Local teams are making their presence felt at this event. Many of the teams that have dominated previous events are either not present, or are here with reduced numbers, and local teams plan to use that to their advantage.

Team Collusion doesn’t need to rely solely on a reduced team presence, though—nearly all of their members are top-ranked players here in Georgia. I sat down for a chat with Jon “Dutch” Hochberg, professional poker player and spokesman for the team, to learn a bit more about these guys.

“We’re usually in the Top 8 at all the Regionals around here,” he said. “Nearly everyone has their Nationals invite already.” It’s a relatively small team, but all five members are here today—“Dutch” Hochberg, ranked second in Georgia; Oscar Sandoval, ranked first; Victor Reinert, ranked eighth; Brian Perez, ranked ninth; and Andrew Bartlett, ranked twenty-eighth.

These guys see teaming up as a necessary strength in these events. “I went to Shonen Jump Charlotte, feeling like if I played flawlessly and made the right deck choice, I should make Top 8. I hadn’t realized then how much power teams can have, as far as the first tiebreaker goes. I went 8-1, and my only loss was to the 9-0 winner of the Swiss rounds.”

And so, Team Collusion was born. “It’s just a joke,” Dutch explained, referring to the team name. Formed to help secure better standings at this Shonen Jump, the team will most likely stay together afterwards. “Hey, we might as well, we’ve got the shirts,” he grinned. “I’d say teams are a necessity; it’s all about those tiebreakers.” The members have known each other for quite some time, always running into each other in the Top 8 of tournaments throughout the area, and relied on each other for intense playtesting in the weeks leading up to the event. “We found all kinds of interesting tech, thinking outside the box—like manipulating the draw phase with Heart of the Underdog, things like that. This new format is pretty straightforward, and without a developed game established yet, we found that generic beatdown works best, with a side deck for 'silver bullets' against all kinds of different matchups.”

The goal of all players here today is, of course, Des Voltsgalph! What does Team Collusion plan to do with it? “We’re all in agreement—straight to eBay! That’s the benefit of a smaller team, less people to split the prize.”

This is Team Collusion’s first Shonen Jump, and Dutch is hopeful they will also be able to make a showing at some upcoming events. “Possibly some of us will make it to Chicago. We’re all over 21 and have to work around jobs, which makes it harder to get to more distant events.”

Team presence has definitely made an impact as this tournament series progresses—while individual players have risen in the public eye, and claimed their spots in the finals, strong, tightly-organized teams have demonstrated a viable strategy for success. Each Shonen Jump Championship brings even more teams out into the spotlight. It remains to be seen how Atlanta will end.