It’s Monday, January 22nd, and we are just five days away from what’s shaping up to be one of the most challenging Shonen Jump Championships of all time!
Shonen Jump Championship Orlando This Weekend
The biggest Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG tournament series in North America returns to the East Coast this weekend after a four month absence, and it’s still anybody’s guess as to what decks we’ll see in competition. With the recent release of Structure Deck 10: Machine’s Re-Volt, Gadgets are sure to show up in droves, but debate about just how Gadgets should be run continues. While many duelists are certainly going to go with heavy monster removal and lots of aggression, others are sure to try Machine or Earth-centric builds as well. Monarchs are bound to continue seeing play after their huge showing in the Top 8 of SJC San Jose, but it’s the rogue decks that are making duelists think long and hard about what they’ll take to Orlando. Dark World, Zombies, Horus the Blackflame Dragon, Freed Return, Macro Cosmos, and more are all viable choices, and it’s impossible to forecast a clear winner.
If you’re still thinking of going but haven’t made up your mind, you can find all the important tournament details on Upper Deck Entertainment’s official even listing right here. Can’t make it? We here at Metagame.com will have you covered with all the feature matches, deck profiles, and tech you’ve come to expect, plus Julia Hedberg will be on-hand yet again to provide all the extended coverage and interesting stories you crave. With this format now entering its final weeks, things just keep getting more unpredictable, and we’ll be coming to you live from the tournament floor to show you how it all plays out. Get ready for a tournament to remember!
New Duelist Packs Debut in Three Weeks
Following hot on the heels of the Machine’s Re-Volt Structure Deck comes two new Duelist Packs, featuring Aster Phoenix and an encore showing from Jaden Yuki. While last year’s Duelist Packs sold out in a lot of areas on fan value alone, these new sets feature a bunch of really impressive cards that are tournament-worthy.
Card Trooper is one of Jaden’s new ultra rares, and it’s a combination of Bazoo the Soul-Eater, Lady Assailant of Flames, and Cyber Phoenix. The little Machine starts off with an attack value of just 400, but it can grind as many as three cards from the top of your deck to gain 500 ATK for each, giving it a respectable 1900 ATK. Then, if it’s ever destroyed and sent to the graveyard, you get to draw a card . . . even if Card Trooper was destroyed by an effect. That means that if an opponent wastes Sakuretsu Armor on it, you gain a card out of the exchange. Stuff like Pot of Avarice, Bazoo, and Strike Ninja really stand to benefit from all those discarded cards, too.
Another new weapon in Jaden’s arsenal, Edge Hammer, is a trap that lets you tribute Elemental Hero Bladedge to destroy an opposing monster: it then smacks the opponent for damage equal to the ATK of the monster they lost. Light Laser is also interesting: it’s an equip for Light Warrior-types that turns guys like Freed and Grandmaster Sasuke into honorary members of the D. D. family. It’s a nice deterrent to keep Freed safe.
Sound interesting? I’m looking forward to Aster’s Duelist Pack even more. Destiny Draw is a spell that lets you discard a Destiny Hero to draw two cards. It’s a powerful cycling tool that lets you get to what you want when you need it, and it’s a great way to load your graveyard with Destiny Hero - Dasher or the new Destiny Hero—Malicious. Malicious debuts in this set, and will definitely be sought after by serious duelists: when he’s in your graveyard, you can remove him from play to special summon another from your deck. Other new cards include Eternal Dread, a trap that places Clock Counters on Clock Tower Prison, and Over Destiny, a spell that lets you special summon a Destiny Hero from your deck.
Duelist Pack – Jaden Yuki 2 and Duelist Pack – Aster Phoenix will both start appearing in stores on February 7th. Just like the previous Duelist Packs, these will contain five playable cards per pack and a lower price tag than normal boosters. That’s good news for us, since it means we’ll have an easier time getting our paws on the sweet new cards.
This Week on Metagame.com
As usual, we start off our week here on Metagame.com with another edition of The Binder! Mike Rosenberg uses his column today to take a look at one of the most powerful, time-honored cards in the game—Jinzo. With traps on the rise due to Gadgets and Chain Strike Burn, everybody’s favorite leather-clad android is making a big comeback, and Mike’s going to go in-depth to show you why he might be right for you. If you’re not running Jinzo, it might be time to blow the dust off this classic monster!
Tuesday, Jerome McHale is going to show you his version of a deck that I think has a ton of potential in a post-Gadget environment. Vampire Lord and Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys unite alongside swarm monsters like Hydrogeddon and Gravekeeper’s Spy to create an ever-increasing flood of threats. Jerome calls it “The Snowball Effect”. Highly effective in today’s top matchups, I guarantee that someone is going to take this concept to Orlando.
On Wednesday, I continue looking at Gadget monsters as I fix up a more advanced Gadget build with an interesting twist. What makes it cool? Three copies of Vanity’s Fiend, working to shut down annoying monsters like Treeborn Frog and Cyber Dragon. After rummaging through my inbox for interesting Gadget ideas, this is definitely one of the best, and the end product could easily be played in a Regional.
Picked up a copy of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: Spirit Caller for the Nintendo DS? Are those three new promos burning a hole in your binder? Hunter Owl, Brain Crusher, and Masked Chopper certainly display all the symptoms of competitive tech, and on Thursday Curtis is going to show you some important tactics and rulings to help you get the most out of each. If you’ve been staring at any one of these cards with a vague desire to play it, be sure to hit up this article.
On Friday, Julia Hedberg is going to answer one of the most frequent questions I hear players ask: “Where do I find stuff?” We’ve all been in that position, searching frantically for the Advanced list or event information before hustling out the door. The article’s packed with handy links that save you from hunting for policy documents, online certification tests, and more. Did you know that Upper Deck has forums? If you didn’t, you’ll find handy links to ‘em right here! Do yourself a favor: bookmark this one.
Friday is also the night before Shonen Jump Championship Orlando, and I’ll use my Trends N’ Tactics column to make some last-minute speculation about what we might see. I’ve been talking to some of the duelists who’ll be in attendance, and there are some really interesting trends leading into this tournament.
Matt Peddle gazes into the past this Saturday to find some inspiration in a post-Gadget environment. While the Lazaro/Spicer Monarch build has been a defining mainstay of the format, Monarchs are going to have to adapt to compete with little Yugi’s clockwork terrors, and an old deck from Edgar Flores may provide some valuable direction. Matt’s going to show you why.
Finally, Jae Kim will finish out our week with a deck he calls “Wonderbox!” Not to be confused with previous concepts that have shared similar names, this one blends Dark and Light attributes to create a variety of high-impact effects. Freed and Strike Ninja in the same strategy? Jae makes it work, and he’ll show you how to do it.
That’s it for this week, and don’t forget to be here on the weekend to see all the excitement live from Shonen Jump Championship Orlando!
—Jason Grabher-Meyer
Contributing Editor, Metagame.com