It’s Monday, May 14th, and we are just five days away from what may be the biggest Shonen Jump Championship ever!
Shonen Jump Championship Philadelphia This Weekend
As the dueling year heads towards National Championships in June, the Shonen Jump circuit keeps moving forward. After last year’s record-breaking tournament in July, the Pennsylvania Convention Center may shatter previous attendance thresholds yet again. It all goes down this Saturday and Sunday in the heart of Philadelphia!
The threat of Demise, King of Armageddon continues to rise, but creative duelists continue to find Day 2 success while Monarchs and Gadgets are still ever-present. This is the last Shonen Jump Championship before the premier level introduction of Force of the Breaker, and while that set is sure to bring a range of new surprises, it’s safe to say that there will still be a few this weekend. What surprising decks will make it to Day 2, and will Demise finally meet his match across the board? Jerome McHale will be reporting live from the tournament floor this weekend to answer those questions and many more.
Interested in being part of the biggest tourney ever? Click on over to the official event listing to see all the important event information you’ll need to make your last-minute travel arrangements. This one’s going to be huge, so be there or be with us here on Metagame.com bright and early on the 19th and 20th to catch all the earth-shaking action!
Julia Hedberg Joins Upper Deck Entertainment
Metagame.com bids a fond farewell this week to long-time writer and reporter Julia Hedberg, as she joins Upper Deck Entertainment to take on the role of Demo Team Manager. A long-time supporter of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG’s various Organized Play programs, Julia will now contribute directly to the future of Yu-Gi-Oh! as well as other Upper Deck brands!
Interested in the Demo Team program? Check out our more detailed report right here for information on how you can request demos or become a demoer yourself.
Congratulations, Julia! You will be missed.
This Week on Metagame.com
This week, Mike Rosenberg gets things started with a look at what might be the hottest card in all of dueling—Raiza the Storm Monarch! After more than two years of waiting, the Monarchs have a new addition to the ranks, and many are hailing it as the best tribute monster of all time. Why? Mike investigates the answers to that question today, so go check out the article!
Jerome McHale hits us with a brand new spin on a successful deck this Tuesday. While plenty of legacy support was evident in Force of the Breaker, some of it takes time to spot, and Jerome’s found a cool piece of tech that you may not have noticed yet. Which deck does he update, and what surprising card does he use to do it? Check back tomorrow to find out.
Speaking of Force of the Breaker, even our resident angry carnival freak Dr. Crellian Vowler is getting in on the action! Vowler fixes up an aggressive Harpie deck on Wednesday, drawing on the power of the venerable Harpie’s Queen to create a deadly double-edged strategy. It’s girl power to-go at sonic-barrier-bashing speeds when Vowler throws a truly Hysteric Party!
Curtis Schultz swings open the doors to his Duel Academy this week, taking another look at some of Axel Brodie’s Volcanic monsters. This time around, Curtis investigates Volcanic Hammerer, Volcanic Slicer, and Volcanic Doomfire, three of Axel’s most important monsters.
On Friday we get the, err . . . unique pleasure of yet another visit from Dr. Vowler, as new writer Bryan Camareno gets ready to begin his weekly run every Friday. Everyone seems to agree that Jesse Anderson’s Crystal Beasts have serious potential for tournament competition, but one big question has been heatedly debated: how should they be played? Four major Crystal Beast archetypes seem to be emerging, and Vowler is going to introduce you to all of them and discuss the strengths of each. Attendance is mandatory for this must-read lecture!
Saturday, Matt Peddle’s going to take you inside one of the coolest decks of the format! Theeresak Poonsombat made waves with his groundbreaking Destiny Hero Beatdown deck at SJC Anaheim, destroying our pre-conceived notions about Destiny Heroes and perhaps creating the most challenging strategy this format’s ever seen. What makes it so special, and how is it even played? Matt’s going to show you what makes this deck click, and why it’s a strong bid for future tournaments as well.
We finish out our week with new writer Matt Murphy, bringing you another wacky and competitive combo deck in his new column, Combination Attack! This time around, he’s going to make an unlikely pairing of two major archetypes, and the result is something truly awesome. Can you guess which time-honored strategies he’s going to combine? Find out what Matt’s been up to this Sunday!
That’s it for this week! Remember, if you’re not going to be attending SJC Philadelphia, don’t miss the live coverage on Saturday and Sunday. It’s going to be one to remember!