The time has come, and Shonen Jump action has returned to “the best four days in gaming” right here, at Gen Con Indianapolis!

The greatest duelists in North America have convened here today for what’s always one of the biggest Shonen Jump Championships of the year. Chris Bowling, Erin Diaz, Chris Flores, Dale Bellido, Lazaro Bellido, Paul Levitin, Jeff Baumgartner, Zaki Said, Jon Moore, Hugo Adame, and dozens more big-name duelists are here to throw down, and they’re just a handful of the hundreds of competitors in contention today. With Gladiator Beasts showing no signs of slowing down, many of them are attempting to innovate to get an edge.

The number one new deck on everybody’s mind? Zombies. Premium Pack 2 cards are legal for the first time ever in a high-profile event, which means Mezuki will see his Shonen Jump Championship debut here today. Last weekend I sat in Berlin’s Tegel International airport playtesting Zombie decks with guys like Chris Bowling and Lazaro Bellido, but neither has opted to play the new strategy today. But others like Jon Moore have quickly taken up the cause, and we’re seeing everything from straight Zombie decks to variants built around Caius the Shadow Monarch and Dark Armed Dragon. Time will tell which will be successful.

Other innovative strategies rumored to be in contention today include a Dark Scorpion Tomato Control deck, and a strategy trumping Gladiator Beast Gyzarus and Gladiator Beast Heraklinos with Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon. Yes, Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon. I’ve also got my eye on an aggressive deck-out build, and a certain Metagame writer who’s here taking another shot at Paul Levitin’s Light Elemental Heroes.