13-year-old Connor R. from Portland, Oregon has been Dueling since he was 10 years old and is now in the Top 4 of North America’s most prestigious Dragon Duel tournament of the year. His opponent, 13-year-old James H. from Eauclair, Wisconsin, has also been Dueling for about three years and is now facing off against Connor in this Top 4 Match. Connor is using a Mekk-Knight Deck, while James is using Sky Strikers. One of these Duelists will advance to the Finals, and the other will be eliminated. It’s time to Duel!

The Top Cut has arrived, and eight of North America’s most skilled youth Duelists were still left in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Dragon Duel Championship! 

Aiden was back for redemption after his Feature Match defeat in Round 2, while James was ready for his first moment in the spotlight. Aiden was piloting his Adventure P.U.N.K. Deck, James was on Sky Strikers, and the Top 8 was on.

AJ is 11 years old, and traveled here this weekend from New Jersey to play his Tenyi Swordsoul Deck. His opponent is 13 year-old Connor from Portland, playing an anti-meta Mekk-Knight Deck. These two competitors are seated at Table 1 this round: Connor was undefeated, while AJ was 2-1 and looking to even the score. 

Brandon Miotke from Detroit, Michigan is 24 years old, but has been Dueling since he was 5 years old. He won his first Regional Qualifier when he was 7 years old and was a prominent name in Dragon Duels because he consistently won Dragon Duel events when he was younger. The Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME was a major part of Brandon Miotke’s childhood. He always practiced Dueling with his father and his brother, and now they’re all here competing in the Championship this weekend. Brandon Miotke is currently 2-0 with his Cyberdark Branded Deck.

Robert Scarpelli is a local Chicago Duelist who is also no stranger to competitive Dueling. He has made the top cut of many Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series events and is currently 2-0 with his Dragon Link Deck. Our Round 3 Feature Match will pit Miotke against Scarpelli in a Duel that will determine which one of them advances with a 3-0 record. It’s time to Duel!

Round 2 of the Dragon Duel Championship pitted nine year-old Zephry from Chattanooga, Tennessee, against twelve year-old Aiden from Salem, Oregon. Aiden won his invite to this tournament back at YCS Portland in 2019, while Zephry got her invite at a recent Regional in Knoxville. Both of these competitors won their Round 1 match-ups, and are currently 1-0 for the day.

Corbin Diez from Layton, Utah earned his invitation to compete this weekend from a Regional Qualifier in Las Vegas a few months ago with his Abyss Actor Deck. Now he’s back with another off-the-wall strategy: Valkyries! Valkyries are a fan-favorite strategy used by Zigfried von Schroeder in the original animated Yu-Gi-Oh! series, but the strategy hasn’t seen much use at the competitive level. That may allow Diez to take Duelists by surprise this weekend as he presents them with his new take on an old Deck.

Diez’s opponent, Theron Lee from Dallas, Texas earned his invitation to compete in a Regional Qualifier in Fort Worth, Texas using his Live Twin Deck. Lee has changed his Deck since he earned his invitation to this event, and is now competing with a Marincess Deck made possible by the recent release of Legendary Duelists: Duels From the Deep. Who will prevail in this Round 1 Feature Match? It’s time to Duel!