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It all comes down to this! Max Suffridge of Team Alpha Omega against Team Nexus’s Miguel Garcia! |
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“Does that count, he jinxed it?” asked Wang, referring to the die roll. No longer facing a teammate, he seemed to be far more animated! |
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This semifinal match was a bit more relaxed than the quarterfinals—after all, everyone here had already earned their trip to Tokyo, so the big pressure was off. From here on out, it’s a matter of pride and prizes. |
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The players shuffled up in silence as Judge John Danker explained that he would stop them if they started to make a misplay. Max laughed, saying that he really hoped they were good enough not to mess things up that badly. |
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This quarterfinal match pitted two Overdose teammates against each other. One would definitely be going to Japan, but one would not. Neither player seemed happy having to play each other—the usually jubilant Rhymus Lizo just stared at the wall while he shuffled his deck, then methodically placed his Fusion and side deck on the table while Wang did the same. |
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The Top 8 got underway shortly after 10 AM. Some of the competitors stayed up late studying their opponent’s decklists, while others opted for a good night’s sleep. Miguel and Eric both went with sleep over extended study, and seemed alert and in good spirits as the quarterfinals began. |
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Find the Top 8 decklists here! |
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Team Alpha Omega was being represented by Max Suffridge, a 20-year-old duelist from Lousville Kentucky. Bryan Coronel was fighting for Team Overdose. At 18 years of age, he was one of two OD members still in contention to represent Jersey City on Day 2. |
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What happens when Kuriboh goes to U.S. Nationals? Find out in our photo coverage! |
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Table 1 and round nine . . . the pressure is on as two undefeated duelists face off. One is a Shonen Jump champion from one of the most well-known teams in the game, Comic Odyssey. Neither player in this match was going to make the mistake of underestimating his opponent, with so much on the line. |
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Loftis opened the match with some banter. “My buddies said like, ‘you’re playing James Taylor!’ and I was like, ‘I am, wow!’ and they totally didn’t get it. I was like ‘Guys, we’re from Carolina, come on!’” |
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Do you ever wonder what happens when a group of players realize they’re spread across two different teams? Well, in this instance, a new team was formed. |
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2005 is the Year of the Team. Team this, team that, everywhere you look teams are springing up all over. Some have definite star power, some are out for a good time, and some are hoping for Metagame.com coverage. |
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Ryan Hayakawa is Yu-Gi-Oh!’s only dual SJC champ, and is comparable to a small ninja in both demeanor and performance. Seemingly coming out of nowhere over the past few months, Ryan has won multiple Cyber-Steins for Team Comic Odyssey and is a star member of the number one group in the game. |
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Comic Odyssey and Team Overdose got a good helping of each other at the New Jersey Shonen Jump, and their paths have crossed again here at Nationals. Round 5 offered a promising matchup between two of the team powerhouses. This is definitely not a match to be missed. |
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While in the past, potentially powerful cards like Dark Core went ignored, players are now deeply concerned with both dishing out—and protecting themselves from—complete removal. |
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Steve is running a Lockdown deck with some key innovations, and I think his model for the archetype could very easily present a standard for the deck’s future. |
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I like it when great minds agree with me. While I wouldn’t presume to place myself among greats, it’s reassuring when play trends and truly awesome players seem to follow the same disciplines and game principles that I promote. |
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There are plenty of kids who play Yu-Gi-Oh!, so seeing a ten-year-old at lots of events isn’t really all that unusual. But it is unusual to see a player that young make Top 4 on his own power, especially in a region where the competition is quite strong. |
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Right off the bat today in round one, two cards are demonstrating an unexpected level of impact. |
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Check out the Top 8 decklists from LCQ 3 here! |
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Check out the results and standings from LCQ 3! |
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Check out bios of the Top 8 players in LCQ 2 here! |
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Check out the decklists from the Top 8 of LCQ 2 here! |
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Entrants arriving for today’s Last Chance Qualifiers were in for a surprise—a brand-new end-of match procedure. |
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With Nationals just a single day away, the field is pretty much set. If any teams have any secret weapons left in their arsenals, no one’s eager to be spilling secrets at this point. |
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Check out the results and standings from LCQ 2! |
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Check out the results and standings from the first LCQ tournament of the day! |
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Check out bios of the Top 8 players from LCQ 1 here! |
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Check out the Top 8 decklists from the first LCQ of the day here! |
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Cookie Jar Deck Destruction’s recent performances in several Shonen Jump Championships were capped off by a first-place finish at the Mexico National Championships. |
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Most of these duelists are running decks that have been proven to be reliable, such as Chaos Warrior and Goat Control, also known as the Thousand-Eyes Lock. However, one of these duelists has decided to break away from the norm with a deck focused on an incredibly underrated card. |
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Many as-yet unqualified hopefuls turned out for today’s last-chance qualifiers—the final shot at entry into 2005’s Yu-Gi-Oh! Nationals tournament. |
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