There have been seventeen Shonen Jump Championship tournaments this year, and as 2008 draws to a close North America’s greatest duelists convene one more time, right here at the Cobo Exhibition Center in Detroit!

Two weeks ago Shonen Jump Atlanta left us with a shaky, but defined metagame: Lightsworn, Zombies, and Teleport Dark Armed Dragon reigned supreme at that event, as TeleDAD captured yet another Championship. The debut of Crossroads of Chaos brought fresh new changes to competitive dueling, and today we’ll see one more change before the New Year: Gorz.

Gorz the Emissary of Darkness has been legal for premier events for nearly two weeks, but today we’ll see his first appearance in Shonen Jump play. Gorz changes everything; an automatic pick for any deck in the minds of many players, he’s completely altered the approach duelists must take to their opening turns and the early game, while allowing crushing surprise plays in the late game. A lot of people are going to get stomped by this new powerhouse, but at the end of the day he may be a saving grace for slower strategies — and he might be bad news for TeleDAD.

A number of star competitors are in contention this morning! Matt Peddle, Dale Bellido, Walter Chan, and many more of Canada’s best have hopped the river to compete here in Detroit. Bobby Chambers, Jerry Wang, Vincent Tundo, Cesar Gonzalez, up-and-comer George Velasquez (of Atlanta finals fame), Rob Leander, and others join some surprise competitors for a spectacular year-end lineup. Innovation is being attempted on many fronts, but TeleDAD remains a top pick for many of the most proven duelists — this is going to be a war between cookie cutters and creative contenders.