|
|
 |
|
Umali and Flores played each other in yesterday’s Top 8, but they were friendly with one another long before they dueled at the Championship. |
|
|
 |
|
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. |
|
|
 |
|
George Mean is from Los Angeles. John Umali is from San Diego. It's an age-old rivalry whose resolution will bring one of them within a match win of the championship. The long day showed on their faces. They tried their best not to let it show in their play.
|
|
|
|
|
Semifinal action from the Shonen Jump Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Convention Championships Tournament! |
|
|
 |
|
Miguel Flores is from Anaheim and was playing an Earth deck. Hugo Adame is from Pasadena and was playing a Spellcaster deck with a solid dose of Beatdown utility. |
|
|
|
|
Gerard Ramirez was playing a Hybrid deck, while Henry Ke was playing a Magical Scientist First Turn KO. The two duelists had met in round 9 before this match, and Ramirez had swept the match with Ke drawing useless card after useless card. Fate seemed to owe him some luck . . . |
|
|
|
|
Simon Sangpukdee usually experiences tournaments from the judge’s side. |
|
|
|
|
As Yu-Gi-Oh! has progressed, the array of draconian contenders has grown, and more support-oriented Dragons have made tribal Dragon Beatdown decks viable. |
|
|
|
|
Machines has gotten a substantial push from Rise of Destiny and Soul of the Duelist. |
|
|
|
|
Normally when I see Feroze Ramcharan at a Yu-Gi-Oh! event, he’s dressed in a judge shirt, running around answering questions. One of the early batches of Level 3 judges, Feroze really doesn’t get much chance to compete in events. |
|
|
|
|
Earth decks have been tested a great deal since the introduction of the Advanced format—the number of cards that Giant Rat can grab is incredibly large, and the synergy between many of the monsters is impressive. |
|
|
|
|
Sometimes, the best deck is the one that was designed to take out everybody else’s deck, and Evan Vargas (of Internet writing renown) believes in that concept. |
|
|
|
|
Chaos was out in force at the Shonen Jump Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Championship Tournament. Chaos on its own; Chaos mixed with Warrior, with Beatdown, with Scientist, with Control—step right up and place your order; it’s a veritable Starbucks of Chaos. |
|
|
|
|
Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl are symbols of the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game. They’re highly recognizable, but it’s often difficult to get a playable deck out of them. Claro Runtal managed to build just that for the inaugural Shonen Jump Championship. |
|
|
|
|
Chaos and Chaos variants were certainly the most frequently seen archetypes at the event, but Alvaro had an interesting twist in the Warrior lineup. |
|
|
|
|
Gravekeeper decks seem to be enjoying a resurgence in popularity, and several duelists chose to play them at the Shonen Jump Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Championship tournament at Gen Con So Cal. |
|
|
 |
|
19-year old Evan Vargas from Keller, Texas, has been a fixture at large conventions, Yu-Gi-Oh! mall tours, and area Regional tournaments for quite some time, playing all day and dozing on the tables. |
|
|
|
|
Sonic Duck rules. It’s a documented fact. A duck might not be particularly awesome, but if you put a bucket on its head and make it run, it instantly becomes the coolest thing ever conceived of by man. |
|
|
|
|
When you see a Zombie deck, you generally expect a typical balance of three foci: Patrician of Darkness, Vampire Lord, and Spirit Reaper are the Zombie triumvirate that have put the deck on the map. |
|
|
|
|
When I saw a very distinguished older gentleman (very politely) laying utter waste to his opponent just scant minutes into round 1, I knew I had to get an interview. When I saw him, I was interested. When I saw he was playing Gravekeeper, I was really interested. When he popped some crazy tech like Zero Gravity—and then won with it—I was hooked.
|
|
|