It’s Monday, April 7, 2008, and with Shonen Jump Championship Columbus just barely come and gone, we are five days away from Shonen Jump Championship Minneapolis!

This weekend, premier tournament organizer Legion Events proudly presents the return of SJC action to the Minneapolis Convention Center. Hundreds of duelists will convene for competition, hoping to outplay, outthink, and outspeed the opposition on their way to the glory of victory. Can anything stop Erin Diaz’s insane combo deck? Was Jerry Wang’s victory in the face of terrible odds enough to scare duelists away from copycatting Diaz’s strategy? It seems unlikely, and we may be in for a weekend of very short feature matches if players decide to emulate Diaz’s success. It’s a strange day when even the speed of Dark Armed Return isn’t enough.

But that’s all just speculation. This weekend, Metagame.com will bring you live coverage with all the rock-solid answers you’ve been craving! If you’re in the Minneapolis area and still haven’t made your travel arrangements, it’s not too late: just click over to UDE’s official event listing for all the info you need. If you can’t make it to the actual event, then the next best place to be is at your computer glued to the refresh button, because you’ll learn all the important happenings right here on Metagame, live, as they happen.

Will speed reign supreme again? Has Dark Armed Dragon met its match? Or will a new, unforeseen archetype rise to halt the runaway-train speed of this format? We won’t know until Saturday, so join us all day long to see the best of the best go head-to-head in Minneapolis.

Derek Rouse really made an impression on some of us here at Metagame, when he put forth an impressive showing at Columbus with a deck that packed three copies of Dark Red Enchanter. If you can be quick about it, hand disruption can absolutely rule in the current format; however, Rouse’s deck may have been a bit ambitious in the sheer number of trends it tried to buck. Tomorrow, Jerome McHale will take a run at Rouse’s theme and refine it, making it a better fit and cutting some of the risky choices in the original build. The result is a must-read article with a very strong deck.

On Wednesday, Curtis Schultz joins us to discuss key cards from a monster group that’s slowly gaining tournament-level fans: Evil Heroes. He’ll show you important rulings surrounding cards like Evil Hero Infernal Prodigy, Dark Calling, and Evil Hero Wild Cyclone. If you’ve considered playing Evil Heroes, or you’re running them already, then you need to read this article. Even if playing Evil Heroes is the furthest thing from your mind, these rulings will still be valuable to you when you eventually come up against an Evil Hero deck!

Thursday, Brian Bodkin joins us for his monthly visit to discuss innovations to a currently popular deck. With the changing face of Dark Armed Return at the forefront of many duelists’ minds, Brian’s going to take a second look at new additions to the format-dominating strategy. What three cards made his list of cards you should be playing? Find out in this week’s installment of Looking at the Overlooked.

One day later, Bryan Camareno joins us with The Practical Duelist. This time around, Bryan will be showing you some of the mental traps that we, as duelists, often fall into. Sometimes, the greatest impediment to our success is our own frame of mind. (If that statement doesn’t ring true, then you definitely have to check this article out!) Not satisfied with the level of success you’ve achieved thus far in the dueling world? Then, don’t miss this first installation of Bryan’s two-part series!

Armed with arguably the greatest One-Turn KO deck of all time, Erin Diaz made a huge impact at Shonen Jump Championship Columbus. His strategy keyed off of Shadowpriestess of Ohm in conjunction with some tried-and-tested combo pieces. The result was a backbreaking deck that looks to defeat virtually any deck if it wins the opening coin toss. Matt Peddle will dissect Diaz’s deck this Saturday in The Champions, showing you card by card what makes it so competitive.

Ryan Murphy follows that up a day later in The Forgotten Format with an analysis of previously successful OTK decks and deriving important lessons and observations from each. At the end of the day, he’ll turn those lessons into a Traditional format OTK powerhouse, so this article is one part history lesson and one part ready-to-play deck. Cool stuff, and another article you really shouldn’t miss!

Five days remain between today and the showdown in Minneapolis. With "OTK" being the hottest, most dreaded phrase in dueling communities the world over, will Minneapolis continue the streak of breakneck speed in this format? We’ll find out this weekend, so join us bright and early Saturday morning as Metagame.com brings you live coverage from the tournament floor!