It’s May 15, and we’re just five days away from the showdown in Chi-Town!

Hot on the heels of Shonen Jump Columbus, Shonen Jump Championship action is headed to the Windy City!

Emon Ghaneian headed into Day 2 of Shonen Jump Columbus with only one thing on his mind: ruthless aggression. “I’m going all out this time,” he told me. “No more conservative play.” Attacking when other duelists wouldn’t is what got him through a terrifyingly unfavorable Top 8 quarterfinal, the first of three that Emon has ever survived. His aggro play style lead him to then plow through Jerry Wang and Mike Ibrahim on his way to capturing the brand new-prize card, Shrink.

(Speaking of Shrink, check out the current price on Nick Curtis’s copy of the card, which he won at the side events last weekend. Pretty crazy, huh? With stakes like that, I’m sure that we’ll see some fierce competition in Chicago.)

But what will the field in Chicago look like? Many of the competitors at Columbus were running decks heavily influenced by Shane Scurry’s Chaos Return build from Shonen Jump Baltimore just weeks ago. But with innovation dominating the last Advanced format, and with Return from the Different Dimension being such an open-ended card, we might see some all-new Return decks taking the tournament by storm. Who will win, and what will they win with?

We’ll have all the answers for you right here on Metagame.com, because we’ll be live on site providing coverage of all the hot decks, new tech, thrilling feature matches, and everything in between! Be here bright and early Saturday morning as we kick off the day with early round coverage!

The new Structure Deck, Invincible Fortress, shipped to retailers and distributors last week, and it should be appearing on store shelves in Canada and the US any day now. Starring the ultra rare Exxod, Master of the Guard (a re-envisioned version of Exodia the Forbidden One), the deck focuses on Rock monsters and the effects that make them unique. High DEF numbers mix with some tricky stat influence to create huge attackers, while plenty of flip summon triggers create a renewable source of field control. For budget duelists, it’s packed with tons of playable reprints, including a non-holo version of the chase Chazz Duelist Pack card, Magical Mallet!

Upper Deck Entertainment posted some clarifications and minor changes to the replay mechanic earlier this month. Though the changes are minimal, the exact process of what happens when a replay occurs is now far easier to understand, and the small revisions that were made now bring the UDE-distributed Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG in line with pre-existing replay rules issued by Konami in Japan.

To check out the new replay description, plus plenty of in-play examples, check out the official UDE Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG website right here.

With most of the game’s top duelists having little idea as to what to play to advance the current format, the field is wide open for new ideas, and we’ve got a week that’s chock full of them!

Dinosaurs may be one of the most under-appreciated monster types in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, but Mike Rosenberg’s opening this week with an article that might open your eyes a bit! Hydrogeddon offers everything that an aggressive duelist could want in the current format, and its effect flies in the face of some recent top-level tournament trends. Don’t believe me? Check out Mike’s article and you might change your mind.

Have you ever wanted to play Gilford the Lightning and Moisture Creature? With tribute support at an all-time high, Jerome McHale thinks it’s finally possible to run a viable, competitive deck that focuses on these monsters and their huge three-tribute effects. Does he succeed in his endeavor, creating a field-wiping masterpiece that would make Joey proud? Check back on Tuesday to find out.

Return from the Different Dimension took Shonen Jump Championship Columbus by storm last week, but now that everyone’s agreed that it’s good, where do we go? Return happens to be an amazingly versatile card, and there are plenty of variants that offer a duelist different advantages. This Wednesday, I fix up a deck that uses Sacred Crane for extended in-hand options and much more.

Pumped about the new Elemental Heroes in Enemy of Justice? Maybe you nabbed a few at your local Sneak Preview this past weekend. If you did, you’ll want to hit up Curtis Schultz’s article this Thursday before you start playing with them, because Curtis is hosting a Fusion blowout of Heroic proportions! What happens to Elemental Hero Necroid Shaman’s effect if the opponent has used Scapegoat? When can you use Elemental Hero Wild Wingman’s destructive abilities? All the answers you’re looking for will be right here on Thursday!

Jae Kim delivers this weekend, giving you the deck he promised in his last Enemy of Justice preview article. The new Enemy of Justice card, Icarus Attack, gives some serious support to Winged Beasts, so Jae’s going to look at how best to build a Harpie deck. Exercising a ton of control over the opponent’s spell and traps while simplifying the field at key opportunities, it’s a really interesting deck that can reshape the field in a heartbeat.

Finally, our UK correspondent James Pennicott sits down with the runner-up of UK Nationals, Igor Kharin. Kharin discusses the duelists he went up against, fills us in on his team, and sends a message to US duelists on behalf of the UK. It’s not often that Metagame.com gets to speak with big duelists half a world away, so this one is a must-read!

That’s it for this week here on Metagame.com. Don’t forget to mark your calendars for this weekend, because after all the intense competition at Shonen Jump Columbus, you won’t want to miss one second of our live coverage from Shonen Jump Chicago!

As always, thanks for reading!

—Jason Grabher-Meyer

Contributing Editor, Metagame.com