It’s the twenty-third of January, and in one month’s time, we’ll have the first new Shonen Jump Champion of 2006!
The rumor mills are starting to ramp up as duelists begin to count the days until Shonen Jump Championship Durham. Shonen Jump Championship San Francisco is long in the past, but its legacy has left the field wide open for any number of new, ambitious decks. For the first time in this Advanced format, there is no popular consensus on a single dominant archetype, and the results from San Francisco have shown no clear deck choice for Durham. What’s the best deck in the format? In a month’s time, we’ll have our answer.
New Starter Deck Slated For April 5 Launch
A brand-new product from Upper Deck Entertainment is being released on April 5. A 40-card Starter Deck, this release is engineered for beginner players who are looking to quickly get a grasp on the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG game system.
The deck comes packed with an illustrated beginner’s guide that features plenty of diagrams, making it a superb way to introduce new duelists to the game. Perfect for the hordes of new Yu-Gi-Oh! GX fans, it also promises to be a great tool for anyone who has friends, family, or significant others who’d like to get into Yu-Gi-Oh!
Spellcaster’s Judgment Appears Early in Stores!
Slightly contrary to the release schedule provided by Upper Deck Entertainment at the beginning of this quarter, many stores and wholesalers received their shipments of the newest Structure Deck over the past two weeks. A pleasant surprise for many duelists given the deck’s projected March launch, the release created significant buzz on Internet message boards.
If you’ve been waiting to get your copy of Spellcaster’s Judgment, give some of your local hobby store locations a call. Most hobby stores in Canada already have it, as well as many locations in California and the East Coast.
Exchange of the Spirit Re-Released This Month
The stellar promo card from the Elemental Energy Sneak Preview events, Exchange of the Spirit, makes its debut in Shonen Jump Magazine this month. While many duelists attended preview events for the set and got their copy there, others didn’t have the opportunity. Now they have another chance to get their hands on one of the most interesting cards ever printed!
While Exchange of the Spirit has not yet seen serious play in major tournaments, the card’s reissuing may bring it into the hands of duelists who are willing to dedicate time and testing to the cause. It could be a surprise hit at Shonen Jump Championship Durham, and if you don’t have one in your collection, you’ll definitely want to pick up a copy of Shonen Jump Magazine.
I mean, honestly. Just look at it. Someone is going to break it eventually.
This Week on Metagame.com
As always, Mike Rosenberg kicks off the week with another installment of his popular Bill and Tom’s Binder series. With all of the hubbub surrounding Spellcasters as of late, it’s time to re-evaluate a favorite support card, and Mike does just that when he looks at Magician’s Circle. Taking a new view on some of the card’s capabilities, Mike investigates some of the more devious ways the card can be played, and pays special attention to its viability in Gravekeeper decks. Replays, timing issues, and more abound in this week’s first must-read article.
Jerome McHale follows it up with another of his popular Elemental Hero deck articles. This time he creates the best Elemental Hero strategy yet, focusing on burying multiple Heroes and then fusing them with Miracle Fusion. Relatively easy to build, this deck is sure to be a hit with fans of both Yu-Gi-Oh! GX and creative new deck themes, and Jerome goes into detail describing how to play his masterpiece. If you’ve got some Elemental Hero fusion monsters gathering dust in your trade binder, whip ‘em out and start putting them to work!
On Wednesday, I make up for last week’s lighthearted “Attack of the Slimes!” deck fix with a tournament-competitive Beatdown variant. The Slimes got a surprising amount of positive reader feedback, but sometimes I just need to cut loose and create a deck that I’d actually play in tough competition. I’ll fix up a Panda strategy by adding plenty of Beast tricks, and the end result is a double-attacking, board-clogging, kitten-whacking machine that can pull wins out of thin air. If you want an inexpensive secondary deck that can compete in today’s metagame, be sure to check it out.
Curtis Schultz continues the deluge of unique topics a day later, looking at the rulings and strategy that drive one of Elemental Energy’s most forgotten cards. Water Dragon and the cards that support it can generate advantage like nobody’s business, but the complications that can come with running them have made them unattractive to many duelists. Let Curtis clear away some of the mystery around this strong monster, and show you some key combos to run that will help you get the most out of it!
It’s another must-read on Friday, as Julia Hedberg shares her guide to the academics of card exchange theory. Seen and heard a lot of “plus ones” and “minus ones” lately? Are you trying to make sense of card advantage, card presence, and why it all matters? Julia breaks down what all those numbers really mean, and then shows you why you should care, demonstrating how some simple math can be an invaluable tool to any duelist. If you have questions about the core theories of card presence, tune in Friday because Julia will have all the answers.
Finally, we round out the week on Saturday with an article from Jae Kim. He examines some of the successes duelists have seen with original deck types, and then provides a step-by-step guide on how to create your own successful strategies. If you’ve ever wanted to play something that no one else will be running, but you had no idea where to begin, you need to check out this article. Jae shows you where to start, what questions to ask, and how to develop an idea into a complete deck!
That’s it for this week! As always, thanks for reading Metagame.com!
—Jason Grabher-Meyer
Contributing Editor, Metagame.com