This weekend, the Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series has made its stop in Houston, Texas. A field of 868 Duelists will be narrowed down to just one by the end of Sunday, but who will it be?

While an update to the Forbidden & Limited List was released on Friday, it will not take effect until Monday, April 11, and thus these Duelists will compete in the current Advanced Format. Between now and YCS Las Vegas, the release of Premium Gold: Infinite Gold has shaken up things just a little. Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal has given a huge boost to Burning Abyss Phantom Knights, which we saw Trenell Williams pilot to a 4^th place finish in Las Vegas. Now the strategy has reached a new power level thanks to the eternal lady, and many Duelists have begun taking advantage of it. The release of Number 38: Hope Harbinger Dragon Titanic Galaxy also gave a boost to strategies able to Summon it, which competitively speaking is Performapals. It is a huge upgrade to Divine Dragon Knight Felgrand, Hope Harbinger gives added resilience to Performapal combos that were previously lost with Tellarknight Ptolemaeus. Number 106: Giant Hand is also available in Premium Gold: Infinite Gold, now giving any Duelist who wants it the opportunity to get it.

So what can you expect this weekend? Last YCS we saw Performapals end in the top two slots, but Burning Abyss Phantom Knights and Kozmos also had Top 4 showings. The only Deck we expected to see success that didn’t make it that far was Monarchs, but the Xyz Monarch variant was very popular as a couple Duelists piloted it to a Top Cut finish. What will claim victory this weekend? Will Performapals have a last hurrah before the Forbidden & Limited List goes into effect? Or will Burning Abyss Phantom Knights utilizing the new Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal reign supreme? How about Monarchs or Kozmos? We will have to see this weekend!