With a 5-1 record so far, Courtney Waller is 1 of the highest-ranked Blackwing Duelists in today’s tournament.  Armed with a Vayu Turbo build, he’s scored some impressive wins so far today.  His opponent is Kuanchang Lai, a Samurai Duelist who’s also 5-1 so far.  The winner of this Match would have a strong shot at Day 2, while the defeated Duelist would have to work hard to make up lost ground in the Swiss Rounds.
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11-year-old Tony Houston is currently 5-0 in the Dragon Duels and is the only undefeated Duelist left in the tournament. He made it here with his Gravekeeper’s Deck, and this is his first YCS ever. He’s looking to turn his first YCS experience into a Dragon Duel victory. But his opponent, 12-year-old Grayson Scott, won’t make that easy for him. Scott is using a Dragon Deck that rushes big Dragons onto the field to overwhelm opponents. Both of these Duelists have some experience at the Regional level, but since this is the first YCS for both of them, they’re really looking to make this Match count!
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Jonathan Barber and Marquis Johnson are currently undefeated in the tournament, with perfect 5-0 records. Barber is running a Flamvell Lightsworn Deck that he’s been running for over a year. His opponent, Marquis Johnson is running a Gravekeeper’s Deck that uses Malefic Stardust Dragon and Malefic Cyber End Dragon to overwhelm opponents with high-attack monsters. Necrovalley may make this a tough Match for Barber, who won’t be able to use Rekindling while it’s on the field. (Rekindling Special Summons as many 200 DEF FIRE monsters from your Graveyard as possible. All the Flamvell monsters Barber uses fit the bill.)
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With Dragunities, Samurai, and X-Sabers quickly rising to the top tables here this morning, the prediction seems to’ve come true: in this format, moreso than ever before, victory often hinges on a single Synchro Monster. XX-Saber Hyunlei, Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En, Stardust Dragon, and the newly-popularized Thought Ruler Archfiend have been winning Duels left right and center, and the Decks that can stop those Synchro Summons have a big advantage.  If you can negate or preempt a Synchro Summon, you can dodge massive Duel-shifting effects like those of Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier and Black Rose Dragon.  Even just being able to negate those effects is often enough to stave off defeat, leaving the opponent open to a counter-attack.

Almost every knowledgeable Duelist is playing specific cards to try and beat the Synchro threat, and they generally fall into two categories: cards that are themed and unique to particular Decks, and cards that are splashable.  The Decks with theme-specific answers are doing particularly well as we see how the win/loss records are shaking out each round, so let’s take a look at some of the top choices in both categories.

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QQ stands for Quick Questions! A lot of changes took place on March 1st, 2011 when the new Forbidden & Limited List went into effect, and Duelists all over are reacting differently to it. Decks that some Duelists thought were hurt by the list, other Duelists think were helped by it. I asked a bunch of this weekend’s Duelists “Which Deck do you think benefited the most from the March 2011 Forbidden & Limited List?”. Check out their responses!
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This Round we’d see New Jersey’s Marc Hahn Duel Montreal’s Nicky Lacaille, in a Match that would pit Gravekeepers against Fish.  We showed you Nicky Lacaille’s Fish Deck earlier this morning in a Deck Profile, and now that he had an undefeated 4-0 record, it was time to see the Deck in action!

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Christopher Rivera is currently undefeated with his Zombie Psychic Lightsworn Deck. His opponent, Francisco Rome, is undefeated with his Machine Chaos Deck. This is sure to be an interesting Match, played by 2 different Decks that are tough to spot in this weekend’s field of players. Either Duelists can win here and advance with a 4-0 record.

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As we approach Round 5, it’s a great time to take a look at the top tables.  All the Duelists at these tables were undefeated with 4-0 records headed into their fifth of nine Matches today.  The field is hugely diverse, but Gravekeepers have outperformed the expectations of most competitors:
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QQ stands for Quick Questions! Duelists love talking about their favorite cards and Decks in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME, but the Decks of their favorite characters from the television show usually go unspoken. I asked the field of players, “Which character’s Deck from the TV show is your favorite?” Check out their variety of answers!
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QQ stands for Quick Questions!  The Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series is about a lot more than just Championship-level dueling: Public Events are run all weekend; trading is huge; and there are Duelists throwing down all over the tournament hall in casual Duels.  Hotel lobbies swarm with Duel-fans, and local restaurant tables play host to games between friends and rivals alike.  Sometimes, the best part of the weekend happens nowhere near the top tables, so we asked the question: “How was your trip to the YCS, and what was your favorite part of the weekend so far?”
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