1522 Duelists are gathered at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence, Rhode Island to compete in this weekend’s Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series (YCS) event! A new Forbidden & Limited List took effect on April 7, 2025, and Duelists were forced to adjust their Decks to accommodate the big changes that it implemented. In addition, yesterday’s release of the Alliance Insight booster set introduced new cards to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME, and Duelists will need to quickly master these new cards in order to best the competition this weekend.

Today marks North America’s first YCS event under the newest Forbidden & Limited List, which has Duelists around to world watching the event to see the impact of these latest changes. In that latest update to the Advanced Format Forbidden & Limited List, Maliss and Ryzeal Decks were weakened, while Decks like Snake-Eyes, Mathmech, and True Draco gained some power back. Plus, big changes on the Forbidden & Limited List to previously popular cards like Abyss Dweller, Bystial Druiswurm, Crossout Designator, Triple Tactics Talent, and Dimension Shifter will affect the way Duelists play this weekend.

While the latest Forbidden & Limited List took some strength away from Maliss Decks, the release of Alliance Insight brought powerful new cards into the Maliss theme. Maliss <P> March Hare and Maliss in the Mirror – both newly released in Alliance Insight – have many Duelists talking about Maliss Decks as the “Deck to beat” this weekend. “Ryzeal” Decks similarly gained back some power in Alliance Insight with the release of Star Ryzeal and Ryzeal Mass Driver. Other powerful cards from Alliance Insight, including new “Mitsurugi cards,” cards in the “Regenesis” theme, new “Dragon Ruler” cards, a new “Evil★Twin” monster, and tech cards like Gordian Slicer and Songs of the Dominators may also have a big impact this weekend.

Excitement and anticipation fill the Rhode Island Convention Center, as Duelists await the start of Round 1. We’ll be bringing you coverage of the event right here on the Konami coverage blog. Plus, you can watch the action of YCS Rhode Island live on YouTube and Twitch! It’s almost time to Duel!