For the first time in Dueling history, the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME’s Canadian and United States Championships have been united into one continent-wide clash!  This weekend, the city of Pittsburgh plays host to the first-ever North American World Championship Qualifier, and every Duelist competing in the main event has just one thing on their minds: The World Championship.

The 2011 Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME World Championship is just a few weeks away, and this year the world’s greatest Duelists will throw down in Amsterdam!  1839 Duelists have gathered here at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, and tomorrow, six Duelists will win the ultimate honor: the chance to represent their country at the World Championship.  If a Duelist is strong enough, smart enough, and lucky enough to make it through seventeen rounds of competition today and tomorrow, he or she will win an invitation to the most prestigious tournament of the year.  To the victors go the spoils!  Up for grabs this weekend are a pile of high-end electronics and game consoles; entire sets of  Extreme Victory; booster packs; exclusive never-before-seen Top Cut Game Mats; and even YCS prize cards.  When the dust settles tomorrow, the last six Duelists left will be jet-setting in style to Amsterdam, with travel and accommodations to the 2011 World Championships!

Dueling talent from not one, but two countries will be on display here today, as competitors from the United States and Canada pull out all the stops to outplay their opponents.  Coverage here in Day 1 will focus on an all-star lineup of the year’s most successful Duelists: competitors who made the Top 16 or better at the Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series during the 2010-2011 season.  But the North American WCQ isn’t just about the main event.  There are also countless public events as well, from 3 Vs. 3 Team Tournaments and Attack of the Giant Card!! competitions, to the annual Dragon Duel Championships on Sunday!  Some of Dueling’s greatest up-and-comers will be competing in that latter event tomorrow, so expect the unexpected.

Today is a huge leap forward for Duelists across North America, and by the end of the weekend new Champions will be crowned; new legends will be born; and we’ll have our six new World Championship competitors!  Welcome to Pittsburgh, for the first-ever North American World Championship Qualifier!