It’s Independence Day weekend here in Philadelphia, and with the US National Championships come and gone over 700 duelists have already gathered here at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, competing in the first Shonen Jump Championship of the new season — and the registration line is still wound around the building!

In 2006 a record-shattering 808 duelists convened at this very venue to compete in what was the largest Shonen Jump Championship of its time. Today, we may see that record broken yet again, as numbers seem to climb toward those achieved at Shonen Jump Championship San Mateo back in March.

Anybody who’s anybody on the East Coast is here. Jerry Wang, Chris Flores, Anthony Alvarado, Lazaro Bellido, Jerome Baisey, Chris Pittao, Billy Brake, Paul Levitin, and even our own Jerome McHale are here in competition, and this weekend we’ll see one of the most competitive fields of all time duke it out for title gold. Team Overdose, Team Yugioh ETC, and even a new team representing New York City’s famed store Neutral Ground are here alongside dozens of other dueling groups. Deck choices are looking pretty varied, with Gladiator Beasts still leading a metagame of Dark Armed Dragon, Prime Material Monarchs, Gadgets, and Lightsworn. But with innovations from the US and Canadian National Championships now in the history books we can expect to see The Six Samurai, Counter Fairy variants, and some surprise choices as well. Recent rulings revisions and clarifications to cards like Royal Oppression and Test Tiger may have big ramifications for the weekend as well — we’ll follow the impact of those changes as the weekend progresses.