The tournament we’ve all been waiting for is finally here. More than 600 duelists have amassed in the Columbus Grand Convention Center this morning for the largest event of its kind — the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game’s biggest National Championship ever!

With 620 competitors and counting already signed in, more continue to stream through the doors and into the Grand Ballroom with each passing minute. Previous US Championships have topped 400 players, but today marks the return of Nationals to Columbus, Ohio, a far more accessible location than last year’s Nationals in California. The numbers speak for themselves: this is going to be one of the biggest Yu-Gi-Oh! tournaments of all time.

And the field is a competitive one! Virtually every big name in dueling is here this weekend, with representatives from Overdose, Nexus, Rampage, GG, Comic Odyssey, Outphase, and every other recognized team in the game here to compete. The four decks expected to comprise the bulk of the metagame are T-Hero (Destiny Hero Beatdown), Perfect Circle (Destiny Hero Monarchs), Lazaro Monarchs, and Gadgets, but a vast array of new rogue decks have emerged in the hands of both known and relatively unknown duelists in attendance this weekend. Individuals like Marc Glass, Jeff Jones, Mike Powers, Lance Leonhardt, Chris Sorelle, Matt Murphy, and many more are playing decks that depart from the expected metagame in order to attempt to counter it.

And yes: there are Crystal Beasts. They’re in some impressively experienced hands, but we’ll bring you more details on that later.

Crush Card Virus will be a defining force here today, with more than half a dozen copies publicly displayed this morning and many more surely lying in wait. The favored proverbial cannon to load that bombshell into appears to be T-Hero, the Destiny Hero beatdown strategy that has become the number one deck-to-beat in the current format, but the day may be filled with Crushing surprises nonetheless.  

We’ll be focusing on bringing you all the best decks and feature matches today, and, with so many amazing duelists pulling out all the stops, there are going to be some impressive sights to see. By the end of the weekend the US will have a new National Champion, but for today a long road lies ahead. Ten rounds stand between sixteen duelists and the glory of a day 2 showing, and today we’ve got Matt Peddle and I, Jason Grabher-Meyer, live on-site to bring you all the action as it unfolds.