SHONEN JUMP Championship First-Timers
Welcome to Day 2 of SHONEN JUMP Championship Columbus 2009! As the second day’s activities are just about to get underway, let’s give a nod to some first-timers at this weekend’s event!
Mehdi Ghassab
Mehdi Ghassab is 23 years old, and traveled here today with friends from nearby Dublin, Ohio for his first-ever SHONEN JUMP Championship. He’s playing an updated version of Teleport Dark Armed Dragon with “Mist Wurm,” “Ally of Justice Catastor,” and “Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier” from Hidden Arsenal. “I love Tele-DAD, I spent a lot of time trying to get the Deck built, and since I finished it the Deck kind of went downhill. But I kept developing it, and it seems to be working!”
Ghassab was pretty bowled over by the scope of the tournament. “It’s Big! I like it, it’s really nice. A lot of friendly people, a lot of popular people. Great friendly kind of experience. It’s way more than I expected. From how many people would show up, to how great the experience would be. I’m hoping that I still do well enough to top!”
Jonathan Perry
Jonathan Perry is 23 years old and from Tennessee. He ran a Reficule Burn Deck in today’s tournament. He came here with friends and was excited to talk to me about his experience. “I played against Satoshi Kato from Japan in the second round of the tournament! I got him down to 2000 Life Points.”
When I asked him what he thought of the SHONEN JUMP Championship, he summed it up in one word: “Awesome.”
“I can’t wait to come back to another one,” he told me. “I’m not doing well in the tournament, but I had a great time anyway.”
Michol Hammonds, Devonta Simmons, Quantray Lyles, and Kesi McBride
Michol, Devonta, and Quantray are all friends and SHONEN JUMP first timers who came here together. They each summed up their experience with the word “Amazing.”
“I’m having a really good time,” Hammonds told me. “I’m also doing great. 3-2 is pretty good for my first SHONEN JUMP Championship.”
Marc Perrusquia
Marc Perrusquia is 11 years old and ran a “Dark Armed Dragon” variant in today’s Dragon Duels. He came in second place and was really excited to win a cool Game Mat and binder. When I asked Marc about his experience at the SHONEN JUMP Championship, he exclaimed that “It was beast!” I also asked him his favorite card from Stardust Overdrive. He thought for a while, and then suddenly remembered. “Dark Rabbit!” he told me with excitement. Somewhere, Pegasus is smiling.
Dakota Gilbeau
Dakota Gilbeau is 11 years old and came here from Pennsylvania. He played Chaos in today’s tournament.
I also asked Dakota what his favorite card from Stardust Overdrive is. “Guardian Eatos,” he quickly replied. “But I don’t have it with me. I keep my good cards in a binder at home.”
Shane Wallace
Shane Wallace is 13 years old and entered today’s tournament with a “Remove from Play” Deck. He used “Dimensional Fissure” and “Beast King Barbaros” in his Deck. When I asked him about his first SHONEN JUMP Championship experience, he said, “It was fun.”
I also asked him his favorite card from Stardust Overdrive, and he told me his favorite is “Majestic Star Dragon.”
Matthew West
Matthew West is 12 years old and entered today’s tournament with a “Deep Scavenger” Deck. When I asked him what his Deck was named after, he showed me his “Deep Diver” and “Salvage.” He came up with a really cool Deck name for it. When I asked him about today’s tournament he said, “I like it. It’s awesome!”
Philip Rust
Philip Rust is 12 years old and came here from the Cleaveland area. He entered his Dragon Deck into today’s tournament and told me he had a lot of fun with it. When I asked him what his favorite card from Hidden Arsenal is, I wasn’t surprised to hear him say “Brionac Dragon.”
