James Naughton of Team Hpnotiq is your newest Shonen Jump Champion, and winner of Shonen Jump Championship Arlington!

In the quarterfinals Naughton was paired off against the wildcard deck of the Top 8, Bobby Williams’s Dark World Burn. In a close match that went to game three, he managed to squeak out a win through careful use of mass field control cards. Both duelists caught some luck, but Naughton had field control virtually every time he needed it, and without the ability to maintain his field advantage Williams couldn’t win.

He then took on Ryan Spicer, plowing through him on the way to the finals and a showdown with Jake McNeely. In a three-game match where both duelists drew horrible opening hands in the final two duels, Naughton recovered faster and played aggressively to seal victory. After using Metamorphosis his opponent simply could not deal with Dark Balter’s negation effects, and squeezing out a win was nothing short of academic.

This event was a huge one for innovation, with two completely new decks debuting in the Top 8 appearing alongside Chaos Return and Chaos Creature Swap. Jame’s Naughton himself used some unconventional picks like Blade Knight and Don Zaloog. But the event was also a big one for Team Hpnotiq, who won the Championship and managed to place two of their members into the Top 4. If Team Hpqnotiq starts traveling, they could certainly become a dominant team. As it stands, they’re a top prospect for Shonen Jump Championship Austin.

A tech update is still on the way, and if you’re just tuning in now, be sure to check out the deck profiles. This weekend has given birth to a ton of great decks, and we’ve got deck coverage on two promising prospects that made it all the way to Sunday. Shonen Jump Arlington is over, and five days remain between now and Shonen Jump Philly. We’ll see the impact next weekend, when Metagame.com brings you extended live coverage, including the Metagame Blog and the Scrub Brush Challenge!