It’s finally here – the event you’ve all been waiting for! It’s the North America World Championship Qualifier (NA WCQ)! Duelists have been pouring their heart into their Decks and strategies all year to make it to this prestigious event, here at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Chicago. It’s invitation only – only Duelists who’ve qualified (such as at Regional Qualifiers or YCS tournaments) can enter. We have 2,379 talented Duelists in this event, all vying for the ultimate prize: the Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship!

The top four Duelists of the NA WCQ will qualify to attend the World Championship, but that’s not all! This year, we began a new program for Duelists to qualify for the World Championship, where Duelists can accumulate World Qualifying Points by entering tournaments that award invites to the WCQ, such as Regional and YCS tournaments. At the conclusion of the WCQ, the two Duelists with the most World Qualifying Points from the United States, along with the top Duelist from Canada, will also qualify for the World Championship! With this new point system, Duelists with consistent records are rewarded, as well as those who prove their worth by making the Top 4 of the WCQ. The rankings aren’t finalized yet though; this event also will affect the point rankings! Even if a Duelist is ranked highly right now, they’ll still have to perform well to secure their spot in the World Championship.

There’s a lot more going on here than the Main Event! We’ve also got the North America Dragon Duel World Championship Qualifier, where 65 Duelists born 2014 or later are competing for their own World Championship! Plus, there’s a ton of Public Events including 2018 Regional Qualifiers, ATTACK OF THE GIANT CARD!!, Structure Deck Tournaments, Generation Duel, Ultimate Pegasus Challenge, 3 vs. 3 Team Dueling, and the Mega Duel, just to name a few!

Finally, there are some special guests here this weekend! We’ve got Ted Lewis, the voice of Jack Atlas, Bakura Ryou, and Bandit Keith; Oliver Wyman, the voice of Aster Phoenix; and Darren Dunstan, the voice of Maximillion Pegasus! They’ll be signing autographs, and on Sunday we’ll see a live Duel!

So much cool stuff is happening here in Chicago! Check back here for more written coverage, and head over to https://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialYuGiOhTCG for our live stream coverage!