Eight months have passed since the Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series last brought Championship-level Dueling to the West Coast! That was YCS Long Beach – the 100th tournament in the Series – and Michael Balan won it all with Dark World. Taking a step back from the game to focus on parenting his baby girl, Balan decided last minute to come here to YCS Seattle. Now he’s still in the tournament in Day 2 with his signature strategy – Dark World. His opponent is Mario Cordova, a veteran competitor who’s topped several Championships in his time, along with judging numerous YCS tournaments. Cordova is running Dino Rabbit this weekend.
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Jonathan Gonzalez made the trip here this weekend from San Diego, CA. He’s playing a Machine Deck packing Geargia, Machina, and Karakuri. His opponent is Cody Muniz from Rock Springs, CO, who got this far with Wind-Ups. We’re entering the final round of Swiss play, then we’re off to the Top 32!
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Two more Rounds of Swiss competition remain in this tournament, and these competitors are both 6-2, clinging to life in the main event! Sorosh Saberian is running a promising build of Mermails with Spiritual Water Art – Aoi, and his opponent John Camerino is piloting Agents. These Duelists had practiced and playtested with each other this very weekend, so both knew all about the other’s strategy. While Saberian has made the Top 32 of numerous big tournaments, this is Camerino’s first YCS. A win here would be a pretty big feather in Camerino’s proverbial cap.
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Frederick De la Cruz is from nearby Puyallup, WA. Alfredo Cardona travelled a bit more, coming from Tijuana, Mexico! This is the final round of the day, so a win here is important to have a good shot at the Top 32 tomorrow!
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12-year-old Marion Smith is from here from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, here in WA. He’s playing 11-year-old Joon Chong, who we just saw claim a win in the last round. Both Duelists are friends and practically neighbors, and both were excited to see each other in the last round!
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With 5-2 records headed into this, the last Round of Day 1 competition, these two veteran Duelists were fighitng for their lives in this tournament! A win here and two more wins tomorrow could see one of these competitors headed to the Top 32. But one stumble – just a single misstep! – would knock one of them straight out of contention. The last time these two Duelists squared off, it was in the Top 4 of YCS Indianapolis in 2011. It was a knock-down dragout Match that saw Boyajian win his way to the Finals, before winning the entire Championship mere minutes later.
Now it was time for a rematch! Robert Boyajian is playing Mermails, while Delhon is running Chaos Dragons.
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11-year-old Asher Thompson is here from Shoreline, WA. He’s brought a Dragon Deck today, emphasizing the Hieratics! His opponent is 11-year-old Joon Chong, from Federal Way, WA, and came here with his HERO Deck.
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Stephen Silverman and Jeff Jones are both familiar with the top tables of a YCS. Most recently, Stephen was in the Top 32 of YCS Kansas City, and Jeff took 2nd at YCS Toronto with his Grandsoil Psychics. Both Duelists are using similar Mermail/Atlantean Decks today. This is looking to be a great Match!
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Both of these competitors have 5-0-1 records, with five wins, no losses, and one draw. With relatively pristine records and only two Rounds of competition left here in Day 1, they’re both making strong bids for a seat in Day 2! Jonny Nagel made the Top 16 at YCS Providence with a Gadget Deck featuring Gear Gigant X and Magic Drain, and now he’s back with a new and improved build of that same strategy. His opponent is local Tacoma Duelist Ryan Patajo, who’s competing in his first-ever YCS main event with a Bubblebeat HERO Deck! Both of these strategies mix grinding game plans with the ability to explode into wins without warning, so this should be an exciting Match.
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Simon He has garnered alot of attention this year for quickly ascending through the ranks of top competitive players. Traveling from Europe to compete at events like YCS Long Beach and YCS Providence, his record for making Top 32’s is impeccable. Last time we saw him a month ago at Providence, you might remember that he was beating over Obelisk the Tormentor with a Master Hyperion strapped with Armory Arm in a Top 16 Feature Match. He’s basically a walking highlight reel.
But that’s not why He’s getting a Feature Match today. No. No, not at all. See, last night, Simon He and Canadian Duelist Sorosh Saberian Dueled to settle a bet. What were the stakes, you ask? Well, the winner didn’t get anything, but the loser had to Side Deck Dark Magician today in the YCS. If that individual then got a Feature Match, they had to side in Dark Magician for Games 2 and 3, and they had to Summon it if possible.
So yeah. We made that Feature Match happen.
He’s opponent this round is Marquis Johnson, no stranger to the YCS circuit and no stranger to Feature Matches. He’s playing the most feared Deck here this weekend – Mermails. Was He up to the challenge? Would we get to see Dark Magician? And if He did draw it, would he have the guts to pull the trigger? We were about to find out!
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