This event marks the tournament debut of February’s highly-anticipated Storm of Ragnarok card set. This set introduces new monsters from the past into Duelists’ Decks, including the Viking gods – Odin, Thor, and Loki – and the Legendary Six Samurai from the far east. In Dallas, Duelists will be able to see how these new monsters fare against the top decks from 2010, like the sword-wielding X-Sabers and the high-flying Blackwing monsters.

Pre-registration runs from 3:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Friday, February 11th and resume promptly at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 12th. Round One starts at 10:00 a.m. The Top 16 YCS finishers, along with the top Duelists of the weekend’s Regional Qualifiers, will earn invitations to participate in their respective 2011 World Championship Qualifier events, to be held later in the year. Duelists, upon paying their registration fee, will receive five Storm of Ragnarok booster packs just for participating in Konami’s Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series.

Here’s the full list of prizes available:

• 1st place – Set of Ultra Rare YCS Prize Cards; Trophy; Paid travel to their World Championship Qualifier (if underage, then winner and guardian) or a local-market YCS (flight and accommodations) if the Duelist has already won an earlier YCS in the current year; YCS Game Mat; Netbook plus 500 BoosterPass Points for Yu-Gi-Oh! Online Duel Accelerator; a free ticket to the Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D movie; and an invite to their 2011 World Championship Qualifier
• 2nd place – Set of Super Rare YCS Prize Cards; iPad Wi-Fi 32 GB; Konami iPad game codes to be used on the iPad; YCS Game Mat; a free ticket to the Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D movie; and an invite to their 2011 World Championship Qualifier
• 3rd place – Set of Super Rare YCS Prize Cards; 32GB iPod Touch; Konami iPhone game codes to be used on the iPod Touch; YCS Game Mat; a free ticket to the Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D movie; and an invite to their 2011 World Championship Qualifier
• 4th place –32GB iPod Touch; Konami iPhone game codes to be used on the iPod Touch; YCS Game Mat; a free ticket to the Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D movie; and an invite to their 2011 World Championship Qualifier
• 5th – 8th place – DSi XL with Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s World Championship 2010 Reverse of Arcadia ; YCS Game Mat; a free ticket to the Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D movie; and an invite to their 2011 World Championship Qualifier
• 9th – 16th place – 24 booster packs of Duelist Revolution; Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s World Championship 2010 Reverse of Arcadia; YCS Game Mat; a free ticket to the Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D movie; and an invite to their 2011 World Championship Qualifier
• If attendance exceeds 513 Duelists:
• 17th – 32nd place – YCS Game Mat and an invite to their 2011 World Championship Qualifier

The Top 16 finishers of the YCS and the top Duelists of the Sunday Regional Qualifiers will earn an invitation to participate in their respective 2011 World Championship Qualifier events.

Here is the address for the event:

Georgia World Congress
285 Andrew Young International Boulevard, NW
Thomas B. Murphy Ballroom
Atlanta, GA 30313

Duelists, upon paying their registration fee, will receive five Starstrike Blast booster packs just for participating in Konami’s Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series.

Aside from the YCS there will be events through the weekend including: Public Regional Qualifiers, Tin Challenges, ATTACK OF THE GIANT CARD!!, Win-A-Mat, Dragon Duel and a tournament for the newest video game, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s World Championship 2010 Reverse of Arcadia. The top Duelist in the video game tournament will win ten booster packs.

Prize cards will be awarded to the main winner, the two runners-up, and the winners of Sunday’s Public Events playoffs. Each of these Duelists will receive one copy of each of the three YCS prize cards: Ultra Rare versions for the winner of the main event, and Super Rare copies for the others.
Prizing Information:

• 1st place – Set of Ultra Rare YCS Prize Cards; Trophy; Paid travel to their World Championship Qualifier (if underage, then winner and guardian) or a local-market YCS (flight and accommodations) if the Duelist has already won an earlier YCS in the current year; YCS Game Mat; Netbook plus 500 BoosterPass Points for Yu-Gi-Oh! Online Duel Accelerator; and an invite to their 2011 World Championship Qualifier
• 2nd place – Set of Super Rare YCS Prize Cards; iPad Wi-Fi 32 GB; Konami iPad game codes to be used on the iPad; YCS Game Mat; and an invite to their 2011 World Championship Qualifier
• 3rd place – Set of Super Rare YCS Prize Cards; 32GB iPod Touch; Konami iPhone game codes to be used on the iPod Touch; YCS Game Mat; and an invite to their 2011 World Championship Qualifier
• 4th place –32GB iPod Touch; Konami iPhone game codes to be used on the iPod Touch; YCS Game Mat; and an invite to their 2011 World Championship Qualifier
• 5th – 8th place – DSi XL with Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s World Championship 2010 Reverse of Arcadia ; YCS Game Mat; and an invite to their 2011 World Championship Qualifier
• 9th – 16th place – 24 booster packs of Duelist Revolution; Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s World Championship 2010 Reverse of Arcadia; YCS Game Mat; and an invite to their 2011 World Championship Qualifier
• And If attendance exceeds 513 Duelists:
• 17th – 32nd place – YCS Game Mat and an invite to their 2011 World Championship Qualifier

Duelists unable to participate in the Atlanta event can watch livecoverage of the event online, provided by Konami staff at www.yugioh-card.com/en/events.

Who knew that protective card sleeves were so important? I play TCGs and don’t have a single one in a protective sleeve. But maybe if the sleeves were as cool as the ones Konami made for their Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game.

The sleeves help you protect your cards from damage. In the heat of battle, anything can happen. Duelists can get upset in defeat and lash out and you want to make sure your card doesn’t get ripped.

On September 14th, the 50 sleeve pack will be available. The cost is $3.99. A small price to pay for perfect fighting cards.

After 12 months of tournaments and hundreds of Qualifying events across the globe, 37 players, from 18 countries travelled to Long Beach, California, in the hopes to be crowned with the top Yu-Gi-Oh! honours of the year – the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game 2010 World Champion, or the Video Game 2010 World Champion.

It was an amazing weekend-long Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship event, with dramatic Duels and roller coasters of emotions. But the congratulations this year go to Galileo De Obaldia from Panama, who played his final card to defeat Vincent Paglia from Las Vegas, NV, and is now the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game 2010 World Champion.

Heading into the Final Round Sunday, all eyes were upon 21-year-old De Obaldia and 18-year-old Paglia, as they brought their cards to the table. De Obaldia started with a Cold Wave card from his FROG One-Turn-Kill Deck and Paglia activated Royal Oppression and  Mask of Restrict cards from his Blackwing Deck.  Well into the match, it was still unclear who was going to take home the top prize but in the final minutes it was Galileo De Obaldia’s unwavering skill and strategy that helped him to prevail and to capture the title of 2010 World Champion.

The Yu-Gi-Oh! Video Game World Championship was also held at the same time, pitting world-class Duelists from around the globe on the center stage. Competitors have battled for months, to make it to the World Championship event, with only twelve players skilled enough to earn a trip to the Championship. After seven rounds of playing Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s World Championship 2010: Reverse of Arcadia it was Arturo Oviedo from Spain that proved to possess the unwavering skills and strategic moves that lead him down the winning path and ultimately to be crowned the Video Game 2010 World Champion.

Congratulations to all of the finalists, and of course to Obaldia and Oviedo for their hard work to become the 2010 World Champions!

If you read Hobby Angels, you probably know that Gen Con Indy is just around the corner. @Cherithe will be at the convention for GamingAngels. Make sure you say hi if you see her!

In between Larping and role playing, you can check out the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game and the latest products. There are even demos that can teach you how to be a Yu-Gi-Oh! master.

“Every year as the calendar turns to August we know the best four days of each Summer will be spent in Indianapolis,” commented Yumi Hoashi, vice president of Card Business for Konami Digital Entertainment. “This year Konami Digital Entertainment is giving attendees a chance to preview our upcoming booster set – Duelist Revolution – at a Sneak Peek on Sunday, two weeks before the general public can purchase it. Duelists will also have the opportunity to have their very own personalized Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG token card made – the perfect way to remember Gen Con 2010.”

I’ve already made my token card and you should definitely make one of your own. Here is mine, what pose would you use?

The new 100-card booster set will have all new Unicorn, Scrap, Amazoness, and Fusion Monsters – including Yusei’s 3200 ATK Dragon Knight Draco-Equiste.  Duelist Revolution also includes many cards that work great with the cards from other recent sets like Hidden Arsenal 2 and Gold Series 3! Every Duelist will receive a limited edition Ultra Rare participation card and have the chance to win an exclusive Duelist Revolution Game Mat.

For those attending the preview events, Konami have created kits specifically for store owners hosting the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG sneak peek events. Each kit includes support for 16 players:

• 80 Duelist Revolution booster packs
• 16 Ultra Rare participation cards
• Two Game Mats
• 16 Info Cards for players

Head on over to www.yugioh-card.com for more information.

And this set is truly a sweet little arsenal for Yu-Gi-Oh! fans. For starters, it boasts the negation power of the first of the Naturia monsters, “Naturia Beast” (this sweet little beast can cancel your opponent’s Spell Cards at will!), and duelists will be able to add more Naturia Monsters to their decks with the upcoming Duelist Revolution and Starstrike Blast booster sets.

However, Hidden Arsenals 2 also packs a bit of attack power with “Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier”, a powerful ally of Hidden Arsenal’s popular “Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier”.

It will also include monsters from nine different deck types, including the new “Jurrac” dinosaurs and “Fabled” fiend monsters, and new Allies of Justice, including “Ally of Justice Field Marshall”.

Hidden Arsenal 2 is a 60-card set, with 20 Secret Rare and 40 Super Rare cards. Each pack (MSRP $3.99) will contain one Secret Rare and four Super Rare foil cards.

Head on over to www.yugioh-card.com for more information.

After Magic: The Gathering having its Pro Tournament in late May, fans of the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game will have their chance to duel for gold at the Canadian World Championship Qualifier 2010. Konami Digital Entertainment will be holding this event in the International Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, on June 26 and 27. 

Duelists who have travelled from across Canada will join together for two days of intense competition, with each player hoping to go home with the coveted title of Canadian National Champion and the opportunity to compete at the World Championship event in August.

For Duelists looking for more action beyond the head-to-head preliminary rounds and for those players just learning the game, the Canada World Championship Qualifier will also offer exciting Yu-Gi-Oh! public events on Saturday and Sunday, including Win-A-Mat tournaments, Go For the Gold events, and Attack of the Giant Card. The championship is even encouraging our younger Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelists to come and play, with Dragon Duel tournaments for Duelists aged 12 and under.  The event will also showcase the 2011 Regional Qualifier tournaments on Sunday.

Head on up to the International Centre’s Orion Ballroom (900 Airport Road, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L4V 1E8) on June 26 for the Last Chance Regional Qualifier, and June 27 for the World Championship Qualifier.

Entry into the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG World Championship Qualifier 2010 is free for Duelists who have qualified for the event through official KDE Regional Qualifiers or with a top finish at a Shonen Jump Championship or Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series event.

Head on over to www.yugioh-card.com for more information.

Both players put everything they had into their final match which came down to the wire, something not uncommon in professional tournaments. Cheering fans, friends, and family members watched the intense battle. In the end, Jones’ Quickdraw Dandywarrior deck won over Lainez’s Gadget deck.

Jones and his peers took home prize packages including the Dark End Dragon prize card, an event-exclusive game mat, a 64 GB music player (complete with docking station and speakers), a netbook, and other things. Can we say I’m jealous? On top of all that, Jones received a complimentary subscription to the popular Shonen Jump magazine and will be doing an interview for feature on shonenjump.com. He also gets a paid trip to the National Championship this year, courtesy of Konami.

Duelists can now turn to the upcoming Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series (the new name for the Shonen Jump Championship) at the Dulles Expo and Conference Center in Northern Virgina on May 15-16. Good luck to all new players, and congratulations again to Jones for his victory.

This set features his most famous (and infamous) cards for a grand total of 40 to collect. That also makes this the largest Duelist Pack to date. It will feature a new Blue-Eyes White Dragon effect monster as well as five Ultimate Rare versions of his most forbidden cards like Pot of Greed and Cyber Jar. Some of these cards even feature brand-new art, like the XYZ-Dragon Cannon and Vorse Raider.

If that wasn’t enough to give you an edge, two of the biggest monsters ever created in the game, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and Dragon Master Knight, have been included. Players will have the chance to get popular but rare cards like Fiend’s Sanctuary. Each pack will contain a tip card to help you re-live some of Kaiba’s greatest moments in dueling.

Again, this Duelist Pack will be released April 20th and sell for about $2.