Jonathan Castillo Gomez Outduels Hundreds of Duelists at Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series Charleston for the Title of Champion

JONATHAN CASTILLO GOMEZ OUTDUELS HUNDREDS OF DUELISTS AT Yu-Gi-Oh! CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES CHARLESTON FOR THE TITLE OF CHAMPION

El Segundo, CA (February 4, 2015) – Duelists from all over the Eastern Seaboard and the Southeastern United States descended upon Charleston, South Carolina for this past weekend's Yu-Gi-Oh! CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES (YCS) event. Duelists of every age participated in the premier-level Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME (TCG) event, presented by Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. (KONAMI), ready to show off their impressive Dueling skills for the chance to be crowned the YCS Champion. But, it was Jonathan Castillo Gomez from Santa Ana, CA who outpaced the field to claim the coveted title of YCS Champion and Vincent Riccardi from Sterling, VA who took home the Dragon Duel title.

YCS Charleston hosted enthusiastic Yu-Gi-Oh! players from across the country wanting to try the latest strategies and card combos against their peers. Round after round, with refined skills and a bit of luck, elite players emerged above the competition in a weekend full of exhilarating Dueling.

Jonathan Castillo Gomez confidently battled his way into Sunday's Top 16 Draft with his first-rate Burning Abyss Deck. Then, after three rounds of Single Elimination with their newly-drafted Decks from Battle Pack 3: Monster League, it came down to an exciting playoff with Patrick Hoban from Covington, GA. In the end, the combination of precise play and smart risk-taking helped Gomez earn the title of YCS Charleston Champion.

In addition to the title of YCS Champion, Gomez returned home with a stellar set of prizes that included an Ultra Rare YCS Ascension Sky Dragon Prize Card, an exclusive YCS Top Cut Game Mat, an invitation to the 2015 World Championship Qualifier tournament and much more!

In the Dragon Duel, an event for Duelists born in 2002 or later, Riccardi used his Sealed Deck then switched to his Qliphort Deck in the final matchup to beat Nathanael Ross, from Hickory, NC, in a head-to-head playoff. Riccardi picked up a mass of great prizes, including an invitation to the 2015 World Championship Dragon Duel Qualifier tournament.

Duelists can watch all-new Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal episodes every Tuesday as well as all of classic Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, and Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's on www.yugioh.com in the United States. In addition, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal airs twice on Sundays on Nicktoons. In Canada, Duelists can watch episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal every Friday and Saturday on Teletoon! For more information on KONAMI the Yu-Gi-Oh! CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES or the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME, please visit www.yugioh-card.com or call 310-220-8630 to speak directly with a Yu-Gi-Oh! customer support team member.

©1996 Kazuki Takahashi
©2011 NAS• TV Tokyo

About The Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG
The Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME is the #1 trading card game in the world with over 25 billion cards sold. It is a game of strategy, where players create individual Decks of cards collected from Structure Decks and Booster Packs. Two players engage in a Duel while using cards that represent powerful monsters, magical Spells and surprising Traps. Duelists with well-constructed Decks, dominating monsters, solid strategy and good fortune are the victors in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. is the exclusive licensee and rights holder to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG in North America and Latin America.

About KONAMI
KONAMI is a leading developer, publisher and manufacturer of electronic entertainment properties and traditional trading card games. KONAMI's software titles include the popular franchises Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, DanceDanceRevolution and Castlevania, among other top sellers. KONAMI is also the manufacturer of the wildly popular Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME, which has sold more than 25 billion cards worldwide. The latest information about KONAMI can be found on the Web at www.konami.com. KONAMI CORPORATION is a publicly traded company based in Tokyo, Japan with subsidiaries, Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. in Tokyo, Japan, Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. in the United States and Konami Digital Entertainment B.V. in Windsor, the United Kingdom. KONAMI CORPORATION is traded in the United States on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol KNM. Details of the products published by KONAMI can be found at www.konami.com.