22 Duelists traveled from all over the world to sunny Orlando, Florida this weekend to Duel for the ultimate title: King of Games.

Given the unique Forbidden & Limited (F&L) List for the World Championship – a combination of both the TCG and OCG F&L Lists with some additional modifications – the majority of Duelists felt that Blue-Eyes would be the most powerful strategy, and they were right on the money. A total of 3 Blue-Eyes Decks made it to the Top Cut, along with 2 Extra Deck Monarch Decks, 2 Majespecter Pendulum Decks, and finally a single Burning Abyss Phantom Knight Deck. The Finals pit two Blue-Eyes Duelists against each other:  USA’s Erik Christensen and Japan’s Shunsuke Hiyama. Erik Christensen was the first Duelist to ever win a Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series and a World Championship Qualifier in the same season, already claiming a page in the history book; but this weekend he was eager to really make a mark by winning the World Championship. After getting second place at the World Championship in 2014, Shunsuke Hiyama took down the 2015 World Championship in Kyoto. His win this year would mean the first time we not only have a two-time World Champion, but also a back-to-back repeat.

When the dust settled, Shunsuke Hiyama defended his title and emerged as the Dragon master, taking home a copy of Juno, the Celestial Goddess as well as an invitation back to the World Championship next year!

The Dragon Duel World Championship boasted a very diverse Top 8, with 8 different countries making it in. In terms of Decks, the Top 8 consisted of 3 Majespecter-based Pendulum Decklists, as well as 2 Blue-Eyes lists, and single copies of Qliphort, Monarch, and Burning Abyss Phantom Knight lists. The Finals showcased USA’s Aidan Tiemann against Taiwan’s Po-Hsiang Peng, pitting Majespecter-based Pendulums against Monarchs respectively.

Both young Duelists wanted to take the title just as badly as the main event finalists did, and ultimately Po-Hsiang Peng from Taiwan took the crown, earning his own Platinum Secret Rare Juno, the Celestial Goddess and a trip back to the Dragon Duel World Championship in 2017!

Congratulations to both Shunsuke Hiyama and Po-Hsiang Peng for becoming the World Champions for 2016!