapegoat was flipped, and one Sheep went down.
Leonhardt took control of the Assailant with Snatch Steal and sent it into Levitin’s life points, dropping him to 3900. He then set Emergency Provisions and concluded his turn.
Bazoo the Soul-Eater arrived on Levitin’s side of the battlefield, and he removed three monsters with priority. Levitin then activated Heavy Storm, and Leonhardt was forced to chain Emergency Provisions, sending Sakuretsu Armor and Snatch Steal to the graveyard. Levitin had a response, too, activating Return from the Different Dimension. It brought him a Spy, Exiled Force, and Sangan.
The three small monsters each took out Sheep, and the Assailant and Bazoo hit directly, bringing Leonhardt down to 4800. He then tributed the Exiled Force to destroy Sangan and pull D. D. Warrior Lady. Gravekeeper’s Spy was removed from play at the end of the turn, and it was 4800 to 2450, with Leonhardt still leading.
He summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior and attacked D. D. Assailant with it, and both monsters were removed from play. He set his last card to the spell and trap zone and ended his turn. Bazoo then removed three monsters again, and Levitin attacked directly for 2500. Leonhardt announced that he would take the 2500, and it didn’t look good for him. Levitin set a monster with had two cards in hand and passed, in control of twice the number of cards Levitin had at his disposal.
Leonhardt activated Dark Hole, though, equalizing the field before passing. But Levitin summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior, broke Leonhardt’s set Nobleman of Crossout, and attacked for 1600. Leonhardt was down to 700, so he set his draw—another spell or trap card. It didn’t deter Levitin from attacking, though, and Breaker the Magical Warrior closed the match.
Leonhardt, always a class act, congratulated Levitin on the win and gave him a handshake. His draws were a large part of his loss, and he was aware of it though he didn’t complain about it one bit.
Paul Levitin moves on to the semifinals!