We recently announced our intention to join the competitive circuit with a team of our own, and today we’re happy to announce the first official members of Team YGOrg!

First, a brief clarification for some of our readers. I understand it will be a bit confusing as The Organization is already a team of translators that work on this site (of which I am an extremely proud member of), but this has nothing to do with them.

(Atem’s editing note: Memo to self, schedule internal discussions for appropriate names for each little sub-organization within my Organization.)

We are launching a team representing the site at events of competitive players who will work together to achieve a common goal using strategies we’ve determined together to best achieve success at YCS and other premier events. Many of you aren’t located in the United States and are unaware of things like the team circuit, so essentially we’re trying to group together some high quality players to represent the site at these team events as well.

With that said I’d like to formally introduce you guys to our starting roster. These 4 players were hand selected and did not apply. We will be adding many more, but team applications are open as of this post. If you’re interested in applying, please email [email protected]

The Debut YGOrganization Roster

Vincent Salvatore Bellafiore

College student who majors in marketing and minors in digital media, T-Mobile associate, aspiring artist, and lifelong gamer. Started playing the TCG during Magic Ruler format, and is currently involved in the competitive scene and the judging program. Vince has been a staff member at YGOrganization for a while now and has joined the competitive team. He is a circuit series Champion, and is perhaps best known for his excellence at judging events at all levels.

Credentials:

1st place ARG Richmond 2016: ABC

Top 16 ARG Hartford 2017: Kaiju ABC

He has also been an official judge at numerous Premier events.

Ryan Levine

Ryan Levine first began dueling in 2006, but did not delve into the competitive side of the game until late 2014, with the release of Duelist Alliance. Since then he has aquired 12 YCS and ARG tops and most notably finished 3rd at YCS Dallas 2015, then became the ARG Atlantic City 2015 champion on the following weekend, piloting Psy-Frame Yosenju. His favorite decks include Nekroz, Psy-Frames, and Noble Knights.

Credentials:

ARG Richmond 2015: Djinn Nekroz Top 16

ARG 25k 2015: ARG Format Nekroz Top 16

YCS Toronto 2015: Nekroz Top 16

YCS Dallas 2015: Norden Nekroz 3rd

ARG Atlantic City 2015: Psy-Frame Yosenju 1st

ARG Charlotte 2016: Extra Deck Monarch Top 16

YCS Columbus 2016: Extra Deck Monarch Top 32

YCS Toronto 2016: Extra Deck Monarch 3rd

ARG Charlotte Winter 2016: Metalfoe Top 8

ARG Richmond Winter 2016: Metalfoe Top 16

YCS Sydney 2017: Metalfoe Top 32

ARG Richmond 2017: Draco Zoo Top 16

Nick Reardon

Nicky Reardon began dueling in 2010. He topped his first premiere event in YCS Miami 2013 at only 13 years old, becoming the first player in the TCG to top one with Fire Fist. Throughout the years to come, he became a considerably reputable duelist – perhaps most notable for his elongated topping streak in 2015 whilst piloting Nekroz. Today, he boasts a total of 9 ARG and YCS tops.

Credentials:

Top 8 YCS Miami 2013: Fire Fist

Top 16 ARG Washington DC 2014: HAT

Top 32 NAWCQ 2015: Nekroz

Top 8 ARG Charlotte 2015: Nekroz

3rd place ARG 25k 2015: Nekroz

Top 32 YCS Dallas 2015: Norden Nekroz

Top 16 ARG Anaheim 2016: Peformage Pendulum

Top 32 ARG 20k 2016: Extra Deck Monarchs

Top 16 ARG Richmond 2017: Draco Zoo

Calvin Tahan

Perhaps best known for his domination across several formats with Burning Abyss throughout its tenure in the meta, Calvin Tahan first splashed into the competitive scene in 2011, topping YCS Charlotte whilst piloting Fish OTK. Since then, he has amassed a total of 17 premiere event tops – participating in three separate tournament grand finals and winning his first championship at ARG Richmond with Super Quantums. Calvin is often noted for his unique take on deck building, frequently utilizing choice cards such as Kuribandit, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, and Supply Squad to redefine the metagame.

Credentials:

Charlotte 2011: Fish OTK Top 8

Atlantic City 2014: Supply Squad Ba Top 8

Raleigh 2014: Artifact Shaddoll Top 16

Hartford 2015: Preparation Nekroz Top 16

Richmond 2015: Djinn Nekroz Top 16

Edison 2015: Bandit BA Top 2

Charlotte 2015:MathBanditshabyss Top 16

25KPhilly2015:SupplyBanditMathBA Top 8

Richmond 2016: Super Quantum 1st Place

Charlotte 2016: Extra Deck Monarch Top 8

Toronto 2016: Pure Burning Abyss Top 16

Springfield 2016: Green PK BA Top 16

Minneapolis 2016: Pk BA Top 16

Charlotte 2016: ABC Artifact Top 16

Hartford 2017: ABC Kaiju Top 16

Atlantic City 2017: Artifact Zoo Top 2

Richmond 2017: Draco Zoo Top 8