It’s Monday, September 24th 2007, and we are just days away from Shonen Jump Chicago.
Four Days Until Shonen Jump Chicago
Zombies were the most feared force at last weekend’s Shonen Jump Washington—the first Shonen Jump of the new Advanced format and the first major premier event for Tactical Evolution. In a Day 2 that featured ten unique decks across the Top 16, we saw Gadgets, Burn, Apprentice Monarch, Diamond Dude Turbo, and many more go head-to-head, but at the end of the weekend, it was Perfect Circle Monarch that reigned supreme. In the hands of Jonathan Labounty, Team Yu-Gi-Oh! ETC’s innovative build stole the show, defeating countless renowned competitors to earn Labounty his first Shonen Jump title.
In the days since, it seems most duelists have focused on Perfect Circle and Zombies: either planning to play those decks or concocting strategies to beat them. Will Day 2 in Chicago be overrun by the undead and Aster’s Destiny Heroes, or were Circle and Zombies merely one-hit wonders? The format is still young, and now that duelists know what they’re up against, we could see anything happen.
Interested in heading out to compete this weekend? You can find the official event listing over on UDE’s Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG site, and you’ll find even more information over on Premier Tournament Organizer Pastimes’ Shonen Jump Chicago page. You can find directions to the venue, info on side events, and details on the “Midwest Team Challenge!!” event. And no, I don’t think that double exclamation mark was a typo on their behalf: the Team Challenge packs excitement comparable to [Ojama Delta Hurricane!!], mark my words. If you’re going with a couple of friends, be sure to check out the Team Challenge—it offers great prizes and it’s always a ton of fun.
If you can’t make it to Chicago to compete, then join us here on Metagame.com Saturday and Sunday morning, as we bring you feature matches, deck profiles, and insight into the weekend’s metagame.
Tactical Evolution Special Edition In Stores Now
The latest Special Edition package started appearing in stores last week, bringing a pair of new promo cards to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. [Masked Beast Des Gardius] is a 3300 ATK beatstick that can only be brought out by tributing two monsters, one of which has to be [Grand Tiki Elder] or [Melchid the Four-Face Beast]. When Des Gardius’s massive frame finally hits the graveyard from the field, you get to search your deck for the other Special Edition promo card: a spell called [The Mask of Remnants]. The Mask attaches to an opposing monster, giving you control of it like a superior [Snatch Steal].
This is the first time that two promo cards in a Special Edition worked together to form a single strategy, and the classic booster in this set works on the same level. [Grand Tiki Elder] and Melchid can both be found in Labyrinth of Nightmare, the third booster included along with your two packs of Tactical Evolution.
I’m pretty stoked. I wasn’t finished buying packs of Tactical yet anyways, and now I can get the core pieces of a new strategy as a bonus. Shop around—some stores won’t have Tactical Evolution Special Edition in stock yet, while others will . . . and prices can vary, so a bit of time calling local stores can pay off.
The It’s Kids Time Mall Tour Visits The Mall Of America
The Time 2 Duel cross-country tour is over, but the It’s Kids Time Mall Tour is kicking up for the fall season. This Saturday, the Tour will be set up at the Mall of America in Minneapolis—including a Yu-Gi-Oh! area where aspiring duelists and Yu-Gi-Oh! GX fans can learn to play the game, do some trivia for prizes, or duel against volunteer staff. The It’s Kids Time Mall Tour is targeted at kids (go figure!), but it tends to draw duelists of all ages anyways, so it can be a great place to meet fellow duelists and do some trading.
Tour stops are scheduled for Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Atlanta, and more over the coming months, so be sure to check out the tour schedule over on the official website. If you have a younger duelist in the family, it’s a great event to take them to, and if you’re an experienced player, then you might like to help out. To find out about potential volunteer positions in your area, just drop an e-mail to demo@upperdeck.com and let UDE’s Julia Hedberg know which stop you’d be interested in.
This Week on Metagame.com
This week, we bid a fond farewell to veteran staff writer Mike Rosenberg, as he retires from dueling and leaves us with his final installment of The Binder. I’ll be picking up the torch for Mike next week, but for now, he’s revisiting an old-school trap that’s made a big impact at the last two Shonen Jump Championships: [Skill Drain]. It’s a judge’s nightmare, Comic Odyssey’s secret weapon, and almost no one actually knows how it works! Mike’s going to explain some of the card’s finer points while discussing why it’s so good in the current format. You’ll be missed, Mike!
On Tuesday, Jerome McHale will give us his take on a burn deck created especially for emerging trends in this format. It uses cards like [Chain Energy] to capitalize on common play patterns shared by some of the top decks, and it looks pretty darn effective. If you’re looking to play a burn deck, but don’t have, say, Crush Card Virus, then this is a great build that’ll catch your opponents off guard.
Curtis Schultz joins us Wednesday for another Duel Academy, this time revolving around one of the most combo-tastic cards ever released: [Reversal Quiz]. The centerpiece of one of the most unique one-turn kills ever to see tournament play, [Reversal Quiz] is simple on its own but complicated when players get creative. Not familiar with how to Quiz opponents to death? Thinking of creating a Quiz OTK for the current format? Be sure to check out this week’s Duel Academy.
Thursday, I’ll perform my final deck fix before switching over to The Binder, as we gear up for Matt Murphy’s run on The Apotheosis. The ability to create a string of explosive plays resulting in multiple attacks is a rarity in this format, but it isn’t just the territory of Zombie decks. Last year, a variety of Earth Rush builds took impressive finishes at major tournaments in both the U.S. and Europe, so this week I’ll fix up an Earth Rush tweaked for the current Advanced environment.
On Friday, more anecdotes abound as Bryan Camareno discusses misjudgment and the role it plays in his (and your) dueling experience. We all make the wrong call a certain percentage of the time, but self-awareness and some customized techniques can help you up your average. That’s the focus this week, as Bryan helps you be a Practical Duelist.
Finally, Matt Peddle spends his Saturday reviewing one of history’s greatest Zombie decks. Run by Jae Kim over two years ago, Zombies took center stage at Shonen Jump Charlotte in 2005—taking Kim all the way to the finals. [Il Blud] and [Zombie Master] have taken the archetype to new heights, but the more things change, the more they stay the same: Matt’s going to discuss the similarities between Kim’s deck and the builds that are dominating today. It’s a good read!
That’s it for the week’s regularly scheduled content, but don’t forget to join us all weekend long as we bring you live coverage from Shonen Jump Chicago. As always, thanks for reading.
—Jason Grabher-Meyer
Contributing Editor, Metagame.com