The latest addition to Yu-Gi-Oh! Organized Play is off to an auspicious start. Over 300 duelists of all ages and skill levels turned out for the So Cal launch of the series, attracted by the solid player turnout and weighty prize packages – including the coveted Cyber Stein.  Last minute entrants slowed down the registration process resulting in a late start, but Round 1 was underway by noon,  as 309 competitors entered the fray hoping to win the title of Champion.

The rounds ran fairly smoothly, as most duelists finished their matches well before the end of the rounds. Warrior, Machine, Hybrid, Lockdown and Scientist decks were commonly seen, but the arena was seasoned with the occasional Water,  Earth, Spellcaster or Dragon deck.  Each table usually had at least one Top 8 Regionals playmat in use, showing there was definitely a level of competition to be reckoned with throughout the event.

While there were some duelists relatively new to the tournament scene, a large portion of the tournament consisted of Yu-Gi-Oh! veterans from Southern Californian card shops and longtime habitués of the large cons.  With so many familiar duelists in one arena,  habitual rivalries (friendly for the most part) popped up and good-natured teasing resumed from where the participants had left off at the last big event.  While some duelists continued with deck styles that had brought them success in the past, a few experimented with some new ideas, hoping to get a jump on the metagame.

The event featured 9 rounds, which lasted into the night.  Top 8 began just after 10pm, and matched up Patrick Holmes versus George Mean, Henry Ke against Gerard Ramirez, Hugo Adame with Miguel Flores, and John Umali squaring off against Juan Cardenas.  Despite the range of decks played in the event, Top 8 was almost entirely Hybrid, with the exception of Ke, who played a one turn kill Scientist deck, and Flores, who played a Earth deck.

 The shortest quarter-final match of the evening was Ke versus Ramirez – despite Ramirez going first both times,  Ke got the one turn combo off on his first turn in both games, ending the match in under ten minutes.  Mean and Holmes, each playing Hybrid, had a long first game,  as neither duelist’s deck was running particularly quickly.  Mean took the first game, Holmes the second, then Mean won the final game and claimed the match.  Umali and Cardenas also played Hybrid against Hybrid,  their games moved a little quicker as the duelists were able to draw what they needed rapidly, and Umali took both games for the match win.  The final pair up, Flores’ Earth deck against Adame’s Spellcaster Hybrid, resulted in a quick win in game 1 for Flores, and a more prolonged duel in game 2, again a win for Flores.

Semi-finals paired Ke with Flores, and Mean against Umali.  Ke went first, and managed to draw Gilasaurus, Last Will, and Catapult Turtle. After showing them to Flores, the two agreed not to play it through, and Ke took game 1.  Flores took advantage of the time he had during the next game, pressing on Ke to win before the one turn combo is reached.  Ke did get Magical Scientist and Catapult Turtle on the field, but Flores Book of Mooned the Scientist to prevent the kill, then on his turn Change of Hearted the Scientist and used Snatch Steal on the Turtle, paid to summon enough fusion monsters and knocked Ke down to 0 Life Points.  The third game was intense, as each duelist vied for control of the field.  Despite going first, and Reasoning, Pot of Greed, and Reload, Ke could not get the cards he needed.  Flores ran an excellent defense, activating Waboku in time to prevent another barrage at his Life Points, and eventually bringing Ke down to 0. 

Umali and Mean indulged in a bit of banter as their game went on.  Scapegoat delayed things a bit, and each duelist did his best to keep his opponent at a field disadvantage.  They played through a succession of turns, culminating in a whopping 4100 damage dealt in one turn to Mean, followed up with Umali using  Change of Heart to take Mean’s set monster and blasting away his remaining 1000 Life Points.  In game two, Umali used Scientist to bring out Ryu Senshi and two Thousand-Eyes Restrict, sucking up two of  Mean’s monsters, then tributing both Thousand Eyes to bring out Dark Magician of Chaos, reclaiming Swords of Revealing Light, suiciding his D. D. Warrior Lady against Mean’s and attacking directly with Dark Magician of Chaos.  Mean activated Scapegoat, and held Umali off for another few turns with the aid of Tribe-Infecting Virus, but when time was called the win went to Umali.

The finals match, between Miguel Flores and John Umali, lasted quite some time. They’d faced each other in the top 8 in an event the previous day, as well as knowing one another from other events.  Earth deck against Hybrid, the first match was a series of elaborate exchanges that ended with a recovery from topdecking by Umali: a spectacular attack was the result, and Umali’s first win was clinched.

The second match was far tighter, again involving a great deal of card for card exchanges: Umali constantly kept a card count going, and veteran players that were present could notice that he was actually making purposeful mistakes in his spoken count to attempt to throw off Flores.  Highlights of the game included a Giant Rat play involving Axe of Despair that not even Umali could wrap his head around for a couple minutes, and an incredible finish where Flores attempted to force a draw.  At 1000 Life Points to Umali’s 200, the game had come down to a mutual recovery from topdecking.  Seeing that he had an advantage, but that the situation could change easily, Flores attempted to Ring of Destruction Umali’s Reflect Bounder to push to game three.  He flipped his Ring, declared his target, and started to scoop his cards.  Umali stopped him though, much to Flores’ surprise and that of the crowd.  He flipped Raigeki Break, targeted his own Bounder, and blew it away on the chain before Ring could hit it.  The damage was negated, and the hard-fought extra turn brought Umali just what he needed: Black Luster Soldier, and victory.

Final standings were as follows: 

  1^st place – John Umali
  2^nd place – Miguel Flores
  3^rd place – George Mean
  4^th place – Henry Ke
  5^th place – Gerard Ramirez
  6^th place – Juan Cardenas
  7^th place – Hugo Adame
  8^th place – Patrick Holmes


Kevin Tewart from Upper Deck was on hand to distribute the prizes for top 8 – all players in the top 8 got some boosters, Yu-Gi-Oh! videogames, playmats and invites to Nationals.  In addition, 5^th through 8^th received Nintendo DS systems, 3^rd and 4^th carried off the promise of  the new ‘slim’ Sony Playstation (they didn’t make it to the event on time to be distributed).  Flores, in 2^nd  place, got the Playstation and the DS, and Umali was loaded down with so many prizes for first, he couldn’t carry them all.  He got a top-of-the line gaming laptop from Dell, a very nice Championship trophy depicting a golden Millenium Puzzle in a glass pyramid, a framed sheet of Rise of Destiny Ultimate Rares, and last but not least, the first English language Cyber Stein ever presented. 

As they collected their prizes, the finalists got successive rounds of applause from friends and fellow competitors that had lingered until nearly midnight to see the tournament to it’s conclusion.  The prizes were definitely a motivation to compete, and many of those present expressed hope there would soon be another Shonen Jump Championship tournament in a nearby area.  The prizes were carted away as  the winners departed in an aura of celebration, the event staff were treated to an interpretive dance about a coin flip by TO Mike Guptil, and the tournament ended on a definite note of success.