The time has come! Yesterday we saw more than 450 duelists throw down in the new September 1^st Advanced Format and, once everything was said and done, sixteen competitors remained. Today they return to duke it out in four rounds of single-elimination competition, where we’ll see one Monarch deck, one highly creative Lightsworn build, six Gladiator Beasts, and a whopping eight Teleport Dark Armed decks go head-to-head. Gladiator Beasts took a beating in yesterday’s nine rounds of competition, but six Gladiator duelists persevered — is the much-vaunted archetype on its way out, or will it cling to one more Championship title? A win today for Teleport Dark Armed would cause huge shifts in the game, while dark horse victories from Lightsworn or Monarchs would shock everyone.

Hector Heras played one of the shortest feature matches of all time yesterday, as he cut loose on fellow Top 16 competitor Bryon Mines with his vicious Teleport Dark Armed deck. Today, he starts his Sunday morning facing down Canada’s Gianfranco Cesario, Marco Cesario’s brother, in a Teleport Dark Armed mirror match.

Then, Paul Levitin takes on relative newcomer Michael Rossitto, wielding Lazaro Bellido’s version of Teleport Dark Armed against Rossitto’s Monarch deck. Lazaro’s build brought an incredible four competitors to Top 16 finishes this weekend, and Levitin has both experience, and what may be the best deck in the tournament on his side. A win here from Rossitto would be a big upset.

Tim Howell and Chris Flores will play the only Gladiator Beast mirror match of the Top 16, and though Flores has experience on his side, an extra main decked Gladiator Beast War Chariot may give Howell a significant advantage. It’s been a while since we’ve seen Flores in the Day 2 spotlight, but a win here would do a lot to revitalize Team Yugioh ETC.

Jermol Jupiter is also playing Gladiator Beasts, and is up against Samuel Jones in what is quickly becoming the decisive matchup of this format: Gladiators versus Teleport Dark Armed. Jones certainly has a favorable matchup, but Jupiter is no stranger to the Day 2 limelight, and his rock-solid consistency will let him punish Jones should he draw poorly.

Then, Jeff Walker duels Bryon Mines, in a match that pits Teleport Dark Armed against Mines’ innovative Lightsworn build. Mines is playing a stunning 30 monsters in his 40 card deck, and impressed numerous onlookers yesterday by running Herald of Orange Light and Quillbolt Hedgehog. We featured Mines yesterday, but some incredible hands from Hector Heras made the match a complete blowout. Can Mines do better today? We’ll find out in the first of our feature matches.

Jon Mak, brother to the American Team Dueling Champion Tom Mak, ran the most innovative Gladiator Beast deck making the Day 2 cut in yesterday’s competition. Two copies of Gladiator Beast Equeste was a bigger commitment than most others were willing to make, and three Chariots defy convention as well. But now he has to face Ervin So, another of the Canadian duelists playing Lazaro Bellido’s Teleport Dark Armed. This one should be a good match, as both duelist look to gain some major cred.

Dale Bellido duels Michael Kohanim, in another classic matchup of Teleport Dark Armed versus Gladiator Beasts. The winner here may be a favorite to win the entire tournament, so this is one of the most important matches of the first round. Kohanim’s skill is unparalleled — he attends so few SJC’s each year, but never fails to put forth an impressive showing. He’s running no copies of the new Gladiator Beast cards, and it’s difficult to tell how that will affect his chances. This match is anybody’s game.

Finally, two of America’s greatest duelists duke it out in the defining matchup, as former American Champion Adam Corn plays Teleport Dark Armed against Edgar Flores’ Gladiator Beasts! Both of these duelists are affiliates of Team Overdose, but now they’ll have to play off to move on — only one will make it to the Top 8. We’ll see how it all plays out, in our second feature match of Round 1.