It’s Monday, November 5th, and if you’re like me, you’re still recovering from your Gladiator’s Assault Sneak Preview this past weekend! I traded until I keeled over from exhaustion. It was awesome.
With Gladiator’s Assault now in its pre-release phase, boosters of the new set should be appearing in stores near you in about two weeks. They’ll be legal for premier events on December 1st, and that means The Six Samurai, Necroface, and more may have a big impact at . . .
Shonen Jump Championship San Mateo
We are less than four weeks away from the final Shonen Jump Championship of the year, and the times, they are ’a changin’. Gladiator’s Assault, Rise of the Dragon Lords, Premium Pack 1, and Light and Darkness Dragon will all be legal when Shonen Jump action returns to the San Mateo Expo Center on December 1st. With so many new cards, it’s practically a brand new Advanced format, and innovation will no doubt reign supreme.
If you haven’t made your plans to attend yet, then now is the time to book your travel and accommodations. You can find the basic information you’ll need over on UDE’s official event listings, but for more details, you’ll want to hit up Premier Tournament Organizer Cascade Games’ Shonen Jump San Mateo page. It’s got some great information on local hotels, prize layouts, start times, and side events. Before you head to a Shonen Jump, you should always be sure to check out the website of the PTO for that event, so be sure to click on over for a complete guide to the weekend.
This tournament is bound to be unpredictable and explosive, so if you can’t be there in person, then join us here on Metagame.com Saturday and Sunday for the next big thing. We’ll be coming to you live from the tournament floor with all the decks, tech, and feature matches you’ll want to see, so don’t get left behind. This event will set the pace for the next three months of dueling, and if you want to stay on the cutting edge, our coverage is the best tool in your arsenal. See you there!
This Week On Metagame.com
I kick off the week today with an in-depth analysis of one of the surprising world-debut cards from Gladiator’s Assault. As the days ticked down to this weekend’s Sneak Preview events, only a handful of cards remained a mystery to the informed public, and one of them was Royal Firestorm Guards. A beatstick with an incredible effect, Firestorm Guards may do for Pyro monsters what Il Blud did for Zombies. Click on over to see why I think it’s so amazing.
Then Jerome McHale builds one of the most talked-about decks in the post-Gladiator’s era. Six Samurai received the most popular support cards of any pre-existing archetype in Gladiator’s Assault, and cards like Enishi, Shien’s Chancellor and Cunning of the Six Samurai have redefined the deck’s strengths and weaknesses. Jerome will show you just one of the ways you can build your own successful Samurai strategy tomorrow.
With Light and Darkness Dragon legal for tournaments as of Wednesday, what better opportunity for some hardcore rulings Q and A’s on this oft-confusing powerhouse? Curtis Schultz will spend the next three weeks of his Duel Academy column teaching you the ins and outs of the Dragon’s complicated effects. This week, Curtis gives a general introduction and discusses the Dragon’s three effects in brief. Want to know the basics for its negation and revival abilities? Heck, do you plan on ever playing competitive Yu-Gi-Oh! ever again? Better check this one out.
This week in The Apotheosis, Matt Murphy examines an old favorite that’s been given new life by Premium Pack 1. If you’re a Dark Magician fan now armed with a few copies of Dark Magic Curtain, but aren’t quite sure what to do with them, Matt’s got you covered. On Thursday he’ll take a run at fixing up a Dark Magician deck packed with a ton of creative tricks.
On Friday, Bryan Camareno discusses the benefits of losing in The Practical Duelist. Ever wonder how the best duelists get to be where they are? Ever see them dueling each other after big events and wonder why rivals are suddenly throwing down like old chums? The truth is that losing is the best thing you can do to improve your skills, and Bryan will explain why.
Saturday, Matt Peddle dissects Jerry Wang’s deck from Shonen Jump Chicago. Jerry made it to Day 2 with a teched-out Monarch deck that defied convention, and Matt will show you how Jerry succeeded where so many others have failed. Some innovative choices guided by strong metagame calls and tight observation made this deck a winner, so be sure to check it out this weekend.
Finally, Ryan Murphy revisits the Traditional Format Dark World theme, showing you a dedicated build that defines the term “explosive.” While Dark World may not be a top pick for Advanced play, it’s a killer deck in both Team Dueling and Traditional. Ryan’s going to show you how to break it in its strongest format.
That’s it for this week! As always, thanks for reading Metagame.com, and be sure to stop by in another seven days for more dueling news and sneak peeks at upcoming articles.
—Jason Grabher-Meyer
Contributing Editor, Metagame.com