Since Tournament Policy documents require ongoing updates and amendments to keep pace with Organized Play, we are pleased to present you with Version 2.2 of the Official KDE-US Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME Tournament Policy!

We have made several changes in this latest version – you will find clarification of existing policy, re-structuring of previous information to make it easier to understand, some completely new sections and also some changes from previous policy.

You will need to know all this information to properly prepare for tournament play, but don’t worry! We have prepared this article about the major changes and what they mean for you.  This is not a list of each and every change, but it will explain the more significant ones.  As you read through this article, have a copy of the policy document open too, and refer to it as you go – reading this article by itself instead of reading the policy document won’t provide you with all of the information you need to be ready for tournament play.

Most of the sections in the policy document itself will have example charts that will help you understand how the policy works

Let’s take it section by section!

Also note that previous subsection designations will have changed, due to adding in new subsections.

Read more…

If you read this far to Part 5 of our reviews, you’ve seen all 16 Skill Cards for the 8 featured characters in Speed Duel GX: Duelists of Shadows, as well as their pre-built Duel Decks. But that’s not all you’ll find in the box!

There are more Skills, more support cards, and just generally fantastic cards that can help get you ready for competition, as well as those 24 Secret Rare variants! Today we’ll take you through everything else you’ll find in Duelists of Shadows, starting with the 4 remaining Skills.

Read more…

Yesterday, we showed you Shadow Rider Tania’s Amazoness Deck, and Shadow Rider Titan’s Archfiends, both playable out of the box in Speed Duel GX: Duelists of Shadows. Those were two old-school strategies that got a new lease on life in Speed Duel.

Well get ready, because it gets even crazier. There are two more characters with pre-built Decks in Duelists of Shadows, and they’re both repping strategies that never really saw play until now: Shadow Rider Amnael’s Alchemy Deck, featuring Helios – The Primordial Sun and Golden Homunculus; and Adrian Gecko’s Cloudians. Both Decks get a big makeover for their Speed Duel debut, and both use Skill Cards to do things that would be totally impossible otherwise!

Shadow Rider Amnael

The last of the Shadow Riders to get pre-built Decks in Duelists of Shadows, Amnael’s Deck is loaded with popular cards from the early days of Dueling, including some fantastic cards that have been revisited! You can almost cut the Deck in half, dividing it between cards that banish stuff and cards that get better when you banish stuff.

Example? Gren Maju Da Eiza, Golden Homunculus, and Helios – The Primordial Sun all gain ATK and DEF according to the number of cards banished. You can Special Summon D.D. Scout Plane in the End Phase of any turn it’s banished, D.D. Survivor comes back in the End Phase whenever it’s on the field and gets removed from the game, and D.D.M. – Different Dimension Master can Special Summon back your banished monsters.

How do you banish everything? Bazoo the Soul Eater lets you banish up to 3 monsters from your Graveyard, boosting its ATK by 300 Attack Points for each monster removed, until the end of your opponent’s next turn. This means Bazoo can go as high as 2500 ATK. You can banish a Normal Trap to boost Diskblade Rider from 1700 ATK to 2200 ATK, Tribe-Shocking Virus lets you banish a monster from your hand to destroy all face-up monsters on the field with the same Type, and Banisher of the Radiance just banishes everything that would normally go to the Graveyard.

Soul Release, Galaxy Cyclone, and Macro Cosmos all help banish even more cards. If you’re lucky you may even open a Secret Rare Macro Cosmos, the highest rarity it’s ever appeared in! Amnael’s main Skill Card, the one you should use with his pre-built Deck, also helps banish more cards.

Professor of Alchemy lets you banish a Level 4 or lower monster from your hand, or face-up from the field, to Special Summon an Alchemy Beast Token. The Token comes into play as a Level 3 with 500 ATK and 500 DEF, and the same Attribute as the monster you banished. You can’t Tribute it for anything but the Tribute Summon of Golden Homunculus, but all your Alchemy Beast Tokens can attack directly and the Skill combos well with D.D. Scout Plane.

Amnael’s secondary Skill is Setting Sun, and it’s made for a different kind of strategy: once per turn during your Main Phase, if you control a monster that has ? ATK when it’s in your Deck, you can banish a card from your hand and then search a different monster from your Deck with ? ATK. In addition, it stops your Helios monsters from being banished. Amnael’s ready-to-play build can’t do much with this Skill, but Duelists of Shadows includes additional cards for Amnael, including Helios Duo Magistus and Helios Trice Megistus. Tribute the Level 4 Helios to Special Summon the Level 6 Duo, then Tribute that to Special Summon Trice, and you’ll have a Level 8 attacker that gains 300 ATK and DEF for every banished monster. It attacks twice, and Special Summons itself back from the Graveyard if it’s ever destroyed in battle.

To recap: Amnael’s build marks the Speed Duel debut of cards like D.D. Scout Plane and D.D. Survivor, and offers D.D. Crow and Macro Cosmos as possible Secret Rares. It’s just so many good cards!

Adrian Gecko

While most of the characters in Duelists of Shadows are from Season 1 of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, a few aren’t, including Supreme King Jaden and our final fully-fledged featured Duelist, Adrian Gecko. While Adrian’s Cloudian Deck was always seen as a fun and casual strategy before, his Skills put him over the top in Speed Duel, and several of his cards are really good against some of the most popular Speed Duel Decks today.

The Cloudians are mostly low-Level monsters with mediocre ATK and literally zero DEF. The trick is that they gather Fog Counters through a variety of effects, and that lets them unleash powerful abilities, destroying cards and making Special Summons. The four basic Cloudians – Cloudian – Acid Cloud, Cloudian – Altus, Cloudian – Cirrostratus, and Cloudian – Turbulence all get a single Fog Counter when they’re Normal Summoned, and each one has an effect you can activate by removing Fog Counters from that specific card: Acid Cloud destroys a Spell or Trap on the field for 2 Fog Counters, Altus can remove 3 to discard a random card from your opponent’s hand, Cirrostratus destroys a monster for 2 Fog Counters and you can remove a Fog Counter from Turbulence to Special Summon a Level 1 Cloudian – Smoke Ball from your Deck or Graveyard.

The problem? Every one of those monsters needs multiple Fog Counters to work, but they only get one when they’re Normal Summoned. In the past, Cloudian fans had to struggle and use other cards to gather enough Fog Counters for their simple monster effects. Cloudian Squall’s a Continuous Spell that places a Fog Counter on each face-up monster…but it doesn’t work until your Standby Phase, which means you can’t just plonk down a Cloudian and immediately use its ability.

Fog Control’s a Quick-Play Spell that sticks 3 Fog Counters on any face-up monster you like, but using one of your in-hand cards just to get effects that should be free is kind of missing the point. Diamond-Dust Cyclone’s another Quick-Play that can destroy a monster with Fog Counters and draw you a card…but the monster needs to have 4 Fog Counters on it.

The good news? Adrian’s new Fog Warning Skill Card is amazing! Every time you place a Fog Counter on a monster, it just gets another one. That means Acid Cloud and Cirrostratus destroy cards the moment they hit the field, and one Turbulence can Special Summon two copies of Smoke Ball! Suddenly Cloudian Squall looks like a big threat, placing 2 Fog Counters on every monster in each of your Standby Phases.

Cloudy Skies of Grey is Adrian’s secondary Skill, and it’s a little more aggressive: each time a Cloudian with a Fog Counter’s destroyed, you can place its Fog Counters on another face-up monster. That makes it easier to wreck cards with Diamond-Dust Cyclone, and since Cloudian – Nimbusman gains 500 ATK for every Fog Counter on it, it’ll skyrocket from its starting 1000 ATK.

Adrian’s strategy actually has several heavy hitters that can shine in Speed Duels: Cloudian – Eye of the Typhoon has a whopping 3000 ATK, and it can change the Battle Positions of your opponent’s monsters. Fog King is a highlight too: as a Level 7 it has printed ATK and DEF of 0, but you can Normal Summon it by Tributing just one monster, or no monsters at all. Then its ATK becomes the combined original ATK of the monsters you Tributed, and neither player can Tribute cards as long as it’s on the field. That’s a big deal in Speed Duel: not only are Tribute Summons more common, but Cyber Angels are also one of the most popular Decks in tournaments – if your opponent can’t Tribute cards, they can’t Ritual Summon! Oh, and Fog King even comes as a Secret Rare in Duelists of Shadows.

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You’ve now seen all 8 pre-built character Decks, but we’re not done just yet. There are still 4 more Skill Cards to talk about, plus nearly 40 additional cards to help you customize, and strengthen other strategies for different characters! Join us tomorrow in Part 5 to see everything else Duelists of Shadows has to offer!

Attention Speed Duelists! On April 22^nd, we will implement an updated events-only Limited List for all Speed Duel Public Events being held at the April North American Remote Duel Main Event.

The Limited List is legal on the weekend of April 22^nd and at future Tier 3 events.
Duelists must comply with the list if they wish to participate in Speed Duel Public Events or the Speed Duel Main Event.

Official Tournament Stores may also use the list for their local Speed Duel tournaments.

Read more…

In Part 2, we looked at our first pair of Shadow Rider characters making their debut in Speed Duel GX: Duelists of Shadows: Nightshroud and Camula. Here in part 3, we’ll look at two more: Shadow Rider Tania and Shadow Rider Titan. While our first pair get pre-built Decks in Duelists of Shadows that revolve around huge, old-school boss monsters, Tania and Titan’s strategies focus on more mid-range monsters with abilities that make them a nightmare to deal with.

One of the cool things about Duelists of Shadows is that it takes some fan-favorite strategies from the past and then gives them Skill Cards that make them more competitive. In this case we’re talking about Amazons and Archfiends, two throwback themes that earned a place in our hearts…even if they never did well in tournaments.

If you’ve ever dreamed of seriously smashing your opponent with either of these two strategies, Duelists of Shadows can make those dreams into reality. Here’s how they work.

Read more…

Yesterday we introduced you to the Speed Duel GX: Duelists of Shadows box, and we talked about the Decks and Skill Cards for two of the main characters: alter ego Supreme King Jaden and former Duel Academy chairman Kagemaru. Eight characters have pre-built Decks in Duelists of Shadows, and 5 of them are Shadow Riders. The remaining 2 Shadow Riders are also getting Skill Cards, with many of their cards appearing in the extra additional cards included in Duelists of Shadows.

Today we’re looking at two of the Shadow Riders with full Decks: Nightshroud and Camula. Old school Duel fans may remember that this duo played Decks that echoed a pair of real-world releases in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG: Nightshroud’s Dragon Deck featured cards from Structure Deck: Dragon’s Roar, while Camula’s Vampire Deck played picks from Structure Deck: Zombie Madness. That’s right: these two devious Duelists piloted Decks that looked a lot like the first two Structure Decks in Yu-Gi-Oh! history, dating all the way back to 2005!

Fast forward to today and the Duelists of Shadows box comes with two pre-built Decks that modernize those old Structure Decks, with new cards and new Skills that make them fiercer than ever. Those Structure Decks never really made an impact in competitive Dueling, but the Speed Duel updates are a big step up. Here’s why.

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The Speed Duel: Battle City Box arrived a little over two years ago in December of 2020. Packed with more than 200 cards, it was loaded with new Skills and smash-hit Secret Rares and came with 8 Decks that were ready to play, right out of the box.  After a wait of a year and a half, we got the sequel, 2022’s Speed Duel GX: Duel Academy Box, the first Speed Duel release to introduce characters and cards from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. And the concept would evolve again just a few months later, with Speed Duel GX: Midterm Paradox bringing even more fan-favorite characters to Speed Duels.

And now, almost one year after the release of the Duel Academy Box, it’s time for another mega-sized Speed Duel release! Speed Duel GX: Duelists of Shadows hit the streets on March 30^th, ready to take Speed Duels to the next level with crazy new Skills, amazing Secret Rares, and lots of competitive cards revisited. Whether you love Speed Duel or you’re new to the format, Duelists of Shadows is packed with so much value that you won’t want to miss it.

Read more…

Since Tournament Policy documents require ongoing updates and amendments to keep pace with Organized Play, we are pleased to present you with Version 2.2 of the Official KDE-US Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME Infractions and Penalties Policy.

We have made a few changes in this latest version – you will find clarification of existing policy, re-structuring of previous information to make it easier to understand, some new additions and some changes from previous policy.

You will need to know all this information to properly prepare for tournament play, but don’t worry! We have prepared an article about the major changes and what they mean for you.  While it isn’t a list of each and every change, it will explain the more significant changes.  As you read through this article, have a copy of the policy document open too, and refer to it as you go – reading this article by itself instead of reading the policy document won’t provide you with all of the information you need to be ready for tournament play.

Most of the sections in the policy document itself will have example charts that will help you understand how the policy works

Let’s take it section by section!

Some of the previous subsection designations have changed in this new version, so keep that in mind as you go.

Section I.  Philosophy

This section explains the purpose behind the Tournament Infractions and Penalties Policy:

• Outlines the appropriate code of behavior for persons at a tournament.
• Instructs judges and tournament officials how to identify infractions and assign correct penalties.
• Helps ensure a fair and consistent tournament experience, by explaining the various types of infractions along with the penalties assigned to each infraction.

Changes to this section include:

Subsection A. Persons Attending a Tournament

What changed?
We separated Appropriate and Not Appropriate judge calls into separately-labeled sections, to better explain the difference between the two.
We have also provided some newer examples to help clarify.

What does this mean?
Judge calls (these are questions or issues about gameplay or policy which arise during a match) are intended to maintain a fair and consistent tournament. Judge calls should not be used as an exploitative tool to gain an unfair advantage or target another person.

Section II.  Investigation Procedure

This section explains how to investigate issues regarding policy, properly identify infractions, and apply penalties.

Changes to this section include:

Subsection E. Time Extensions

What changed?
We clarified the example table by adding a title for each example, to reiterate each rule and make it easier to retain.
We also added an additional example to clarify when time extensions begin (when the judge arrives at the table).

What does this mean?
There are specific rules for applying Time Extensions, understanding how they work will help you understand the policy.

Subsection F.  Game State

What changed?
We separated Irreparable, Reparable, and Accepted Game States into separate sections, to make the differences easier to understand. 
We added a section to clarify Significant Advantage, which was not a widely understood concept.
We clarified some of the examples in the Misrepresenting the Game State example table.

What does this mean?
It is each Duelist’s responsibility to maintain an accurate Game State, and to call over a judge immediately should any disruption to the Game State occur.

Disruptions to the Game State should be evaluated carefully to determine whether the Game State is Irreparable, Reparable, or Accepted and whether or not the disruption has created Significant Advantage.

Misrepresenting the Game State is a serious offence and can happen in a variety of ways – be aware of this and avoid doing it.

Section III. Penalties

This section covers information about the 4 types of penalties (previously 5) which can be administered.

We have one significant change to this section!
The Caution penalty has been eliminated entirely.
A Warning is now the only penalty that can be given for Minor Infractions.

Changes to this section include:

Subsection E.  Upgrading and Downgrading Penalties

What changed?
We separated the Upgrade and Downgrade examples into separate tables, to make the information easier to process.

What does this mean?
Head Judges should follow correct policy when determining whether or not to upgrade or downgrade a penalty.

Section IV. Infractions

This section covers information about the different types of Infractions that can be committed.

Changes to this section include:

Subsection B. Procedural Error

2. Procedural Error (PE) – Major (Game Loss)

What changed?
We have added a new Procedural Error – Major:  If the Duelist responsible for submitting the Match result for a Match that has concluded has not done so before 5 minutes have passed from the official end of the Round, that Duelist will receive a PE – Major (Game Loss) Penalty.

What does this mean?
Typically, the Duelist who wins the Match is responsible for submitting the Match results. If this Duelist fails to submit the result for a Match that has concluded within 5 minutes after the end of the Round, that Duelist will receive a Game Loss penalty, applied to their next Match. 
This is intended to cut down on delays created by missing Match results in between Rounds.
Matches with Time Extensions must submit their Match result immediately after their Match has concluded.

Which Duelist is responsible for submitting the Match result?
The winning Duelist is responsible for submitting the Match result. 

Subsection G.  Slow Play

What changed?
We clarified there is not a set amount of time for actions.
We added some examples for appropriate upgrades.

What does this mean?
Slow Play is frequently misunderstood, study this section carefully to better understand it.

Subsection H.  Unsporting Conduct

3. Unsporting Conduct (UC) – Severe (Disqualification)

What changed?
We have added some new examples in the example chart, including intentionally misgendering another person, refusing to wear a mask when instructed to do so, submitting fraudulent vaccination information, behaving inappropriately on camera at a Livestreamed event, and anyone other than an official vendor attending a Sanctioned event for the purpose of buying and/or selling.

What does this mean?

Unsporting Conduct – Severe infractions are serious, and it is your responsibility to understand policy and avoid these actions.

4. Unsporting Conduct (UC)  – Cheating (Disqualification)

What changed?
We re-organized the examples, to put similar offenses next to one another.  We also provided clearer scenarios for some of the more vaguely worded examples.

What does this mean?
This information should be easier to understand now.

Section VI. Suspension and Suspended Persons

This section covers information about the process of Suspension from Organized Play, and information regarding Suspended Persons.

Changes to this section include:

Subsection A.  Suspension for Infractions Occurring at Sanctioned Events

What changed?
We added the line “Persons who are suspended from KDE Organized Play will be included on the Suspended Persons list.”

What does this mean?
You should be aware that if you are Suspended from KDE Organized Play, your name and CARD GAME ID number will be included on the Suspended Persons list.

Subsection B. Suspension for Infractions Outside of Sanctioned or Official Events

What changed?
We added the line “Persons who are suspended from KDE Organized Play will be included on the Suspended Persons list.”We have also expanded the examples list.

What does this mean?
You should be aware that if you are Suspended from KDE Organized Play, your name and CARD GAME ID number will be included on the Suspended Persons list.

Unsporting Conduct – Severe/Cheating infractions are serious, and it is your responsibility to understand policy and avoid these actions.

We’re excited about these updates to the document, and hope you found this article helpful and informative! Tournament Policy is often overlooked as Duelists focus on card text and rulings, but it’s every bit as important a part of tournament preparedness.

Please make sure to review this current version (2.2) before attending an event, regardless of whether it’s an in-person tournament or a Remote Duel tournament!

THE 2023 YU-GI-OH! NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS BEGIN IN MAY, WITH THOUSANDS OF DUELISTS COMPETING ACROSS LATIN AMERICA

The path to the Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship 2023 continues!

Hawthorne, Calif. (February 15, 2023) – Starting in May, thousands of Duelists across Latin America will put their Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME (TCG) skills to the test in the 2023 Yu-Gi-Oh! National Championships.

The 2022 Latin America Yu-Gi-Oh! National Championships saw more than 4,600 Duelists compete for the title of National Champion. Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. (KONAMI) is expecting thousands to compete again this year, as they look to ensure their path towards the highly anticipated Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship, after being on hiatus for the last 3 years, set to take place in Japan this August*.

KONAMI has revealed its plans to hold National Championships between May and June in 16 countries across Latin America. The countries will include Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru.

The very best Duelists will compete in person for the right to call themselves National Champions, with special prizes on offer. Confirmed prizing includes Prize Cards along with travel and accommodation to either the 2023 Central or South America Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship Qualifier, depending on their country of residence.

Today, the popular Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG is available across the globe, with products distributed in more than 80 countries and 9 languages, to be enjoyed by fans of all ages. For all the latest information regarding Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG products and events, and all Yu-Gi-Oh! digital card game titles, please visit the following:

• Webpage: www.yugioh-card.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/OfficialYuGiOhTCG
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/officialyugiohtcg/
• Twitch: www.twitch.tv/officialyugiohtcg
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/YuGiOh_TCG
• YouTube: www.youtube.com/yugiohtcg

*Dates and details subject to change

As we return to in-person events in 2022, a lot has changed in the world. We are making changes too as we work to provide the best Organized Play experiences for our Duelists in North and Latin America.
Today, we have some exciting changes to announce for Dragon Duel events!

Dragon Duel events are tournaments run for younger Duelists, available only to Duelists born in and after a certain year, which is updated following each World Championship season.

In the past, Dragon Duel events provided a path to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME (TCG) World Championship Qualifier (WCQ), where you could then earn invitations to compete in the Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship, specifically for these young Duelists. Invites to the WCQ could be won at Regional Qualifiers, Nationals in Latin America, and Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series (YCS).

Dragon Duel tournaments will still be hosted at select Regional Qualifiers, Nationals in Latin America, and YCS. Instead of awarding invites to the Dragon Duel WCQ, these tournaments will instead award invites to the main WCQ, which are open to all Duelists with an invite.

• Dragon Duelists will continue to compete against one another at the Regional, National, and YCS level.
• Dragon Duelists will earn invites to the WCQ, instead of a separate Dragon Duel WCQ.

Given these changes, the Dragon Duel WCQ will transform to the Dragon Duel Championship!

Instead of being an invite-only event, the Dragon Duel Championship will be open to all Dragon Duelists. This means that any Duelist meeting the Dragon Duel age restrictions for the current Organized Play season will be able to compete!

• The Dragon Duel WCQ will change to the Dragon Duel Championship.
• The Dragon Duel Championship will not require an invite.  Any Dragon Duelist meeting the age requirement for the season can enter.
• Removing the invite requirement makes the Dragon Duel Championship accessible for many more Dragon Duelists.
• Any Dragon Duelist that earns an invite to the WCQ can choose to participate in the Dragon Duel Championship instead of the WCQ, but they will not be able to compete in both.

Instead of awarding invites to the World Championship, the winner of the Dragon Duel Championship and a guardian will win a trip to Jump Festa in Japan! Jump Festa is a manga and anime convention celebrating titles from the publisher, Shueisha, Inc., including Yu-Gi-Oh!. Immerse yourself in the many great titles published by Shueisha, and explore the numerous booths dedicated to these great titles. More information can be found at https://www.jumpfesta.com/ (Site is in Japanese).

If Jump Festa is not held for any reason, alternate prizing will be made available to the winner of the Dragon Duel Championship and a guardian instead once it is known Jump Festa will not be held, and will be included in the event FAQ if possible.

These changes will take effect immediately and will be in place for the next WCQ. We look forward to seeing you there!

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