It’s Monday, September 25th, and the next Shonen Jump Championship and a cool new special release package are just on the horizon!
Shonen Jump Championship Austin in 12 Days
We are more than a week removed from the action that went down at Shonen Jump Championship Boston, where the then-unknown Bobby Chambers pulled a stunning victory over two-time champ John Jensen. Variety was the order of the day on a strategic level, but with the Top 8 now known across the world, a North American metagame is quickly taking shape.
That’s why it’s interesting that the next Shonen Jump Championship is in such a geographically different location. The last time SJC action came to Texas, the field was very different from the East Coast and West Coast metagames to which we’d grown accustomed, and now the Lone Star State has a chance to make a huge impact on the burgeoning national play scene. Team GG will be back in action, and, after some rough beats at SJC Arlington, they’re sure to be a source of innovation yet again. Can they make it to the Top 8, or will other local talent steal the show one more time?
We’ll answer that question and more as Metagame.com comes to you live on October 7 and 8, from the Radisson Hotel in Austin. We’ll be there onsite bright and early providing extended coverage of the event, so if you can’t make it, be sure to check out the coverage all weekend long. If you’re considering heading out to compete, the place to start is the official event listing over on the new UDE Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG site. There, you can find all the relevant tournament details, venue information, and methods of contact for Shonen Jump Championship Austin’s Premier Tournament Organizer.
Get ready for a trend-setting tournament experience, because this one’s going to be packed with new decks and groundbreaking tech!
Dinosaur’s Rage Special Set Exclusive Release
With Structure Deck 9, Dinosaur’s Rage, releasing next month, information has been issued to hobby store retailers about a unique special edition release. The Dinosaur’s Rage Special Set is an exclusive item that will be offered only through North American tournament stores and Wal-Mart. We’ve finally got decisive info on it!
The Special Set includes one complete copy of the newest item in the Structure Deck line, Dinosaur’s Rage, as well as a booster pack of Power of the Duelist. In addition, each Special Set will include an Ultra-Rare foil copy of the brand new promo card, Five-Headed Dragon. This fusion monster has been on collectors’ “want” list for ages. It’s got a whopping 5000 ATK, and calls for the fusion of any five Dragon-type monsters to be brought into play. Dragon’s Mirror anyone? I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t already have a decklist written up . . .
The Dinosaur’s Rage Special Set should be available in both hobby stores and Wal-Marts on approximately October 18th. The normal Dinosaur’s Rage Structure Deck (which will be available everywhere) will be released on the 25th. That means that if you pick up the Special Set at your local hobby store, not only will you get an awesome new promo card and a Power of the Duelist pack in addition to your Structure, you’ll also be getting it up to a week before the Dinosaur’s Rage primary retail release.
Pretty awesome, huh?
In addition, my sources have told me that at least one and possibly two similar “special” items will be released before the end of the year. If I wind up dead tomorrow, just know that it’s because I told you that.
This Week on Metagame.com
Mike Rosenberg opens up our week today, with a look at Last Will. An erratum to the card many months ago brought this old school spell to the forefront of the competitive scene, and its popularity has only increased thanks to the new Advanced lists. At Shonen Jump Championship Boston last weekend, it made the cut in seven of the Top 8 decklists, and was played in plenty of decks that didn’t make Day 2. Click on over to The Binder, and Mike will explain why this card is such a hot prospect in the new era of dueling.
Speaking of Shonen Jump Championship Boston, Jerome McHale will take an in-depth look at some interesting facts about the event. How many profiled decks finished with 8-2 records? How close were Jerome’s predictions when the format was announced? And where might the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG be headed in North America over the next few months? He’ll have all the answers tomorrow.
On Wednesday, The Apotheosis takes a turn for the weird, as I depart from my recent stint of high-potential archetype fixes to take on a classic challenge. Can Toon monsters be competitive in the new format? That’s what reader Tim asked me when he submitted his Toon control deck, and I’m going to try and find out if they can. The answer might surprise you, as I create a deck that scoffs at this format’s aggressive tone and controls both the opponent’s hand, and his or her field!
Following up on last week’s article, Curtis Schultz brings you Part Two of his series on Appropriate. Last time around, Curtis showed you how you could get Appropriate flipped and ready, but this time he’ll show you how to actually use its effect. He’ll intertwine that info with some important facts on the differences between those two points, so if you’re interested in this card, Thursday’s article is nothing short of seminal.
Then on Friday, you’ll get the second in a pair of companion articles by Julia Hedberg. Both this week’s Solid Ground and the most recently posted edition Agents of Judgment revolve around a common denominator: the player meeting. Agents already provided a total breakdown on what should be in your player meeting if you’re a head judge. For players, Solid Ground will demonstrate what the player meeting means to you. If you have questions about why things go down the way they do before Round 1, this article has all the answers you’ve been looking for.
Finally, Bryan Coronel made huge waves last weekend at Boston, when his triumphant return to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, after more than a year of inaction, led him to a Top 8 finish. Matt Peddle is going to break down his deck and show you how one of the world’s best duelists managed to do the unthinkable, and make one of the greatest comebacks of all time. A bit of a history lesson is matched by a look forward, as Matt takes this Sunday to dissect the deck that made it all happen.
That’s it for this week, but head on back in another seven days when we’ll have more news and more articles for your reading enjoyment! As always, thanks for being with us here at Metagame.
—Jason Grabher-Meyer
Contributing Editor, Metagame.com