It’s Sunday morning, and sixteen players have dueled their way through a field of more than 700 competitors to make it to the final rounds here at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Today we’ll see Monarchs, Dark Armed Dragon, Lightsworn, and of course Gladiator Beast decks go head-to-head, piloted by some of the finest duelists the US and Canada have to offer. Welcome to Day 2 of Shonen Jump Championship Philadelphia!
First-seed competitor Anthony Ling went undefeated yesterday, scoring up a perfect 10-0 record with Dark Armed Dragon — the least-represented deck in the Top 16. His opponent, Chris McGarrett, is playing Gladiator Beasts, traditionally a bad matchup for Dark Armed, but Ling didn’t go undefeated by losing to Gladiators. This one should be interesting.
Stephen Silverman will face off against Jose Arocho, in yet another Dark Armed Dragon / Gladiator Beast matchup. Arocho’s Dark Armed Dragon build plays multiple copies of Destiny Hero – Plasma and Cyber Valley, teching the Gladiator Beast matchup while also playing one-of picks like Limit Reverse. Arocho has improved his dueling skills by leaps and bounds over the past year, and today he walks into this match as the veteran favorite.
Adam Corn competes against Overdose teammate Dale Bellido, playing his trend-setting Prime Material Monarch deck against Bellido’s classic Gladiator Beast build. This one could go either way — both duelists are fan-favorites for their respective countries, and each has more credentials than we could possibly list here.
Team Dueling Champion Tom Mak will duel Bobby Barone, pitting what may be the Top 16’s most innovative deck against the metagame’s deck-to-beat: Gladiator Beasts. Mak’s offbeat mix of Monarchs and Lightsworn took plenty of competitors by surprise yesterday, and his access to tremendous effects had a big impact on unsuspecting players. But with the element of surprise gone, will his tricks continue to work? We’ll find out in mere minutes.
Michael Kohanim and Robert Ackerman will play one of two Top 16 mirror matches, pitting Gladiator Beasts against Gladiator Beasts in what’s sure to be a hard-fought match. Ackerman is coming off an impressive showing at US Nationals, but Kohanim has a healthy reputation in his local area — a win here over the veteran Ackerman would be a huge windfall for his credentials.
Timothy Howell was my only regret yesterday — he played an innovative Monarch build that ran double The Shallow Grave, and rode it to victory after victory all day long, But he’s up against one of the game’s greatest creative duelists, Lazaro Bellido, playing the Gladiator Beast strategy that made him Canadian National Champion just last weekend. Will Lazaro Bellido take two Championship wins in one week?
The second Top 16 mirror match is a surprising one: Frank Schifano will duel Michael Tortorella, taking Lightsworn against Lightsworn. Frank Schifano played Lightsworn to Day 2 of the US National Championships two weeks ago, and has quickly gained a reputation for consistency with the deck. But in order to keep that reputation, he’ll need to defeat Tortorella here today. Regardless, Lightsworn are finally making it to the Top 8.
Finally, Tariq Williams duels Stanley Jolibois, pitting Gladiator Beasts against Monarchs with Dark Armed Dragon. This one is anybody’s game, though Williams’ reputation does precede him.
We’ve got four feature match reporters bringing you extended coverage here today, so get ready for more Day 2 dueling than ever before! Four rounds from now, we’ll have a brand new Shonen Jump Champion.