It’ Monday, June 4th, and with the last Shonen Jump Championship of the 2006-2007 season now behind us, the dueling world has a brand new two-time champ!
Shane Scurry Wins Shonen Jump Championship Minneapolis
When Shane Scurry broke into Day 2 this past weekend in Minneapolis, his achievement was less than auspicious. The well-recognized Scurry snuck into the Top 16 in the unenviable sixteenth slot, just barely squeaking into Day 2 by virtue of his second tiebreaker.
Paired against Tong Thao in the first match of the Top 16, Scurry’s chances for success appeared to go from slim to nil. While Scurry was armed with a Destiny Hero Beatdown build heavily inspired by Theeresak Poonsombat’s in Anaheim, Thao was packing a Lazaro-influenced Monarch deck that sided three Dimensional Fissure cards. It was a popular side-deck choice this past weekend for its precise ability to alienate a Destiny Hero duelist from his or her best cards, and the pressure was on Scurry to pull out a miracle. And he did, twice, defeating Thao to move on to the quarterfinals!
Scurry faced Jeff Baumgartner and Kyle Hintz in quick succession, competing against each recognized competitor in a Destiny Hero Beatdown mirror match before finally taking on Daniel Tate in the last match of the day. In a thrilling three-game confrontation that pitted Destiny Hero Beatdown against Destiny Hero Monarchs, Scurry emerged victorious to become a two-time Shonen Jump Champion! Love him or hate him, just don’t underestimate him—Scurry went from 16th to 1st, the first duelist in SJC history to manage such a feat on Day 2.
The Top 8 was again packed with Destiny Hero Beatdown and the Destiny Hero Monarch deck “Perfect Circle,” clocking in at four appearances and two appearances respectively. Jordan Nasser brought Gadgets to the Top 8 tables again—their first Day 2 showing since Columbus—and Son Pham rounded out the Top 8 with his spin on Lazaro Monarch. Other Day 2 notables included a Warrior Toolbox variant of the Elemental Hero deck Big City, plus a Chimeratech Overdragon Machine deck.
Though Raiza the Storm Monarch made a huge impact this past weekend, duelists appeared to hold their new strategies created by the release of Force of the Breaker for National Championships . . . now just weeks away. Remember, if you didn’t catch all the live coverage from Minneapolis, you can relive the event right here on Metagame.com.
Canadian National Championships Next Week
With the current Shonen Jump Championship season concluded, all eyes now turn to the upcoming National Championships. The U.S. National Championships aren’t until June 23rd, but Canadian Nationals is just twelve days away.
This year will feature a new Last Chance Regional format with smaller, more frequent tournaments. The result is a faster schedule with less downtime for the duelist looking to get his or her Nationals invite, so even if you don’t have your invitation yet, it’s well-worth showing up to try and qualify. The weekend will also feature several Advanced Format side events, plus the first two Regional Championships of the 2008 season! Six duelists will walk away from this weekend with their 2008 invites in hand, ready to play in next year’s Nationals.
This year’s National Championships will be held at the landmark Metro Toronto Convention Center, in the heart of downtown Toronto. Adjacent to Union Station—one of Canada’s biggest railway hubs—and just blocks from downtown Greyhound stops, this tournament is far more accessible than previous Canadian Nats. That’s going to translate to a higher level of competition and Metagame.com will be live on site to bring you all the Championship-level action!
Remember, you can find the Invite List for both U.S. and Canadian Nationals over on the official Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG site. Make sure your name is on the list if you’re planning to compete: it might sound like an obvious thing to do, but there’s always some poor soul who shows up and receives an unpleasant surprise—don’t be that guy!
This Week on Metagame.com
Mike Rosenberg begins our week as always, with an in-depth review of one of the most important cards in the current environment. Trap Dustshoot appeared in nine of the Top 16 decks in Minneapolis, and its presence has all but destroyed the threat of Demise, King of Armageddon. It’s more than just Demise tech though, and Mike Rosenberg will reflect on the card’s present use as well as its storied past—all to predict its future. If you’re not playing Trap Dustshoot yet, you need to read this article.
Tomorrow, Jerome McHale creates a deadly Gravekeeper’s build centered around Gravekeeper’s Commandant and Royal Tribute. The oft-forgotten spell card is what makes this build so different, and Jerome creates a deck that capitalizes on Tribute’s strength while optimizing Gravekeepers’ aggression and disruption. It’s a beast to play against, and if you’ve been looking for a Gravekeeper deck to add to your regular testing gauntlet, then this is a great choice.
On Wednesday, Jason Grabher-Meyer returns to The Apotheosis. Yup, I’m back, and I’m here to deliver the message that Crellian Vowler’s reign of terror has come to an end! Back from my education-oriented hiatus, I’ll be working hard on my first deck fix in four months. I’ll also be working to scrub Vowler’s residual rage and angst right out of my column, so stop by and see how it all works out!
Thursday, Curtis Schultz swings open the doors to his Duel Academy to begin a detailed series on Crystal Beast rulings. For the first installment, Curtis dissects the crystallization mechanic and helps us understand how it works. In doing so, he teaches us how to play with it effectively, and how to counter it through negation and core game mechanics. Crystal Beasts are definitely going to see some action at the upcoming National and European Championships, so consider this article to be on your must-read list.
Byan Camareno is back this week with an article that taps into the recent tournament success of strategies like Cyberdarks and Six Samurai. At this point, any intermediate or veteran duelist is familiar with the herd mentality and its impact on the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. It’s easy to run with the pack and play a deck that has been proven successful, but is it really the best way to win? Bryan doesn’t think so, and he’s going to show you how to convert independence into tournament wins in this week’s The Practical Duelist.
The Destiny Hero Monarch deck known as Perfect Circle has taken the dueling world by storm, and Jessy Samek’s Championship-winning build from Shonen Jump Philadelphia proved to the world that this once-maligned strategy is here to stay. This Saturday, let Matt Peddle take you inside Samek’s progenitive version to show you what makes it so good, investigating the matchups and groundbreaking capabilities that have made Perfect Circle such a threat.
All that and more this week, as Metagame.com counts down the days to the biggest tournaments of the year. Get ready for some action-packed weeks in dueling!
—Jason Grabher-Meyer
Contributing Editor, Metagame.com