The Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series Celebrates its 200th Event in Mexico City, Utrecht, and Columbus

Weekend's Events Include Dragon Duel Tournament for Younger Players

El Segundo, Calif. (May 8, 2018) – It's Time to Duel around the world! Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. (KONAMI) is celebrating its 200th Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series (YCS) simultaneously in Mexico, the Netherlands, and the United States on September 22 – 23. It all began back in 2004 at the first-ever premier event in Anaheim, California. Ever since the first premier event back in 2004, the YCS has been making its journey around the globe. To ensure every region gets a chance to join the fun, three events will be held concurrently across different territories memorializing the weekend as a worldwide celebration. For North America, the YCS will journey to Columbus, Ohio to kick off the new Dueling season hot off the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME 2018 World Championship.

The Greater Columbus Convention Center is no stranger to the YCS, having housed some of the most action-packed premier events in history. You can expect Duelists to come equipped with the latest and greatest strategies all vying for victory, but everyone from novices to veterans will be in attendance to celebrate the 200th YCS and join the festivities. As a perk for entering the event, all Duelists and Dragon Duelists who have submitted their registration form, entry fee, and valid, legal Deck List will receive an exclusive Participation Game Mat to commemorate the 200th celebration, while supplies last.

After two days of Dueling action, a single Duelist from each region will emerge as 200th YCS Champions, earning paid travel and accommodations to their 2019 World Championship Qualifier (WCQ)! The winners of the 200th YCS main events will claim the first ever Ultra Rare copies of the brand-new YCS Prize Card, while 2nd and 3rd place finishers will take home Super Rare variants. The Top 2 finishers will also win exclusive YCS-branded Premium Messenger Bags, and the entire Top 8 go home with high-end PlayStation®4 gaming systems. Everyone in the Top 32 will receive exclusive 200th YCS Top Cut Game Mats featuring the new YCS Prize Card, available only to those with Top Cut success at 200th YCS events, as well as World Qualifying Points, Ultimate Duelist Series Points, and invitations to their respective WCQ tournaments.

Pre-registration for the 200th YCS Columbus will run from 3 p.m. - 7 p.m. on Friday, September 21. All Duelists who pre-register and turn in their valid Deck list on Friday will receive a new Yu-Gi-Oh! branded Attribute Dice, branded with the 200th YCS logo. Registration will reopen at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday September 22, continuing to 9:45 a.m, with Round 1 beginning promptly at 10 a.m. All Duelists will receive five booster packs of Cybernetic Horizon upon registering. The 200th YCS Columbus main event tournament will be played in the Constructed Advanced Format.

Event Address:
Greater Columbus Convention Center
400 N. High Street, Exhibit Hall D
Columbus, OH 43215
http://www.columbusconventions.com/

Two Dragon Duel tournaments will be held at the 200th YCS Columbus for Duelists born 2006 or later on September 22 and 23; these Saturday and Sunday tournaments will be sealed using Battle Pack: Epic Dawn, where each Duelist is given ten sealed Battle Packs to make a new Deck.

On Sunday afternoon, the Dragon Duelist that finishes 1st on Saturday will compete against the 1st place Dragon Duelist from Sunday, in a best 2-out-of-3 match using their own Constructed Deck built for Advanced Format rules. The winner of that match will take home a Dragon Duel Championship Trophy and claim the title of the 200th YCS Columbus Dragon Duel Champion!

An array of Public Events will run all weekend long, including 2019 Regional Qualifiers; Ultimate Duelist Series Qualifiers; 3 vs. 3 Team Dueling; two ATTACK OF THE GIANT CARD!! events; Win-A-Mat; an Ultimate Pegasus Challenge featuring the voice of Maximillion Pegasus himself, Darren Dunstan; Sealed Structure Deck, Battle City, Yu-Gi-Oh! Day, and Duelist League, as well as the Yu-Gi-Oh! School Tournament Series.

In addition to Public Events, there will be a host of other activities for Duelists to participate in. The popular Token Booth returns, giving attendees the chance to be photographed and green-screened into a Custom Token Card! In addition, Darren Dunstan, the voice actor of Maximillion Pegasus from the Yu-Gi-Oh! TV series, will be in attendance to meet with fans during scheduled autograph sessions. Duelists can challenge other players with a Mega Duel! Played with life-sized game mats and giant cards, Mega-Duels challenge teams of Duelists to work together and compete against opposing groups.

200th YCS Columbus Prizing Information:

• 1st place – Ultra Rare Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series Prize Card; Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series Trophy; paid travel and accommodations to the winner's 2019 World Championship Qualifier, with invite to compete and VIP status; YCS-branded Premium Messenger Bag; PlayStation®4 Pro 1 TB system; Exclusive 200th Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series Top Cut Game Mat; and 30 Ultimate Duelist Series Points.

• 2nd place – Super Rare Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series Prize Card; invite to the 2019 World Championship Qualifier tournament; YCS-branded Premium Messenger Bag; PlayStation®4 Pro 1 TB system; Exclusive 200th Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series Top Cut Game Mat; and 10 Ultimate Duelist Series Points.

• 3rd place – Super Rare Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series Prize Card; invite to the 2019 World Championship Qualifier tournament; PlayStation®4 Pro 1 TB system; Exclusive 200th Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series Top Cut Game Mat; and 10 Ultimate Duelist Series Points.

• 4th place – Invite to the 2019 World Championship Qualifier tournament; PlayStation®4 Pro 1 TB system; Exclusive 200th Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series Top Cut Game Mat; and 10 Ultimate Duelist Series Points.

• 5th – 8th place – Invite to the 2019 World Championship Qualifier tournament; PlayStation 4 500GB system; Exclusive 200th Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series Top Cut Game Mat; and 10 Ultimate Duelist Series Points.

• 9th – 16th place – Invite to the 2019 World Championship Qualifier tournament; 24 Booster Packs of Cybernetic Horizon; Exclusive 200th Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series Top Cut Game Mat; and 10 Ultimate Duelist Series Points.

• 17th – 32nd place – Invite to the 2019 World Championship Qualifier tournament; 12 Booster Packs of Cybernetic Horizon; Exclusive 200th Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series Top Cut Game Mat; and 10 Ultimate Duelist Series Points.

Players that make the Top Cut at the YCS will also be awarded World Qualifying Points based on standings.

200th YCS Columbus Dragon Duel Prizing Information:

• 1st – 4th place –2019 Regional Game Mat; Dragon Duel Medal; and a Dragon Duel T-Shirt.

All Participants will receive:

• 200th Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series Participation Game Mat; 5 booster packs of Cybernetic Horizon.

Duelists can now watch episodes of the exciting new Yu-Gi-Oh! animated series, Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS, available subtitled on Crunchyroll. The series will be simulcast with a new episode available one hour after it is broadcast in Japan, at 6:25AM EST (Simulcast currently available in the US and Latin America). Watch here: http://www.Crunchyroll.com/Yu-Gi-Oh!-vrains!

Additionally, Duelists can watch a new episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V every Saturday on Nicktoons - check local listings for times. In addition, all-new Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal episodes every Tuesday as well as all of classic Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, and Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's can be seen on www.yugioh.com in the United States. In Canada, Duelists can watch episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V every Friday and Saturday on Teletoon! For more information on KONAMI or the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME, please visit www.yugioh-card.com or call 310-220-8630 to speak directly with a Yu-Gi-Oh! customer support team member.

About The Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG
The Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME is the #1 trading card game in the world with over 25 billion cards sold. It is a game of strategy, where players create individual Decks of cards collected from Structure Decks and Booster Packs. Two players engage in a Duel while using cards that represent powerful monsters, magical Spells and surprising Traps. Duelists with well-constructed Decks, dominating monsters, solid strategy and good fortune are the victors in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. is the exclusive licensee and rights holder to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG in North America and Latin America.

About KONAMI
KONAMI is a leading developer, publisher and manufacturer of electronic entertainment properties and traditional trading card games. KONAMI's software titles include the popular franchises Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, DanceDanceRevolution and Castlevania, among other top sellers. KONAMI is also the manufacturer of the wildly popular Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME, which has sold more than 25 billion cards worldwide. The latest information about KONAMI can be found on the Web at www.Konami.com. KONAMI HOLDINGS CORPORATION is a publicly traded company based in Tokyo, Japan with subsidiaries, Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. in Tokyo, Japan, Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. in the United States and Konami Digital Entertainment B.V. in Windsor, the United Kingdom. Details of the products published by KONAMI can be found at www.Konami.com.