It’s been seven days since Team Scoop took their innovative Return from the Different Dimension deck to multiple Top 8 finishes at Shonen Jump Championship Los Angeles. Paul Levitin’s resounding undefeated performance on Day 1 was only topped by his flawless series of 2-0 victories on Day 2, and together with his teammates, he’s given the dueling world something to think about as we approach Shonen Jump Championship San Francisco on December 10.
In the meantime, a slew of new product news was released in the past few days, so let’s check it out!
Duelist Packs to Debut in North America
2006 will apparently see the release of Duelist Packs, which will be packs of cards centered around duelists from the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX animated series. The five-card boosters were on display at the Upper Deck Entertainment booth at last week’s Gen Con So Cal, and though the contents were not disclosed, the packaging designs betrayed two of the cards that are included in the set.
The Jaden Yuki booster pack was adorned with a picture of Elemental Hero Steam Healer, meaning GX fans can look forward to at least one new E-Hero in this set. In addition, Chazz Princeton’s pack showed the mighty Armed Dragon LV10. Both of these powerful monsters have never been seen before in North America, and one can only imagine what other cards will be introduced with this set.
Each pack will contain five random cards plus one strategy card. A suggested retail price for the packs is not available at this time.
Upcoming Expansion Set Previewed at Gen Con!
Boosters of the next expansion set to be released in North America were also on display at the UDE booth. Titled Shadow of Infinity, details about the set have not yet been released, and its focus is currently unknown. Judging by the art on the packaging, though, the set looks to play off Dark themes.
More Hobby League News
If you joined us last week for Seven Days, you learned that the new Hobby League prize kits will contain swanky deck boxes, parallel ultra rare Cyber Jars, and a limited production Vampire Genesis / Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon playmat, which was previously only available to judging staff at premiere-level tournament events. What we didn’t know at that time, though, was the identity of the next parallel ultra rare card or its release schedule.
The waiting is over, and now we know! Once the promo Cyber Jar has been available in kits for two months, the next parallel ultra rare will be rotated into kits in the Jar’s place. That promo will be a card that virtually everybody runs: Mystical Space Typhoon! Expect this to be a hot card for collectors and blinged-out players alike.
Metagame.com Needs You!
Julia Hedberg is hard at work getting together the first article in our series of local-level premiere coverage reports, but we’re still taking submissions for future issues. If you’re a judge, competitor, a TO, or a store owner who’d like to see your tournament get some props here on Metagame.com, check out our submission guidelines. If you submit a tournament report, we might just put it up here on the site! Imagine getting fame, glory, and some free advertising for your upcoming events! What more could a duelist or store owner want?
Again, those submission guidelines are right here. Be sure to follow them carefully, or we won’t be able to use your report . . and that would be tragic.
This Week on Metagame.com
We’ve got some great articles for you this week, and I’m happy to report that all our writing staff has recovered from last week’s bout with Ojama Fever. We’re an Ojama-free zone, at least for this week, and everyone’s doing something drastically different.
Mike Rosenberg opens up the week as usual by looking at the ups and downs of Pot of Avarice. He addresses where the Pot is best used, its status as a potential inclusion in some of the Advanced format’s top decks, and even touches on a combo or two that you might not have seen coming. Do you love Exodia? Do you love drawing cards? If you answered “yes” to at least one of those questions, you should check out today’s article. If you answered no to the second one, then you probably did it just to spite me.
You’ll read it anyway. I know how your mind works . . . you’ll be back.
When you do come back on Tuesday, you’ll be treated to yet another cool creation from our resident deck builder, Jerome McHale. If you’re a GX fan, then this article is for you. Jerome combines the strategies of Zane and Syrus Truesdale to create a hybrid Machine deck that he calls “The Power of Television.” Cyber Dragon can be a lot more than the delicious mechanized topping on your Chaos ice cream sundae, and Jerome shows you how!
I’ll follow it up with a deck that uses some old-school craziness on Wednesday. Do you remember The Last Warrior from Another Planet? He remembers you, and he wants to be your field-locking friend. If you’re like me, you had no idea that this one-armed fighter-freak has some merciless combo potential when it’s mixed with Light of Intervention. But reader William N. set me straight, and in return, I turned his deck into a lean, mean, one-armed beast. This article is definitely a must-read if you enjoy mid-duel quips like, “It wasn’t me, it was the one-armed man,” and, “Ha ha, I just beat you with my janky fusion monster.”
On Thursday, Curtis Schultz brings you yet another lesson from Duelist Academy. This time he focuses on the evil side of the Gradius line by looking at Big Core, B.E.S. Crystal Core, and their compatriots and support cards. Ever wondered if Big Core can gain tokens through Pitch-Black Power Stone? Have you ever thought to ask whether or not these monsters can ever be destroyed in battle? And what the heck does “B.E.S.” stand for, anyway? Surprisingly (at least in the case of the latter), Curtis is your hookup for answers to all these questions and many, many more.
Julia Hedberg follows up a day later with Solid Ground, looking at another tech update for the current Advanced format. If you want to upgrade your deck with the cards that all the big-name duelists are playing, Julia’s got just the article you’ve been looking for. She condenses down a ton of match and event coverage to some of their finer points, looking at the reasons behind the success of cards like Drillroid, D. D. Survivor, and several others.
Next, Jae closes the week with “The Light of Play,” which made me think that he was stealing my dormant article series when his column hit my desk. It turns out that it’s just Jae being mischievous, proving that, like Snoop Dogg, he’s “only here to twist you.”* That’s inaccurate, though, because he’s also here to show you how to put together a really great Light attribute deck. The Light ranks are blessed with some of the top monsters in today’s environment, but Jae also draws on several older picks that you might not immediately think of when you think “tournament-winning deck.” The result is a very playable deck for those of you who feel like taking a walk on the Lighter side of Yu-Gi-Oh!
That’s it for this week! Come on by next week as we bring your preliminary coverage for Shonen Jump Championship San Francisco. This event looks like it might play host to the heaviest team presence of all time, and we’ll have advance news about the dueling celebrities that’ll be there to throw down for a copy of Des Volstgalph, a superb new laptop, and eternal glory!**
Until then, I remain,
Jason Grabher-Meyer
Contributing Editor, Metagame.com
*It’s also inaccurate because in this example, he’s only here to twist me in particular. But he’s Jae like that. Watch me get my sweet revenge over the next four weeks as I repeatedly find ways to compare him to Snoop Dogg.
**Go ahead, say it. “Eternal glory!” Say it out loud in a big booming voice. It’s okay if there are people around. That’s what they’re fighting for. It seems even more awesome when you say it aloud, doesn’t it?