Did none of the choices in the first half of the field quite manage to thrill you? Well, worry not, because just in time for the World Championship kicking off early Saturday morning, we've got the other fourteen competitors ready for you. And what a stacked field it is – these are players that have struggled through the best their regions had to offer, and made it all the way to the top, and now they're ready to reach for the ultimate crown.
Poe Jiang
Poe Jiang is a venerated duelist that has an impressive track record, spanning multiple YCS Tops and World Championship appearances throughout the years, even flying overseas to dominate YCSes over in the United States. Known for his clever deckbuilding, he is the owner of Strike One Collectables OTS store over in Sydney, where many powerful Australian competitors participate in both OTS Championships and Regional events alike.
He recently got his invite with the Purrely strategy, which does have some hits over in both banlists but should still be a solid pick coming into the tournament. Only time will tell if he'll adjust his Purrely list to fit into the Worlds metagame, or bring an entirely new strategy to the table.
Qualified via: Oceania World Championship Qualifier (Runner-Up)
Qualified with deck: Purrely
Lars Bergquist
Lars Bergquist has consistently demonstrated his skills on a variety of decks over the past few years through a variety of archetypes, achieving many results including a top 64 at North American Nationals and top 2 at NAWCQ among other regional-level successes. Lars' last success utilised Kashtira at the NAWCQ, so it remains to be seen what their choices for Worlds will be with Kashtira being affected by the event's banlist.
Qualified via: NA World Championship Qualifier (Runner-Up)
Qualified with deck: Kashtira
Satanantana Rungnoppakunsi
Santanatana Rungnoppakunsi is one of the top Yu-Gi-Oh players not only in Thailand, but across all of Asia, with many achievements to his name across his long career as a professional Duelist.
After winning the Thailand Qualifier to the 2016 Asia Championship, he followed this up with Top Cut placements across the 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 incarnations of the same tournament. He's also the three-time winner of the Duelist Cup Thailand, winning in 2019, 2021 and 2022. Outside Thailand, he impressed with a Top 3 finish at YOT Hongkong 2018, a Top 8 finish at YOT Malaysia 2019, and a second place at the Duelist Cup Asia Final 2022.
Coming into 2023, he delivered many more impressive results, both big and small within Thailand, setting him up for his journey to the Duelist Cup Asia Finals 2023. Using Adventurer Synchron, a dark-horse Deck that few expected to even reach the Top Cut, he managed to cut through a field of meta contenders to reach the final match. Even though he did not manage to take first place, his skills still earned him one of the two seats representing Asia at the 2023 World Championship.
Qualified via: Duelist Cup Asia Finals (Runner-Up)
Qualified with deck: Adventurer Synchron
Christian Thomas
Having already drawn some attention in online play, Christian Thomas burst onto the competitive scene with a top cut finish at the 2017 EUWCQ. Known for his rigorous preparation and meticulous deckbuilding, he went on to take repeat this achievement at the 2019 and 2022 EUWCQs.
In the 2023 edition, he seemed set to claim glory - just to come up short at the final hurdle. At the World Championship, he will be looking to redeem himself and prove to the world that one moment of inattention does not define a player.
Qualified via: EU World Championship Qualifier (Runner-Up)
Qualified with deck: Kashtira
Kazuya Sakamoto
Kazuya Sakamoto is a Japanese player who was exposed to Yu-Gi-Oh at an early age when he was in elementary school. Once he started attending university, he began to participate in some tournaments and achieved many impressive results.
His journey at the Japan Championship this year was extremely admirable. With Rescue-Ace, he passed all the regional qualifiers with a perfect record and qualified for the final round. There, despite facing many difficulties, he still overcame them all, winning the runner-up title of the Japan Championship, and becoming one of the five Japanese representatives to participate in the 2023 World Championship.
Qualified via: Japan Championship (Runner-Up)
Qualified with deck: Rescue-ACE
Carlos Jesus Mercado Ramirez
Carlos Ramirez is this year's Central America WCQ Champion! He brought Evil Twin Runick Spright to the table and made use of its high consistency and power to claim his title. Known for being a calm and collected duelist, Carlos will be representing Mexico for the World Championships!
Qualified via: Central America World Championship Qualifier (Champion)
Qualified with deck: Evil★Twin Runick Spright
Li Zhi
Li Zhi (影融@CN) is a Chinese player, who started playing Yu-Gi-Oh when he was a middle school student. Thanks to his family's support, his passion for this game grew stronger and stronger. He has some impressive achievements, such as a Top 4 finish at the Duelist Cup China Final 2022, winning the China City Tour Simplified Chinese YangZhou Station, placing Top 16 at the China City Tour 2023 Nanjing Station, or reaching Top 4 at the Duelist Cup 2023 China Xi’an Regional Qualifier.
At this year's Duelist Cup, as one of the top players in the country, he was invited to participate in the Duelist Cup China Final 2023. With his skill, experience, and a bit of luck, he used his Superheavy Samurai Deck to defeat all his opponents and win the Duelist Cup China Final 2023 title, becoming the first-ever representative of China to attend the Yu-Gi-Oh World Championship!
Qualified via: Duelist Cup China Final (Champion)
Qualified with deck: Superheavy Samurai
Santiago Marin
Marin Santiago is a renowned duelist from Colombia who's recently been on a hot streak competitively, dominating multiple premier LATAM events with Kashtira! His unique take on the deck allowed him to win the entirety of the South American WCQ, featuring smart techs such as Monster Reborn and the Number F0: Utopic Draco Future package!
His fellow countrymen are extremely proud of him for being the first ever Colombian duelist in history to ever qualify for a spot in the World Championships, and it'll be exciting to see which deck he brings to the table. No matter what it is, he's already given his country great pride and he's sure to put up quite a fight in the tournament!
Qualified via: South America World Championship Qualifier (Runner-Up)
Qualified with deck: Kashtira
Seo Jeong-Hyun
Seo Jeong Hyun (서정현) is a Yu-Gi-Oh player from South Korea. He is a famous Duelist, who always ranks highly in prestigious tournaments in Korea, such as 1923cs and HSCS. Especially, he always ranks in the top 10 in the Super Server Ranking OCG EDOpro China (MC).
At WCQ Korea 2023 this year, with his Top 32 finish at Seoul Hall Regional representative selection, he got an invitation to participate in WCQ Korea 2023. And here, with his Tearlaments deck, he defeated all his opponents and won the championship, thereby earning the honor of representing Korea at the Yu-Gi-Oh World Championship.
Qualified via: Korea World Championship Qualifier (Champion)
Qualified with deck: Tearlaments
Kunlun Lei
Kunlun "Dean" Lei is relatively new to the competitive TCG scene, having only started playing this year – but that hasn't stopped him from winning the 2023 Oceanic Qualifiers with the powerful Kashtira strategy, earning him a spot at this year's World Championship!
Thanks to the help of veteran player and mentor Peter Mitro and fellow worlds competitor Poe Jiang, his skills have been honed to be a fearsome duelist. We'll have to wait and see what he brings to Worlds however, as the OCG limitations being applied in the Worlds Banlist will stop Kashtira from being a viable choice.
Qualified via: Oceania World Championship Qualifier (Champion)
Qualified with deck: Kashtira
Jeremy Mitchell
Jeremy Mitchell is a long-time Yu-Gi-Oh player, and a pillar of the Jacksonville community thanks to his kindness and dueling skills. He's famously known for his hot streak on Pendulum Magicians, winning YCS Atlanta in 2018 and topping other major regionals.
Armed with Kashtira, Jeremy powered through the 2023 NAWCQ with his secret weapon: Eradicator Epidemic Virus! It'll be interesting to see what he brings to Worlds, as Kashtira is not a viable choice due to Kashtira Fenrir being Forbidden in the OCG, alongside other critical hits from the joint banlist.
Qualified via: NA World Championship Qualifier (Champion)
Qualified with deck: Kashtira
Lin You Jyun
Lin You Jyun is a top-tier player from Taiwan, who has achieved many impressive results in both domestic and international competitions during his professional career. After starting by straight-out winning the 2016 Asia Championship Taiwan Qualifier, and taking Top 4 at YOT Taiwan 2018, the year 2020 was seen as his most successful yet, with a victory at the Asia Championship Winter 2020 Taiwan Qualifier, followed by another win at the Asia Championship Winter 2020 Finals.
In 2023, he returned in force, taking home a Top 15 placement at the Duelist Cup 2023 Taiwan Kaohsiung Regional Qualifier. As the reigning champion of Asia Championship Winter 2020, this gave him a ticket straight to the Top 8 round at the Duelist Cup Asia 2023 Final. With his confidence and experience from each big battle, he used his Purrely deck to defeat all of his opponents from that point onward, taking victory in the Duelist Cup Asia Final, and thus becoming one of the two representatives of Asia to participate in the 2023 World Championship.
Qualified via: Duelist Cup Asia Finals (Champion)
Qualified with deck: Purrely
Jessica Robinson
Jessica Robinson is a veteran duelist in the competitive scene and is one of the top players in the United Kingdom. She's become famous for helping perfect the well-beloved and popular Sunavalon Rikka strategy that also won last year's European Championship.
This time around, she took it upon herself to pilot the deck all the way to the top, winning the EU World Championship Qualifier, and securing her spot at the World Championship. Coming into the tournament, the deck is almost unharmed by the Worlds-specific banlist, leaving the Rikka Queen as one of the favorites to claim the ultimate crown.
Qualified via: EU World Championship Qualifier (Champion)
Qualified with deck: Rikka Sunavalon
Akira Hasegawa
Hasegawa Akira, a famous Yu-Gi-Oh player in Japan, has achieved amazing success throughout his career. He constantly showed his talent on the global stage, representing Japan at the 2015 World Championship with a Top 3 finish and the 2018 World Championship with a Top 8 finish.
Akira's journey to the top continued as he reached the Top 8 of the highly competitive YCSJ Tokyo 2018, and always made it to the top of other big and small Championships, further cementing his reputation as a formidable player.
This year, at the 2023 Japan Championship, he excelled, winning the tournament with Purrely, and earning himself a spot in the World Championship yet again. This will be the third time he has participated in this highest level of competition, and we are excited to see what he'll bring to the table.
Qualified via: Japan Championship (Champion)
Qualified with deck: Purrely
The Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship will be livestreamed on YouTube and Twitch, from 08:20 to 20:00 JST on Saturday and from 08:50 to 18:10 JST on Sunday. If you're in central Europe, that means the stream starts at 01:20 CEST on Saturday; if you're in the US, it'll be 16:20 Pacific, 19:20 Eastern, or somewhere between them depending on where you are.
