It’s Tuesday, July 29, 2008, and as we count down to the Sneak Preview release of The Duelist Genesis, duelists across the globe are celebrating yet another title win for Lazaro Bellido!

Canadian Champ Wins Shonen Jump Championship Toronto

But Lazaro fought back from that disappointment this past weekend in his hometown of Toronto, fighting his way through a near-impossible Day 2 gauntlet! He defeated U.S. National Champion Chris Bowling in the Top 16, and from there, he faced Shonen Jump Champion Paul Levitin, Shonen Jump Champion Cesar Gonzalez (newly anointed "The Princess"—by his own choice), and former U.S. National Champion Adam Corn. Lazaro came out on top yet again, scoring his second Championship title in five weeks: his third title this year.

Other big stories this weekend included a tremendous showing from new duelist Audrey Tan, who demonstrated exceptional skills in a feature match that was the highlight of Day 1. Toronto’s own Hsoros Nairebas also took Day 2’s only innovative deck— a surprising Turbo build with a heavy emphasis on Phantom of Chaos and [The Dark Creator]—all the way to the Top 4.

It was a memorable tournament filled with skilled feature matches, and if you missed it, be sure to check out the coverage right here on Metagame.  Three weeks remain until Shonen Jump Championship Indianapolis, and reading up on this event will help you prepare for one of the biggest tournaments of the year.

Sneak Previews offer two ways to try out the new cards: Swiss Tournament competitions and more relaxed casual play. Sign up for the Swiss, and you’ll go head-to-head in a tournament format against other duelists. You’ll build your 20-card deck from five packs of The Duelist Genesis, and at the end of the tournament the top finishers will win more packs. If casual play is more your thing, you’ll get five packs of the new set with which to build your deck, and then, you’ll play against five other casual duelists, record your results, and earn a sixth booster.

Between this past weekend at Toronto and my message board inboxes, I've been asked one question dozens, maybe over a hundred times these past few weeks - "Will Premium Pack 2 be legal for Indy?"  Just as I went to post this week's installment of Seven Days I received notice that Premium Pack 2 is legal as of today, and thus, will be legal for Shonen Jump Championship Indianapolis.

This raises plenty of questions heading into the event, as we may see Zombies take top honors thanks to the new monster, Mezuki.  Are Gladiator Beast Gyzarus's days numbered?

In addition, if you're located in Canada like me, retailers received a recent e-mail stating that the Canadian debut of the set will be delayed a couple days.  Expect to see it in stores this Thursday.

Today, Jerome McHale writes a must-read preview on what may be the best Synchro in the set—Goyo Guardian. The Guardian is massive by the standards of a Level 6 monster, and its effect is even better than its raw attack power. Paired with the Tuner monster Jutte Fighter, it’s going to be a powerhouse in Gladiator Beasts, and a starring member of the Extra deck for a lot of competitive strategies.

Carrying on the Gladiator Beast theme, Matt Peddle will give us a brief break from Synchros as he profiles two new cards for Gladiators. For months, there has been tremendous buzz surrounding the new trap card, Gladiator Beast War Chariot. The Chariot seems like a catchall answer to virtually every major threat in the current format, and Matt’s going to show you why. Then, he’ll take on Gladiator Beast Equeste and illustrate why it’ll be a guaranteed must-play in every Gladiator deck from here on out.

On Thursday, Bryan Camareno will introduce yet another Synchro monster with its signature Tuner. Sinister Sprocket may be one of the smallest Tuners in The Duelist Genesis, but it’s also one of the best Tuners for Level 8 Synchro monsters, including Red Dragon Archfiend. Red Dragon has Stardust Dragon beat in terms of ATK, and it is the ultimate wall-buster when you’re up against a defensive strategy.

Also on Thursday, don’t miss Curtis Schultz’s Duelist Academy, where he’ll continue detailing the finer points of trigger effects. This time, he’ll talk about effect resolution, missing your priority, and some tricky effects that look like triggers, but really aren’t. Curtis will be wrapping up his current series next week, so don’t miss this important installment!

Friday, Matt Peddle is back to look at another Synchro / Tuner pairing. Nitro Warrior and Nitro Synchron have a unique bond with a one-a-kind outcome, and even overly conservative players will have no problem committing to this particular pair. Want to Synchro summon without losing cards? Nitro Synchron is the easiest way to do it, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg: Matt’s going to show you what makes these monsters so good.

Finally, we’ve got a double dose of Ryan Murphy this weekend, as Ryan gets two days to blow the lid off Psychic monsters. Psychic is a new monster type, like Warriors or Spellcasters, and they’re totally different from anything you’ve played before. Psychics focus on letting you pay life points for big effects, so they may have a huge impact on the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. The reason? Ryan’s going to explain why, and I guarantee the answer is going to surprise you.

That’s it for this week, but join us again on Monday as we continue our look at highlights from The Duelist Genesis! Sneak Previews are less than two weeks away, so get ready for one of the biggest Preview weekends ever. If you’re going to the English / German combined Sneak at the 2008 World Championship, I’ll see you there!