Plus Tease on 'Soulburner Structure Deck'

At New York Comic Con, ICv2 spoke with Konami Digital Entertainment Vice President, Card Business Yumi Hoashi, who had details on the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Speed Dueling format launching in January (see " Speed Dueling Comes to 'Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG' "), and showed us both the Destiny Master and Duelists of Tomorrow Starter Decks and the three preconstructed character decks each contains.The Speed Dueling format ties closely to Konami’s successful Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links video game, and is designed as an onramp for new TCG players. "[Speed Dueling] is very similar to how the mobile game Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links plays, Hoashi told us. "Each person has 4,000 life points. You only have three monster zones, and it’s a 20-plus card deck. It’s a simpler way to play; it should be great for entry-level players."

"Each Speed Dueling card, although it's the same Yu‑Gi‑Oh! card, will have a logo," she explained. "It’s like a watermark of the Speed Dueling logo on the card itself. For Speed Duel, you can only use the cards that are geared towards the speed duel. You can also use your Speed Duel cards in your current TCG deck, if you want."



Konami will support the Speed Dueling format with both boosters and organized play. Additional products are planned through 2019. "The card count per pack will be more similar to our Star pack, which had three cards per pack," Hoashi said. "It'll contain cards that'll help the Starter Decks that have already been released.”



"We're looking at our first booster pack to come out in March," she continued. "Then over the course of the year, we'll be releasing more booster packs, and also more starter decks as well that'll introduce more character decks. We'll also support it with organized play at the OTS (Official Tournament Store) level, as well as at the premier event level."





[Japanese version, not U.S. box art.]

Hoashi also shared that the next Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Structure Deck will feature Soulburner, one the characters from the Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS animated series. Release is planned for February 15. MSRP is $9.99. Several of Soulburner’s cards debuted in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Soul Fusion Booster set that released this month (see " Fusion Summoning Heats Up with New 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' Booster ")