Another week, and another Shonen Jump Championship is in the books! In a Day 2 studded with celebrity duelists and defined by innovation, old deck design won out in the hands of an up-and-coming competitor.

Justin Arnwine had one heck of a gauntlet to run on his way to the title. After defeating long-time friend Jerome Baisey in a Day 1 feature match (the two actually designed Baisey’s innovative Dark Gaia deck that you saw in the Baltimore coverage), he moved on to duel Jerry Wang in the Top 16. Arthur Rogers, the only Lightsworn duelist to make Day 2, was next to fall in the Top 8. From there Arnwine had to battle through four-time Day 2 competitor "The Amazing Alonzo" Peters before taking on Shonen Jump Champion Andrew Fredella in the finals. After three hard-fought duels, Arnwine emerged victorious.

Fifteen of the decks in Day 2 were TeleDAD variants, but "variant" really was the key word. Notable builds included Chris Bowling’s Psychic-light version, Henry Su’s build with Mind Control, Lightning Vortex, and Magical Mallet, and Mark Borden’s Light and Darkness Dragon build. Chris Taporco even managed to play three copies of Destiny Hero – Dasher and two copies of Jinzo to a successful Top 16 finish. Just when it looked like TeleDAD was reaching its plateau, a host of new builds were suddenly successful. TeleDAD duelists will have a lot of choices to make as we count down the four weeks leading up to SJC Chicago.

The Sneak Preview promo for this set may actually be the best one ever, trumping Grandmaster of the Six Samurai and Dark Grepher. Rose, Warrior of Revenge is a Level 4 Tuner—the first one ever in the TCG. Check out Monday’s article by Jerome McHale for more info, or just show up to the Sneak Preview in your area. You’ll get a copy just for showing up and playing.

All attendees will receive five packs of the new booster set from which to make their decks, and there are two ways to play. You can play in a Swiss-style tournament with your new deck, or, for more casual duelists, you can Open Play. Everyone who plays a few games in the Open Play format will earn an extra pack of Crossroads, while those who do well in the Swiss-style tournament stand to win several more packs. The choice is up to you. No matter how you play, Crossroads of Chaos t-shirts will also be offered as door prizes.

You can find a Sneak Preview event in your area by checking out the event locator right here With a lot of awesome cards for pre-established decks, this set’s going to be a big one, so don’t miss your chance to be one of the first to get your hands on it. .

Jerome McHale

Today I looked at another top pick from Crossroads of Chaos: Plaguespreader Zombie. Following in the tradition of Krebons, Plaguespreader is a special summon–friendly Level 2 Tuner monster that’s going to totally change high-level competition as we know it. Check out my preview to see why it’s so good.

Then we'll hear from Ryan Murphy about another pair of new cards, Psychic Jumper and Psychokinesis. Two extremely playable new entries for the Psychic theme, they’re viable in both dedicated Psychic decks and TeleDAD variants, so these are two cards competitive players are going to want to be familiar with. Ryan will show you what they can do on Thursday.

Thursday, Bryan Camareno blows the lid off the card bound to become a sleeper hit from Crossroads: Secret Village of the Spellcasters.  Spellcasters get several big pushes from the new set and this isn't just the first - it's one of the biggest.  We'll have more on new Spellcaster tech next week.

Also on Thursday, Curtis Schultz introduces a new piece of terminology to our duel-discussing lexicon: "event-specific chains." There are chains that can only be initiated in response to specific conditions, and since they all share common mechanics, Curtis is going to spend a few weeks detailing their intricacies. This week it’s all about monster summons: how you can respond to them, what kind of opportunities they create, and how you can master them to become a better duelist.

Friday, Matt Peddle joins us to discuss Hanewata and its impact on long-term competition. This card is the Watapon answer to Winged Kuriboh, and its arrival heralds a major shift in the balance of wide-flung archetypes. Burn decks will never be the same, and everyone should probably own a playset of this stellar new tech card.

On Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, we’ll be talking about the new Plant support! I’ll get things started on Saturday by showing you two of the most basic (and powerful) new Plant cards: Botanical Lion and Aki’s Mark of the Rose. Plants get one of the biggest Level 4 beatsticks of all time, plus a Snatch Steal of which they can run three copies, and that’s just the beginning.

Sunday, Jerome McHale unleashes the force that is Black Rose Dragon. It’s a lot more than just a monster for Plant decks, so Jerome’s going to discuss its use both in and out of that context. It’s a very different card depending on where you want to use it, but if you’ve got an Extra deck, you’ll definitely want to be packing a pair. Find out why in Jerome’s article.