In brief
- Mario Angelo De Micco (Canada) wins the World Championship of the card game with Kewl Tune. In the final he beats Josh Kelly (United Kingdom), who plays Light and Darkness Ritual with the Fallen of Albaz engine.
- Kewl Tune is the deck of the World Championship: 9 finalists out of 30 play it, with 3 spots in the Top 8 and 2 in the Top 4.
- One Italian in the Top 8: Danilo Siracusa, with Branded, goes out in the quarterfinals. Francesco Simoncelli is at the World Championship too, also with Branded.
- The other titles: in team Master Duel, South Korea wins with Called by Army. In Duel Links, Snyffus (Germany) wins Speed Duel and Takuma Kitamura (Japan) wins Rush Duel.
How it works
The card game has 30 finalists, who came through qualifiers from around the world. On Saturday, August 29, they play 7 Swiss rounds and the top eight advance; on Sunday the 30th the Top 8 is played as single elimination. A Forbidden & Limited List written specifically for the World Championship applies.
The final standings
- 1. Mario Angelo De Micco (Canada): Kewl Tune.
- 2. Josh Kelly (United Kingdom): Light and Darkness Ritual with Fallen of Albaz.
- 3-4. Tsang Hin Fung (Hong Kong): Sky Striker.
- 3-4. Logan Patrick Johnson (United States): Kewl Tune.
- 5-8. Danilo Siracusa (Italy): Branded.
- 5-8. Jie Rui Zhang (Australia): Light and Darkness Ritual with Mitsurugi, Azamina and Yummy.
- 5-8. Yuuki Shibata (Japan): Sky Striker.
- 5-8. Ryohei Kobayashi (Japan): Kewl Tune.
The meta: Kewl Tune out front, Light and Darkness Ritual everywhere
Among the 30 finalists the most-played single deck is Kewl Tune, with 9 players. Light and Darkness Ritual, however, is in 11 decks, in four different versions: with Fallen of Albaz (5), with Azamina and Mitsurugi (4), with Sky Striker and with Branded (one each). Sky Striker has 4 and puts two players in the Top 8, Tsang and Shibata. The three Power Patron Artmage decks all stay out of the Top 8. There are also a Sacred Beasts (Yannik Ackermann, Germany) and an Elfnote (Juan Sebastian Andrade Castro, Ecuador). Elfnote will later be one of the most-played decks at YCS Houston.
The Italians
Siracusa makes the Top 8 with Branded and goes out in the quarterfinals, between 5th and 8th place. Simoncelli, also with Branded, finishes between 9th and 30th. Two Italians out of thirty finalists, and both with the same deck.
The other World Championships
- Master Duel, 3-on-3 team event: Called by Army (South Korea), with CER.Sana (Minsung Kim), A1.cutesnail (Hyunsoo Lee) and CER.subaduck (Jisuk Kim), beats Glory Future in the final.
- Duel Links, Speed Duel: Snyffus (Philipp Thomas, Germany) beats あしゅ (Eito Sato, Japan).
- Duel Links, Rush Duel: たく (Takuma Kitamura, Japan) wins.
What comes next
After Tokyo the YCS circuit starts up again, and with the Forbidden & Limited List of September 21, Kewl Tune Rotary becomes Forbidden in the Advanced format. The champion deck just manages to win the Latin America remote YCS on September 20, then disappears. In Guayaquil, on October 3-4, Giovanny Andres Trivino wins with Elfnote; in Houston, October 16-18, Trevor Parker wins. Then come Orlando (November 6-8), Santiago, Chile (November 27-29) and the North America remote YCS on Discord (December 4-6). In 2027 the circuit goes to Lima, Santo Domingo and Veracruz, the last one a team event. Among the Tokyo finalists, in Houston Julien Kehon makes the Top 8 with Elfnote and Logan Johnson the top 32 with Angelechy.
Sources. Konami press release on the champions (konami.com/games/us/en/topics/3385, September 1, 2026); standings, decks and format from roadoftheking.com and ygoprodeck.com (tournament 4894); yugioh-world.com; YCS calendar and Forbidden & Limited List of September 21, 2026 from yugioh-card.com; later YCS events from ygoprodeck.com. Top 8 match scores not published in text.