For many Duelists, today is another event in their longstanding career. However, we all started somewhere, we all had our first YCS! Here are 3 Duelists attending their very first Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series here in Pasadena, California!

Caleb Hernandez (13)

Caleb has been playing Yu-Gi-Oh! for 5 months and is already at his first YCS! He started playing after being at his local card shop and saw another Duelist purchasing some product and wanted to give it a try. His first impression of the YCS is that it’s just awesome, he loves the community. He’s playing in the main event using Branded Despia with Bystial cards and is looking forward to all of the Dragon Duels that will be run this weekend!

Here’s Caleb with his favorite card, Fallen of Albaz!

Brian Morua (7)

Brian has been playing for just over a year and has already decided to dive headfirst into a YCS. His two older brothers already play and helped him learn the rules of the game, giving him encouragement along the way. His favorite thing about the YCS so far is the giant cards, as they’re extremely cool. He’s going to be playing in the Dragon Duels this weekend, using his HERO strategy.

Here’s Brian with his favorite card, Destiny HERO – Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer, and a Starlight Rare version at that!

Antonio Papa (27)

He started playing as a child and kept going with it all these years, he’s most excited to see the innovation of the game, and all the friends he’s made, he loves being a part of the community. Traveling from Verona, Italy for his first YCS, he’s playing the popular Tearlaments Deck featuring the new Ishizu Fairy Monsters found in Magnifient Mavens.

Antonio couldn’t pick a specific card, but here he is ready to Duel anyway!