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Scoop to Overdose with Paul
Levitin
By Ally
Pojo Screen Name:
http://www.pojo.biz/board/member.php?u=37961
Ally:
First
things first I like to thank you for taking some
time out of your life to do this interview with me.
So the readers actually know who I'm interviewing
what is your name?
Paul:
Paul Levitin.
Ally:
How old
are you Paul?
Paul: 17.
Ally: Can
you tell the readers a little bit about yourself
please?
Paul:
I am just a kid who likes to play a
card game.
Ally:
Haha, how
old were you when you started playing the card game?
Paul:
Like 13 lol. I started just about at
the beginning.
Ally:
Damn that
was a long time ago. When you first started what was
the first deck you ever ran?
Paul:
Starter deck Yugi obv.
Ally:
Did you
phail really badly with it to? Haha, or did you
swarm everyone?
Paul:
I didn’t start winning for a while.
Ally:
When was
its when you did start winning?
Paul:
When Pharaonic Guardian came out I
started pretty much dominating my locals along with
a few of my friends.
Ally:
What deck
was that you were dominating with? How much did your
skills improve since then?
Paul:
After that I started going to
regionals and such. I have qualified for nationals
every year since they started. Then Shonen Jumps
started, and when they started coming to the east
coast I started my "competitive career"
Ally:
How was
your first regional experience for you? What deck
were you running?
Paul:
I really couldn’t tell you. It was so
long ago. I remember I scrubbed. I don’t think I
topped a regional until my second or third.
Ally:
Can you
tell me about your first regional top 8?
Paul:
I don’t really remember my first
regional top 8, aside from Yata-locking people
(those were the days).
Ally:
Aw yes the
famous annoying Yata-lock lol. Since you qualified
the first year how was your first national
experience like for you?
Paul:
My first national (04) was really
fun, even though I scrubbed. I went there with Shane
Scurry and Carlos Santiago and some of my other
friends, and played for a lot of cards and such
before the actual tournament. In nationals though, I
won my first match, lost my next 2, and then
dropped.
Ally:
Well since
your first national experience what were some goals
you set to do better the next year?
Paul:
Well at that time regionals were the
big thing, so all there really was to look forward
to was next year nationals but then SJC New Jersey
came around, and us east coast players got a taste
of a higher level of competition.
Ally:
How did
you do at that SJC?
Paul:
I went 8-2, my 2 losses being to
national champion T, and my good friend Carlos
Santiago.
Ally:
Yikes!
What deck were you running at that jump?
Paul: Goat
Control.
Ally: Aw I
see. After the SJ and the destroyment of goat
control what deck did you decide to run? How you do
with it?
Paul:
I ran goat control at nats 2005 where
I went 8-2, again losing to T, and this time Anthony
Alvorado. Then, the last SJC of the banlist with
goat control legal was SJC Boston. I used a modified
deck of the one I used at nats, and went 9-0 in
swiss,
Ally:
How did
you do in day 2?
Paul:
I lost in top 8 to Brent Yetter in SJ
Boston.
Ally:
In the
year '06 season how was YGO! for you? Meaning, you
were in a innovator of some decks, but what were
they?
Paul:
After I top 8'ed SJC Boston, it was a
new format. Me and the new Team Scoop went to SJC
Atlanta. I top 8'ed, but lost in top 8 again. Then,
we went to SJC Chicago, and me and my teammate
Carlos Santiago both top 8'ed with our teams forced
simplification deck. In that jump I lost in top 4.
Then, in SJC LA I took Bazoo Return to an undefeated
performance in swiss, and then won the SJC without
losing a single game in day 2.
Ally:
In Atlanta
SJC what were you running? Were you on a team before
Scoop?
Paul:
I was never on a team before scoop.
At sjc Atlanta I was running a teched out warrior
toolbox deck.
Ally:
Can you
explain please what the techs were in the warrior
toolbox?
Ally: What
were the members on Team Scoop?
Paul:
the members were me, Shane Scurry,
Carlos Santiago, Quincy Gordon, Jeff Ogaro, Justin
Gillison, and Keith Gibson.
Paul: I teched cards like Zombyra the
Dark and Mystic Swordsman lv2.
Ally:
How did
Zombrya do for you that day? I mean did it help you
top 8 ATL a lot?
Paul:
I used it as a searchable way to
combat cyber dragon (which was a new card at the
time). I guess you could say it worked well, I mean
I did top 8 after all.
Ally:
Yep! When
your deck list came out on metagame during that SJ
do you think a lot of people teched it in their
decks after that? Like you started a new trend so to
speak.
Paul:
Not so much with that particular card
but afterwards, I think my decklists from SJC
Chicago and definitely LA had a big impact on the
metagame.
Ally:
How was
Chicago SJC for you? What was the deck that you
simplifide?
Paul:
The deck strategy was forced
simplification. I used only cards that would result
in a 1 for 1 trade, so that the game would quickly
be reduced to top decking. The deck was made so that
it had no bad topdecks, so at that point; you would
always draw better than your opponent; because they
would draw dead cards or tribute monsters; things my
deck didn’t have.
Ally:
How do you
think your deck had a big impact of the meta?
Paul:
Forced simplification became a
popular strategy, and people began to use it in many
different decks
Ally:
In SJC LA you said you ran Bazoo Return and won with
it. What made you want to run Bazoo Return? I don't
think anyone there was running the deck, and it was
amazing to see it played.
Paul:
Me and my team
mates came up with the deck. The format was
basically all warrior toolbox decks that were pretty
slow. They all played three DD Assailants and DD
Warrior Lady, so that helped fuel the RFG already,
and return just added an alternate win condition to
the standard toolbox deck that allowed it to win
games no matter how far down you were in life or
card advantage.
Ally:
How big of an accomplishment do you think you put on
the meta? You did change it and turn it into a new
direction, but what were you thoughts? Was it like
"I can't believe I did this!"
Paul:
It was a good
feeling. People all over were either running Bazoo
Return, or trying to counter it.
Ally: What were the counters for your deck?
Paul:
Well people tried
all different things to counter the deck, but the
reason the deck really died was a new set was
released Pot of Avarice came out, and people
transitioned from playing toolbox to flip flop
control, and Bazoo Return was really only good in an
aggressive metagame. The metagame became defensive,
and the deck no longer thrived.
Ally:
What you do from there when you knew Bazoo Return
wouldn't last? Did you try to come up with a new
deck type?
Paul:
I tried lots of
stuff over the following months and formats. Shane
Scurry and I came up with Sorcerer Return, which
molded the entire format, but I have built and
played countless decks, way too many to remember.
Ally:
What is Sorcerer Return?
Paul:
It was a deck
based on removing light and dark monsters with chaos
sorcerer, and once again using return as an
alternate win condition.
Ally:
Oh I see. After SJ LA what were some more
accomplishments you managed to create in the YGO!
world? Didn't you leave scoop for a new team?
Paul:
After a while
Shane Scurry and I left Team Scoop and joined Team
Overdose, the team we are currently on. Since then,
I have top 16'd at SJC Houston, top 8'd SJC Philly,
and top 4'd SJC Baltimore.
Ally:
What were you running at each of those jumps? Did
they make a big impact of the meta again?
Paul:
At SJC Houston I
ran "ratty gadgets" (that’s the name metagame gave
the deck), and it didn’t really impact the meta. In
Philly I ran monarchs with trap dustshoots
maindecked, which became very popular for the rest
of the format and in SJC DC, I ran Zombies, which
along with Dale Bellido and Matt Peddle who helped
shape the current format.
Ally:
You got quite a lot of accomplishments here. Do you
think a lot of people look up to you for it?
Paul:
I mean, I do get
aim messages and messages on Pojo asking for advice,
and people often approach me at SJC’s and ask me to
sign their mats/cards, and for deck help and such. I
really enjoy that kind of stuff, and I’m always
happy to help people out.
Ally:
It's great that you help out others like that. Do
you have any inspirations at all yourself?
Paul:
No real
inspiration, but my team is great support.
Ally:
That's good. Got any deck plans coming up to change
the meta or is it a secret?
Paul:
I have something
for the upcoming SJC San Mateo. I guess you will
just have to wait to see top 16 deck lists ;).
Ally:
Awwww! What are your thoughts about the metagame so
far?
Paul:
well I don’t like
all the CO burn decks, but I think with L&DD, the
new structure deck, and GLAS being released, the
metagame is gonna change a lot come December 1st;
it’s gonna be like a whole new format.
Ally:
Do you think LADD is being overhyped?
Paul: No
Paul:
It’s really good.
I think people who think it wont affect the metagame
are very wrong. I predict it will have a major
showing in SJC San Mateo.
Ally:
Do you think Necroface is overhyped?
Paul: Yea, it really is. I don’t
think anything in GLAS is that good. I think Enishi
is very overhyped, and necroface is overhyped even
more so.
Ally:
What do you like and hate about the forbidden list?
Paul:
At first I didn’t
really like the list, but now I think it is ok. Some
things I would change though are I think decree
should be at three, and I think there is no reason
to limit smashing ground, and certainly not fissure.
I also think trooper should have stayed at three,
and they just should have banned duplication.
Ally:
I think Fissure and Smashing got limited was due to
Gadgets. Personally, I never saw a point at
semi-limiting them. Do you think Raiza should be
limited?
Paul:
Raiza is good,
but it’s easily countered, and can be a dead draw at
times; so I see no reason to limit it.
Ally:
If you had to change the forbidden list what would
you change about it?
Paul:
I would unilit
decree, unlimit trooper, ban duplication, limit wave
motion to one, unilimit fissure, and smashing
ground.
Ally:
Why limit WMC to one? There are plenty of counters
against it, or you think that's not enough?
Paul:
There are
counters, but with three solemn judgment and three
dark bribe (among other cards) to negate spells, and
skill drain to negate monsters, those counters are
often nullified. WMC is the win condition behind co
burn, and can often lead to cheap wins just because
someone couldn’t draw ant s/t removal. Without it,
CO burn would be just a regular burn deck, and not
such a dominating lockdown force.
Ally:
I see your point. I like to talk about your team for
a few minutes. Have you and your team ever have a
team battle in real life?
Paul:
We have team
battled a few times in the past and we have never
lost. Most teams are afraid to play us though. We
like to play for high stakes, and most teams are not
as confident as we are in our skills, and will not
play us for what we want, so we don’t team battle
often.
Ally:
What was your hardest team battle?
Paul:
We haven’t had
one in quite a while, so I don’t really remember.
Ally:
Understandable. If you had to give advice to any new
players out there what would it be?
Paul:
Just keep
practicing, try to look at better more accomplished
players, try to dissect their games and see why they
make the plays they do.
Ally:
Alright, thanks for the interview Paul. It was a lot
of fun! Before this ends though can you please give
a closing statement?
Paul:
I would just like
to thank my team mates, Anthony, Shane, and Adam for
being great. Although we are a small team, we still
manage to be the most dominating force in the game.
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