Everybody’s story starts somewhere!

The action’s just kicking off here at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, and as always, today’s tournament is packed with veteran Duelists from all across North America. But for many competitors in the YCS main event, today marks their first-ever journey into the Championship arena. We took a moment to talk to some of the weekend’s YCS first-timers to welcome them to competitive Dueling, right here at YCS Philadelphia!

John Kaericher’s been playing the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG for a little under a year, and he’s already here competing at his first-ever YCS! He’s looking forward to seeing star Duelists like Jesse Kotton, Pakawat “Pak” Pamornsut and lots of other top competitors he’s looked up to! Kaericher’s piloting a Naturia Vernusylph Deck this weekend, tackling the competition with a powerful strategy that can lock down Spell Cards with ease! 
Pakawat “Pak” Pamornsut1

Bryce Schultz just started Dueling a few months ago, and he’s already made the trip to his first YCS tournament! He’s piloting Traptrix for the weekend, recently powered up with new cards in Structure Deck: Beware of Traptrix. He’s looking forward to the chance to play at a new level of competition, and to learn the ropes in a big event. He’s here at YCS Philly with some of his friends, who are all excited to see how he does at his first high-caliber event!

Hilary Valentine competed at YCS Niagara in the past, but this is her first YCS in the United States! She’s using a Mathmech Deck featuring new cards like Firewall Dragon Singularity from Cyberstorm Access, and in true Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS fashion, she’ss attending the event as I:P Masquerena!

This is Milan Melendez’s first time competing in a YCS, and he’s really thrilled to be here! Melendez is playing a Live Twin Spright Deck, and he’s eager to see what does well in the first North American Championship of the Cyberstorm Access season! He said he’s especially keen to see which Decks make Day 2, so he can continue to grow as a Duelist. 

The competition is getting started here this morning, and the vibe on the tournament floor is ramping up, so be sure to stay tuned: we could see some of these fresh faces could at the top tables later today!