The Dragon Duel World Championship Qualifier got under way, with the Dragon Duel National Champions from the various South American countries, in addition to other young hopefuls from Colombia.  Some of them are thinking ahead to 2013, as they got eliminated from this year’s Dragon Duel, and participated in the Dragon Duel Qualifiers for 2013.

We spoke to a few of the Dragon Duelers from out of country.

Mijael Flores, the 10-year-old Peruvian Champion, came from Lima.  His home store is Battle City (one of our Official Tournament Stores, and the owner was the Head Judge of our Central American WCQ) in Lima, Peru.  He got into the game through his brother 3 years ago.  He loves playing Yu-Gi-Oh! because it’s fun.  He came with his Wind-Up Deck today, and urges everyone to “play to have fun with Yu-Gi-Oh!”

Christian Lucena. the 11-year-old Venezuelan National Champion, plays at Geek’s Store, another OTS, from Peurto Ordaz in Venezuela.  He’s been playing for the last 2 years, it was his dad who got him playing.  He’s playing with his Six Samurai Deck today.  He loves playing because it’s possible to win, even when it feels impossible to win!  His message?  “Don’t give ups!”

Gustavo Alfaro is from Curico, Chile.  He’s 12 years old, and started playing 2 years ago, when his dad’s friend got him into the game.  He doesn’t have a home store, so he travels to Santiago, Chile, to participate in Regionals.  He’s here with his Machina Deck today.

Eduardo Souto da Rocha, a 12-year-old from Brazil, has been playing for 7 months only.  He was playing his Chaos Dragon Deck, and chose this Deck because it was a Deck that he had the most experience with.  He likes the monsters from Yu-Gi-Oh! and their playability.  His  message to fellow Duelists: “Just believe in the heart of the cards.  So far, that has worked pretty well for me!”

From left, Flores, Lucena, Alfaro, Souto (from Brazil)