Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series dates first in-person tournament for TCG in over two years
Event to return next month following multiple cancellations due to COVID-19.
The first in-person event for Yu-Gi-Oh!’s Championship Series in more than two years will take place next month, following the tournament’s cancellation and delay due to COVID-19.
The YCS event due to be held in Charlotte, North Carolina on April 9th and 10th will be the first Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series tournament to take place in person since February 2020.
As well as the central tournament for the physical trading card game, the Charlotte YCS will see the introduction of competitions for the game’s recently-released digital app, Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel. The winner of the main tournament will pick up a Duel Dragon card, Ultra Rare Duel Link Dragon and a trophy, as well as the chance to compete at later pro tournaments.
The Championship Series serves as a run-up to the Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championships, with regional winners from various city events going on to qualify for their respective national championships. Victory at the nationals grants access to continental-level competitions, which ultimately feed into the prestigious World Championships held each year.
Both the 2020 and 2021 Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championships were cancelled by publisher Konami due to health and safety concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, with a series of online Remote Duels replacing in-person gatherings for the card game and its digital spin-off Duel Links.
In-person events for the Championship Series were originally due to return in January 2022 with a tournament in Utrecht, The Netherlands, before the event was also cancelled “in light of the rising number of cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, and the restrictions imposed within the Netherlands”.
US Championship Series tournaments scheduled to take place in Pasadena in mid-January and Las Vegas on February 26th and 27th were similarly replaced by online Remote Duel YCS, with Konami citing similar concerns around large gatherings and the Omicron variant. Those who registered for the Pasadena and Las Vegas events were granted early registration for the Charlotte tournament.
The Charlotte event will be followed by YCS tournaments in Colombia capital Bogota from April 23rd to 24th and the Mexican city of Guadalajara between April 30th and May 1st.
Konami previously announced its health and safety policy for in-person YCS events, requiring attendees to show proof of full up-to-date vaccination against COVID-19 - or a negative COVID-19 test taken within the last 24 hours for those with proven medical exemption from the vaccine. Face masks will also be mandatory throughout the multi-day events.