Overview
It's that time of the year again, folks! The most important event for competitive Yu-Gi-Oh, both for the TCG and the OCG. The World Championships, where the best of the best from both card games duke it out to see who will become the World Champion! Qualifying for this prestigious tournament is no easy feat, as one has to receive an Invite to their respective National event (usually received by performing well enough at Regional Qualifiers) and then be one of the very few who win their continent's Playoffs or WCQs, with the latter having thousands of people vying for the spot. The former is from a smaller pool of duelists, as being invited to Playoffs is a much harder task. Duelists who have gathered enough Worlds points (Top 16 per continent) get to play in a special elimination tournament. The rules for each playoffs tend to differ (NA had single elims, EU had Swiss), but the core idea remains the same.
Julien Kehon won last year with K9 Vanquish Soul! Once again, he's back and is going to see if he can defend his title. Before we introduce our duelists, let's talk about some important distinctions the tournament will have.
Spot the Difference
As per usual, the Worlds format combines the harshest hits from both the current TCG and OCG Forbidden and Limited lists; this results in some strange mixes that duelists will have to navigate carefully. For example, Maxx "C" is not allowed because it is Forbidden in the TCG. Our favorite outlaw Diabellstar the Black Witch will be slightly harder to get access to
for the Azamina/Spellcaster Link package enthusiasts, as WANTED: Seeker of Sinful Spoils is limited in the OCG; therefore, the Worlds Banlist only permits 1 copy to be played in the deck. Likewise, she herself is semi-limited. Cards that have not been released to all regions yet, such as Pair Bear Scare!! (unavailable in both China and Korea) are also not allowed in the tournament.
Maliss has been effectively asked to leave the Worlds venue, as Red Ransom is banned in the OCG and White Binder is banned in the TCG. Mitsurugi, while not fully out of the equation, takes two harsh hits as both Pre-Preparation of Rites and Mitsurugi Prayers are limited in the OCG to go alongside TCG's 1 Ame no Habakiri no Mitsurugi. Kewl Tune is in a slightly rougher spot as Kewl Tune Rotary is Limited and Kewl Tune Synchro is at 2 copies, but should still be a playable deck going into the format.
As for the major non-engine hits, Called by the Grave will no longer be swinging games this tournament, and Droll & Lock Bird is currently limited to 1 copy per deck. Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, Dominus Impulse, and Super Polymerization won't be seen as frequently, but 2 copies still means they'll be around a decent amount of the time.
Without further ado, shall we check the competition this time around?
Kobayashi Ryohei
Some duelists rise through sudden bursts of glory, but Kobayashi Ryohei has always taken a path defined by persistence, patience, and precision. Long known for his calm presence and unwavering focus, he built his reputation as one of the most dependable competitors in Japan, which previously paid off with a stellar Top 4 finish at the Japan Championship 2025. This year, however, Kobayashi completely elevated his legacy by mastering the current meta with an extraordinary Toon deck. His flawless technical play carried him all the way to the absolute summit, capturing the Top 1 spot at the Yu-Gi-Oh! Japan Championship 2026 and heading to Worlds as the reigning King of Japan. It's definitely a mystery on what he will be using for the tournament, as the Toon cards are not legal going into the World Championships.
Qualified via: Japan Championship 2026 (Winner)
Deck used: Toon
Mario De Micco
In 2024, Mario, also known online as DernierMatch, brought his famous Tenpai Dragon strategy to YCS Lille and ended up in the Top 4 seemingly out of nowhere. This was the start of this Canadian duelist’s incredible rise to one of the most consistently topping players of the last three years. In just two months since his first appearance, he made Top 4 in two other premier events (Bologna and Niagara Falls) and won the North American Remote Duel YCS, all with flaming majhong dragons! Ever since then, he's gathered an impressive amount of both regional and premier event tops for such a short time, even getting Top 8 in last year’s NAWCQ with Onomat Ryzeal. In 2026, he was the runner-up at the 300th YCS Richmond with K9 Vanquish Soul. With a total of 9 YCS Tops in his short time in competitive play, Mario is ready to take on the World Championship and test his skills! He essentially qualified for the event twice by first winning the NAWCQ Points Playoffs and then achieving Top 4 in the main event, piloting Kewl Tune throughout. As his topping history shows, Mario can bring about any deck of his choice to the top tables. Whatever he brings to the World Championship, we know he’s bound to impress!
Qualified via: North America Worlds Points Playoffs (Top 2)
Deck used: Kewl Tune
Ha Dong-Won
While many duelists swap strategies based on monthly trends, Ha Dong-Won's journey to the top is a testament to the power of pure deck loyalty and mastery. A familiar face in the South Korean competitive circuit, Ha built his reputation as a dominant force by consistently sweeping top local tournaments, including 1923CS and HSCS. Throughout his local runs, he spent countless hours refining and piloting his signature Maliss deck, developing an unrivaled fluidity and deep technical understanding of its lines. That dedication reached its absolute peak at the WCQ Korea Final 2026. Demonstrating masterclass execution with Maliss, Ha outplayed the nation's best players to capture the ultimate crown, Top 1 at the WCQ Korea Final 2026, officially punching his ticket to represent South Korea on the World Championship stage. Because Maliss is practically unusable for the World Championships, Ha Dong-Won will have to bring a different strategy going into the event. Regardless, we're sure that he'll still be able to do well.
Qualified via: Korea WCQ 2026 (Winner)
Deck used: Maliss
Jerry Zhang
Jerry Zhang is one of Australia's newest competitive duelists, as he only started getting into the TCG when Age of Overlord came out. He had played Master Duel before with his friends, notably enjoying Plant Link, the famous deck that Jessica Robinson helped popularize (60 cards with Therion, Rikka, Sunavalon, Ragnaraika, and other Plant support). Zhang has garnered a few regional tops since then, and it's all thanks to the Australian Yu-Gi-Oh community being incredibly helpful, competitive, and supportive. During his regional stints, he made use of Maliss, a powerful Link-based strategy. Jerry has always leaned on the side of powerful and technical combo decks, and it definitely shows when we're talking about how he managed to qualify! Against all odds, he managed to secure his Worlds spot by winning the 2026 Oceanic Championships with a unique brew before everyone caught on, as this was early Chaos Origins Format: 60-card Fiendsmith Mitsurugi Yummy Light and Darkness Ritual! We'll have to wait and see if he brings a similar deck to the table, as the Worlds banlist has both Ame no Habakiri no Mitsurugi and Mitsurugi Prayers limited. He may pivot into the Azamina strategy and continue to play Mitsurugi cards due to how easily Skull Archfiend of Chaos gets to them, but it's too early to tell. Either way, don't count this very creative duelist out!
Qualified via: Oceanic WCQ 2026 (Winner)
Deck used: 60-card Fiendsmith Mitsurugi Yummy Light and Darkness Ritual
Andres Torres
The ”Branded King” of Colombia, Andres Torres, is one of the most historically accomplished players of Yu-Gi-Oh. He has a long list of premier tops under his belt, second only to Jesse Kotton from Canada. Andres has been a long-time player of the game since 2009, and one of the few with four YCS wins (Houston 2016, Mexico City 2018, Remote Duel SA 2021, Guadalajara 2022), and he is also a three-time Colombian Champion (2011, 2014-2015). Despite all of this, this will be his first time attending the World Championship after winning the 2026 South American Points Playoffs with Magistus Fairy Tail, a surprising deck choice for him given his history with Branded in the current format. He is primarily known for his love for the Branded deck, as well as using out-of-the-box cards and strategies to surprise his opponents, such as maining Fairy Tail - Snow in his SAWCQ 2026 topping Branded deck and his unique take on Fairy Tail in his Worlds qualifying list with Pair Bear Scare!! (which is unfortunately not legal going into the World Championships). The next day, he also finished Top 16 at the main event with his ol reliable Branded list. Though we all expect him to bring a new take on Branded, he might surprise us again with his swiftness in adapting to different strategies, as recently he's been trying out 60-card decks with the forgotten Horus engine, with Imsety, Glory of Horus, King's Sarcophagus and whatnot.
Qualified via: South America Worlds Qualifying Points Playoffs (Winner)
Deck used: Magistus Fairy Tail
Luka Kovac
Luka Kovac (reppin Team Gaming Metro) is one of Canada's most consistent top duelists out there! He started things off very strong with a couple of Pure Ryzeal regional tops at the height of that deck's popularity, borrowing great inspiration from esteemed duelist Steven Santoli. This allowed him a solid Top 64 placement at YCS Orlando and a Top 8 regional finish at the Toronto regionals. Once Justice Hunters (JUSH) entered the picture, that's when he really managed to pop off, topping 10 back-to-back events with Dracotail! That is an insane 8-regional run throughout Canada and North America + 2 YCSes to boot! (Top 16 YCS Pittsburgh, Top 32 YCS Anaheim).
Now, while many duelists at the time used Branded Dracotail, he made use of some underrated techs like Light End Sublimation Dragon and Dark End Evaporation Dragon to perform additional Fusion Summons that are resistant to Ash Blossom and access Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres, forgoing Branded Fusion and the Extra Deck package altogether. Spheres bouncing a face-up card and floating into Dracotail Mululu proved to be incredibly powerful and underutilized in the format. After his success with the deck, he put up impressive results with Kewl Tune, garnering enough points to qualify for this year's North America Worlds Qualifier Points Playoffs and swept it to earn his invite to the World Championships! Apparently that wasn't enough for our student duelist, as he also reached Top 8 at the Main event, which had 2060 invited duelists and one of the most brutal Swiss rounds to date this year!
Qualified via: North America Worlds Qualifying Points Playoffs (Top 2)
Deck used: Kewl Tune
Wang Chia Ching
Wang Chia Ching is a legendary name in the global Yu-Gi-Oh! scene, famously known as the 2018 World Champion (where he won with Trickstar), 2019 Runner-up, and a Top 8 finisher at Worlds 2024. This year, the Taiwanese veteran reminded everyone of his timeless mastery by putting on a masterclass performance in the OCG circuit. Piloting the innovative Kewl Tune deck with unmatched technical precision, he tore through the competition to capture the Top 1 spot at the Yu-Gi-Oh! Asia WCQ 2026. Returning to the grand stage as Asia's number one seed, all eyes will be on this former King to see if he can secure his second World Championship title. Wang Chia Ching is ready for his third run at the World Championships and is definitely a duelist to look out for!
Qualified via: Asia WCQ 2026 (Winner)
Deck used: Kewl Tune
Kosaka Kouki
The return of a King is always a headline event, and Kosaka Kouki has officially reclaimed his spot at the absolute pinnacle of the game. Famously crowned as the 2019 World Champion, a title he captured in legendary fashion piloting Salamangreat. Kouki's career is decorated with high-level accolades, including a Top 8 finish at the Japan Championship (JCS) 2023, alongside dominant runs at YCSJ Yokohama 2022 (Top 16) and YCSJ Osaka 2019 (Top 8). For the 2026 season, the former World Champion proved that his competitive drive burns as bright as ever by navigating through Japan's notoriously cutthroat tournament environment with the highly dynamic Kewl Tune deck as his weapon of choice. Showcasing the elite technical precision and calm composure that once made him the best in the world, he fought his way to a brilliant Top 8 finish at the Yu-Gi-Oh! Japan Championship 2026, officially punching his ticket back to the World Championship stage to show the new generation what a true champion is capable of.
Qualified via: Japan Championship 2026 (Top 8)
Deck used: Kewl Tune
Danilo Siracusa 
Danilo Siracusa is one of Italy's best duelists out there and he's been going strong ever since the pandemic days, having a long history of tops across formats! He's well known for his legendary run with Dracotail, topping 9 events back to back with the deck back in 2025 all the way to early 2026, even getting 2nd place at the 300th YCS in Dortmund. At first he was rather skeptical on the deck's effectiveness and was a heavy critic of the strategy, but managed to learn all of its intricacies to pilot it as a terrifying level. When the deck was heavily hit on the forbidden and limited list, he went into the EUWQPP with an under the radar strategy: Pure Invoked, which got support in Chaos Origins! With the power of Invoked Oceanus, Hyperinvoked Aeon, Invoked Mechaba, Invoked Raidjin, Invoked Caliga, and the rest of Aleister's companions, he went undefeated in the points playoffs to secure his worlds placement and fulfill one of his lifelong dreams! That's not all, as he even managed to get Top 8 in the Main Event too! We'll have to see whether or not he brings Invoked to the World Championships.
Qualified via: Europe Worlds Qualifying Points Playoffs (Winner)
Deck used: Invoked
Dillon Taylor
Dillon Taylor started getting into competitive at the height of Fiendsmith Yubel's popularity, which ignited his true love for the game. Phantom of Yubel + the Phantom Nightmare hypetrain peaking his interest! The Australian Yu-Gi-Oh community aided him in his journey and he managed to hone his skills, wielding the power of Power Patron Artmage to get 2nd Place at the Oceanic WCQ 2026 and securing his spot for the World Championships. Before that, he's also had decent performances at regionals by piloting @Ignister Maliss. He attributes most of his success to the Australian YGO community, who has some of the most supportive and welcoming duelists out there, making topping and winning events feel very well deserved! I'm sure he's bound to make them proud as he duels against the very best the world has to offer! Will he be taking Team Medius out for another round or will he switch gears?
Qualified via: Oceanic WCQ 2026 (Top 2)
Deck used: Power Patron Artmage
Julien Kehon
The current Yu-Gi-Oh World Champion, French-American Julien is returning to defend his title in Japan this year after winning in 2025 with K9 Vanquish Soul. One of the best modern players in North America, he has made a quick name for himself since he began just in 2024. He hasn’t spent the last year slacking off, but has consistently participated and topped in premier events throughout 2026. From Top 8 in YCS Richmond to getting second place in the biggest nationals in Yu-Gi-Oh history (France), he has proven to be in top form for the upcoming World Championship. Though he has consistently played Branded strategies this year (Dracotail and Despia), his topping history shows his ability to play different decks with great results. He recently got second place in YCS Montreal with Kewl Tune, but with the Worlds’ forbidden and limited list, it is unlikely we will see this from him at the event. Time will tell what he’s bringing to defend his title, but one thing that’s for sure is to watch out for this duelist!
Qualified via: World Championship 2025 (Winner)
Deck used: K9 Vanquish Soul
Tim Gräfe
The current European Champion himself, Tim is a German player who has entered the competitive scene in the last few years and received great results both in regionals and premier events! Out of the dozen regionals he has topped, he has won a whole 6 of them, topped two large YCSes (Lyon 2023, Lille 2025) and recently in 2026 he has had his best year yet. Getting Top 64 in the 300th YCS Dortmund, Top 8 in the largest national of Yu-Gi-Oh (France), dueling in the European Points Playoffs and finally becoming the European Champion with Kewl Tune, which secured him a spot in the upcoming Yu-Gi-Oh World Championship. He has received results with many different strategies, but recently has been mainly seen on Kewl Tune. What he’ll bring to the event is anyone’s guess, but one thing is for sure: This is Tim at peak performance and he's ready to take on the World Championship for the first time!
Qualified via: Europe WCQ 2026 (Winner)
Deck used: Kewl Tune
Florian Deronne 
Florian Deronne is a relatively new and charismatic duelist onto the scene, geting started around 2023 when Kashtira was at its most powerful, having access to Kashtira Arise-Heart which warped the entire metagame around itself. He got his invite to the European World Championship Qualifier by topping with K9 Crystron at the Namur Regionals in Belgium. Against all odds and most people dismissing the deck, he piloted Pure Mitsurugi to a ridiculously impressive 2nd Place finish at the EUWCQ's main event. He managed to use Ragged Records of Rites to help shore up the consistency issues the deck had, which was definitely felt. Unfortunately for our reptile enthusiast, Pure Mitsurugi may no longer be the move going into worlds, as both the aforementioned Habakiri and Mitsurugi Prayers, one of their best starters, extenders, and endboard pieces, is limited to 1 copy in the shared banlist. As for Mitsurugi's longevity, provided Konami does not touch the deck, it has a bright future thanks to the upcoming Ruler of the End of the World + Cyberse Contract Witch in the upcoming Magnificent Monsters coming out later this year after the World Championships. All in all, France is quite happy to have another duelist representing them in the most prestigious tournament of the year!
Qualified via: Europe WCQ 2026 (Top 2)
Deck used: Mitsurugi
Esteban Jesus Mena Campos
Esteban Campos is one of Costa Rica's finest duelists out there. He's been playing the game since 2017, topping premier events all around Latin America. The 2025 and 2026 season is where he really hit his stride, topping multiple high profile events left and right while also earning his invite to the Central America World Championship Qualifier. Fresh off his victory from the 300th YCS Guadalajara with K9 Vanquish Soul, he decided to pivot into a different deck with the release of Blazing Dominion. Esteban took Kewl Tune and won the entirety of the CAWCQ, earning his invite to the World Championship! He credits Steven Trifunoski / TrifGaming for his success, as Trif taught him the ropes and even the advanced techs such as Synchro Control. We'll see if he sticks with Kewl Tune going into the event, as the deck suffers some consistency hits due to the Worlds banlist.
Qualified via: Central America World Championship Qualifier (Winner)
Deck used: Kewl Tune
Juan Sebastian Andrade Castro 
Juan Sebastian Andrade Castro has been in the thick of competitive play ever since 2015 and even after all these years, he's still putting up major results! Definitely in top contention as one of the best duelists from Latin America, no doubt about that! Multiple YCS tops, regional wins, a UDS (at the time when it was still supported), two Ecuadorian National wins (2015 and 2018), and his most recent stint where he won the entirety of the South America World Championship Qualifiers with Kewl Tune! This is his first time qualifying for the Yu-Gi-Oh World Championships, and I'm sure he's ready to make Ecuador proud! Will this established veteran duelist soar to new heights in the upcoming tournament?
Qualified via: South America World Championship Qualifier (Winner)
Deck used: Kewl Tune
Make sure to stay tuned for Part 2 of the World Championship Player spotlight! There's only a few days left before worlds, and we'll do our best to provide coverage. - Renren
