The members of this team hail from both Nebraska and Iowa, and there’s quite a substantial lineup here. The team includes 15 year old Jesse Twohig, 17 year old Ryan Newburn, 17 year old Dustin Born, 19 year old Jason McCaig, 15 year old George Yin, 23 year old Elliot Alexander, 23 year old Jodell Tackett, 17 year old Colton Turnas, 16 year old Edward Wayne, and 18 year old Bruce Lawson. They’ve sent eight of these team members to the event — Jesse, Ryan, Jason, George, Elliot, Jodell, and Bruce are all here and hoping to prove themselves.

The team has plenty of Regional Top 8’s among them and Jesse Twohig made Top 8 at Shonen Jump Indianapolis in 2005 (I thought that name sounded familiar). This is their second Shonen Jump; they previously attended Indianapolis two years ago. They’ve been a team for about two years now, and spend most of their playing time at Regionals in Iowa and Kansas. Since they were all good friends to start, they figured teaming up would only make things better, and it turned out to be the best idea they ever had.

 

7:10 Who’s at the Top Tables — Round 8

Ok, just one more chance to redeem oneself after this round, so — everyone pay attention to what you’re doing, and make the most of your draws, be they lucky or dead.

Table 1 — Chris Bowling (7 wins) vs. Brandon Shelton (7 wins)

Table 2 — Bill Fulfer (7 wins) vs. Marc Glass (7 wins) [SBC Competitor]

Table 3 — Andrew Fredella (6 wins) vs. Mark Johnson (6 wins)

Table 4 — Jacob Medley (6 wins) vs. Carlo Perez (6 wins)

Table 5 — Alex Bradshaw (6 wins) vs. Nathan Dooley (6 wins)

Table 6 — Mike Glowacki (6 wins) vs. Dimitrius O’Kelley (6 wins)

Table 7 — Miguel Albarran (6 wins) vs. Kyle Duncan (6 wins)

Table 8 — Jeff Baumgartner (6 wins) vs. Daniel Zamorano (6 wins)

Hmm, Andrew and Marc are sticking to those top tables like glue, aren’t they?

6:40 Make Up Your Minds Already

I hear the word “lucksacking” so often. Lucksack this, lucksack that, topdeck whatever for the win — apparently drawing a card that you need when you need it and then using it is a horrible thing to do to your opponent, and negates any skill you might actually possess. In other words, you didn’t really know what you were doing and you should have lost.

Players also speak slightingly of cards that can be “dead draws.” They don’t like running really situational cards because they figure “I’ll draw the card and I’ll probably not be able to use it.” A dead draw, in essence, is the exact opposite of a lucksack or topdeck. If you decide to play cards that often end up as dead draws, other players will tell you that you don’t know what you’re doing and you deserve to lose.

For goodness sakes, what’s left!? I’m just saying.

6:10 Urgent Rhinestone Jacket Recall

Consumers are urged to be careful about wearing rhinestone-encrusted “Dance” jackets that are much too small for them for several rounds in a Yu-Gi-Oh! event — the tight sleeves can cut off circulation, and create unsightly bruising and blood blisters on your arms.

Don’t let it happen to you.

Technically, he’s still wearing it. He just made it look more rugged.

5:50 Who’s at the Top Tables — Round 7

We’ve only got two more rounds after this, so the players are pretty serious at this point! We’re starting to run out of undefeated players.

Table 1 — Chris Bowling (6 wins) vs. Jeff Jones (6 wins)

Table 2 — Andrew Fredella (6 wins) [SBC competitor] vs. Brandon Shelton (6 wins)

Table 3 — Marc Glass (6 wins) [SBC competitor] vs. Carlo Perez (6 wins)

Table 4 — John Patrick Boring (5 wins) vs Bill Fulfer (5 wins)

Table 5 — Richard Diaz (5 wins) vs. Tristan Scott (5 wins)

Table 6 — Josh Cohen (5 wins) vs. Holger Mühl (5 wins)

Table 7 — Nathan Dooley (5 wins) vs. George Murray (5 wins)

Table 8 — Travis Odle (5 wins) vs. Daniel Zamorano (5 wins)

Well, Andrew and Marc are still holding on to those spots . . . are we going to have two winners?

5:40 Holger Mühl is Back for More Fun

I met him first at the Shonen Jump Orlando, and he’s here in Collinsville (or St. Louis, whatever we’re calling it) today as well! Holger’s been here from Hannover, Germany on a temporary work assignment for the past while, and he’s taking full advantage of that to attend some Shonen Jump events.

Several of the European players I met at Worlds last year expressed an interest in coming over to play in a Shonen, and I talked to Holger a bit about how the Jump events compare to the Pharaoh Tours. “The prize support is better,” he said. “At the Pharaoh Tour, only the first place winner gets the Crush Card. A lot of players in Germany want to come and try for the prizes here.” The events are usually much larger there — a recent tour stop in Bremen pulled in 1,100 players — which makes it tougher to get your hands on the coveted card.

Holger’s doing pretty well today — at the end of round 6 he was 5-1. He’ll be in the country for another two weeks, and would like to get to the Houston Shonen Jump, but it’s not likely. “I have to work,” he said ruefully. Whether or not he can make it to one more, he’s definitely enjoyed the time he’s spent playing here. “In Orlando, I stayed with Team Overdose. It wasn’t very long, but it was a lot of fun!” He met several players from well known teams, and spent a lot of time discussing strategies, and the differences in their countries’ metagames. “We’d love to do an America vs. Europe event,” he said.

That would make for one exciting tournament, don’t you think? All four of Europe’s representatives did very well at World’s last year — I’d say the North American game could learn a thing or two from our friends across the Atlantic.

 

5:05 Seriously, Go Sign Up for the Team Tournament

This thing sounds great! Each member on the winning team gets a box of Strike of Neos, and Pastimes will get a custom engraved trophy to award. It’s up to the team to fight it out amongst themselves as to who gets to keep it. If that’s not enough, they’ll count it towards the side event drawing for the second Crush Card! I kind of wish I had a team now.

5:00 Who’s at the Top Tables — Round 6

It’s all downhill from here, folks. I love the part of the Shonen Jump when we start going down the hill. Let’s see who’s going down the hill at tables 1 through 8!

Table 1 — Jeff Baumgartner (5 wins) vs. Brandon Shelton (5 wins) [this round’s feature match]

Table 2 — Ryan Ewing (5 wins) vs. Bill Fulfer (5 wins)

Table 3 — Miguel Albarran (5 wins) vs. Andrew Fredella (5 wins) [SBC competitor]

Table 4 — Jeff Jones (5 wins) vs. Daniel Zamorano (5 wins)

Table 5 — Travis Odle (5 wins) vs. Carlo Perez (5 wins)

Table 6 — Marc Glass (5 wins) [SBC competitor] vs. Dimitrius O’Kelley (5 wins)

Table 7 — Chris Bowling (5 wins) vs. Agustin Herrera (5 wins)

Table 8 — Mike Glowacki (4 wins) vs. Luis Jerez (4 wins)

All right, we’ve got Andrew Fredella and Marc Glass from the Scrub Brush Challenge. Andrew has won before; might he go on to become the first ever two-time winner?

 

4:45 Words of Wisdom from Baked Goods

A very nice player offered me a handful of fortune cookies from a bag he was carrying. I took some time to ponder my fortune . . .

He couldn’t be here to hang around and talk to us in person, so he called. Now that’s dedication. I should have had Jason tell him there’s no one here to be in all the pictures . . . sorry you couldn’t make it, Chris!

This had better not set a precedent.

4:20 Team Profile — Team Citadel

Team Citadel traveled in from Brainerd, Minnesota. They’re a small team, consisting of Nicholas, 22 years old; Garrett, 15 years old; Robert, 22 years old; Crystal, 21 years old; Andrew, 21 years old; and Sarah, 19 years old.  All but Garrett are here today.

All the main members of the team claim the distinction of being in the Top 20 in the state, and have made good showings at previous Shonen Jumps. Garrett has earned an invite to this year’s U.S. Nationals.

Team Citadel formed up, realizing that since they all enjoyed playing the game so much they’d be better off combining their skills and cooperating with each other, rather than facing off against each other. This only helped make them stronger. The team began in a small town in northern Minnesota, slowly gaining the experience they needed to compete against the region’s best players.

Frequently seeking out the competition in areas some distance from your normal stomping grounds is a good way to expand your knowledge of the game, so the team has traveled to events in Chicago, Illinois, Madison, Wisconsin, and across the states of Iowa and Minnesota to compete and further hone their skills.

 

4:15 Time for the Team Battle

They’re starting the team tournament! I understand a large trophy is at stake, so now is the time for the members of teams who aren’t really doing so well in the main event to go running over to the sides. Looks like a bit of an exodus heading that way! They’re taking sign ups; all you need is three members. Take a good look at your rosters, teams. There are probably at least three players who aren’t doing very well! Ship them on over!

3:50 Who’s at the Top Tables — Round 5

All right, after this one we’re more than halfway done! I like the sound of that. Time to check in on the top tables and see who’s there. I wonder if any of our Scrub Brush competitors are sticking around?

Table 1 — Juan Vasquez (4 wins) vs. Daniel Zamorano (4 wins)

Table 2 — Miguel Albarran (4 wins) vs. Tom Casey

Table 3 — Jeff Baumgartner (4 wins) vs. Jesse Twohig

Table 4 — Ryan Ewing (4 wins) vs. Tristan Scott (4 wins)

Table 5 — Luis Jerez (4 wins) vs. Carlo Perez (4 wins)

Table 6 — Zachary Horn (4 wins) [SBC competitor] vs. Brandon Shelton (4 wins)

Table 7 — Travis Odle (4 wins) vs. Ryan Spicer (4 wins)

Table 8 — Agustin Herrera (4 wins) vs. Corey Roberts

Well, Zak is still hanging in there. His chances are look pretty good right now. Let’s see what he does in the upcoming rounds.

3:35 Yu-Gi-Oh! and Dance Competitions Don’t Mix

Not everything is peanut butter and chocolate, you know . . . there’s some kind of dance “thing” going on in the room down the hall. There are a lot of little girls running around wearing stage makeup and whatnot; I’m not really sure what they’re doing exactly, but they have their own vendor right out in front of their room. They’re selling things for girls who like to dance — like dance-themed clothing, stuffed animals, sequined and glittery objects, all that kind of stuff.

Right down the hall from a Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG tournament.

This is a recipe for disaster.

 

Apparently Andrew Hayton just had to have this adorable denim jacket, and Jeff Jones offered to purchase it for him if a) he could actually squeeze himself into it and b) would agree to wear it for the remainder of the event. He managed a), and the jacket was duly purchased. You’re missing the whole impact here, because you can’t see the fully rhine-stoned collar and pockets on the front.

Just when you think an event can’t get any more surreal.

3:15 The World’s Largest Ketchup Bottle . . . Or Is It?

If you research Collinsville, Illinois on the internet, you can hardly escape the intelligence that it is home of the World’s Largest Ketchup Bottle. Now, that sounds interesting, but I was rather disappointed to learn that it’s not actually a bottle, and it contains no ketchup at all.

It’s a water tower.

 

It’s on really tall, metal legs. They apparently consider the legs part of the overall height of the thing. That’s cheating. I don’t put on my really high heels and claim that I am actually five foot six.

It just hardly seems fair. I think the World’s Largest Ketchup Bottle ought to be a bottle, it ought to be the world’s largest, and it ought to be full of ketchup. Or even “catsup” if you insist upon it. If you’re just going to go around painting water towers or putting things up on tall metal legs by the side of the road, where does it all end? I mean, you could just say that about anything, couldn’t you?

Oh look! The World’s Largest Winged Kuriboh!

2:35 Who’s at the Top Tables — Round 4

Well, we’re nearly halfway through the day, so let’s see what we’re looking at here at tables 1-8, shall we?

Table 1 — Andrew Fredella (3 wins) [SBC competitor] vs. Tim Scott (3 wins)

Table 2 — CJ Loveland (3 wins) vs. Corey Roberts (3 wins)

Table 3 — Miguel Garcia (3 wins) vs. Ryan Spicer (3 wins) [this round’s feature match]

Table 4 — Marc Glass (3 wins) [SBC Competitor] vs. Kumani Johnson (3 wins)

Table 5 — Travis Odle (3 wins) vs. Travis Shover (3 wins) Travis vs. Travis!!

Table 6 — Chris Pittao (3 wins) vs. Daniel Zamorano (3 wins)

Table 7 — Adam Foster (3 wins) vs. Brandon Shelton (3 wins)

Table 8 — Jeff Baumgartner (3 wins) vs. Jeffrey Paura (3 wins)

We’ve still got two competitors, although they’re both different from the ones we had last time. I guess we’ll see if they can stick around through next round.

2:00 How Not to Behave in a Hotel

I must say, the Yu-Gi-Oh! players were rather hyper last night in the hotel. Running up and down the halls, shouting “Yu-Gi-OHHHHH!” creating a general ruckus, and calling out people’s names trying to find their rooms. What the people staying in the hotel that weren’t there for the tournament thought about it all, I hesitate to guess. All those noisemakers woke me up, too — after 10pm is way too late to be raising that much noise in a hotel hallway. Some of us like to get some sleep before an event, you know. If you are staying in a hotel for a Yu-Gi-Oh! event, don’t run around like an  idiot in the hallways screaming and yelling.

1:20 Who’s at the Top Tables — Round 3

Everyone’s back from lunch; I hope there’s some food left because I never got out there. Anyway, let’s see who’s up at tables 1-8 . . . Aaaaaaaah!! I’ve been temporarily blinded by the time clock projector!! Move it up!! MOVE IT UP!!!

Table 1 — Fili Luna (2 wins) [SBC competitor] vs. Noah White (2 wins)

Table 2 — Steven Kimball (2 wins) vs. Matt Stille (2 wins)

Table 3 — Zachary Horn (2 wins) [SBC competitor] vs. Brian McWherter (2 wins)

Table 4 — Cody Foote (2 wins) vs. Dimitrius O’Kelley (2 wins)

Table 5 — Michael Kalish (2 wins) vs. Brandon Shelton (2 wins)

Table 6 — Kong Moua (2 wins) vs. Corey Roberts (2 wins)

Table 7 — Patrick Dicks (2 wins) vs. Travis Shover (2 wins)

Table 8 — Julius Duke (2 wins) vs. Tommy Nguyen (2 wins)

Team Betrayal is representing the home town at this event — the team hails from Collinsville, Illinois. It’s a moderately sized team, consisting of Thomas Warren, Tom Casey, Tony Martin, Steven Martin (no, it’s a different Steve Martin), Nathan Eiskant, Matt Shine, Leslie Friedrich, James Mills, and Jeff Frothingham.

The guys met at Dizzy Dugout in Collinsville, and broke away from their previous team, Team Icon, due to “creative differences at the Shonen Jump Indianapolis in 2005.” All of the members — save one, who has not been outed by the other teammates — have their U.S. Nationals 2007 invite. Although several of them didn’t like each other very much when they first met, they’re good friends now and enjoy the benefits of being teammates — they look forward to the road trips and general camaraderie. They’re all excellent poker players, and several of them do very well in casino tournaments on a weekly basis.

They’re confident that they’ll do well at today’s event, having spent more time playtesting for this Shonen Jump than all their other Jumps combined. They usually play at Dragonking Games in St. Charles (Jeff is a part owner of the store) and Dizzy Dugout in Collinsville (stop by for some hard to find gaming items), so they’re naturally determined to defend their home turf — their usual store is only three miles away. Their opponents can look forward to some crazy tech in their matchups today — perhaps Exodia, or the “Betrayal Gadget” build.

They’re happy to be reunited with Winged Kuriboh, and wish to dedicate their playing today to the memory of Anna Nicole Smith.

12:20 Hmm, That Winged Kuriboh Sure Is Popular

There’s a steady stream of people coming up to take pictures of it with their cell phones. I need to move it to the side so I’m not in the pictures, too. Don’t want to be wallpaper on someone’s cell phone.

12:05 Who’s At The Top Tables — Round 2

All right, let’s see who we’ve got. The way the tables are set up, I can’t get a clear shot at table 1, so . . . Table 6 is getting all the face time. That said, here’s the lineup.

Table 1 — Flip Galati (1 win) vs. Jake Vang (1 win)

Table 2 — James Hughes (1 win) vs. Josue Quijano (1 win)

Table 3 — Jacob Fletcher (1 win) vs. Andrew Hayton (1 win) [he’s got hair now, by the way]

Table 4 — David Jamieson (1 win) vs. Tristan Johnson (1 win)

Table 5 — Brad Engle (1 win) vs. Tim Scott (1 win)

Table 6 — Matt Stille (1 win) vs. Kenny Washington (1 win)

Table 7 — Darian Belser (1 win) vs. Luis Jerez (1 win)

Table 8 — Nicholas Genta (1 win) vs. John Henry Schalk (1 win)

 

12:00 Round 2 Begins

Well, there was a little bit of a delay in between rounds, but they’re going to deal with that. The players will get a lunch break after that, so don’t expect Round 3 to start right at one.

11:20 IT’S BACK! SEND SEND SEND!

I don’t have time to write blogs; I have to send content before it goes out again!!

(12 seconds later) 11:15 Internet Is Gone Again

This sucks . . . back to the hotel for me.

11:15 Yay! Internet Is Back!

I was kind of stalling, finishing up stuff while they were trying to fix it, because, to be honest, I really don’t want to take that walk. It looks like it’s working, for real, this time. Let’s try sending in some content!

10:40 Anyone Want To Play Some Yu-Gi-Oh?

The player meeting is starting now, there are 422 players and they’re eager to get going. We’re off to a good start — the players like the head judge and they’re excited to hear about the door prizes that will be handed out starting round 2. Head Judge John Danker has taken over the mike to run the player meeting, so the first round should begin very soon.

10:20 . . . We Don’t Have Internet . . .

Yay! I won’t have to walk across the parking lot in the cold windy rain!

10:05 Wow, They Did It!

The line is done! All those hundreds of people have moved through and been registered! We’ve still got the occasional person running up and handing in their paperwork, but yeah — that line is processed!

9:40 The Line Isn’t Getting Any Shorter

It’s still out the door and down the hall, but it is moving quickly. Just look at all those players! I can still see them out the second door. I wonder how many we’ll end up with. Registration was supposed to end at ten; we’ll see how they do!

 

Well, this is going to be a pretty big event, it looks like. The line goes through the room, out the door, and down the hall. The process looks very organized though, so hopefully we’ll have these players registered and ready to play quickly. Plenty of staff is on hand, and they’re working well together. The line is moving pretty fast, all things considered. There’s judges walking up and down the line giving out UDE numbers, the decklists are being collected and checked over as each person registers, and it’s all being done with extreme efficiency. This bodes well for a fast, smooth event!

 

The line is fantastically huge, but some of the people here are registering for the Sneak Preview, so it’s hard to guess what the turnout for the Jump will actually be. The players seem to be looking forward to this one.

9:00 Looks Like a Good Turnout!

Well, they’re not letting people into the tournament hall yet, so they’re piling up in the hallway. It’s just full of Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG players asking each other “Do you have Stratos? Do you have Card Trooper?” They’ll get them all sorted out and we’ll see how quickly we can move them all through.

 

It looks so calm and peaceful now . . .

8:50 My, What Lovely Weather We’re Having

It is cold. And it is raining. The venue is just across the parking lot from the hotel, but it seems like a very long, cold, wet, windy walk. We’re having some trouble with the wireless router here in the venue, so I really, really, really hope they get it fixed. I don’t want to have to walk out in the cold, wet, windy rain. Ahh . . . I forgot to take the venue shot, I have to go back outside . . .