What do you do when you’re in line for the Generation Force Sneak Peek? Well, you wait. But how long do you wait in a line that wraps around the entire tournament area before you start looking for ways to amuse yourself?

Well, in the case of three Duelists this morning, not very long! Meet Christopher Tracygladden, Chase Finley, and Loukas Peterson, the three  individuals behind the fad that’s sweeping Gen Con: Pocket Dueling!

From left to right: Tengu Gadget Duelist Christopher Tracygladden; mobile play-field Chase Finley; and DARK Tengu Duelist Loukas Peterson.

In Pocket Dueling, you are the Duel Disk! Your opponent is ALSO the Duel Disk, and so’s whichever friend you get to stand in between you and your opponent, volunteer their arms for use as the play field. How does it work? Well, it’s just like regular Dueling, but the locations of the Zones are a liiiittle bit different:

-Your Deck goes face-down in your Right Pocket Zone. Your Extra Deck goes face-up in your Right Pocket Zone.

-Your Graveyard goes in your Left Pocket Zone. Your banished cards also go in your Left Pocket Zone, facing the opposite direction of your Graveyard. Also acceptable? Cards can be banished to shirt pockets, if you have any.

-Monsters are played to the Hand Zone: each Duelist gets one Hand Zone for up to five monsters. If possible? Try and find a friend with really big hands.

-Spells and Traps that are played to the field and remain there are placed between the thumb and forefinger of the individual acting as the mobile play field. Set Spells and Traps are placed facing their controller so that the opponent can’t see them. Continuous Traps, Continuous Spells, and Field Spells are turned the opposite way when active, so that the opponent can see them. You can see an example of this in the picture above, as Chase Finley holds Tracygladden’s Spells and Traps.

So how did this come about? What genius birthed this brilliant new sport?! “I just said ‘Duel’!” laughed Tracygladden. “And then Chase said, ‘You can Duel on my arms!’”

Chase broke in: “We just didn’t want to get out of line.” He chuckled. “There was like, fifty yards of line!”

Ingenuity under extreme conditions: a hallmark of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game and its innovative competitors. Grab a friend; grab another friend (hopefully one with very wide arms); and try it yourself!