Yu-Gi-Oh! has been busy lately! First off, the COSSY system is now live! This system allows duelists to connect to the global online Duelist rankings system from their own computers. Players can register for the COSSY program at premier events throughout the year, such as Regional Championships, Continental Championships, Shonen Jump Championships and the World Championships, or at official tournament stores to get their own COSSY identification. A complete list of tournament events can be found here.

On the ranking screen, there will be two tabs. One is Preliminary and the other is Verified. Preliminary rankings are a running total of all results that are in the system to date, and they show how duelists stack up against each other. Because the TCG is a global game with so many players, there might be delays in tournament results being uploaded. This is what the Verified rankings come in. When KDE (konami digital entertainment) confirms that all results have been put in, the rankings will become official and duelists will know where they officially stand against every other player.

And speaking of the Shonen Jump Championship…a congratulations to Stephen Silverman from Philadelphia, PA who won this year’s first Shonen Jump Championship. He out-dueled the field of 1,632 players to claim the title at the first of over a dozen Shonen Jump Championships scheduled for this year.

For all of those out there that are excited to see what is in store for the booster pack world, the first Sneak Peek event of 2010 is being planned. This sneak peek will feature the soon-to-be released Absolulte Powerforce booster set. Absolute powerforce will be released first at Official tournament stores participating in the sneak peek on either February 6th or 7th, depending on the store’s choice. This set will be available nationwide to all stores starting February 16th. Starting this year, each duelist can only play in one sneak peek event a day. It’s going to be an exciting year!