It was finally Time to Duel!
On Saturday, Nov.16, Yu-Gi-Oh! fans competed against each other at the Albuquerque Convention Center during the 2019 Yu-Gi-Oh! regional qualifiers.
Hosted by Core TCG, this was the first officially sanctioned Yu-Gi-Oh! event in Albuquerque since 2008.
The event was held in the upper floor of the convention center. Inside, many tables were set up where players would throw down their cards and play the game competitively.
At the event, there were 72 spots at which players were able to play, with two players at each spot — 65 of them were in use during this event. Each round was 40 minutes in length, with a 15-minute overtime allotted for players whose games went over the time limit.
The event went on for eight rounds of swiss. Swiss is a type of event in which players who are playing well are paired with other players that are also playing well. It is based on a point system in which a win equals one point, a draw equals half a point and a loss gives zero points.
In this case, players with one point then faced each other, players with half a point faced each other and players with zero points then faced each other.
Between the rounds, socialization, trading and general interaction between the players occurred — that is, until the next round began.
The event invited players to the Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series (YCS), which is a high-level tournament from Konami — the company that makes the game. Only the top 16 individuals after eight rounds of swiss were able to claim these invitations. This was one of the goals of the event.
According to some of the players, the event was small in comparison to previous regionals they had attended. Some said this was due to a YCS taking place next week, making this event less appealing.
There was a booth from Core TCG at the event where players could buy products, cards and play against a member of their team. There were also official sponsored events from Konami. One event pitted the player against a member of their team and, if they were able to defeat the member, they would obtain a mat on which to play the game.
Spencer Butler is a sports reporter at the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @SpencerButler48
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