Last December we saw Jerry Wang face off against Fili Luna in a Light and Darkness Dragon mirror match in the finals of Shonen Jump Championship San Mateo, a match that ended with Luna claiming yet another Shonen Jump title!

Eight weeks later duelists are flooding the Orange County Convention Center and we’re back with the first Shonen Jump Championship of 2008. Little has changed in the playable card pool. A slight delay in the release of the latest booster sets, Duelist Pack – Jaden Yuki 3 and Duelist Pack – Jesse Anderson means that they will not be legal for Shonen Jump play until Houston. The newest Shonen Jump promo card, Van’Dalgyon the Dark Dragon Lord, is not yet legal for premier events. However, a wealth of promos have been added to the playable pool: the four Limited Edition Pack cards released by Shonen Jump Magazine these past few weeks, recent videogame cards, and Fiend’s Sanctuary, the all-new Champion Pack: Game 5 Ultra Rare, are getting some serious hype here this morning.

Anyone expecting to see a stale metagame this weekend is in for a brutal surprise. Members of Team Superfriends are packing an all-new deck that’s sure to shake things up, and innovators like Jeff Jones, Vincent Tundo, and Paul Lyn are in attendance. Star competitors here today include Dale Bellido, Fili Luna, National Champion Adam Corn, former National Champion Theeresak Poonsombat, Hugo Adame, Matt Peddle, Chris Pittao, John Jensen, Chris Flores, Andrew Fredella, and many, many more repeat Day 2 competitors.

Light and Darkness Dragon may no longer be the deck to beat, as most known competitors are intent on defeating the Dragon, not running it themselves. While I don’t want to give anything away, I’ve got my eye on several decks that I can’t wait to see in action, including killer updates on the Soul Control and Big City concepts that could go all the way.

Will Light and Darkness Dragon claim the weekend again, or will the vast number of Macro Cosmos and anti-metagame players reign supreme? Standard Monarch is actually a big pick this weekend — will simplicity and reliability have the impact that many believe it should? Or will an all-new deck triumph in the end? We’ll seek the answers to those questions and more as the weekend plays out. It’s half past ten, and 455 players are raring to go. By the end of tonight, only sixteen will remain.