It’s Monday, July 23rd 2007, and with the World Championships just five days away, we are on the verge of a brand new booster set release: the biggest one in years!
Tactical Evolution Sneak Previews In Two Weeks
We’ll get our first look at the latest booster set less than two weeks from today—on August 4th and 5th, tens of thousands of duelists will make their way to their local Tactical Evolution Sneak Preview events! There, they’ll get to crack boosters of the new set weeks before it appears on store shelves, and compete against other duelists wielding their new cards. As always, play comes in two flavors: competitive Swiss tournaments and a more relaxed Open Play format. There’s something for everybody at Sneak Preview weekends!
Speaking of “something for everybody,” everyone in attendance will get a copy of the new world premiere promo card, Gemini Summoner. This all-new Spellcaster monster has never been released anywhere in the world before, and if you’re not yet familiar with it, then click on over to Jerome McHale’s article today: he’s going to show you everything this awesome new monster is capable of. Be sure to get there early though: you get a copy of Gemini Summoner just for showing up and registering in any Sneak Preview event, but it’s only available while supplies last. Considering the high playability of this new card, they may disappear quickly.
With Tactical Evolution Sneak Preview events being run in 120 different venues across North America, there’s sure to be one near you. To find the closest one, just click on over to Upper Deck Entertainment’s official Tactical Evolution Sneak Preview page, and use the handy event locator to figure out your options. Tactical Evolution features a ton of new firsts for the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, so you really won’t want to miss your Sneak Previews.
Want to know more about Tactical Evolution? Stick with us for the next two weeks right here on Metagame.com, because we’re going to be highlighting and analyzing the best cards from the set!
Shonen Jump Championship Indianapolis On The Horizon
With Shonen Jump Detroit now in the history books, duelists across the globe are making their plans to attend Shonen Jump Indianapolis. Held at Gen Con Indy—“The Best Four Days in Gaming”—Shonen Jump Indianapolis has become a dueling tradition that never disappoints. If Indy lives up to its track record, then we’re in for one of the most competitive, star-studded, innovative tournaments of the year.
An ever-growing Advanced format marches on. While the Top 16 at Detroit seemed to herald a newly-stabilized format with an established metagame, a rogue deck still managed to win: Fili Luna’s strategy defied categorization, and took him all the way to his second finals win. So far, we’ve witnessed eight Shonen Jump Championships, and eight different decks have won. Like the SJCs before it in this format, Indianapolis will be tough to predict.
Monarchs and Machine Beatdown will surely continue to be top picks, but the future of many other decks is up in the air. Destiny Heroes made a resurgence at Detroit after taking a beating in Phoenix, but their re-emergence in this format could be short-lived. Damage continues to be the priority of most duelists, as success continues to come to two groups: those who set up explosive single turns and those who prioritize raw aggression. Expect special summoning to continue to be of the utmost importance, with duelists seeking out new ways to drop swarms of monsters to the field. Determined players keep bringing Sapphire Pegasus and friends closer and closer to the Top 16 too, so we may finally see our first Day 2 Crystal Beast deck.
If you can get to Indianapolis on the weekend of August 18th, check out the official event listing right here for more details. There’ll be four straight days of special events for duelists and Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG enthusiasts, so if you can be there, you really should. But if you can’t make it this year, then you’re going to want to join us live on Saturday and Sunday for all the tournament coverage you crave: feature matches, decks, tech, and probably Andrew Hayton doing something wacky—we’ll cover it all as Metagame.com comes to you live from the tournament floor.
Tactical Evolution Preview Weeks On Metagame.com
This week we change things up a bit, as Jerome McHale opens up seven days of previews with a look at two new cards: the Tactical Evolution Sneak Preview promo Gemini Summoner, accompanied by one of the set’s best Gemini monsters, Chthonian Emperor Dragon. What makes Gemini Summoner so good, and just how good is the new bearer of the “CED” moniker? Jerome will investigate to find those answers and more.
Tomorrow, Mike Rosenberg profiles one of the most wanted cards from the set. Mormolith is yet another world premiere card unreleased anywhere else in the world, and this walking claymore mine is the perfect remedy to all of your Monarch woes. But is it more than just Monarch tech? Mike delves into the possibilities of this odd little Rock-type to see where it might fit in the current Advanced format.
On Wednesday, Matt Peddle gets to review the cards it took six men more than twelve minutes to wrestle out of my cold dead hands: the new Cyberdark support. Yannick Dubeau showed the world that Cyberdarks were no laughing matter when he made Day 2 with them at Shonen Jump Championship Montreal. Now these underrated monsters get a big boost from two new cards, and Matt’s going to explore them both this week.
On Thursday, Bryan Camareno enters the card preview fray, taking a look at yet another highlight from Tactical Evolution. With Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch and Mobius the Frost Monarch still seeing plenty of play, duelists are clamoring for their shot at Frost and Flame Dragon: Chaos Sorcerer for Water and Fire decks. What might you like to play with it, and how can you build a deck around this new special summoned powerhouse? Bryan’s going to tell all, and the results are impressive.
Also on Thursday, Curtis Schultz’s Duel Academy never closes its doors, not even for card preview weeks! This week, Curtis is all about Ojama Trio, Call of the Haunted, and . . . Archfiend Marmot of Nefariousness? It’s a bizarre mix, but it all adds up to a very complete article on replays. If you’ve ever been confused about how replays interact with chains, this one’s a must-read, and I’d say it’s one of the best Duel Academy articles this year!
Okay, so I whine about not being able to do the Cyberdark preview, but in reality it’s just because I dove on the Zombie previews instead. Tactical Evolution is going to breathe some serious life into Zombie decks, and it all starts with their newest level 4 beater, Zombie Master. This new monster is exactly what Zombies needed for a lot of different reasons, and I’m going to break it down to show you why on Friday.
On Saturday, Matt Murphy is going to introduce you to the greatest algebraic equation of all time: Damage = Reptile. Believe it or not, that’s the name of a new continuous trap from Tactical Evolution, and it lets you unleash Matt’s second preview card this week—one of the fiercest Reptile monsters of all time. Some complicated card interactions and unique math come together for one of the most memorable previews this week. Reptile fans unite!
Finally, Jerome is back on Sunday to show you yet another world premiere first: Blazewing Butterfly. Along with Gemini Summoner, Blazewing Butterfly is the absolute lynchpin of dedicated Gemini monster decks, letting you make ridiculous plays that really stomp your opponent. Jerome will also look at another new Gemini, King Pyron, and discuss its role in competitive dueling.
That’s it for this week, but be sure to head back in another seven days because our Tactical Evolution previews are nowhere near finished! Another killer Zombie, more Normal monster support than you can shake a stick at, and the return of the Apprentice engine: all that and more will be discussed next week.
Till next time, I’m,
—Jason Grabher-Meyer
Contributing Editor, Metagame.com