Many as-yet unqualified hopefuls turned out for today’s last-chance qualifiers—the final shot at entry into 2005’s Yu-Gi-Oh! Nationals tournament. Among them were a few familiar faces, and I quickly recognized Timmy Hartman. He had a first-round bye and was happy to sit down for an interview.

Timmy is a fifteen-year-old longtime player from Myerstown, PA (“Amish country!”), and I’ve seen him at many East Coast-area events. He is usually there with several of his fellow team members from NYO (New Yu-Gi-Oh! Order.) Two of the members are playing tomorrow in Nationals, and two others are taking their chances in the qualifiers. “Right now, we’ve got two qualified. By tomorrow, four!” Timmy grinned.

He’s been playing for quite some time. “I started a few months before the game came out in the States. We saw the anime and really liked it, so we got some translations of the cards off the Internet and made our own.” They’ve come a bit farther these days. Timmy has attended ten Regional tournaments this season alone, as well as the New Jersey Shonen Jump event. “I’ve made Top 8 at a couple of them, but I’m usually there doing some promotions for the team, meeting people and so forth—so I’ve not been as focused on getting qualified.”

What deck is he taking into today’s event? “I guess I’d call it an upper version of Chaos. It’s got Nimble Momonga and Spear Dragon and some things like that. Matt and I took my deck, put it all back in my binder and then started from scratch. At 3 am, when we were really tired . . . so that’s what came up. In my side deck, I’ve got Chain Disappearance and Des Wombat.

Since he had a first-round bye, Timmy hadn’t had much of a chance to see what he might be facing today. “I’m expecting to see a lot of Tsukuyomi, and basic Chaos.” With a spot at Nationals and a potential trip to Worlds on the line, he figured most players are going to go with what they think has the best chance of winning.

Speaking of winning, if Timmy does make it through Nationals tomorrow and gets to represent the United States at Worlds, what would he most like to do in Tokyo? He thought about it for a while. “Hmm . . . I’d like to go see L’Arc En Ciel in concert!”

24 fresh contenders will win a spot in Nationals today, but who will go on to win the event? A competitor with an invite from Regionals, or someone who made it to the end of a qualifier? Check back here on Metagame.com for the latest info on this weekend’s events!