It’s over, and Gladiator Beasts have dominated Shonen Jump Championship St. Louis!

Steven Harris battled his way through a near-impossible matchup to begin the day, fending off Dale Bellido’s Lightsworn deck before tackling Shane Scurry in a mirror match. Scurry quickly fell to Harris’s superior deck, and Harris moved on to the semifinals where he competed against Joseph Rechis. The Top 4 was pure Gladiator Beasts, and Rechis was my personal pick for the win once Top 4 was determined, but Harris cleaved through him in a quick 2-0 victory.

Finally, he took a 2-1 victory against Danny Magnin in a finals matched that pitted two Day 2 newcomers against each other for a Shonen Jump title. It was over in mere minutes, with Harris winning game 1, losing game 2 to D.D. Crow, and finally capturing the last duel of the tournament.

The Top 16 consisted of six Gladiator Beast decks, four dedicated Dark Armed Dragon builds, two Monarch duelists, and four rogue decks: Lightsworn, Big City, Jinzo – Returner, and Counter Fairies. Players like Dale Bellido, Edgar Flores, Shane Scurry, and Metagame’s own Jerome McHale were in contention in Round 1 this morning, but virtually all of the crowd favorites with strong matchups were the victims of major upsets. The field was pared down from six Gladiator Beast decks in sixteen, to six in eight, before the Gladiators finally ousted everything else from the tournament in the top 4. Everybody assumed Gladiator Beats would do well, but I doubt anyone foresaw domination on this level.

Our congratulations go out to everyone who competed here at Shonen Jump Championship St. Louis, with a special congrats for Steven Harris, your newest Shonen Jump Champion!

Stay tuned a little bit longer, because we’ll have details on the new rulings and reversals that had such an effect on this weekend’s competition. After that, we’ll see you at the American National Championships four weeks from today!