The Ultimate Duelist Series (UDS) Invitational happens twice a year – once in the Summer, typically after the World Championship, and once in the Winter, usually in February.  The Invitational is like a World Championship Qualifier (WCQ) as there’s a requirement for entry: WCQ entry requires the Duelist to earn an invite, which is awarded for placing well at a Regional Qualifier, a Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series (YCS) or an Official Tournament Store Championship, while the UDS Invitational requires the Duelist to earn an amount of points earned from participating in other events.  Some Duelists will even make the claim that the UDS Invitational is a harder tournament than a WCQ.  With the amount of talent and accomplishment in the room, that claim has a lot of merit.  Let’s take a look at who’s here and what they’re bringing to the table.

Tyler Pfeifer is the UDS Invitational Winter 2019 Champion, winning the tournament with Sky Striker, a strategy that has survived multiple Forbidden and Limited list updates.

Carl Manigat, who is the runner-up of the UDS Invitational Winter 2019, is back to try and get back to the Finals.  He took Salamangreat to the finals some months ago, we’ll see what he’s got as the tournament progresses.

We have multiple World Championship competitors here, just one week removed from the event in Berlin, Germany!

Manav Dawar won the 200^th YCS in Columbus, Ohio and placed in the Top 4 of the 2019 North America World Championship Qualifier (WCQ).

Charley Ray Futch III has a lot of accomplishments at such a young age! He’s been to the World Championship 3 times!  He’s played in the Dragon Duel Championship twice (winning the event in 2018) and once in the TCG World Championship.

Gabriel Vargas is a 2-time World Championship competitor, having earned his World Championship invite in the Worlds Points Playoff this year, and is the 2018 North America WCQ winner!

Jesse Kotton has been to the World Championship 3 years in a row!  He won his 2019 Worlds invite by placing in the Top 2 of the Worlds Points Playoff, but still made the Top Cut in the North America WCQ anyway!

Wei Li took 3^rd place at the 2019 North America WCQ and competed in the 2019 World Championship.

Marcus Hayden is the winner of YCS Minneapolis 2016.  He’s here with his girlfriend Isabella Martinez who took Top 16 of the same tournament.

Robert Kenny III has yet to win a YCS, but he consistently places in the top of YCS events and placed in the Top 16 of the 2019 North America WCQ.

Speaking from personal experience, the UDS Invitational is one of the hardest tournaments I’ve ever had to play in.  The average skill of the Duelists in attendance is way higher than any event currently in Organized Play, and this short list of players shows how accomplished the person across from you can be.  You MUST be on top of your game if you want to succeed here!

Stay tuned for more updates from the Summer 2019 UDS Invitational!