Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship In Berlin: When T-shirt Colors Are More Important Than Duels

2023 Author: Sheila Hailey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-26 15:18

We were invited by Konami and were able to look over the players' shoulders all weekend. At first glance, it became immediately clear: Salamangreat cards are one of the most popular deck topics. They can be found in all decks in the upper league. This also ran through the three different game modes: Dragon Duel, Duel Links and WCS. Duel Links stands out a little, because here the duelists compete against each other on the PC. In the game, they have already unlocked all the important cards at home and put their decks together virtually.

In order to bring a certain fairness to the competition, the duelists of the other modes are divided into two groups, according to their age. The younger players are all born at least in 2002 and therefore in the Dragon Duel. Older players slide into the general WCS mode, which has no upper limit. So if you always lose to your great grandma, just register for the 2020 World Cup.

The day before the grand finale was quiet. Since there were hardly any people present apart from the families of the players, there was almost silence during the duels in the semifinals. Every now and then you could hear a cube rolling and hear cheers from the winners. There was a separate room for each game mode, in which the candidates competed against each other and collected points so that they could be on the big stage in the final the following day.

In order for everything to run correctly, referees wandered between the rows. However, they had another, particularly important task: Since the players come from all over the world, communication problems can arise from time to time. Experienced duelists usually know most cards, but in rare cases there is uncertainty about certain effects. If the language barrier is added, the referees can help.

Charly likes the color purple

After the first duels on Saturday afternoon, we met Charly Futch III, who came with his proud family from the USA. As the mother and son reported, the trip alone is a great adventure and a lot of fun. They are all excited - even though it is not their first time! Charly has previously participated in the World Cup.

Last time Charly was a bit younger and eligible to compete in the Dragon Duel. There he was considered one of the oldest and won the 2018 World Cup. However, he is now a year older and therefore slips into the regular WCS league, away from the younger players. Here the duelist first had to get used to it.

During the conversation with Charly, the young player made it clear that the player level has increased significantly and that the duels are now really harder. You could really see his tension. No wonder, in its current discipline it is now one of the youngest and has to prove itself as a Dragon Duel Champion last year with the big ones.

In addition to Yu-Gi-Oh! Magic: The Gathering is also particularly popular in Germany. There are various competitions and video game spin-offs for this game.

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We assumed that Charly especially missed the duels against younger players. Finally, it was much easier for him to win there, as he reports. But the duels are actually not the main reason why he wants to go back to the Dragon Duels. His answer to our question was much simpler and more honest:

While the younger Dragon Duel players wear a purple shirt with the Yu-Gi-Oh! Champion chip logo, the WCS duelists get a red top. So it is immediately clear who belongs in which league. However, Charly doesn't really like his new color and he would go back to the younger duelists mainly because of the purple top. That he would also have better chances there is obviously just a nice addition.

During the course of the World Cup weekend, Charly from America unfortunately had to give up. Although he was presented on stage with all the players on Sunday, the former Dragon Duel World Champion was not in this year's final. But the young player does not give up: next year he will be more experienced and will no longer be among the newcomers in this category. There is no question that he will try again in 2020.