Top 8 Decklists

3 Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch

1 Zaborg the Thunder Monarch

2 D. D. Assailant

3 Legendary Jujitsu Master

2 Gravekeeper's Spy

Spells: 17

Traps: 6

3 Dark Balter the Terrible

Side Deck: 15

Fusion:

1 Reaper on the Nightmare

3 Ryu Senshi

3 The Last Warrior from Another Planet

Philip Culver

41 cards

Monsters: 18

2 Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke

Spells: 16

Traps: 7

Side Deck: 15

1 D. D. Survivor

3 Solemn Judgment

Bill Davis

41 cards

Monsters: 17

1 Cyber Dragon

2 D. D. Survivor

Spells: 15

1 Nobleman of Extermination

Traps: 9

Side Deck: 15

1 Kuriboh

1 Neko Mane King

2 Waboku

1 Wave-Motion Cannon

Evan Dawson

40 cards

Monsters: 17

1 Chaos Sorcerer

3 Cyber Dragon

Spells: 16

1 Reinforcement of the Army

1 Smashing Ground

Traps: 7

1 Elephant Statue of Disaster

Side Deck: 15

2 Kinetic Soldier

2 Dark Balter the Terrible

Fusion Deck:

3 Dark Blade the Dragon Knight

2 Dark Flare Knight

2 Fiend Skull Dragon

3 Gatling Dragon

2 Reaper on the Nightmare

3 Ryu Senshi

3 Mobius the Frost Monarch

Nick Dukes

40 cards

Monsters: 17

2 Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch

1 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer

Spells: 16

3 Soul Exchange

Traps: 7

3 Solemn Judgment

Evan Harrington

40 cards

Monsters: 18

1 Airknight Parshath

2 Chaos Sorcerer

Spells: 17

1 Fissure

1 Smashing Ground

Traps: 5

Side Deck: 15

1 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer

1 D. D. Survivor

2 Dark Balter the Terrible

3 Wave-Motion Cannon

Fusion Deck:

1 Dark Blade the Dragon Knight

1 Fiend Skull Dragon

1 Karbonala Warrior

1 Reaper on the Nightmare

1 Ryu Senshi

3 St. Joan

Daniel Hobbs

40 cards

Monsters: 17

1 Chaos Sorcerer

Spells: 15

Traps: 8

Side Deck: 15

1 Goblin Elite Attack Force

Sammy Williams

40 cards

Monsters: 17

2 Berserk Gorilla

Spells: 15

Traps: 8

1 Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell

Side Deck: 15

2 D. D. Survivor

2 Des Wombat

2 Giant Trunade

1 Greenkappa

1 Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6

2 Mataza the Zapper

1 Return from the Different Dimension

1 Sakuretsu Armor

1 Spirit Reaper

Next, we’ve got a report from Olly Ford and James Pennicott from England. They were participants in a Regional tournament at Trotters of Edgeware on October 23, and they’re going to give us the inside scoop on what happened.

Trotters’ prestigious record for the highest standard of tournament play in England was put to the test, as the first major Regional tournament under the new format got under way. The best players in the United Kingdom came out to stake their claim to a place at next year’s National Championships. Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning was now a thing of the past, and everyone was anxious to see if Chaos could hold its top spot in this new Advanced metagame.

At the end of it all, only two of the United Kingdom’s best players were left standing, out of 156 attendees. Robert Tagoe and his now-legendary Spell Canceller Control deck would go up against the infamous James Pennicott (known online as YB206), who was armed with a clever Bounce-Hand Control deck.

Each of these players represented a strong team from opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean—Robert played for Hybrid of the UK, James for Comic Odyssey of the US. There was a lot of pride at stake between these two friends in the finals, but after a long and grueling duel, James Pennicott’s innovative deck and style of play proved too much. He claimed the 2–0 win for Comic Odyssey, along with a well-earned place at next year’s National Championship.

Quarterfinals:

Darryl Campbell defeated Matt Black

Robert Tagoe defeated Richard Shiels

Chris Kirkham defeated Mark Findlay

James Pennicott defeated Ashleigh Campbell

Semifinals:

Robert Tagoe defeated Darryl Campbell

James Pennicott defeated Mark Findlay

Finals:

James Pennicott defeated Robert Tagoe

After the tournament had ended, Olly managed to pull James aside and get his thoughts about the day in general. After a quick exchange of congratulations, we got down to the interview. It must be a relief for any player to qualify for Nationals this early in the campaign, and James was happy to talk about how much pressure it took off of him. ‘It’s a relief to know I have that place at the Nationals safe now. I can prepare and spend less time worrying about qualifying, as well as spending more time with people close to me.’

We then moved on to talk about how James prepares for a tournament. ‘Before a tournament, I try to calm down, as I’m usually very nervous, and I have insomnia, so I get barely any sleep . . . though I don’t eat on the day of a big tournament, as I find it disrupts my flow of play. As far as my deck goes, I had to think about what I would be facing. I knew there would be a lot of Cyber Dragons and a lot of D. D. Assailants. I knew that would be the metagame, so I worked around it. Warrior Toolbox was going to be very popular, and I knew cards like Injection Fairy Lily and Mobius would be all over the place, so I sided in some stuff that I thought looked cool.’ James’ deck had attracted a lot of attention throughout the day, as he had not opted towards the heavily used Warrior Toolbox or Tomato Control. I was eager to hear the secret to it. ‘I helped make the deck, along with deck Guy Israel, the Belgian National Champion. We share ideas a lot. It was a Bounce deck, where the basic idea was disrupt and discard. Good in theory, good in practice.’ A regular attendee of Trotters, James was not underestimating the competition. ‘I knew the competition was going to be amazing, and I wasn’t disappointed. The only thing I really didn’t want to go against today was complete Beatdown, as the monsters with 1900/2000 ATK just ruin me, or someone who’s netdecked one of my previous decks.’

If it wasn’t James’ original deck choice that had his opponents reeling, his playmat finished the job! James is proud to be the newest member of the proclaimed Comic Odyssey team and used his signed team play mat with pride. ‘Wilson Luc is a good friend of mine and came to me saying about how he was looking to add some new people to the team, so I jokingly asked him to pick me, and he did. Looks like my first tournament for the team was a success!’

Finally, I asked him what he felt the future held for him. “Basically, to sit back and relax. I will be at Gen Con UK and a tournament every now and then but apart from that I think until April I'm pretty much sorted, just means I get to spend more time with the girlfriend at weekends! Article-wise I'm looking to continue writing for Yu-Gi-Oh! World and various online communities but that's about it really.’

James is widely considered to be the best duelist in the UK, so he was under a lot of pressure to perform. He rose to the occasion magnificently, winning the biggest Regional tournament in England for his new team in emphatic style.

Top 8 Decklists

Robert Tagoe

41 cards

Monsters: 18

1 D. D. Survivor

Spells: 8

2 Soul Exchange

Traps: 15

2 Blast with Chain

2 Anti-Spell Fragrance

3 Solemn Judgment

Side Deck: 15

2 Nightmare Wheel

1 Ceasefire

2 Des Wombat

Darryl Campbell

40 cards

Monsters: 18

1 D. D. Survivor

1 Exarion Universe

2 Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive

Spells: 16

1 Reinforcement of the Army

1 Giant Trunade

Traps: 6

1 Sakuretsu Armor

1 Trap Hole

Side Deck: 15

1 My Body as a Shield

2 Des Wombat

1 Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke

Matt Black

41 cards

Monsters: 18

1 Skilled White Magician

1 Don Zaloog

1 Airknight Parshath

1 Elemental Hero Bubbleman

1 Spirit Reaper

Spells: 16

3 Enemy Controller

1 Reinforcement of the Army

Traps: 7

2 Sakuretsu Armour

Side Deck: 15

2 Legendary Jujitsu Master

1 Chiron the Mage

1 D. D. Survivor

2 Gravekeeper's Spy

1 Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys

Mark Findlay

40 cards

Monsters: 18

1 White Ninja

1 Mataza the Zapper

1 Night Assailant

1 Zombyra the Dark

1 Old Vindictive Magician

Spells: 14

1 Reinforcements of the Army

1 Creature Swap

Traps: 8

3 Magic Drain

1 Sakuretsu Armor

1 Call of the Haunted

Side Deck: 15

1 Kuriboh

1 Barrel Behind the Door

1 Lightning Vortex

2 Legendary Jujitsu Master

1 Smashing Ground

James Pennicott

40 cards

Monsters: 17

2 Guardian Sphinx

Spells: 17

Traps: 6

3 Compulsory Evacuation Device

1 Torrential Tribute

1 Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys

1 Sakuretsu Armor

Side Deck: 15

1 Hand of Nephthys

2 Kinetic Soldier

Fusion Deck: 52

3 Dark Balter the Terrible

3 Gatling Dragon

3 Cyber Twin Dragon

3 Cyber End Dragon

3 Ryu Senshi

3 Reaper on the Nightmare

3 Dark Blade the Dragon Knight

3 King Dragun

3 Charubin the Fire Knight

3 Fusionist

3 Dragoness the Wicked Knight

3 St. Joan

Ashleigh Campbell

40 cards

Monsters: 16

1 Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6

2 Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8

3 D. D. Assailant

1 D. D. Survivor

1 Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive

Spells: 21

1 Giant Trunade

2 Rush Recklessly

Traps: 3

Side Deck: 15

3 Mobius the Frost Monarch

3 Kinetic Soldier

1 Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys

3 Dust Tornado

2 Messenger of Peace

Chris Kirkham

40 cards

Monsters: 18

1 Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke

1 Spirit Reaper

2 Legendary Jujitsu Master

1 Goblin Elite Attack Force

Spells: 15

Traps: 7

Side Deck: 15

1 Sakuretsu Armorr

1 D. D. Survivor

1 Cliff the Trap Remover

Richard Sheils

41 cards

Monsters: 18

2 D.D. Assailant

1 D.D. Warrior Lady

1 Zombyra the Dark

1 D.D. Survivor

Spells: 17

2 Nobleman of Crossout

Traps: 6

1 Trap Hole

Side Deck: 15

1 Dark Ruler Ha Des

1 Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys

1 Goblin Attack Force

1 Hand of Nephthys

1 Compulsory Evacuation Device

Let’s round things out with a look at a combination Elemental Energy Sneak Preview event and Regional tournament! I’ve judged at a number of these “combo” events, and this report comes to us from Jason Luckhardt, who was the head judge of this event that took place in Hamilton, Ontario on November 6.

A week after Dale Bellido won Shonen Jump Championship Chicago, he was back on his home turf, defending his title against 140 players from all over Southern Ontario at the first local Regional tournament under the new Advanced format. In total, four members of Team Superfriends showed up at the event: Dale and Lazaro Bellido, Matt Peddle and Jason Tan. Three of the team members made it into the Top 8, and two made it into the Top 4.

Dale’s Tomato Control deck was quite popular at the event, as three players in the top 8 decided to go with some form of Tomato Control. When asked what he thought of everyone net-decking him, Dale replied, “I loved it—it made matches easy.” He knew what to expect, and was able to easily defeat his opponents. The only Tomato Control deck that lost in the Top 8 lost to another Tomato Control deck, so it appears that the “one-hit wonder” status of Tomato Control was firmly denied. With that strong Tomato showing aside, Dale warned me to watch out for Kyle Duncan’s Tsukuyomi Lock deck, which earned Kyle a Top 8 finish of his own.

Everyone has been wondering if Dale would keep or sell the Des Volstgalph that he won at Shonen Jump Chicago. While lots of people (myself included) hoped that it would stay in Canada, Dale informed me it would be put up for sale on eBay to finance Team Superfriends’ attendance at future Shonen Jump Championships.

This was Professional Event Services’ first attempt at holding the Sneak Preview event in Hamilton as opposed to Mississauga, and it appears to have encouraged a lot more players to attend. In addition to the 140 people in the Constructed Regional tournament, we had nearly 100 people register to play in the Sneak Preview open play that ran all day. While final numbers weren’t available for this event, my best guess is that almost 300 different people showed up to participate in the numerous events taking place throughout the day. Not a bad showing!

Top 8 Decklists

Dale Bellido

42 cards

Monsters: 20

1 D. D. Survivor

Spells: 15

1 Reinforcements of the Army

Traps: 7

3 Dust Tornado

Side Deck: 15

1 Ceasefire

1 Return from the Different Dimension

2 Gravekeeper’s Spy

1 Bazoo the Soul-Eater

1 Spell Canceller

Jim Kapetaneas

41 cards

Monsters: 20

2 Mystic Tomato

2 D. D. Assailant

1 D. D. Warrior Lady

1 Stealth Bird

3 Cyber Dragon

1 Newdoria

1 Exarion Universe

Spells: 12

Traps: 9

2 Widespread Ruin

Side Deck: 15

Matt Peddle

40 cards

Monsters: 19

2 Chaos Sorcerer

1 Tsukuyomi

2 Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive

Spells: 12

1 Monster Reincarnation

Traps: 9

1 Trap Hole

1 Time Seal

Side Deck: 15

1 King Tiger Wanghu

1 Kuriboh

1 Raigeki Break

2 Skill Drain

2 Waboku

1 Zaborg the Thunder Monarch

2 Solemn Judgment

1 illegible

Kyle Duncan

40 cards

Monsters: 19

3 Gravekeeper’s Spy

2 Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive

Spells: 13

Traps: 8

Side Deck: 15

1 Night Assailant

2 D. D. Assailant

1 Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch

1 Soul Exchange

1 Widespread Ruin

1 Time Seal

1 Dust Tornado

Lazaro Bellido

40 cards

Monsters: 18

1 Exiled Force

2 D. D. Assailant

1 D. D. Survivor

Spells: 14

2 Reinforcements of the Army

Traps: 8

Side Deck: 15

2 Gravekeeper’s Spy

1 Dust Tornado

Marco Cesario

40 cards

Monsters: 20

1 Ninja Grandmaster

1 D. D. Warrior Lady

1 Dark Jeroid

1 Chaos Sorcerer

1 Exiled Force

Spells: 14

1 Reinforcements of the Army

Traps: 6

Side Deck: 15

1 Reinforcements of the Army

1 D. D. Assailant

1 Return from the Different Dimension

1 Bazoo the Soul-Eater

2 Kinetic Soldier

1 Cyber Dragon

Justin Patrick

41 cards

Monsters: 19

1 Mystic Tomato

2 Zaborg the Thunder Monarch

2 Gravekeeper’s Spy

1 Twin-Headed Behemoth

3 Peten the Dark Clown

1 Newdoria

Spells: 15

Traps: 7

1 Goblin Elite Attack Force

Side Deck: 15

3 D. D. Assailant

1 D. D. Survivor

1 Exiled Force

1 Soul Exchange

1 Reinforcements of the Army

3 Dust Tornado

Matthew Foley

41 cards

Monsters: 21

1 Zaborg the Thunder Monarch

3 Gravekeeper’s Spy

Spells: 13

1 Reinforcements of the Army

Traps: 7

2 Dust Tornado