I’d heard a lot about Team J-Spot over the past few months, but nothing really solid. Their name just kept popping up. They approached me for a team profile article this weekend, and though I didn’t have time to fit them in on Saturday, I sat down with acting team spokesman Brian “Lil b” Perez after the tournament. How can I say no to someone who just finished in the Top 8?

Yup, Brian Perez managed to make Day 2 here this weekend, and that wasn’t the team’s only accomplishment here this weekend. Michael Bueno was also flying the Junky flag, and he made it to the finals. Just like Team Overdose’s breakthrough first appearance at Shonen Jump Championship New Jersey, Junky Spot managed to make their mark by qualifying two of their members for the event’s Top 8.

With ten members the team is a rotating stable of local talent. “Daly City is right next to San Francisco,” explained Brian, speaking of their hometown and the location of the Junky Spot store they represent. “We’ve been playing together as a group for maybe a year. We have our team, which is kind of our elite team, the official representatives of Junky Spot in Daly City. But we’ve also got, like, 30 good players in the store, total, so the team changes a lot.

Perez was eager to offer up proof of the team’s ability. “For the past seven NorCal Regionals, we’ve always made the Top 8. We won five in a row. Out of ten of us, eight of us have already qualified [for Nationals 2006].” Wow. It’s a pretty stunning accomplishment.

“We’re underdogs and we always have been. We’ve been taking these Regionals for a year now but nobody knows about us. We’ve got Keanson and Raymond Ye, they’re the newest recruits. Everybody knows them, they’re popular and they’ve been consistent.”

“I want to tell you we’re the best team in NorCal, but everybody’s been saying that already.” There was no hubris in his voice. Perez was stating a fact, and J-Spot has the wins to back it up.

As always, I asked him what he felt set his team apart. “Honestly, we playtest day and night. We’re really close, and we meet up multiple times a week. We used to have weekly box tournaments. I think something that helped us out was that every Sunday we did double elimination tournaments for a box. It kind of feels like a Regionals. You can lose once, and still keep going with it. Good experience.”

He continued. “I think we adapt really well to other playing environments. Like, there’s a big difference between NorCal and SoCal, we felt that a lot at GenCon. But I still think we adapted really well. We’ve got a lot of innovative players too. We never go to Shonen Jumps, cause we don’t have the money, that’s why we only go to ones in Cali. We came up with the [Gyaku-Gire Panda] / [Rescue Cat] deck, we’d like to say we pioneered that. We also have very strong Vs. players, which really helps us. You get a totally different view on TCGs playing that game, and it’s great to be able to apply those ideas to Yu-Gi-Oh!”

I asked Perez if there was anything he’d like to tell the world. Some teams often have a message they want to send. He had to think for a while, and he didn’t spout the confrontational statements that some teams do. “Come to our store and play us. We’re always available to play, so if anyone wants to, they can find us. We don’t get a lot of competition outside of our local area, so we’re always eager to play people from different places.” Perez’s statement showed that the team is dedicated to constantly expanding its ability, and that commitment appeared to be one off the team’s big advantages over others.”

“I’m pretty sure we’ll have all of our members qualified for Nationals, too. At ten people, we’re going to make an impact.”

Here’s the team’s roster this weekend, and their records.

Mike Bueno: 8-1, Top 8 Finalist

Brian “Lil’ b” Perez: 8-1, Top 8 Quarterfinalist

Danny Huyn: 8-1, only 8-1 player to miss Top 8 on tiebreakers

Raymond Ye: 7-2

Keanson Ye: 7-2

Bryan Horn: 7-2

Andrew Novoa: 6-3

Patrick Holmes: 6-3

Bryant Kongkachandra: Not in competition

In Nor Cal, the TCG players have a saying—“Hella good.” That’s exactly what Team J-Spot is, and come Nationals, they’re going to be a raw force of nature. Watch for them to shine in West Coast Shonen Jump Championships in 2006.