It’s been just two weeks since Marc Glass’s breakthrough win at Shonen Jump Championship Columbus, and there’s more Championship competition this weekend. Get ready, because the SJC circuit is about to head north!
Shonen Jump Championship Montreal This Weekend
SJC action returns to Canada for the first time in seven months, as hundreds of duelists get ready to throw down at the famous Marche Bonsecours in Montreal. In just five days, a national landmark known for its architectural pedigree and trendy boutiques will be converted into the nation’s ultimate dueling ground, and one competitor will take home the title of Shonen Jump Champion. But who will it be?
Dozens of North America’s most celebrated duelists are confirmed to be in attendance, and topping the list are a number of well-recognized Canadian players. Last time around it was underdog local Corey Faibish surprising those in attendance and keeping the title in Canada, but this time around, all eyes are on Lazaro Bellido. Lazaro took yet another format-defining Monarch variant all the way to the final table at Columbus last month, and this time he could finally go all the way.
But the metagame is incredibly unpredictable, with six drastically different decks making the Top 8 at the last Shonen Jump Championship. Diamond Dude Turbo, Card Trader Gadget, Monarchs, Six Samurai, and Demise OTK are sure to be popular choices, but duelists haven’t forgotten the dominating performance put forth by Emon Ghaneian and his Bazoo Trooper deck in Houston five weeks ago. Debate has raged across dueling communities about which deck type is the best in the current format, and while there are certainly many opinions, there is no clear-cut winner. Montreal is bound to be jam-packed with more thrilling upsets, so be with us here this Saturday as Metagame.com’s Jerome McHale comes to you live from the tournament floor with all the coverage you crave!
If you’re still considering heading up to Ville-Marie to compete, but haven’t made your travel arrangements yet, be sure to hit up the official event listing and the premier tournament organizer’s website. Both have useful information about the tournament, and are musts for anyone considering attending. See you there!
Force Of The Breaker Sneak Previews Next Month
Speaking of premier events, it’s almost time for yet another round of Sneak Previews! Strike of Neos made a huge impact on the tournament scene, and Force of the Breaker is going to be even bigger. Jesse Anderson’s Crystal Beasts are clearly set to be the next Six Samurai, a brand-new deck theme with unique play patterns and a really promising set of effects for competitive dueling. In addition, the legacy support Upper Deck Entertainment officials spoke of late last year finally becomes a reality in this set, as everything from Harpies to Gravekeepers get a much-deserved boost. If you’re a serious player, odds are good that you’re going to want at least a few of these cards, and Sneak Preview events on May 5th and 6th are going to be your first chance to get them.
We’ll start previewing top cards from Force of the Breaker two weeks from today, so get ready to see some in-depth investigation into what this set has to offer. Force of the Breaker really ups the ante, and if you’re with us here at Metagame.com, you won’t miss a beat!
This Week on Metagame.com
In the meantime, we still have two weeks of the columns and commentary you come here for. Today, Mike Rosenberg starts off another week with a look at the impact of Grandmaster of the Six Samurai. Living proof that one card can make all the difference, Grandmaster is exclusive to UDE territories, and finally had its Top 8 breakthrough in the hands of Jeff Baumgartner in Columbus. What makes it so awesome? Mike tells all today, so click on over and find out!
Ohhh, Spell Striker. This cute little promo from the Nintendo DS game Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship 2007 has sparked a lot of talk around here lately, and Jerome McHale is the first Metagame.com writer to build a deck around it. This Tuesday, he’ll show you what he came up with: a deck that drops big monsters every turn, thanks to a series of combos revolving around the helmeted wonder. A 600 ATK monster never hurt so good.
On Wednesday, Crellian Vowler’s weekly Apotheosis lecture and deck fix revolves around an old-meets-new Destiny Hero - Dasher deck. The Destiny Heroes have gotten a lot faster with the release of Destiny Hero - Malicious and Destiny Draw, and old-style Dasher decks can really benefit from the new tech. The cool part about Vowler’s deck is that it foregoes a lot of the usual suspects in favor of some different tribute monsters. The absence of Dark Magician of Chaos and Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys makes this an intriguing build.
Some of the hottest cards from Strike of Neos are the new Secret Rares, and aside from Grandmaster, they all focus on one thing: making Fairy strategies better. They’re more than just shine and glitter, too. Each has a really unique effect, which makes for some perplexing rulings. It’s Curtis Schultz to the rescue this Thursday, as he looks at the finer points of Aegis of Gaia, Gellenduo, and everybody’s favorite cheerleader, Freya, Spirit of Victory!
Friday, Julia Hedberg brings you a new edition of Solid Ground and another Agents of Judgment column. Strike of Neos brought about at least three new competitive deck types, but it also worked wonders for the average side deck, too. Julia’s going to look at her top five picks for side deck tech from the latest set in Solid Ground. Then, Agents of Judgment follows up last week’s article on the slips team with an investigation into the function and finer points of the pairings team. If you’re an active judge it’s a definite must-read.
Lazaro Bellido made huge waves at Columbus with his groundbreaking Monarch build, so it’s no surprise that he’s this week’s subject in The Champions. Matt Peddle will go in-depth to show you why Lazaro’s latest deck could be so influential, and discusses its relations to current metagame trends to help you understand its strength. In a sea of powerful decks, this is one you should definitely know inside and out, so be sure to read up this Saturday.
Finally, Jae Kim finishes out our week with a deck that zeroes in on an integral weakness common to many of the format’s top decks. A pair of counter traps provides the starting point for a surprisingly strong strategic concept, shutting down strategies like Diamond Dude Turbo and Demise OTK before they ever get a chance to work their mischief. Which two counter traps does Jae put to work? Find out on Sunday.
That’s it for this seven days, but get ready for a really exciting four weeks here on Metagame.com. We have Force of the Breaker previews just over the horizon, plus a bunch of new writers that will be bringing some fresh new columns to the site. It’s a great time to be a duelist, and a great time to be a Metagame.com reader! Thanks for joining us.