It’s Monday, June 2, 2008, and the American and Canadian National Championships are coming up fast!

Just Three Weeks ’til American National Championships

Still planning your trip? Be sure to start with a look at the official National Championship page. There you’ll find venue information, lists of prizes and qualified players, and a player packet with information about the weekend.

Show up early on Friday for plenty of Last Chance Qualifier events, or if you’re already qualified, throw down in one of three huge Team Dueling tournaments! Team Dueling begins at 2 PM on Friday, with another tournament on Saturday and Team Dueling Championships on Sunday.  If you received a certificate through competition at a local Regional or Hobby League venue, you can enter for free. Entry is wide open, though—no invite needed to any of the three tournaments—so bring your craziest tag team strategies and get ready for a ton of fun. Prizes are as-of-yet unannounced, but the emphasis isn’t on busting up your opponent for swag anyway. Get ready to have a good time and blow off some steam.  Dueling?  Not always serious business.

Four competitors will win tickets to Berlin with the privilege of representing their country at the World Championships in August. Legends will fall and new names will be made, so get ready for a dueling contest of epic proportions on June 21 and 22!

This Week on Metagame

Tomorrow, Jerome McHale brings us his version of Christopher Ballard’s deck from St. Louis: Jinzo – Returner. Ballard made huge waves, getting all the way to the Top 8 with his unique strategy. Jerome’s going to pick up where he left off, dodging some of Ballard’s more questioned card choices to create a deadly powerhouse of special summoning and negation.

The Lightsworn are some of the most talked-about cards from Light of Destruction, and they got several world debut cards that were never printed in Japan. Curtis is going to show you two of them on Wednesday, discussing the rulings surrounding each. Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid and Ehren, Lightsworn Monk both have unique effects that have never been seen before, so make sure you know how they work.

On Thursday, it’s the return of deck fixes to Metagame.com! You guys asked for it, so it’s back. The Apotheosis column returns, and I’ll be tackling a deck most of us haven’t looked at in ages: Ratbox. What makes Ratbox a potential winner in the current format? What new tricks make it better than it’s ever been before? And can I fix up this week’s submission into a tournament-worthy build? Find out later this week.

Bryan Camareno discussed some of his experiences in floor judging last week in his Practical Duelist column. This Friday, he’s shifting focus a bit to discuss the same types of topics, but this time from the perspective of a head judge. If you’re a newer judge just getting into volunteering, this article will help you understand the challenges that lie ahead, as well as the attitudes that will help you meet them.

Saturday, Matt Peddle deconstructs one of the most talked-about decks from Shonen Jump Championship St. Louis: Steven Harris’s winning Gladiator Beast build. In a Day 2 field that was dominated by six Gladiator Beast decks, Harris’s was the one that went the distance, defeating Dark Armed Dragon, Lightsworn, and a plethora of mirror matches to take the title. What set his deck apart, and what made it so good? Matt’s going to tell all later this weekend.

Finally, Ryan Murphy takes another look at Gravekeepers in The Forgotten Format. It wasn’t long ago that Ryan was showing us a budget Gravekeeper build fine-tuned to take down Dark Armed Return, but this time the playing field has changed. Crush Card Virus’s release in Gold Series has changed the game, and this deck in particular, so Ryan’s going to show you a totally different take on Gravekeepers.

That’s it for this week! Join us in another seven days as we begin the countdown to the American National Championships.