It certainly is a happy Halloween for Dale Bellido.
After multiple Shonen Jump Championship Top 8s and a long list of "so close, yet so far" finishes, five all-star Canadians joined forces to create Team Superfriends. Placing both Dale and Lazaro Bellido into the Top 8, the team missed qualifying Matt Peddle and Chris Simoes for Day 2 only on tiebreakers, and claimed the championship thanks to Bellido's innovative Tomato Control deck.
Left as the runner-up after a series of poor draws at Canadian Nationals 2004, Dale Bellido was a favorite going into the country's 2005 Nationals this past summer. Falling short of expectations in that event, it was unclear as to whether or not his days as a top competitor were finished. But now it's clear that he's never been more on top of his game. Plowing through Brice Thompson's techy Cyber Dragon Beatdown, and then fending off two members of Team Scoopforce, Bellido is the first Canadian Shonen Jump Champion.
Congratulations to Dale Bellido, and all the Top 8 competitors at Shonen Jump Championship Chicago!
Metagame Wants YOU!
Speaking of tournament coverage, the hunt for tournament reports continues! Julia Hedberg will be kicking off her tournament report column soon, and we need your tournament reports. Do you want to get some instant fame for yourself, your friends, and your local game store? Check out our submission guidelines and send in a tournament report. You might just see it featured here on Metagame.com!
UDE Launches New And Improved Hobby League!
Yu-Gi-Oh! Hobby League is back with awesome new prizes. Launching in December 2005, the League will reward duelists with t-shirts, deck boxes, and exclusive prize cards.
The coolest part? Parallel Ultra Rares are finally hitting North American shores! Reserved strictly for Hobby League promos, the distinctive new foil treatment will give players yet another way to display their success on the local level. Easily recognizable by their unique holographic patterning, Parallel Ultra Rares have long been part of the Japanese game’s mystique, and they’re sure to wow audiences stateside! December’s featured card is the ever popular Cyber Jar.
The best part? UDE will continue to improve the league kits with new prizes, cards, and innovative player rewards. The revamped Hobby League is sure to be filled with cool surprises!
To find a Hobby League location near you, just follow this link over to UDE’s official site.
Previews Continue on Metagame.com
Last week we blew the roof off of Elemental Energy, and this week we’ll continue investigating one of the hottest sets to ever hit the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG.
Jerome McHale kicks off the week today by looking at Elemental Hero Wildheart. This is a followup to Jerome’s article last week, when he looked at the fusion monster that fuses from Wildheart and another Elemental Hero! In an era of trap-heavy decks, Elemental Hero Wildheart has a fantastic effect, so head on over to Jerome’s article and check it out!
Next up, Jae Kim looks at a spell card closely tied to Level Limit – Area B. As some potentially excellent tech for a duelist’s side deck, this one is a definite do-not-miss, regardless of the type of deck you play. If you’ve been looking for a way to claim some revenge upon Magician of Faith and Nimble Momonga, Jae will have just the answer you’re looking for on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, we’ve got a treat for all you Yu-Gi-Oh! GX fans: VWXYZ Dragon Catapult Cannon! Mike Rosenberg looks at the real-life version of Chazz Princeton’s massive behemoth, and flexes his anime and manga muscles by recapping the stories behind its components. He also looks at the playability of the card, and proves that even in an environment that’s heavy on one-for-one trades (like Smashing Ground and Sakuretsu Armor), this card can make an impact.
On Thursday, I’ll look at another of Chaz’s cards—Infernal Incinerator! The largest single-tribute monster to date, the Incinerator is a mammoth beatstick that gets bigger and bigger whenever it encounters resistance. Even though it’s a somewhat complicated card, it could have a role in several competitive decks from the current Advanced format, so be sure to check it out!
Finally, Julia Hedberg draws our Elemental Energy previews to a close with a final Yu-Gi-Oh! GX card—Alexis Rhodes’s Cyber Blader! The real-life version of Alexis’s signature card is relatively easy to fuse and comes armed for battle, reacting to the opponent’s moves with beguiling adaptations! An incredibly powerful card when wielded by a smart duelist, Julia will illustrate how you can get the most out of this awesome monster.
Besides the previews, there’ll be even more articles for your reading pleasure this week! Curtis Schultz finishes up his two-part investigation into important rulings for Elemental Hero monsters by looking at Elemental Hero Bubbleman, Wroughtweiler, Bubble Shuffle, and Spark Blaster. All four are tricky cards to use effectively, but once you read Curtis’s column, you’ll be ready to use each of these monsters to their maximum potential.
That’s it for this week! Check back each day to get your dose of Elemental Energy goodness, and head on back in seven days when we return to our regularly scheduled columns, as well as several new weekly features.
—Jason Grabher-Meyer
Contributing Editor, Metagame.com