YCS San Jose Recap

November 16th, 2015

No, this isn’t 2007; Jessy Samek did manage to claim victory in San Jose earning his second title after a long absence from the competitive scene. Samek won the second event he had ever competed in, SJC Philadelphia in 2007, and after eight years he showed everyone that even old dogs can learn new tricks as he Dueled with his Kozmo Deck to take down the main event. He wasn’t the only one to earn a trophy in San Jose though, as Nicholas Hernandez seized his own and became the YCS San Jose Dragon Duel Champion with Tellarknights!

YCS San Jose was extremely exciting for two reasons, the first definitely being Dimension of Chaos. Anytime a set is released everyone wants to see what new strategies will have tournament success, and as Kozmo and Majespecter took the room by storm, it quickly became apparent what those strategies were. The Top 4 was nothing but Kozmo, really showcasing just how much stronger the Deck has gotten thanks to their new support from Dimension of Chaos such as Kozmo Dark Destroyer. Majespecter also put up some pretty decent results, as Zhenning Guo went undefeated in the Swiss Rounds with his control variant of pure Majespecter. Even completely new strategies such as Performage Pendulum had a good showing as Duelists try to find the best way to utilize the Pendulum mechanic.

The second reason why YCS San Jose was so exciting? With the new Forbidden & Limited List now officially in effect, it was likely the last tournament that many strategies which dominated would see success. Nekroz lost quite a bit as did Burning Abyss, Shaddoll, and Qliphort; each Deck had its time in the spotlight, but after some massive changes to the Forbidden & Limited List, things have definitely been shaken up. Many saw this event as a last hoorah for their favorite of these strategies as Nekroz, Burning Abyss, and Shaddoll all showed up in large numbers, but it seemed like Qliphort may have been outclassed by other new Pendulum strategies even without the change in effect.

Did you attend YCS San Jose? Well if you’re still looking to win some sweet stuff, make sure to help us out and complete this short survey! Two random winners will receive a display box of Dimension of Chaos, so check it out at the Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series YCS San Jose Survey!

Things are about to get even more exciting as we move forward though. Dimension of Chaos obviously had a huge impact in San Jose, but now with all of the other big strategies seeing less play thanks to the Forbidden & Limited List, it’s a Deck builder’s paradise. Kozmo definitely has the target on its head as Duelists scramble to find the best way to deal with the powerful Kozmo Dark Destroyer and its fleet of spaceships. Majespecter is also a force to be reckoned with, and while having answers to Kozmo are important, Pendulum strategies are continuing to get more and more popular by the day so you better be prepared. For now these two Decks are definitely at the top, but I wouldn’t count anything else out as the absence of the oppressive Nekroz of Trishula and Nekroz of Unicore makes a lot of strategies much more viable.

It was an awesome weekend in San Jose. We saw the dawn of a new era and said goodbye to the standbys which we had become accustom to. YCS Brazil is the next stop as well as the first large event with the new Forbidden & Limited List in effect, so if you can’t make it, be sure to stay tuned to see what happens. Until then, congratulations to Jessy Samek, YCS San Jose Champion!