It seems like everyone in Upper Deck Entertainment’s Organized Play department is really kicking it into high gear lately. There are big changes ahead for both the Judge and Demo Team programs—most of which will be announced at the first Volunteer Convocation at Gen Con Indianapolis—and just yesterday, some exciting news was released regarding new prizes and prize structure, plus a new volunteer incentive.
First on the list is a brand new game mat for Regional Qualifier events! Prominently featuring Rainbow Dragon, and augmented with those sweet transparent game zones that debuted on the National Championship mat, this player incentive will replace the Sacred Beasts game mat on August 15th. Yup, just in time for Gen Con Indianapolis!
The new mat also heralds a revamped prize structure for Regional Qualifiers. Duelists who make it to the Top 8 will still get a mat for their efforts, but now four more mats will be awarded as door prizes in Round 1. Players can only win one game mat per Regional, so if a Round 1 mat winner makes Top 8, the additional mat will become another random door prize—a nice incentive to those who stuck it out to the final rounds.
The Rainbow Dragon game mat is also the first of a rotating series. Instead of the previous yearly rotation, Regional Qualifier mats will now change with every booster set. The previous mat will go into retirement and a new one will be released, meaning that there will be more Regional mats to win at each event despite quantities of specific mats being more limited. That’s going to make the mats more desirable in the long run, and it’ll give duelists more reason to compete in Regional Qualifiers all year long.
A new mat has also been created for Judges who work Shonen Jump Championships. The mat features Chimeratech Overdragon as well as Judge program branding, and it will remain as a Shonen Jump exclusive for some time. Eventually, the mat will be rotated out and made more widely available to Judge staff, and a new Shonen Jump Championship Judge mat will be introduced. Check it out:
The new mat will be available to Judges at Shonen Jump Indianapolis.
And that’s not all! In other Indy news, a new SJC prize card will be making its debut at Gen Con. Crush Card Virus’s time has come and gone, leaving duelists to wonder what card will take its place. An announcement from UDE yesterday indicated that the new promo will be revealed in an upcoming Shonen Jump Magazine e-mail newsletter, which you can subscribe to right here. It’s free to sign up, and if you haven’t done so already, it’s a great source of exclusive news.
With the 2007 season behind us, it looks like 2008 is going to be a huge year for serious duelists. More prizes per event, more stuff to win, and more volunteer support is the perfect way to start off the new season!
—Jason Grabher-Meyer
Contributing Editor, Metagame.com