Chasing the red dragon

Inside a small cabin in Hamad Town, card game maestros chase the red dragon as a Yu-Gi-Oh battle royale rages between creatures of myth and legends of lore.

Yu-Gi-Oh, the popular trading card game that first burst on the scene as a Japanese comic series in 1996, is based around a duel between two players, each possessing 40 to 60 cards featuring monsters, spells and traps.

The victor is the player who manages to look at all the finite cards, assess their infinite possibilities, and build a better deck that outsmarts their opponent.

Last Friday, the Bahraini Yu-Gi-Oh community came together for the ‘Slifer Tournament’, named after the ferocious and mythic red dragon in its lore, at Haitham Al Nasser’s home.

“We are not directly sponsored by the card game company so this whole tournament is planned, organised and overseen just by us,” the head of the Yu-Gi-Oh community Haitham told GulfWeekly, as the shuffle of cards echoed throughout the room.

“It all started in 2016, when my friend and I decided to organise a tournament, and we were eight members at the time, so we decided to do it in my room.

“Except, around 20 people signed up and that blew us away! Since then, we have expanded to around 60 enthusiasts.”

Initially, his parents did not support his hobby, fearing that it was just a ‘money sink’ as he continually bought packs of cards.

“That is until they realised how much some of them are worth today!” Haitham said, smiling as he opened his binder filled with brightly-coloured and intricately designed cards.

“The most expensive card that has ever been sold was reportedly the 1999 tournament edition of the ‘Black Luster Soldier’ which was snapped up for $2,000,000 (BD754,000).

“I do not have any card that is worth that much … but I do have some rare ones that might fetch around BD1,000.”

However, Haitham emphasised that he collects them out of passion and love of playing, rather than as an investment.

His own happiness and heartache journey involved his favourite card - a lightning serpent called the ‘Thunder Dragon Colossus’ - a card that has won him multiple world qualifiers and got him invited to participate in one of the 2019 Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series that only accepts the ‘best of the best’ globally.

Unfortunately, due to insufficient funding and sponsorship support, he was unable to travel to Europe to participate.

Yet, his passion for the game remains unfazed as he spoke of the future.

“I have a dream to expand even further,” he said with a spark in his eye.

“I hope eventually we will have a Yu-Gi-Oh designated shop, not just to sell cards, but to be a place where you would want to spend your day playing and hanging out with those who share the same passion as you.

“That is why we try our best to welcome everyone, new or old, and encourage people to trade, buy and play.

“So one day, when the dream becomes a reality, every player here will find that one place that they would call a second home.”

Recently, there has been a huge surge of new players after Konami released Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel, a free-to-play game with in-game monetary incentives, just last month, which saw as many as 262,333 players playing at the same time, on desktops alone.

To learn more about the Yu-Gi-Oh community in Bahrain, follow @rankupacademy on Instagram.