750 YCS
Los Angeles, Bogota, and London. Three great locations for three great events. Almost 8,000 players attended these events, making for one great feeling of unity among the community as a whole. The one where I and most Europeans gathered was obviously the London YCS. The accessibility of this location (even if you had to deal with the Brexit fallout) meant that a staggering 3,600 players showed up to this event. Not only was it the biggest event to ever take place in Europe, it's the second largest YCS of all time. Granted, it will forever be hard to beat YCS Long Beach 2012, with its enormous 4,364 participants.
The sheer amount of people at the event gave me a feeling of pride. Looking through the archives at past attendance numbers really shows how the game is more popular than ever. Constant growth year after year, culminating in a record-breaking show this year. The vice-president of Konami even showed up to give a short speech!
We're still recovering from the COVID pandemic and getting back into a routine, and these sorts of events really make me happy it's all behind us. Just think back to the 225th YCS in Rio de Janeiro, which was canceled the day before because of the pandemic. We've really come a long way.
YCS London
Being in London during that weekend was truly one of the experiences of all time. Even with its massive 8.9 million inhabitants, you would commonly run into the 4,000 people who were there just for the YCS. It was a very Battle City–esque feeling, where no matter where you looked, you'd find a Yu-Gi-Oh! player. The event itself was amazing, London ExCeL is a great venue, with lots of space and easy access to services, on top of hotels all around it.
And space they needed, as on Friday the lines were massive. Konami booked three halls for the YCS, one of them dedicated entirely for lines and security checks, which really helped make the event not feel clogged. Can't say the same about the entry prizing line though, as that one was super slow and took me an hour to get my mat. But what can you expect from that many people all going for mats and coins at the same time?
But the event wasn't just lines, it was the place to be if you love the game. Big shots of the community like MBT, Dzeeff, and the Twitter people were there, not to mention Farfa in commentary. Cosplayers, pro players, a dedicated trading area, meeting your friends from everywhere around the continent, all came together to make it an intoxicating experience.
There were also a lot of vendors, eight in total if I recall correctly. The biggest shops in Europe where there charging you £35 for a common
That's all fine and dandy, but what about the game? Well, let me tell you, there were so many side events. Goat, Edison, Attack of the Giant Card, 3v3, Regionals, double-ups, Speed Duel, Master Duel, Tag Duel, Dragon Duel, Pokémon Duel … Okay, not that last one, but you get the picture. You could play the game in any possible manner you desired. Now, I think we don't have information about the specific number of these events that took place, but going off the data from the Los Angeles YCS, we can assume around 400 individual side events. That's just crazy.
The Main Event
Twelve rounds. Top 64. Two days. One winner. The YCS experience is one like no other. Everyone is fighting for it, trying to claw their way into the top cut. And you're just one small piece of it all. The main event ran amazingly—is what I'd love to say if it hadn't been for a huge delay at the start of round one. Some tech error on Konami's side caused a lot of players not to get pairings until way too late. Thus, a lot of players, myself included, were met with a bye in the first round. Roughly the same amount that were met with a guaranteed loss. Yes, it sucked, but the day still moved forward.
After the usual delays of round one, everything was as smooth as you'd want it to be—a big change from the 23:30 end time of the European Championship. Kudos to Konami for pushing round timers to 45 minutes and managing to make everything run like clockwork. The policy change that players now have to report their results within five minutes or face a double loss has been very welcome.
Now allow me to gloat for a bit, if you don't mind. This writer right here went 8-1 on Day 1, finishing tenth overnight. I'm super happy with my results (even if I went 8-0 into 8-3 and dropped, but oh well). Let me tell you, It was one of the greatest experiences a player can go through. Grinding it out, until eventually the game just clicks. Trust me, you might be struggling now, but you'll get better, we all do.
The Format
Now for my main issue regarding these events: the format. The current format sucks, let's not beat around the bush. There are too many decks doing too many different things. Yes, variety is cool and all, but there is a point where there's too much of it. It really feels like the last nationals format, where you had to deal with several completely different game plans, and simply could not do it. You have limited room for options, and sometimes you'll just be blown out. It's a "bomb" format, where decks need to play explosive, powerful cards that you simply can't play around. Do you do a smaller Kashtira combo to play around
And while the Kashtira lock five combo is not a real issue, since most players are just going for
And sadly this is not likely to change. With Cyberstorm Access joining the format, we see a lot more of it. The Superheavy Samurai engine is one of the reasons why. The Branded support is one of the reasons why. The new Purrelys is one of the reasons why. Yeah, expect to see a lot more
For closure, I want to encourage everyone to attend premiere events. They're what this game is all about. Meeting people, having fun, playing Yu-Gi-Oh!, it's all there. And I know it might seem daunting at first for a lot of players, but trust me, It's one of the best experiences you can have playing this weird Japanese card game.
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, not of Cardmarket.