It’s Tuesday October 2nd, and with another big tournament now behind us, this format is starting to take shape.
Louis Raimondo Wins Shonen Jump Championship Chicago
With star players like Jerry Wang, Chris Pittao, and returning Champion Dale Bellido in Day 2, it was underdog Louis Raimondo who scored the upset to capture the title of Shonen Jump Champion this past weekend in Chicago. In yet another finals match that pitted Burn against Perfect Circle, Raimondo locked down Austin Ruggieri’s Monarchs to slowly grind out two consecutive wins, all without Crush Card Virus.
The Top 16 featured some surprising and potent archetypes, including Dimensional Fissure Toolbox and a shocking Volcanic build. The latter, run by Miguel Albarran, packed copies of Volcanic Rocket, Volcanic Shell, Blaze Accelerator, and even a pair of Wild Fire cards. Zombies and Burn decks dominated the Top 16 at three appearances each, but all in all, there were twelve different strategies represented in Day 2—even more than there were in Washington.
Dark Bribe, the new promo card from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: Tag Force 2 for the PSP made a huge impact, carrying Raimondo to a Championship win and taking three more duelists to Day 2. Despite giving the opponent a free card as part of its resolution, Dark Bribe’s ability to negate major disruption coupled with its knack for pressing through game-winning moves made it a must-play for several different decks. I’m sure we’ll see a lot more of it in a variety of strategies at the next Shonen Jump Championship.
Speaking of, that event is just two weekends away and we are already counting the days till Shonen Jump Durham! It’s been over a year and a half since Chris Flores claimed victory in Durham back in 2006, and now the Shonen Jump circuit is slated to return to North Carolina. If you’re considering competing, be sure to check out the event listing over on UDE’s official Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG website. Once you do, I’d recommend bookmarking the event’s info thread over on Premier Tournament Organizer Star City Games’ forums. It’s got info on start times, side events, and important policies, but it also offers online pre-registration if you sign up for the forums. Star City might offer pre-registration Friday night as well, so keep your eye on that thread. Pre-registering is a great way to save yourself some time and stress Saturday morning, so I’d definitely take the opportunity.
If you can’t be there in person on October 13th and 14th, then join us here on Metagame.com for the next best thing. We’ll be bringing you all the live features you’ve come to expect, all day long from the tournament floor at the Durham Marriott. See you there!
Kids’ Time Mall Tour Stop This Weekend
The support for new players and GX fans just doesn’t stop, as the Kids’ Time Mall Tour travels to Boston this weekend. After a successful stint at the Mall of America last weekend, the Tour is heading to Massachusetts to set up at the Natick Mall for a two-day engagement.
You can find information about this and more upcoming Mall Tour stops over at the event schedule page. Kids’ Time Mall Tour stops are scheduled for Pennsylvania, New York, Georgia, and Illinois over the coming weeks, and more events are being announced on a regular basis. If you’ve got younger brothers or sisters who are interested in learning how the game works, or just some curious friends, this is a great chance for them to get a demo.
This Week On Metagame.com
This week, I kicked things off with a look at one of the most popular cards in Chicago this past weekend. Phoenix Wing Wind Blast made it to the Top 16 in three decks this time around, and was a choice pick for many more competitors who didn’t quite make it to Day 2. Interest in the long-forgotten trap card was sparked two weeks ago when Jon Labounty took Shonen Jump Washington main-decking a playset, and I investigated why it worked for him, and how it can work for you.
The Elemental Hero deck known as Big City gained some popularity moving into last weekend’s Shonen Jump Championship, providing an excellent matchup for some of the format’s top decks. It still didn’t make it to Day 2 though, and a little innovation may be in order. Jerome McHale will show you a new build he’s created in his Almost There column, and it’s really worth trying out. If you’ve been looking to add Big City to your gauntlet, this deck might be what you’re looking for.
Then in School of Duel, Jerome takes a forward-thinking look at the current Advanced format. Topics include the credit due to Zombie Master, the play potential of Champion Pack: Game 4 ultra rare Gernia, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, and Big City, amongst others. We’re two Shonen Jumps into this format and many issues are still boggling duelists across the globe, so take some time and check out Jerome’s insight. It’s good stuff.
On Wednesday, Curtis Schultz swings open the doors to his Duel Academy, diving into the mailbag to answer some questions from readers just like you. Starting with some classic Call of the Haunted pointers that may be useful to new duelists, Curtis moves on to discuss Masked Beast Des Gardius from the new Tactical Evolution Special Edition package. If you’ve got a ruling question you need answered, don’t hesitate to e-mail Curtis: your question may be answered in a future article.
On Thursday, Matt Murphy takes the reins of The Apotheosis, picking up where I left off and taking on the task of fixing up an Elemental Hero deck. Big City? Think again. The deck Matt’s working on is based around taking advantage of the big, impressive fusions the Elemental Heroes have at their disposal, with a side order of stomp and smash courtesy of Elemental Hero Bladedge.
Friday, Bryan Camareno will build off his topic in last week’s Practical Duelist column, discussing how a little bit of list work can make you a more disciplined duelist. Lists help you automate processes you’d otherwise have to waste grey matter on, so a bit of discipline will go a long way towards improving your ratio and having more fun playing the game. Bryan’s going to show you how this week.
On Saturday, Matt Peddle looks back to Shonen Jump Washington and discusses one of the most impressive decks from that event—Marc Glass’s Gadget Build. Glass took a devastating loss in Round 1 of the tournament, but fought his way back to take eight straight wins and clinch his place in Day 2. It was a stellar achievement and boded well for Gadgets’ future over the next five months. Matt’s going to show you what makes it so good.
Finally, on Sunday, Ryan Murphy moves from a bi-weekly writing post to a weekly one, and before he returns to the usual focus of The Forgotten Format, he’ll present some interesting insight into risk-taking in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. With a simple little math equation of Ryan’s own concoction, you may find yourself making moves that you would otherwise have considered risky, and the technique Ryan’s going to teach you really might up your win ratio. Be sure to check it out this Sunday.
That’s it for this Seven Days, but stick close this month, because there’s going to be a lot going on here at Metagame.com. With Shonen Jump Durham in less than two weeks, and Gladiator’s Assault preview articles beginning later this month, there’s going to be a ton of interesting insight into your favorite game.
Thanks for reading!
—Jason Grabher-Meyer
Contribution Editor, Metagame.com