The tournament is underway and over 2000 Duelists have fine-tuned their Decks with card choices to give them an edge over the competition. Take a look at some of the cards getting the most attention from Duelists looking to improve their Decks for this weekend.

#1: Chimeratech Fortress Dragon

Before today’s SHONEN JUMP Championship began, Duelists throughout the tournament site scrambled to get copies of Chimeratech Fortress Dragon for their Extra Deck. The reason is obvious: it’s one of the best cards you can use against Machina Decks and can even be used effectively against any Deck running Cyber Valley. Chimeratech Fortress Dragon lets a Duelist fuse a Cyber Dragon on either side of the field with any number of machines on the field in order to Summon it. Then, it has 1000 ATK for each monster used in its fusion. Having Chimeratech Fortress Dragon in your Extra Deck lets a single Cyber Dragon wipe your opponent’s field full of Machinas and Gadgets, and Summons a monster with enough ATK to wreck your opponent’s Life Points.

With the awesome power of Chimeratech Fortress Dragon available for Duelists to exploit, they’re also looking for other creative ways to Summon it to the field, instead of just by Special Summoning Cyber Dragon. Several Duelists are using Proto-Cyber Dragon or Cyber Dragon Zwei as substitutes for Cyber Dragon. Gladiator Beast Duelists are even using Elemental Hero Prisma, because it can change its name into Cyber Dragon and fuse with the opponent’s monsters on call.

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#2: Tuner’s Scheme

Even though it was barely noticed by most Duelists back at SHONEN JUMP Championship Nashville, Tuner’s Scheme is finally getting the attention it deserves. Tuner’s Scheme can easily turn a Duel around by stealing your opponent’s strongest monster when it hits the field. With the rising popularity of Synchro-based Decks, Tuner’s Scheme has become a popular Side Deck choice. It’s a strong option to use against Synchro Cat, Quickdraw Dandywarrior, Blackwings, and other Decks that rely on Synchro Monsters. Since Tuner’s Scheme can be used whenever a Synchro Monster is Special Summoned – not just when they’re Synchro Summoned – it even works against monsters brought onto the field by the effect of Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor. Duelists who aren’t expecting to face Tuner’s Scheme today will be taken off guard and forfeit some of their strongest monsters to their opponents. It may cost them several Matches throughout the tournament.

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#3: Starlight Road

Many Duelists have mixed feelings about Starlight Road, but its impact in this tournament can’t be ignored. Duelists have changed the way they look at many cards, including Heavy Storm, Torrential Tribute, and Mirror Force, because each of those cards now have the possibility of letting your opponent Special Summon Stardust Dragon from his Extra Deck. In addition, Duelists running Starlight Road can rest easy when they Set several cards or Summon a bunch of monsters, knowing Starlight Road can protect those cards if they would all be destroyed at once.

Starlight Road presents new challenges for Decks like Lightsworn that depend on the mass-removal effects of Judgment Dragon and Celestia, Lightsworn Angel to win, because they counter these cards and present a new obstacle for the Lightsworn Deck to overcome. Whether or not Starlight Road is played in the Deck that wins this SHONEN JUMP Championship, I think everyone in this tournament can agree that it has changed the way the game has developed.

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#4: Reptilianne Vaskii

With the rising popularity of Dandylion, Duelists are looking for effective ways to clear the field of Fluff Tokens. Reptilianne Vaskii is perfect for that purpose. Vaskii has 2600 ATK and can be Special Summoned by Tributing 2 monsters with 0 ATK from either side of the field. That means Vaskii can quickly get rid of an opponent’s Tokens left by Dandylion, plus attack and destroy an extra monster, all in one turn! Quickdraw Dandywarrior Decks can also use their own Fluff Tokens to Summon Vaskii if they need to, making it especially strong in a Quickdraw Dandywarrior mirror-match.

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#5: Dimensional Prison

Dimensional Prison has always been a great card, but now it’s reaching new levels of popularity. A lot of today’s competitors are running a full set of 3 copies in their Main Decks to remove their opponents’ strongest monsters from the game. While powerful Synchro Monsters like Stardust Dragon, Drill Warrior and Blackwing Armor Master are dominating the game, Dimensional Prison gives Duelists the perfect answer. It also allows slower Decks to set the pace of the Duel so they can emerge on top in the end. The popularity of Dimensional Prison is sure to affect the outcome of the tournament.