The road to the Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship is underway. Duelists from all over the world are competing for a chance to earn glory and respect in this game across various mediums.
Last weekend (March 15th to 16th) the Team Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series (YCS) was held in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Nevada. Much to the chagrin of many, the event was celebrated not with enthusiasm but with a little despondency.
As far as we know
Unlike many events in the Trading Card Game (TCG) world, the Las Vegas YCS was shrouded in a mysterious fog of war. As far as we can tell, it was a Team YCS with over a thousand players divided into teams of three.
Thanks to the avid community over at YGOPROdeck, we were able to catch a glimpse of the top-performing decks of the tournament. That still begs the question as to why there was a lack of coverage of the duels being played.
Even after the weekend of the tournament, content creators are now trying to pick up Konami's slack. Rather than producing their usual content, some content creators are showcasing deck provides from the YCS to make up for the lack of official coverage.
Even for the most unseasoned player, this lack of coverage is questionable at the very least. It just doesn't make sense that Konami wouldn't want to advertise or promote an event like this at all. Sure, the prizing might not be amazing, but it's still a major event on the competitive calendar.
Lackluster Prize
It’s been no secret that Yu-Gi-Oh! has had a rather contentious prize pool throughout its history; from unusable or paltry prize cards like Victory Dragon to even an Air Fryer. There is a general sense of disappointment for people competing and winning these events.
Unfortunately, YCS Las Vegas 2025 was no different. One of the tournament's winners, Jesse Kotton, was so miffed at the lackluster prizing, that the purposefully left it at the event.
Jesse, on social media, posted a picture of leaving their prize on a table at an event. Unsurprisingly, this was eventually claimed by another tournament attendee. The prize itself features a couple of Ultra Rares, which is definitely disappointing. These cards aren't even Quarter Century Secret Rares that can fetch some value from the second-hand market. While these cards were framed, this hardly feels like a fitting prize.
There is a small sentiment of hope that Kotton's actions should express to Konami how poorly they’ve handled Yu-Gi-Oh’s prize system. That even their most dedicated and skilled players are disappointed enough to leave it at a tournament venue speaks volumes, after all.
The responses to this action ranged from apathetic acceptance that Konami probably doesn’t care enough for its player base to lighthearted jokes about Kotton littering the venue.
By comparison, tournament winners in rival Trading Card Games (TCGs) like Magic: The Gathering or Pokémon enjoy a prize pool that includes actual money. Something that the players can re-invest into the game or elsewhere in their lives.
In the case of the Pokémon TCG, tournament winners under the age of 18 can even choose to have their prize awarded in the form of a scholarship or even as a prepaid visa card.
Road to Tier 0
Thanks to online communities like the aforementioned YGOPROdeck or Yu-Gi-Oh! Meta, we’re able to keep track of the progress of these tournaments and the performances of the archetypes players choose to bring to the table.
So far, the top spot for most representation usually falls to the Ryzeal or Maliss archetype. In recent weeks, from YCS Orlando to YCS Birmingham to YCS Sydney, there has been a strong representation of Ryzeal decks.
The term ‘Tier 0’ has always been a familiar one within the Yu-Gi-Oh! community. This moniker is usually reserved for decks able to cross a representation threshold at the top cuts of organized tournaments. Now, after YCS Las Vegas, Ryzeal has been able to reach beyond that 65% representation threshold.
Clocking in at a rough 66% representation, out of 48 duelists in the top 64, 32 players were using the Ryzeal archetype.
Now this is just the one of many tournaments on the road to the World Championships. And while it’s far from a concrete acceptance of being called ‘Tier 0’, it’s hard to deny that Ryzeal may just make it to that elite status and can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Zoodiacs back in their heyday.