It’s Tuesday, February 27^th, and after Diamond Dude Turbo’s rampage at Shonen Jump Championship St. Louis, the dueling world is ready for a brand new format!

Though six distinctly different deck strategies made it to the Top 8 in St. Louis, it was the much-feared Diamond Dude Turbo deck that took both spots in the finals. Carlo Perez scored a breathtaking 2-0 victory in an unforgettable match that started with Perez completely passing his first turn! You can read all about it in our complete tournament coverage here.

Other top decks included a Nouveau Ratbox in third place, Macro Cosmos Monarchs, and Bazoo/Chimeratech Dimension Fusion. While Diamond Dude Turbo isn’t likely to survive into the next format due to the limitation of Elemental Hero Stratos and Dimension Fusion, all of these decks could be strong bets for March after a little bit of tweaking.

Congratulations to all the competitors at Shonen Jump Championship St. Louis, and a special congrats to Carlo Perez of Team Kamikaze, your newest Shonen Jump Champion!

Diamond Dude Turbo certainly won’t be the broken deck of choice this weekend, as duelists gather to compete in Houston. While the impact of “DDT” has been felt, its era is over, because SJC Houston is the first major tournament of the brand new March 1^st format!

Strike of Neos will be legal for play at this event, which means that several new decks might leave their mark on the tournament scene. Dark World players are raring to go with new additions to their arsenal: Dark World Dealings, Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark World, and Kahkki, Guerilla of Dark World are all sure to see play. Advanced Ritual Art is a lot deadlier than most expect, especially when it’s pulling out Zorc to create massive field advantage. And of all the new and revisited themes in the set, it’s the Six Samurai that have suddenly made the biggest splash of all. While results this early certainly can’t be considered conclusive, we might be surprised at how well these new themes fare.

Many questions surround the tournament, thanks to the timely format change. Will Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys put forth the performance many are anticipating? Monarchs lose Graceful Charity, and some of the power of Treeborn Frog goes with it, but they’re still usually a staple of a new format. Will they be played heavily yet again? Will Injection Fairy Lily prove to be a polite little lady, or will she wreck faces on the level some duelists are fearing? We’ll find out this coming weekend, when Metagame.com’s Jerome McHale brings you all the live coverage you crave from the tournament floor!

Yesterday, Mike Rosenberg started off our week with a look at the risks and benefits of Dark World Dealings. This card has seen some heated debate as of late (primarily because of the problems it can present in the mirror match), but the payoff may very well be worth that risk. Mike investigated the issue thoroughly and gave you his conclusion, so check it out for yourself!

One of the most talked-about decks resulting from the new Forbidden and Limited lists is the dedicated Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys strategy. The problem? Bottomless Trap Hole makes the deck easy to tech against, giving any player a splashable answer to Phoenix’s summoning. Jerome McHale proposes a deck idea today that works to overcome that challenge, giving Phoenix players more speed while also providing a chainable answer to remove-from-game effects. Do yourself a favor and don’t miss it.

The much-esteemed Dr. Crellian Vowler returns this Wednesday, taking up his new position as the regular writer for The Apotheosis deck fix column. He brings his, er, unique touch to a Horus the Black Flame Dragon deck this week, weighing in on what he sees as the weaknesses that kept the deck from seeing significant play last format. Vowler’s taking new deck submissions too, so if you’re interested in seeing your deck in The Apotheosis, check out this article and send it in today.

On Thursday, Curtis Schultz will look at in-depth rulings on two of the more interesting cards from Strike of Neos: Neo-Spacian Grand Mole and Neo-Spacian Glow Moss. Both of these cards have very unique effects, which results in some rather complicated rulings, so make sure you’re aware of all of them. This article is a handy cheat sheet, and you shouldn’t pass it up.

Sometimes the most entertaining part of a trading card game really is the trading, but it can be a complicated hobby to get into. Staying away from bad trades is really important, and this Friday, Julia Hedberg will give you some tips to help you avoid the deals that prove to be regrettable. Then, in Agents of Judgment, Julia addresses the issue of dealing with new card releases. While keeping up with new booster releases is relatively easy, promos are coming out in dang near everything lately, and that can make staying current on rulings pretty tough. This article will include some important guidelines for judges that will help you stay on top of new tech.

Finally, Matt Peddle finishes out our week with a look at Team Rampage’s build of Chimeratech OTK. This deck took three competitors to the Top 8 of SJC Orlando, and Matt’s going to break it down to show you what made it so effective. Though Chimeratech takes a hit from the new Forbidden/Limited list, the sheer volume of success this build saw makes it worthy of some historic review.

That’s it for this week, so don’t forget to stop by on Saturday to read all the coverage from Shonen Jump Championship Houston! We’re at the beginning of a whole new era of dueling, and the SJC this weekend is bound to be one for the ages!