The next time you see some kids or teens sitting around playing with Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, you should probably tip your cap in their direction or something nice like that. As the #1 trading card game in the world (25 billion cards sold!), it’s also a means to get those kids into math, tactical thinking and becoming more social with each other through play.
For the uninitiated, You-Gi-Oh! is “a game of strategy, where players create individual Decks of cards collected from Structure Decks and Booster Packs. Two players engage in a Duel while using cards that represent powerful monsters, magical Spells and surprising Traps. Duelists with well-constructed Decks, dominating monsters, solid strategy and good fortune are the victors…”. But that’s just scratching the surface. Watching matches play out is a surprisingly compelling affair that can be likened to a competitive chess tournament with complicated rules only fully grasped by seasoned players.
Konami Digital Entertainment has been keeping the Yu-Gi-Oh! flame going for quite some time and its newest product, the Secrets of Eternity Super Edition (coming February 27) looks to continue the tradition. Each $9.99 box will have three Secrets of Eternity booster packs, plus 1 of 14 Super Rare cards. In other words, if you want the chance to nab that Skilled Blue Magician, Thunderclap Skywolf, Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo, Void Launch, Good & Evil in the Burning Abyss or others, you can do so for less than the cost of three individual booster packs. Another reason to grab the Super Edition is the addition of Infernoids, a brand new Deck theme that carries out wicked effects to banish an opponent’s cards.
For those curious as to how this all works in the real world, Konami happens to hold a major ongoing Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament series and the recent results of one event are below:
El Segundo, Calif (February 21, 2015) – Duelists from the Pacific Northwestern United States and Canada took over the Tacoma, Washington area for this past weekend’s Yu-Gi-Oh! CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES (YCS) event. Duelists of every age participated in the premier-level Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME (TCG) event, presented by Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. (KONAMI), ready to show off their impressive Dueling skills for the chance to be crowned the YCS Champion. But, it was Barrett Arthur Keys from North Hollywood, CA who outpaced the field to claim the coveted title of YCS Champion and Garrett Reid Price from Redmond, WA who took home the Dragon Duel Champion’s title.
YCS Tacoma hosted a large mass of enthusiastic Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG players wanting to try the latest strategies and card combinations against their peers. Round after round, with refined skills and a bit of luck, elite players emerged above the competition in a weekend full of exhilarating Dueling.
Keys confidently battled his way into Sunday’s Top 16 Draft with his first-rate Nekroz Deck. Then, after three rounds of Single Elimination with their newly-drafted Decks from Battle Pack 3: Monster League, it came down to an exciting playoff with Steven Jesus De Lara from Santa Anna, CA. In the end, the combination of precise play and smart risk-taking helped Keys earn the title of YCS Tacoma Champion.
In addition to the title of YCS Champion, Keys returned home with a stellar set of prizes that included an Ultra Rare YCS Ascension Sky Dragon Prize Card, an exclusive YCS Top Cut Game Mat, an invitation to the 2015 World Championship Qualifier tournament and much more!
In the Dragon Duel, an event for Duelists born in 2002 or later, Price used his Sealed Deck then switched to his ’tellarknights Deck in the final match-up to beat Ankit Sujith, from Bellevue, WA, in a head-to-head playoff. Price picked up some great prizes, including an invitation to the 2015 World Championship Dragon Duel Qualifier tournament.
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